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My sisters freind wants a rabbit!

rabbitdan

Mama Doe
My little sisters friend wants a rabbit.

im making a list for her of things she needs to know before hand.

so far ive got:
1. 6ft hutch
2. Pair
3. must have neutered

anything else?????
 
6x2 Hutch £50-70
Exercise space (run) attached to hutch £50-100
Vaccines costs a year for two rabbits £120 VHD once a year Myxi twice a year.
Both rabbits neutered reduces risk of cancer. £50-100 per rabbit
Hay and pellet food
Greens.

Don't want to put anyone off, but adding prices helps to warn the person before they own a rabbit, and helps them make the decision if they can cope.
:wave:
 
6x2 Hutch £50-70
Exercise space (run) attached to hutch £50-100
Vaccines costs a year for two rabbits £120 VHD once a year Myxi twice a year.
Both rabbits neutered reduces risk of cancer. £50-100 per rabbit
Hay and pellet food
Greens.

Don't want to put anyone off, but adding prices helps to warn the person before they own a rabbit, and helps them make the decision if they can cope.
:wave:


good idea. will put prices on it
 
:wave: If you pm me your address, I'll send you one of my "Myths and Facts of owning a pet Rabbit" leaflets... a bit more "warts and all" than the RWA ones.

p.s. it was proof read by my rabbit savvy Vet
 
Heres what ive done. please tell me of anything you think i should add.

Rabbits should live in pairs or groups. They live in groups in the wild so it’s natural for them. If kept alone, your rabbit will be lonely and unhappy. This could make your rabbit grumpy and unfriendly. Rabbits kept in pairs must be neutered to prevent fighting. Male rabbits usually make better pets for kids as they are calmer. Female rabbits may become hormonal and aggressive if not neutered. A rabbit average lifespan is around 8 years.

You need to provide a large hutch for your rabbits to live in. The ideal size for two rabbits is a 6ft x 2ft hutch, preferably with an attached run, but this is not essential. If you don’t have an attached run then you will need to buy a portable run for your rabbits to use in the summer this must be 6ft x 4ft minimum. It’s cheaper in the long run to get a hutch and run combination. This website sells good quality hutches at a good price www.happyhutch.co.uk Make sure you don’t get a hutch from a pet shop, these are bad quality and won’t last very long at all.

The majority (70%) of your rabbit’s diet should be hay. The best place to get hay in Winchester is Scats as they supply good quality hay at a lower price than a pet shop. The rest of your rabbit’s diet should be dry rabbit food. You will need to provide a bowl for this. Pellet foods are better than muesli style food as the rabbits don’t just eat the bits they like. You can supplement your rabbit’s diet with vegetables. You don’t need to buy vegetables especially for your rabbit, peelings and off cuts from the vegetables you eat will be fine. If your rabbits are young then they will need more pellets than an adult rabbit. I use 60g a day for my two rabbits. When they were babies I used about 100g of pellets for them both.

Your rabbit should have a layer of wood shavings covering the base of the hutch. The bedroom compartment should have a generous amount of straw. You should get a cat litter tray to fill with hay. You can buy purpose made hay racks but these are so small they are useless. You can litter train your rabbits like you would a cat. You should use the hay box for this as rabbits like to eat while they poop! Just place some soiled bedding into the tray and they should get the idea.

You can get rabbits in a few places – pet shop, breeder or rescue. If you get a rabbit from a pets shop or breeder then you will have to pay for neutering later on. This is quite expensive. However if you get rabbits from a rescue that are already neutered then you won’t have this expense later. Rabbits are put into rescues for lots of different reasons. The majority of rabbits that are in rescues are in there through no fault of their own. So please think about rescuing.

Product Price
6ft hutch (and run combo) £100 (£154.99)
Dodson and Horrell pellets 20kg (this will last about ages) £7 – 8 at Scats
Hay and straw £3 each
Bowl £2
Water bottle £3
Wood shavings (massive bag) £10
Neutering for male rabbit £60 – 80 each
Neutering for female rabbit £80 + each
Rabbit £25 +
Run (if don’t buy a combo) £70

Please join http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/ it’s a forum where you can find out rabbit care and talk to other rabbit owners. It’s free!
I’m a member on there. I’m called rabbitdan
 
I've made some suggestions, because some of what you've written is wrong:wave:

Heres what ive done. please tell me of anything you think i should add.

Rabbits should live in pairs or groups. They live in groups in the wild so it’s natural for them. If kept alone, your rabbit will be lonely and unhappy. This could make your rabbit grumpy and unfriendly. Rabbits kept in pairs must be neutered to prevent fighting. Male rabbits usually make better pets for kids as they are calmer. not neccessarily true. Female rabbits may become hormonal and aggressive if not neutered. A rabbit average lifespan is around 8 years.

You need to provide a large hutch for your rabbits to live in. The ideal size for two rabbits is a 6ft x 2ft hutch, preferably with an attached run, but this is not essential. If you don’t have an attached run then you will need to buy a portable run for your rabbits to use in the summer this must be 6ft x 4ft minimum. It’s cheaper in the long run to get a hutch and run combination. This website sells good quality hutches at a good price www.happyhutch.co.uk Make sure you don’t get a hutch from a pet shop, these are bad quality and won’t last very long at all.

The majority (70%) 80/90% actuallyof your rabbit’s diet should be hay. The best place to get hay in Winchester is Scats as they supply good quality hay at a lower price than a pet shop. The rest of your rabbit’s diet should be dry rabbit food. You will need to provide a bowl for this. Pellet foods are better than muesli style food as the rabbits don’t just eat the bits they like. You can supplement your rabbit’s diet with vegetables. You don’t need to buy vegetables especially for your rabbit, peelings and off cuts from the vegetables you eat will be fine. If your rabbits are young then they will need more pellets than an adult rabbit. I use 60g a day for my two rabbits. When they were babies I used about 100g of pellets for them both.rabbits should only have an eggcup of pellets a day unless advised by a vet for health reasons.

Your rabbit should have a layer of wood shavings covering the base of the hutch. NO. woodshavings are very, very bad.The bedroom compartment should have a generous amount of straw. You should get a cat litter tray to fill with hay. You can buy purpose made hay racks but these are so small they are useless. You can litter train your rabbits like you would a cat. You should use the hay box for this as rabbits like to eat while they poop! Just place some soiled bedding into the tray and they should get the idea.

You can get rabbits in a few places – pet shop, breeder or rescue. If you get a rabbit from a pets shop or breeder then you will have to pay for neutering later on. This is quite expensive. However if you get rabbits from a rescue that are already neutered then you won’t have this expense later. Rabbits are put into rescues for lots of different reasons. The majority of rabbits that are in rescues are in there through no fault of their own. So please think about rescuing.

Product Price
6ft hutch (and run combo) £100 (£154.99)
Dodson and Horrell pellets 20kg (this will last about ages) £7 – 8 at Scats
Hay and straw £3 each
Bowl £2
Water bottle £3
Wood shavings (massive bag) £10please get rid of this, shavings are so bad for bunnies.:(
Neutering for male rabbit £60 – 80 each
Neutering for female rabbit £80 + each
Rabbit £25 +
Run (if don’t buy a combo) £70

Please join http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/ it’s a forum where you can find out rabbit care and talk to other rabbit owners. It’s free!
I’m a member on there. I’m called rabbitdan
 
I've made some suggestions, because some of what you've written is wrong:wave:

i use woodshavings. never had any problem :? shall i say newspaper and straw instead?

and one of my rabbits nearly died as he only had an egg cup of pellets when i first got him.

and i believe, from personal experiance that males are calmer
 
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How old is your sisters friend?

I think it needs adding in that rabbits are not good childrens pets. Most do not like to be cuddled, and most do not like to be picked up.

The parent/s need to take full responsability. If the child does not clean it out, then the rabbit CANNOT be left, the parents must do it. Same with feeding, watering, and exercising.

They can cost a LOT in vets fees, a single emergency vet appointment is £100+ and if they stop eating, they HAVE to go, even at night.

An outdoors hutch MUST be foxproof.

They are destructive as a species. If they are house/garden proud and are going to blame the rabbit, they shouldn't think of it.

Need teeth regullary checking, dentals cost at least £80+ if there are problems.
 
i use woodshavings. never had any problem :? shall i say newspaper and straw instead?

and one of my rabbits nearly died as he only had an egg cup of pellets when i first got him.

and i believe, from personal experiance that males are calmer

Newspaper and straw/hay is much better. Whether you want to believe it or not, woodshavings are awful. So many people say they've "never had a problem", but it's so much better to just not take the risk.

When you first get rabbits you're not supposed to just give them an eggcup of pellets, you're supposed to gradually decrease the amount they get. Of course you're going to have issues if you think you can just give an eggcup straight away if they've been having more than that!:)

And I just think it's better to take out the whole "males are calmer" thing, because rabbits are most definitely not childrens' pets anyway:)
 
Newspaper and straw/hay is much better. Whether you want to believe it or not, woodshavings are awful. So many people say they've "never had a problem", but it's so much better to just not take the risk.

When you first get rabbits you're not supposed to just give them an eggcup of pellets, you're supposed to gradually decrease the amount they get. Of course you're going to have issues if you think you can just give an eggcup straight away if they've been having more than that!:)

And I just think it's better to take out the whole "males are calmer" thing, because rabbits are most definitely not childrens' pets anyway:)

ok thanks for your advice
 
How old is your sisters friend?

I think it needs adding in that rabbits are not good childrens pets. Most do not like to be cuddled, and most do not like to be picked up.

The parent/s need to take full responsability. If the child does not clean it out, then the rabbit CANNOT be left, the parents must do it. Same with feeding, watering, and exercising.

They can cost a LOT in vets fees, a single emergency vet appointment is £100+ and if they stop eating, they HAVE to go, even at night.

An outdoors hutch MUST be foxproof.

They are destructive as a species. If they are house/garden proud and are going to blame the rabbit, they shouldn't think of it.

Need teeth regullary checking, dentals cost at least £80+ if there are problems.

Hi Steph,

Can i just ask what sort of vets you go to? As you sound like you are being way over charged! My emergency appointments cost £60 and dental checks are £30. So either I found a great vet that specialises in small animals which is great priced. Or you are way overcharged!!

xx
 
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