rescuing my little rabbit but what next?

I am going to be adopting a little female rabbit in a few days she is 5 months old has a hutch and Ive been told she is very tame . She will be for myself and three year old,we havea eenclosed large garden where she will be able to run and play but she will be kept outside. there are a few things I'm concerned about and before I get to collect her want to check it all out. Can u help??

1: she is alone never been kept with another rabbit will I he able to add a friend in the future?
2: If I can add a friend I want to make sure I vaccinate due to the cost for both bunnies can a guinea be added? People have done this for years rho I have read now iTS not seen as a good idea.
3: will she be OK in a hutch with a thermal cover on in winter? I have a garage tho it would be awfully dark for her till I visit her each day.
Last question I'm in the UK but wondered how much it costs to keep a rabbit now day's? Internet says £15 a week on bedding alone?!

Thanks for reading.

Hi welcome to the forum :wave:

1) I would think, unless the rescue says she is not good with other rabbits, that in future she could be bonded with a friend. But bear in mind if it goes pear shaped you'll end up having to keep two rabbits separately so be prepared!
2) I'm not sure I entirely got this question right but here goes Vaccinations and neutering/spaying are a must, even if she didn't have a friend. And no you can't keep guinea pigs and rabbits together, it just doesn't work. Not to mention two buns and a guinea! :shock:
3) It really depends on how cold it gets to be honest, I think you have to be prepared to bring her inside if it really gets that bad, but she should be okay. Providing she has lots of shelter and bedding - a friend would keep her warmer!
4) It's difficult to budget, better to just assume they can be really quite expensive!

In terms of prices there is a thread called "how much do you spend on your rabbits" where people have been sharing costs. Do you have a hutch and run? If just a hutch you will need a run too so rabbit has 24 hour access.

Alibunbun said:

Hi welcome to the forum :wave:

1) I would think, unless the rescue says she is not good with other rabbits, that in future she could be bonded with a friend. But bear in mind if it goes pear shaped you'll end up having to keep two rabbits separately so be prepared!
2) I'm not sure I entirely got this question right but here goes Vaccinations and neutering/spaying are a must, even if she didn't have a friend. And no you can't keep guinea pigs and rabbits together, it just doesn't work. Not to mention two buns and a guinea! :shock:
3) It really depends on how cold it gets to be honest, I think you have to be prepared to bring her inside if it really gets that bad, but she should be okay. Providing she has lots of shelter and bedding - a friend would keep her warmer!
4) It's difficult to budget, better to just assume they can be really quite expensive!

Click to expand...

This pretty much.

We get through about a bag or so of hay a week ( the big bags that it) and veggies for costing. That's for 2 rabbits. They only need a tiny handful of pellets so the bags last ages! You can make loads of toys cheaply too. Mine like toilet roll tubes stuffed with hay and cardboard boxes and the argues book for shredding. Vets by far are the most expensive thing but insurance can help with that.

I dot think keeping 2 rabbits is much different in costs to a lone bunny. Lots and lots of rescues have hundreds of potential friends and are usually helpful with bonding whereas pet shops don't offer that service. The vaccinations range in price but are loads cheaper and less traumatic than mixi treatment

When I got my first ever rabbit, he was attacking a Guinea pig. Rabbits can be massive bullies and they can pass on diseases I think so they not the best of friends like we were told when I was a kid!

I have house rabbits so I can't advise about outside but I'm sure someone else will be able to soon!

Good luck with your new hairy friend.

1. I would, and I'm sure everyone else on this forum will as well, to get her a friend when she has been neutered/vaccinated. Bunnies love company. Even if they seem happy on their own, they still love having company and it helps to stop them from getting bored.
2. People don't recommend keeping guinea pigs and rabbits together because of the sizes etc. Even Pets at Home don't recommend it.. If you want to save money on vaccinations and neutering, you should adopt a rescue rabbit, they are usually vaccinated and neutered when you get them.
3. Rabbit deal a lot better with the cold than they do with the heat, so I would say she will probably be fine. Just give her extra bedding in winter and make sure that she has a bedroom area that isn't going to be in a cold breeze. They need an area where they can get all cosy and keep warm.

Rabbits can be expensive to keep, depending on what you feed them and use for bedding. My rabbits have a shed which is carpeted, so I spend virtually no money on bedding, because they just have carpet instead. It saves soo much money if you use carpet. You have to litter train them though, otherwise the carpet would get ruined really quickly. You still have to provide unlimited hay, but you can get pretty basic hay for like £3 from supermarkets. My rabbits free range all day on the grass, so they hardly eat any hay. Why eat dried grass when you can have fresh stuff? :lol:
We buy big bags of Excel pellets for £20, and that usually lasts for a whole month, so that's not too expensive at all. You need to also think about toys as well, I like to buy mine new toys every month, but to be honest, they don't play with them all. I just like doing it for the fun of buying them. :lol:

As other people have said, does she have a run attached to the hutch? She really needs to have access to a run 24/7. Even if she gets hours in the garden when you are home from work etc, she needs to have space all day and especially at night when rabbits are most active.

Just to point out the RWAF states a minimum accommodation size of a 6 x 2 foot hutch with a 8 x 4 run attached.