I was talking with Gray about my newest phrase ('rabbit ownership is about knowing the rules and understanding when to break them') and he said he followed that with Ginger and her vaccinations. I've come to understand it even better recently with my crew and was thinking about the more crucial ones I've broken. I also see it a lot on here in completely understandable situations.
'Rule'; Vaccinate your rabbits
Broken 'Rule'; Not vaccinating Badger
Why; because we think his immune system will not cope with the vaccine and they will kill him. If he contracted any of the illnesses we would most likely not fight them, just let him go.
'Rule'; Spay and Neuter your rabbits
Broken 'Rule': Not spaying Wish
Why; because we are unsure of how 'sound' things are inside and knowing she is so vulnerable we feel she may not survive such an operation. We also expect her life span to be shorter anyway, so uterine tumours are unlikely to be an issue, although we will be constantly reviewing it, and likely if she gets to her 3rd birthday in a good condition we will consider it then.
'Rule'; Keep a rabbit in a large space
Broken 'Rule'; We kept Rosie in a 4ft by 1ft hutch when she first arrived
Why; because she had a spinal injury and we limited her movement for a larg part of the day so that she didn't injure herself further.
That's all common sense right? Know the rules and understand when to break them. There have been countless others that I've broken too, but these ones stick with me, the top two are very key and very present, and Rosie stays in my mind as one of my success stories because of how much she came on when we finally identified what her problems were.
So what rules have you broken? What ones are key at the moment? Most likely we've all done it, more than once because its part of being an owner.
'Rule'; Vaccinate your rabbits
Broken 'Rule'; Not vaccinating Badger
Why; because we think his immune system will not cope with the vaccine and they will kill him. If he contracted any of the illnesses we would most likely not fight them, just let him go.
'Rule'; Spay and Neuter your rabbits
Broken 'Rule': Not spaying Wish
Why; because we are unsure of how 'sound' things are inside and knowing she is so vulnerable we feel she may not survive such an operation. We also expect her life span to be shorter anyway, so uterine tumours are unlikely to be an issue, although we will be constantly reviewing it, and likely if she gets to her 3rd birthday in a good condition we will consider it then.
'Rule'; Keep a rabbit in a large space
Broken 'Rule'; We kept Rosie in a 4ft by 1ft hutch when she first arrived
Why; because she had a spinal injury and we limited her movement for a larg part of the day so that she didn't injure herself further.
That's all common sense right? Know the rules and understand when to break them. There have been countless others that I've broken too, but these ones stick with me, the top two are very key and very present, and Rosie stays in my mind as one of my success stories because of how much she came on when we finally identified what her problems were.
So what rules have you broken? What ones are key at the moment? Most likely we've all done it, more than once because its part of being an owner.