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Thinking of taking on a rescue rabbit

joannem

New Kit
Hi all,
Me and my OH had outdoor rabbits a few years ago (now all at the bridge) and have been thinking recently about getting a house rabbit. I was thinking a medium breed and went to look around a rescue at the weekend and fell for one of the rabbits there, a 3yr old spayed french lop. Shes on the snall side for a frenchie but still quite large. Our set up would be a 36inx36in dog crate for when we are not in (max 4hrs a day because we have dogs and dont like to leave them longer than that) with free range of the downstairs the rest of the time. The rescue said this would be fine but after looking on here im worried it would be way too small for her. im also concerned about her being alone as all our other rabbits have been spayed/castrated male/female pairs and im not sure about having two french lops in my house and the size of dog crate i would need for them.
I dont want to get her and then not be able to give her the space or companionship she needs, she has always lived alone so does that mean she would be better staying alone? if it would be better for her to have a companion would it be best to have another french lop or could it be a smaller rabbit?
Would a baby male (who would be neutered) be best for a match and would i be best bringing them both home together or to bring her home, let her settle and then try bonding with another rabbit?
Sorry for all the questions I just want to know whats best now so that if i do decide to rehome her im doing best for her from the beginning and that if i cant do whats best for her i dont get her.
thank jo
 
Well done for wanting to rescue :) Which rescue did you go to? Did they say she would need a friend? There are buns out there that need to stay on their own if you really can only have one, but I think most buns would prefer a bunny friend. :)
 
Hi & welcome to RU :wave:
Its great that you are looking for advice and want to do the right thing by any bunnies you might adopt, shows you want to give your best for them. :)
I am not sure about French Lops in terms of size but I would probably tend to agree that 3ft is too small for a bunny to be shut in regularly. Have you heard of NIC cubes at all? They are mesh panels that you can get from B&Q or online and then you can build your own pen for the bunny - but probably wouldnt offer much security/safety from your dogs. Would there be somewhere you would be able to leave the bunny away from the dogs while you are out? Like a spare room or something that you can close the door? Have a look in the housing section, there are some good ideas in there for indoor set-ups, there is a sticky at the top which shows pics etc.
Most bunnies do need companionship of their own kind, even though she will get lots of attention from you by being in the house. Has the rescue got any single neutered bunnies she could be bonded with? Will they do the bonding for you? I am definitely not an expert on bonding to say the least, so will leave others to offer advice on that.

She sounds lovely by the way so hope you can work something out. :)
 
Its animal care in lancaster. shes utterly adorable and hopped around the pen following me around and came up for a head rub when i opened the door :love:
Unfortunatley they just dont have time to do the bonding for me. I have been looking around the forum and noticed the puppy pens people have used. That could be possible or a xxx large dog crate if i get rid of the sofa in my kitchen.
If it was a pen i would keep the dogs shut out of the kitchen if i wasnt home, i did think about giving her run of the kitchen but have to admit im worried about my cabinets.
A small local rescue has a 9week old male for adoption and have told me if i bring them home together then neuter him as soon as he drops they should be fine together but im not sure. She will only of just been spayed so wont she be sore?
Would her companion have to be another french lop?
Thank you for the replies.
 
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Its animal care in lancaster. shes utterly adorable and hopped around the pen following me around and came up for a head rub when i opened the door :love:
Unfortunatley they just dont have time to do the bonding for me. I have been looking around the forum and noticed the puppy pens people have used. That could be possible or a xxx large dog crate if i get rid of the sofa in my kitchen.
If it was a pen i would keep the dogs shut out of the kitchen if i wasnt home, i did think about giving her run of the kitchen but have to admit im worried about my cabinets.
A small local rescue has a 9week old male for adoption and have told me if i bring them home together then neuter him as soon as he drops they should be fine together but im not sure. She will only of just been spayed so wont she be sore?
Would her companion have to be another french lop?
Thank you for the replies.

She sounds adorable :D

The housing ideas sound good. The kitchen sounds a good place. :)
Would the other rescue be able to bond them for you at all (once both have been neutered and recovered)? Hopefully others on here will be along soon and can advise about bonding.
 
Hi and welcome!

Well done for wanting to take on a rescue rabbit.

Most people will advise a pair of bunnies, however it doesn't always work and you would need to be prepared for this. If a bun has to be single then being a house rabbit, I am sure, is the best way to do it.

I would just say, be sure you have considered the cost of 2 bunnies for vaccinations (myxi 2x per year each and VHD 1 x a year - mine cost about £18 per vacc's per rabbit), insurance if you want (mine costs £26 a month for the 2 of them), and extra reserves to pay for excess on vets visits - I think my excess is about £60 so a vet visit is still gonna cost you.

Good luck with making your decision and I look forward to seeing pictures.
 
Hi

frech lops are lovely!!!! XXX large dog crates are about 4 ft and you can add a 'shelf' or even two shelves so she can have more room.

It would be a squeeze for two lops though, and tbh as she will have company a lot of the time I suspect that she would be ok (I would ONLY say this with a houserabbit who has company of humans almost all the time).

You can always consider whether she seems to need a friend after you get to know her:D
 
Hi and welcome!

Well done for wanting to take on a rescue rabbit.

Most people will advise a pair of bunnies, however it doesn't always work and you would need to be prepared for this. If a bun has to be single then being a house rabbit, I am sure, is the best way to do it.

I would just say, be sure you have considered the cost of 2 bunnies for vaccinations (myxi 2x per year each and VHD 1 x a year - mine cost about £18 per vacc's per rabbit), insurance if you want (mine costs £26 a month for the 2 of them), and extra reserves to pay for excess on vets visits - I think my excess is about £60 so a vet visit is still gonna cost you.

Good luck with making your decision and I look forward to seeing pictures.

Thats what worries me, i dont think i could keep two bunnies seperate and have enough space/time for them both.

I have a empty credit card i use for the pets, i have to pay the dog fees upfront and claim back on insurance so the smae would apply for rabbits.
 
I would think that size crate would be too small for a french lop, and especially 2. I think french lops are around 4.5kg? I have a 3.4kg bun and I couldnt shut him in even a 4ft dog crate over night and for 4 hours in the day. He is 2ft long when lying down, I'm sure french lops would be bigger.

I think the best thing would either be a pen or NIC cage, or free-range. You should be able to tell whether she is a chewer from whether she chews her hutch. Have a look at the indoor housing sticky in the housing section. My pen is a weird shape but I estimate it to be over 20sqft, and I wouldnt put french lops in anything smaller overnight, in fact I'd probably go bigger, here's some pics to give you an idea (each foam tile is 2x2ft):
http://i1081.photobucket.com/albums/j344/Nessa_Roche/SAM_2221.jpg
http://i1081.photobucket.com/albums/j344/Nessa_Roche/SAM_2225.jpg

You're right in thinking she should have a friend of her own kind, as much as you'd like to stay with her all day and night it isnt practical, and a rabbit really should have a friend 24/7. If you would prefer a single rabbit though, they are about. Normally ones that refuse to bond or cant be neutered for one reason or another. My rabbit's mother is one such rabbit: http://www.rabbitrehome.org.uk/moreinfo.asp?RabID=25978

I would say you really need to have an agreement with the rescue that if the new boy does not bond with her that they will take him back and try another. If the rescue will not bond them, you can do so at home, and it will be best to bring them home at the same time, so you dont have any issues with territory. But bear in mind the bonding process involves you staying with them all day and night (yes you have to sleep next to the bonding pen :lol: ) for a minimum of 2 days, preferably more. They have to be supervised constantly. It wasnt a problem for me, as I'm a student and was on Easter holidays when I bonded mine, but if you work you may have to take some days off, as it can often take longer than 2 days.

Another thing to consider is your dogs, are you sure they will be fine interacting with the rabbit? Obviously introductions need to be made slowly and it can work out between predator and prey, although I wouldnt leave them unattended together, but dogs with a high prey drive may never be able to live with a rabbit safely, its not their fault, just instinct. Is there somewhere safe that the rabbit can live if the dogs decide she is dinner?
 
Hi

frech lops are lovely!!!! XXX large dog crates are about 4 ft and you can add a 'shelf' or even two shelves so she can have more room.

It would be a squeeze for two lops though, and tbh as she will have company a lot of the time I suspect that she would be ok (I would ONLY say this with a houserabbit who has company of humans almost all the time).

You can always consider whether she seems to need a friend after you get to know her:D

agree with this ...

rabbits do like bunny company ...but better a loving indoor home as a single bun than no home at all :)
 
i think if it was just a base and not actually ever shut then it would be ok (ie somewhere with a litter tray food and water.) then give her free run of the kitchen personally sounds best to me. in terms of a larger base that would be best of course maybe a 48/52inch dog crate with a puppy pen for when not home or nic cubes and then when home free run? x
 
thanks again for all the advice.
I think it has to be a much bigger cage/pen etc,,, or small cage as a base thats never closed with run of kitchen so both those things are something i have to think about.
Again the friend issue is something i will have to consider, i think shes a cross as i went to see some french lops last night and although she is big she is no where near as big as them! So having space for a friend and what size friend is something else im going to think about.

Im quite confident where the dogs are concerned, its only our youngest who has never lived with rabbits before and the others were fine with our previous buns. They are gun dogs so were taught from a very early age not to chase and dont even chase wild rabbits when out on a walk. They also live happily with two cats, two guinea pigs and some chickens who all get on without any problems. The youngest jumps in the guinea pigs cage when im cleaning them out to steal their food :roll: I think the fact she is a big rabbit and is three will also help, she seems very calm and laid back, although of course i would never leave a rabbit free ranging with the dogs.

so much to think about, hope i answered everyones questions.
 
Do you have a room where the dogs don't go that you could rabbit proof? I spent money buying crates and NIC cubes (though the latter I did reuse in proofing) and in the end I found the best solution was just to allocate a room as their and bunny proof it and give them supervised playtime in other rooms.
 
Do you have a room where the dogs don't go that you could rabbit proof? I spent money buying crates and NIC cubes (though the latter I did reuse in proofing) and in the end I found the best solution was just to allocate a room as their and bunny proof it and give them supervised playtime in other rooms.

dogs dont go upstairs but im not sure about being able to rabbit proof a bedroom, or being completley honest if i want to (please dont hate me for that) will have to have a think about that.
 
dogs dont go upstairs but im not sure about being able to rabbit proof a bedroom, or being completley honest if i want to (please dont hate me for that) will have to have a think about that.

I have rabbit proofed a bedroom and I love having them in there with me but it does have it's challenges. Some bunnies do tend to wee on beds, it is something you can do things to help but you have to really want them to be there with you and be ready to have to adapt. Some rabbits can be noisy at night (mine aren't, they are lazy so-and-so's) so if you're a light sleeper it might not work (I'm not, a herd of elephants could walk through and I wouldn't wake). But it's really lovely having them around, when they come up onto the bed just to see what you are doing, when they snuggle up to you in the morning for a cuddle and some fuss, when every time you walk into the bedroom you know you are going to get greeted. :love:
 
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