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What having a bunny has taught me

C

Candiflare

Mama Doe
After Katheryn's thread about the baby bunnies for sale I've been thinking what would need to be said to someone who had never owned a bunny before and was about to get one. You've all known this stuff for ages, but for me it's all very new and it's been an eye opener for me joining this forum and getting Ralph and Ruby, and the happiness they bring me that I never thought I could get from rabbits.

I had a five year old girl over with her mother the other day who was desperate to meet my rabbits. She came in all excited, I brought them out - my OH held one, while I had the other on my lap and vice versa. For a start, both Ralph and Ruby froze around the little girl because she was making lots of sudden movements. After looking at them for about 10 seconds she needed more got bored with them just sitting there so announced that she wanted to feed them. I went to get their pellets and said 'just hold this pellet and they will take it,' and I showed her with Ralph. She got all excited when he took it from my hand, but then when she put hers in front of his face, he refused it. As soon as that happened she was bored again and asked if I had any other animals! If you think of all these little children over the country like this girl who are getting rabbits as their first pets, it doesn't bear to be imagined!

I wish I had KNOWN when I was age 10-18 when my parents got me my first five rabbits that 1. the females were being aggressive because they hadn't been spayed (that they didn't "hate" me like I thought they did) 2. that they could have lived happier lives being bonded together or in pairs, 3. that they could have been house bunnies,4. that they didn't like being picked up because it made them scared (not because they didn't want to cuddle with me.) Why was this information so unavailable back then? I keep thinking, if only I had KNOWN.
 
Like your post :wave: Its so very sad and true. I don't think there is a quick fix, but I do believe that people are slowly being educated and places like this and the people on here help that to happen.
 
Yes it is a lovely post Candiflare.

I was astounded by what buns were about when mine came in to be a house rabbit very early on. The relationship has been different from any other animal relationship I have experienced. I feel it is a great privilege as well as a joy to have this relationship.

It is a very personal opinion, but I do not think that children have the maturity to appreciate the amazing individual personalities of bunnies to the same depth as an adult, nor do I think that most children have the patience or inclination to watch their behaviour & work out their complex thought processes or communicate with them.
So I feel that a bunny is not suitable as a child's pet.
 
Brilliant post.

I got my first rabbit when I was 11 and I am just lucky I have such an amazing mum. I couldn't have my dinner until he had been let out and supervised by me and fed. So it resulted in me being out in the garden in the middle of winter. It has made me who I am today... so as well as the children, I think it also depends very much on their parents/guardians who teach them how to care for their pets. Or not as is very sadly the usual case. :(
 
Candiflare said:
After Katheryn's thread about the baby bunnies for sale I've been thinking what would need to be said to someone who had never owned a bunny before and was about to get one. You've all known this stuff for ages, but for me it's all very new and it's been an eye opener for me joining this forum and getting Ralph and Ruby, and the happiness they bring me that I never thought I could get from rabbits.

I had a five year old girl over with her mother the other day who was desperate to meet my rabbits. She came in all excited, I brought them out - my OH held one, while I had the other on my lap and vice versa. For a start, both Ralph and Ruby froze around the little girl because she was making lots of sudden movements. After looking at them for about 10 seconds she needed more got bored with them just sitting there so announced that she wanted to feed them. I went to get their pellets and said 'just hold this pellet and they will take it,' and I showed her with Ralph. She got all excited when he took it from my hand, but then when she put hers in front of his face, he refused it. As soon as that happened she was bored again and asked if I had any other animals! If you think of all these little children over the country like this girl who are getting rabbits as their first pets, it doesn't bear to be imagined!

I wish I had KNOWN when I was age 10-18 when my parents got me my first five rabbits that 1. the females were being aggressive because they hadn't been spayed (that they didn't "hate" me like I thought they did) 2. that they could have lived happier lives being bonded together or in pairs, 3. that they could have been house bunnies,4. that they didn't like being picked up because it made them scared (not because they didn't want to cuddle with me.) Why was this information so unavailable back then? I keep thinking, if only I had KNOWN.
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This is so true but, you are doing the right thing now:)
 
I'm sure all of us have done things in the past that we wouldn't dream of doing now. You're doing the best you can, which is making sure you find out all you can and do as much as possible to make the bunnies you have now happy. :D;)
 
Great post :D I had rabbits when I was younger and I cringe when I think of some of the things I used to feed them :oops: However, looking back at pics of my first bun, Rusty ( I was about 7 when I got him) he had a good size hutch and my dad built him a decent run on the front that was nice and tall, so he had excercise time for over 12 hours a day in the Summer - that was 15 years ago and he had better living conditions than Honey Bee, who we rehomed just a few months ago :( My parents never left me to my own devices - they always made she he'd been fed/watered/cleaned out & I would get told off if I hadn't done it. The adults are the ones who should take the real responsibility, but sadly, all to often, I think children are expected to just get on with it, and as we all know, usually they lose interest very quickly & it's the poor bun that suffers :( It's all about education and (although I don't like p@h) some of their staff give out very good advice to prospective bunny parents and of course there are good people about, like those on this forum, who try to give advice to those who need it.

:wave:
 
Yes, if only pet shops were required by law to home check before selling their rabbits, or other animals for that matter.
 
I agree with what you say about sudden movement. My OH's 11 and 13 year old goddaughters came to stay and it amazed me how they kept suddenly lunging towards the rabbits to stroke them rather than being patient and letting the rabbit come to them. They were also desperate to pick them up all the time which terrified the rabbits who then decided to spend the whole time the girls were here huddled together in far corner of their shelter. I'm sure I could here them sighing with relief when they worked out the girls had gone and came out again. OH's family couldn't work out why we chose rabbits as pets when they are such nervous animals that they won't interact with people!

My first rabbit wandered into out garden when I was 10. She had escaped from a very disfunctional family down the road and it felt a bit like she had chosen us because she kept coming back, maybe because it was a bit calmer with us. It was great earning her trust and I think it taught me a lot as a child but I don't think I ever demanded her attention in the way these visiting kids did.

So apart from giving a rabbit a clean large home I think the thing you need to learn with rabbits, whatever your age, is that you have to be patient and let the relationship develop at a speed the rabbits is happy with and behave in a calm way so that they can learn to trust you.
 
i cring when i thing how i used to keep my other rabbit about 7 years ago and we listen to the vet who said do not netuer dont give vaccations and that rabbits dont need hay :? but i have learnt that rabbit do need to be netuered, vacated and need a go diet and found a better vet
 
It is very true what you say, but it's certainly not something you can reproach yourself on though. General awareness of a rabbit's needs, and knowledge of how to care for them correctly, has come on in leaps and bounds, but hasn't knowledge and expertise changed for nearly everything over the decades? Look at the way children are raised, the scientific advances that have been made, etc. etc. Learning from experience is just a part of life.

Wow, I hope that post made some sort of sense to you guys, cuz reading it back it didn't to me!!
 
thumps_ said:
It is a very personal opinion, but I do not think that children have the maturity to appreciate the amazing individual personalities of bunnies to the same depth as an adult, nor do I think that most children have the patience or inclination to watch their behaviour & work out their complex thought processes or communicate with them.
So I feel that a bunny is not suitable as a child's pet.
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I know you said it was a personal opinion but I am going to have to disagree. My buns are MY pets but they are part of our family and so my young children are heavily involved in their care. They love the buns as much as I do. My daughter Ella is amazing with them. She will sit in the run and wait for them to come to her, she understands them in such depth. Leo and Lila were very nervous when they first came to us but trusted my daughter before they trusted me. 6 months later they still prefer my children.

Its all about showing the children how to care and teaching them properly. No, rabbits are not suitable for a child to be responsible for, no animals are, but they can care for them if shown how.

I've posted a link to this before but I want to do it again. Its a short movie of my daughter with Peter and my bridge bun Mopsy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bXL0Q7kRAo
 
That video is so gorgeous!! Can't believe I haven't seen it before.

Your daughter's got beautiful eyes. She seems more mature than the little girl I had round the other day. Obviously it's up to the individual child, and as we said before how much responsibility the parents take for teaching the child how to care for it.
 
Candiflare said:
That video is so gorgeous!! Can't believe I haven't seen it before.

Your daughter's got beautiful eyes. She seems more mature than the little girl I had round the other day. Obviously it's up to the individual child, and as we said before how much responsibility the parents take for teaching the child how to care for it.
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Thank you. She was 5 when that was taken. She has a real maturity in dealing with the buns. Doesnt apply to everything though.:roll::lol:
 
I actually can't decide who's cutest, your daughter or the buns! :lol: Absolutely adorable! I can totally picture her as a presenter on a nature show one day.

I do think how suitable a child is to be around animals very much depends on the personalty and education of the individuals. Here are 2 examples:

My mum bought my big sister gerbils for her 12th birthday. We'd had the school gerbils home on weekends for years, and Katie had always been great with them. She was responsible for Minty and Fudge when we got them and really, she couldn't have been a better owner. I was only 7 at the time and, though I say so myself, I was amazing with them too! However, I'm certainly not saying that all children are careful and responsible enough to be in charge of animals. I had friends at the time, twins, who had a hamster. I remember going to their house once and they got him out to 'play' with him. They slid him repeatedly down the slide in their garden, threw him to one another to catch as if he was a ball, and gave him sweets. I begged their mother to stop them but she was a very weak woman, and had no influence over them.

I think this proves my point really - it entirely depends on the children and their upbringing.
 
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Hoppit! said:
I actually can't decide who's cutest, your daughter or the buns! :lol: Absolutely adorable! I can totally picture her as a presenter on a nature show one day.

I do think how suitable a child is to be around animals very much depends on the personalty and education of the individuals. Here are 2 examples:

My mum bought my big sister gerbils for her 12th birthday. We'd had the school gerbils home on weekends for years, and Katie had always been great with them. She was responsible for Minty and Fudge when we got them and really, she couldn't have been a better owner. I was only 7 at the time and, though I say so myself, I was amazing with them too! However, I'm certainly not saying that all children are careful and responsible enough to be in charge of animals. I had friends at the time, twins, who had a hamster. I remember going to their house once and they got him out to 'play' with him. They slid him repeatedly down the slide in their garden, threw him to one another to catch as if he was a ball, and gave him sweets. I begged their mother to stop them but she was a very weak woman, and had no influence over them.

I think this proves my point really - it entirely depends on the children and their upbringing.
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Oh.My.God!!!!!! :evil::evil::evil:

The way you wrote it, I did have a chuckle, but that's bad!!!
 
That is a lovely video :D and reminds me of my childhood....we used to sit in our bunny's runs just like that..... all day!:)
I can only hope that when I have kids they will be taught the same, I think education and respect for animals must be taught early with correct parental supervision. Your video is a super example.

Sadly, however, I fear you are in the minority in terms of having taught your children how to behave correctly around animals. If only all families with pet rabbits were as conscientious, in reality this appears not to be the case, and so many rabbits are still bought for children as the 'child's pet' and on this basis I agree totally with Thumps. Rabbits are highly complex and gregarious individuals that despite the hours of careful observation, interpretation and understanding of their behaviour, I still worry as an adult I may not be meeting their needs at all times on a behavioural level, and this doesn't even bring in all the care, welfare and health issues to be considered.
I'm not sure we will ever fully understand the complexities of the rabbit and I think it naieve to suppose with our human limitations that we can. The best we can hope for is a mutual understanding and respect for our furry eared friends, and most importantly allow them to be a rabbit, and not a toy or a child's play thing, or even an extension of ourselves to suit our own needs as adults. :)
 
I am so glad I read this thread. I think the original post was really well said.

I'm ashamed to say that when I had bunnies as a child I wasnt great at looking after them. I have felt guilty for years and years about how I treated them - not that I wasnt gentle with them but I just didnt look after them as well as they should have been. Unfortunately partly it was down to my parent's attitude - they would NEVER have dreamed of taking them to the vets - I even begged them on one occasion - but they didnt believe in it - probably the old "its only a rabbit" line. When I told my Dad this summer that I was getting rabbits, he said "rabbits are so easy to keep though arent they?". On the one hand, compared to say a dog that needs walking, I suppose he is right, but on the other I was like "No, Dad, they have a lot of needs and it is a big responsibility which I will take seriously". Unfortunately several members of my family have this attitude still and I do my best to challenge it now and educate them.

My big worry is if my nephews and niece get pet rabbits because they are very boisterous and noisy and quickly lose interest. They are always keen to see the rabbits when they come and want to stroke them and feed them but unfortunately they need almost constant reminders to speak quietly and not shout and squeal and to hold veggies for them gently where they can reach it rather than teasing them with it or poking them with it. :roll: I get very nervous when they come as I want them to be interested in the bunnies and learn about animal care and its lovely that they are excited but I also want to ensure the bunnies are not frightened and dont get a lot of help from their parents to do this....:oops::roll:
 
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