Looking Back at How I Used to Keep my Rabbits Makes me Shudder

I have been going through all my Rabbit photos, back to my very first Rabbits in 1998. I cannot believe how awful my set ups were. It is thanks to RU that although far from perfect my Set-up is much better than it was. Even a certain slating I received on here a few years ago had an effect. At first I was devastated and felt bullied and 'picked on'. Whilst some of the comments made were carrying a hidden agenda I was able to take on board constructive criticism from the people who's opinions I respected.

Looking at the older photos today really does make me cringe. So thank you RU, who knows I may still be doing things the same old way if it were not for this Forum.

Its wonderful what a difference RU makes. I am sure you bunnies still had the best treatment and care with you.

I can't believe I had an eglu for about 18 months.

I think more people are likely to improve things with constructive critisism, not being slated and bullied. I have been lucky in the way my parents got me and my first rabbits 6ft hutches and runs because of their beliefs, however, i did keep a rabbit and guinea pig together all those years ago (14 yrs ago). We probably have all made silly mistakes

Me too- I shudder when I remember the hutches my childhood buns lived in- you can't change the past though, you can just make sure you don't repeat past mistakes xx

I did same Jane. Smirnoff did not have a good life initially & my attempt at bonding two un-neutered males so they had company, left me with a nervous Joey.
Worked out ok in the end though.

I think most of us could say the same thing Jane. Mine used to be kept in hutches ( although they did go out in runs every day) I wouldn't dream of it now - I have a shed and runs attached. I think aslong as you are always striving to improve things ( which you are as I remember you saying as you loose them the others will get more room) then you really can't do much more

I shudder at the rubbish diet that my first bun Bilbo had. It really could not have helped his already malformed teeth :-( I had not got a clue! I just took him away from a bad situation with no idea on how I was going to look after him. I didn't even want a rabbit, I thought they were boring. Oh my word how I was wrong! I feel so bad about a lot of things.

I did keep Bilbo free range in my bedroom, which was unheard of around here from 1997 onwards, people just thought I was weird! He litter trained himself and was a good boy, but when I think back to the dangers in my room I feel very stupid! I had wires every where! we were both so lucky he didn't chew them!. I fed him chocolate!!! how it didn't kill him I have no idea!. I let him free range in the garden for hours with poisonous plants and a pond around!! again stupid stupid stupid!!

I wish There was an RU back then. I could have done with a kick up the bum. I only changed my ways in 2004 when Gypsy the destroyer came along. I realised I needed to bunny proof and be more careful. Luckily the vet steered me towards a better diet by then. How Gypsy didn't blow the house up chewing through wires and cables I'll never know!! it makes me feel sick how stupid I was.

Jane, You have learnt so much and are a bunny guru to many. You are worlds apart from where I am, even though we have both kept bunnies for the same length of time. I'm still very unwise to so much and you are just amazing!

Agree with what others have said really. I'm quite lucky with Beano being my first rabbit, who I got in 2010. My parents don't really like rabbits so never got me and my sister any as younger children. Beano did spend a lot of time in a small cage but she was let out round my room on a regular basis. She was always vaccinated and was spayed when she was 8 months old, but only because she became very agressive and destructive, so that's when I researched about it and asked on another forum. She did however go outside on a unsuitable harness, had unlimited pellets and hay wasn't a great quality, she also had a lot of carrot and brocolli etc. But now she is happy and healthy, thanks to this forum!

got my first bun back in 1997 she was lovely abandoned rabbit, she lived outdoors in a large hutch and was covered over during winters etc, and then had a friend, the one thing i used to do was leave her free range in the garden which i wouldn;t dream of doing now, however she was the kind of rabbit known to scare off cats etc
i wouldn;t risk my rabbits these days outdoors unsupervised as they are house rabbits now, and i know there are foxes about and more dangers and pets being stolen
back tehn i ddn;t vaccinate but do now, saying that she did live to a grand old age estimated between 9-13yrs for a frenchie

I bought my first rabbit in 1997.

My oh my I've learnt so much since then. All for the benefit of my bunnies!:thumb::thumb:

I got my first rabbit in 1982, he lived with a guinea pig in a 3 ft hutch my grandad lovingly built for them. He only lived 7 days . Mum always promised me another one but I never had another bunny until 1998 when I brought my first house. I think that was a very good thing looking back!

The guinea pig lived for 18 months - we got a book from the library on how to look after piggies and it said they didn't need water as they got enough from veg we felt sorry for it not having water so gave it a bowl of bread and milk for breakfast every morning. Thank God things have changed so much now and all my piggies have lived to be around 8 years old

I too shudder. My first beautiful bunny did not have much of a life yet I was convinced I was giving him the best care

A rabbit and guinea pig sharing a small hutch, I gradually increased to what I thought was huge (2 storey 4 foot) with attached run. Eventually I went down the road of a shed and attached run, and separated buns from pigs but still had a lot to learn. bedded them on straw and fed them lettuce and gave them as much dried food as they wanted. Had a bunny with tummy problems (I wonder why:roll Only really joined this forum after a very special bunny died. Unfortunately if I had been on here before, I think she may still be here

I'll always regret that I could probably have helped her but didn't, but it will never happen with another bunny.

I never had rabbits as a child but all my friends did and I shudder at the memory of how those poor souls were kept When I first got Boris I was under the impression that rabbits were stupid as the ones my friends had would just sit in their hutches and do nothing, but now I realise that their inactivity wasn't due to not being intelligent, but rather to the fact they were cooped up in tiny hutches with no space to even move about properly

I never had Rabbits as a child, I was 38 when I bought my first ones. An impulse buy from Petsmart (now P@H) All the information about how to care for a Rabbit came from there. So for 3 Standard Rexes I was sold a 4ft single storey hutch and a big bag of Muesli Mix :thumb: Thankfully the Rabbits were kept indoors so never shut in the hutch. I went on to obtain two more Rabbits a few weeks later and thought all would be fine to have 5 unspayed Does living free range in an un-Bunny proofed lounge


All I will say is OH DEAR !!

When i got Amber - from a pet shop - i brought the biggest hutch they had as i wanted her to have as much space. It was a 2 level 4ft :roll: My good intentions were there, just the awareness wasn't.

Double post sorry, on my phone.

I hate thinking back to when I was wee and had my bunnies.
We gave them plenty of room, but fed the wrong things and the vet we used at the time knew nothing about buns.
beautys teeth overgrew so they put him down my first wee guy, I was 7 and thought I had it all figured out with my rabbit care book. didn't know how much he needed hay.
Then a good few years later tried to nurse three buns through myxi. Vet said no point fighting and put then down, even though I managed to get bouncy slightly better. And knew he wasn't ready to give up. Alas what can you do when your only wee and the adults 'know best'
So glad I know better now and have full control over what happens.

My dad built our first rabbit hutch before I was born. It was huge, I'm not even sure how big it was. He built it because they decided to put their flemish giant outside. She was free ranged indoors and litter trained but occasionally she left some poos and my sister was a baby/toddler at the time and kept trying to eat Lily's poo. she thought they were candy :shock::lol: It didn't have an attached run though, I don't think my parents knew about runs.

We always brought our rabbits indoors during a cold night (as you're supposed to do in Florida - or provide heat for them, since they don't grow a thick winter coat here) and we gave them free range time. They didn't have the best diet, they were fed mainly (good) pellets and veg, and sometimes a little fruit and grass. We didn't know how important hay is.

We didn't know they needed to be fixed either, we just thought it was for if you were housing males and females together, so we were going to get Chloe and Harry (our male/female pair of American fuzzy lops) neutered/spayed but Harry died not long after we got them (he was still a baby) He got a blockage (which did pass through) and even though he was taken to the vets and the vet thought he was going to live, he ended up dying during the night under the vet's care. The vet was so upset he didn't charge us anything. Luckily our buns weren't aggressive or anything from not being neutered/spayed and we did have female buns who lived together happily, despite not being spayed

Jack's-Jane said:

I never had Rabbits as a child, I was 38 when I bought my first ones. An impulse buy from Petsmart (now P@H) All the information about how to care for a Rabbit came from there. So for 3 Standard Rexes I was sold a 4ft single storey hutch and a big bag of Muesli Mix :thumb: Thankfully the Rabbits were kept indoors so never shut in the hutch. I went on to obtain two more Rabbits a few weeks later and thought all would be fine to have 5 unspayed Does living free range in an un-Bunny proofed lounge


All I will say is OH DEAR !!

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:lol: You did a me:lol: I always get nervous when newbies go from zero to a large number of buns within a few weeks. Really hypercritical cos it's exactly what I did:lol:

We had bunnies when I was younger, and they always had a lot of space, but not the right diet at all. They were fed on a cheap mix, and we didn't know they needed hay for anything other than bedding.
The same when I got my own bunnies in my twenties. They had lots of room, but entirely the wrong diet, and the guinea pigs lived with them as well. At least now they get all the hay they need and are vaccinated.