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Advice please?

Hello,

There’s a wealth of information here and I’d be very silly not to take advantage.

I’m considering getting a male mini lop house rabbit and the two options seem to be either getting one from a breeder or re-homing one from a rescue or another owner.

If I go down the breeder route, there are plenty of cute kits being advertised but as I don’t want to encourage irresponsible breeders, I am currently looking for reputable ones. Unfortunately I’m struggling to find good ones that are near me and that I’m happy with. I was wondering whether my expectations are too high. Is it unreasonable to expect a breeder to:

• have all her adult rabbits vaccinated against Myxomatosis and VHD
• keep each of her adult rabbits in hutches that are at least 4ft by 2ft by 2ft
• give her rabbits a minimum of 3 hours of free running each day
• not breed more litters if she still has a lot to find homes for


I did visit a breeder recently but without asking many questions beforehand so was very disappointed in how her rabbits were kept and bred. Can any of you recommend a good breeder within a reasonable distance of London? So as not to stress the rabbit.

I also wonder that when a breeder says they breed healthy kits, to what extent do they know this? Do breeders keep their breeding rabbits for long enough to see whether they develop problems or do they re-home them and start using other rabbits after a few years?

If I re-home one from a rescue or another owner, I’m worried that they may be more likely to develop health problems later on (emphasis on the ‘may’!). Also, rescues seem to prefer that you already have a rabbit or are looking for a pair. I completely understand why and if I get a rabbit, at some point I do expect to get another pet (though it may not necessarily be a rabbit), but having no experience of rabbits before, I’m not keen on taking on the task of house training two to begin with.

I’ve read that house training an adult rabbit is easier than a young one and if I re-home a house rabbit who was already house trained (to some extent), that would be helpful.

Any help/advice would really be appreciated, thank you. (And if you think I'm putting too much thought into this, please also let me know!)
 
Hi :wave: This is a pro-rescue forum, so generally we encourage people to adopt from rescues. Adopting from rescues means that you often get a bonded pair - rabbits are not solitary animals so cope better with a friend - that is neutured/spayed and vaccinated. I am being slightly hypocritical as I got my two in October last year from a breeder (I would heartily recommend this breeder, although this breeder is in Peterborough so probably too far for you!) but when I get more rabbits in the future they will definitely come from a rescue. Although, it is entirely your choice of course and if you want to go for a breeder, then as you say, please do try and find a respectable one. I'm not sure if breeding does can be vaccinated? I may be wrong here, but I didn't think you could vaccinate does that are often pregnant? Like I say, may be wrong! Other than that, I agree with all of your other bullet points. Although my breeder I got Alfie and Roobear from, her rabbits were kept in her large leanto at the side of her house, and the hutches may well have been slightly bigger but they may have had less time out, I wasn't sure. She also had some rabbits outside that had binky time in the garden, and has 3 house bunnies, one of which is an un neutered stud, that live together. My breeder I went to, who I will happily link the website so you can see her standards if you would like, often rehomes her breeding does after about 18 months-two years I think, so they are not a breeding machine. She sometimes keeps babies from her current litters and also gives mums a few months off between litters.

If you adopt from a rescue, most rabbits that come in are neutured/will be neutured before being adopted. This means they are, generally speaking, litter trained! So you won't have to worry about litter training! It is also cheaper than buying a kit and getting it neutured/spayed. Rescue is a good way forward though as you can make a difference in bunnies lives, some have spent years in a rescue waiting for a home! There are several rescues on this forum, or on the Rabbit Rehome website as well :wave:
 
I think when you think about it the likelihood of getting a rabbit with health issues is equal whether from breeder (possible bad conditions) or from rescue (possible past bad ownership). But with a rescue they will tell you the rabbits past and will have been able to observe and will probably know about any issues up front.

Also it's a good idea to get a pair rather than a single rabbit. They communicate in ways we only just begin to understand. Rescues will often have pairs that are vaccinated, neutered, bonded and ready to go to their forever home. Also good rescues will provide backup and experience to help you along the way.
 
Rabbits tend to train themselves usually, by nature they go to the toilet in the same place each time, so put a litter tray with lots of hay in where they go to the toilet, and when they are using it, if you want it in a different place, you can gradually move it to where you want it :wave: if you leave some droppings etc in the tray so the bunny can smell it they will go back to the tray next time :D

I hope you get rescue buns, I got two mini lops 2 years ago from a breeder but that was before I knew about all the bunnies in rescues :( I felt so bad when I found out that I then rescued 2 more buns!! :lol:
 
It is a lot easier to start with a pair than form one later TBH.
I think health wise rescue rabbits are no more likely to develop health problems than any other.
I would be looking for a minimum hutch size of 6x2x2.

If you got a pair of adult house rabbits from a rescue there would already be vacc and neutered saving you money and you could poss get a pair that have been fostered in a house environment so are already litter trained.
If you get a baby, litter train them and then introduce another rabbit later on the chances are you will have to relitter train the first rabbit anyway so it's just as easy to do two together. If you get a young male rabbit there is a good chance he will spray urine until he is neutered.
 
Thank you

Thank you for all your advice, that's really helpful.

Jemima, if you wouldn't mind sending me that link, that would be great, though I think it's clear that I need to look into rescue centres more and also the possbility of adopting two bunnies rather than one.
 
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