What 'rules' have you broken?

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.

Well you've got a reason for them all

Since knowing the rule about space I've broken it with Nutmeg and kept her in a small space where Mini injured her leg, that was under vet's advice anyway though. Not sure if there are any others I specifically have broken with mine once I became aware of them.

As Sky has mentioned...

Ginger's currently not doing so well, and it would be wrong for me to even try to vaccinate her, as her immune system probably wouldn't cope, on top of the pummelling its taking from her pasteurella and we're treating that.

The rule is VACCINATE OR ELSE in a way, but im breaking that rule, for very good reasons.

ETA: Sky knows a lot about Ginger, she has Ginger's brothers and sisters and so genetically, knows about Ginger

I dont know if this is a rule.

The new rescued bunny I got Monday last week is 5 years old approximately. Used for breeding. I expect her life was horrendous from what I was told. She was very very nervous and scared when I brought her home. If I ever went near her she would cower.
I let her have a run on the 3rd day but she just hid under some furniture.

I have not let her out properly so she can adapt to her new environment and to get to know and trust me too. She is happy with Sunshine. Also making very good progress. She doesn't cower anymore and rarely runs away. As the days go on she is now starting to run up to me.

I suppose its like building up her confidence and taking it slowly. I have left the hutch door open but she shows no interest in wanting to come out.

Bluebell is also due vaccs but I have no intention of compromising his immune system any more and my vet wouldn't vaccinate him even if I wanted him too.

I've also kept single bunnies but it was purely an interim measure before they were neutered/spayed.

Non.

Not vaccinating pearl wasn't a rule break, it was an Informed decision with the full support of my vet.

I bend the claw clipping rule, but don't break it.

Barn Yard Bunnies said:

I dont know if this is a rule.

The new rescued bunny I got Monday last week is 5 years old approximately. Used for breeding. I expect her life was horrendous from what I was told. She was very very nervous and scared when I brought her home. If I ever went near her she would cower.
I let her have a run on the 3rd day but she just hid under some furniture.

I have not let her out properly so she can adapt to her new environment and to get to know and trust me too. She is happy with Sunshine. Also making very good progress. She doesn't cower anymore and rarely runs away. As the days go on she is now starting to run up to me.

I suppose its like building up her confidence and taking it slowly. I have left the hutch door open but she shows no interest in wanting to come out.

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That sounds similar to what I did for Roger, only I confine him because I was terrified he would harm himself in a bigger space, running in a blind panic.

To everyone so far, I think its good to know of people breaking rules in appropriate circumstances, so thank you for sharing I think it puts things into perspective a bit more

donnamt said:

Non.

Not vaccinating pearl wasn't a rule break, it was an Informed decision with the full support of my vet.

I bend the claw clipping rule, but don't break it.

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But that does go against the whole 'vaccinate your rabbits' thing, same as me and Amy's (who also both have our vets support and agreement), because it was better to do something away from 'the norm'.

Grim wasn't vaccinated for about three years due to his health and it was only reluctantly that I did it once he'd recovered from his jaw abscesses.

I have also broken the rule 'don't put inside rabbit outside in the winter'. Grim's eyes were horrendous and I narrowed it down to the fact that it was the heating causing problems. He wasn't moving, eating but sitting in the same place all day. So I borrowed snuggle safes, covered the hutch in fleeces and had it in a small, warm alcove. He perked up and was running around within the first hour and his eyes cleared up within a week.

You've gotta break a rule if following it means more harm for the bunny! That's careful and good pet ownership :wave:

Sky-O said:

But that does go against the whole 'vaccinate your rabbits' thing, same as me and Amy's (who also both have our vets support and agreement), because it was better to do something away from 'the norm'.

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I don't think it does personally. If she wasn't dying she would have had the jab.

I have smudge in a small cage due to the fact she is very scared of larger spaces, i had built her cage bigger but she was a nervous wreck i noticed in the temp cage for cleaning out she was much happier and wasnt shaking like in open spaces, i even had her out in the living room but she was so scared she ran back to her cage and climbed the side till i opened the door and she jumped in so quick and ran to her bed took her ages to come out of her bed but ive found that she is happy in her new smaller cage and has started being hand fed she even runs up to you and nudges your hand for treats now but just wont come out the cage so im going to really slowly extend her cage (made of nic panels) she currently only has 3 squares as thats the size she was happy in but im going to extend it to 4 then when she is comfortable for a while up to 5 etc hopefully i can get her used to open spaces and one day she will be happy running around as a free roam bunny

Jenova said:

Grim wasn't vaccinated for about three years due to his health and it was only reluctantly that I did it once he'd recovered from his jaw abscesses.

I have also broken the rule 'don't put inside rabbit outside in the winter'. Grim's eyes were horrendous and I narrowed it down to the fact that it was the heating causing problems. He wasn't moving, eating but sitting in the same place all day. So I borrowed snuggle safes, covered the hutch in fleeces and had it in a small, warm alcove. He perked up and was running around within the first hour and his eyes cleared up within a week.

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That's a brilliant example! Not one I have ever had to consider.

And

PixieRabbit said:

You've gotta break a rule if following it means more harm for the bunny! That's careful and good pet ownership

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I completely agree. :thumb:

Spay/Neuter - My boys are not done. I can't see the point at the minute. They are not humpy monsters and they're outdoors so spraying is not an issue. I don't wan't to do it for no good reason. (I am however doing it soon to try to bond a foursome)

Neutral Territory - When bonding Lilly and Carlisle I let her date him in his shed (she was indoor at the time) Both buns are so friendly and instantly loved each other I knew (god knows how but I did) they wouldn't fight even over territory.

Chicken Wire - I've used it on the run attached to Dexter and Jaspers hutch. If I had not they would be in their hutch most of the time as the only other runs I have have no roof and I have to suppervise playtime in them. Believe me I worry about it all the time but until I have enought cash for an alternative I think its better than no run at all. Also beacuse of the cheapnes of it it gives them a huge amount of space for now.

'Rule'; Keep a rabbit in a large space
Broken 'Rule'; We kept Roly in a 4ft by 1ft hutch when he first arrived
Why: We had a larger hutch made for him a few weeks after we got him home. However we were also advised to put him into the new hutch with his new partner so he had to wait three months before Honey came up in rescue do that they could go in together.