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What's your bunny story?

Kim_perkins

Mama Doe
How did everyone come to own the bunnies they have? How did you decide to own them as pets?

I've only ever owned my current rabbit - Candy.

She's a 2 year old Dutch x lion head and I love her as if she were my child!

I got her when I was 21. When I was growing up I always badgered my mum for a pet rabbit and she refused and said they needed special care compared to a hamster lol ... so I stuck with hamsters and cats etc. Knowing what I know now - she was right. I didn't have the time and neither did she due to a house full of children and work.

so one day I had what my friends call a "wonky wednesday", one of these involves a day off of work, doing something random and going out for student night and getting ridiculously drunk!

So we did just that, we went to a spa for the day and then my friend announced she wanted some pet fish. So we all bundled into the car and headed to pets at home. She got everything she needed but they wouldn't sell her fish until she came back 2 days later due to the water.

Any way during this time I fell in love with the baby bunnies and I wanted them all! I picked out candy because she was the smallest and had bright blue eyes, she was making her way round grooming all the other bunnies. Sold
She was mine.

I then had to get everything there and then like her hutch etc.
So there's me and my 2 friends I'm the back of a saxo car a hutch, a rabbit and loads of fish stuff and bunny stuff!

I named her candy after a night club we all used to go to as a joke and it just stuck!

Wouldn't change her for the world, spent an absolute fortune on her and learnt the hard way but she keeps me smiling and is now my indoor bun.

Once she passes (not for a long time I hope!) I'll then get a couple of rescue buns as I don't agree with places like pets at home....

So what are your stories? How did you get all your buns and get into them??

X
 
Got Kermit from PAH (never knew any better) as a Christmas present, he got ill with Head Tilt when he was 6months old and I found RU. Had Kermit for another year and a half after that. Then when Kermit passed I seen Herbie & Inca on here. They were both mistreated and at separate rescues. They got bonded and travelled up from England to Scotland to live with me......that was almost 5 years ago. I still have Herbie but Inca sadly passed away, she was a wee angel, born deformed and mistreated, but she was a fighter.

Herbie is still here with me, when he was abandoned his incisors overgrew and he had to get them out, apart from that he is perfect :)

I also now have Hollie, have had her for over a year now. She was from the local SPCA and had been there for 9months after being abandoned there when she was pregnant.

And....that's me :)
 
I got Rex from a breeder :( when he was 8 weeks old, he was the runt of the litter so very lucky to still be alive after his mum threw him out of the nest.

I then adopted Toffee from a rescue a year later to give rex some company during the day. I feel good that I have given Toffee another chance at life after she was seized from her previous owners. I am pretty sure she suffered two broken toes on her back feet whilst in their care and was never taken to a vet to get them looked at.
I would always go to a rescue now though.
:D
 
I was 16 and was badgering my parents for a pet for years but we lived in a very built up urban area when I was a young child so for years the answer was always no. Then we moved to the country :love: and after I had passed my exams and volunteered in a rescue they relented.

They felt a cat or a dog would be too big a commitment and they fell for the idea that a rabbit was a child's pet and easy to look after :shock: I was supposed to adopt one rabbit but ended up with two sisters (both pregnant so we went back for the father and kept the whole family, daddybun is still alive today) from our local shelter.

Then my brother wanted a rabbit for his birthday (wrong I know) and things stemmed from there. To be fair we were very diligent and did everything for the buns. We took our responsibility seriously and read books ahead of the adoption. We also both worked a paper round and between us we managed to pay for hay and pellets, my parents took care of the vaccines until I got my first proper job at 18. We also became vegetarian and then vegan and interested in animal rights and welfare (no leather, animal testing, fur and so on).

So the rabbits really got to us, got under our skin and 11 years on we still have rabbits. We never stopped having them or supporting the various local rescues. I love rabbits so much and want to help them as much as possible. They are my favourite animals and I am not sure I would ever want any other kind of pet. I am lucky that my family love them too and are just as dedicated.
 
I had my first bun as a child/young teenager when my mum got me a bun and my brother a piggy to go together in the same hutch. Back then (30+years ago) people didn't realise that rabbits & piggies didn't mix, that bunnies needed neutering & vaccinating and that they needed a lot more space than a hutch.

I used to bring my Bubbles into my bedroom as often as I could (I'm not sure whether I was allowed to or not :lol:) So when I moved out and got my first place, buns & piggies were the first thing I got. I made a lot of mistakes to start with as there wasn't as much knowledge about buns & piggies then.

When I was about 21, people knew I was a "Bunny Person" so if anyone knew anyone who didn't want their buns anymore, they would bring them to me. That's how I got Katie & Amber (twin dutch sisters) followed by Holly who was found abandoned at Christmas time (my first bun to get neutered as she turned out to be a he :lol:) I then ended up with another bun somehow when I was about 28-30 (can't remember how, but I went through hell with him nursing him through a tooth then jaw abcess 3 times a day antill eventually I had to let him go). I didn't think I could cope with another bun after losing him, so had a break until 7 years ago (by that time I was 36) when once again, knowing that I loved buns, was asked if I wanted a bun that belonged to a friends friend.

So that was when I got Bugsy..Steffi came from local rescue and was bonded with Bugsy. Poppy was another relative's friend's unwanted rabbit, and Pebbles was abandoned my his owner who supposedly was "on holiday" but had actually moved to Scotland leaving her pets behind.

Unfortunately I lost Steffi, and then lost Pebbles last year. Poppy's new husband Jenson came from the RSPCA 14 months ago. Bugsy's 3rd wife Violet came from the RSPCA 8 months ago, but unfortunately had to be PTS a couple of weeks ago. My newest wife for Bugsy is Bramble, from a private rescue...again another rabbit that was no longer wanted (I believe the owners were moving..but not sure).
 
When Beth was 5 she asked for a rabbit. We said that if she still wanted one when she was 8 she could have one, thinking she would loose interest.

So when she was 8 and had been reading about rabbits and their needs for 3 long years we went to an open day at our local RSPCA. In the bunny area they had Biscuit and Alaska who had been there nearly 3 years. They were free to a good home....... well that was that.

My mum had a wooden wendy house, we bought a fence and within a week we had two bunnies. Sadly it was just too much for Alaska, we had him for just 6 short weeks, he died in my arms.

So then we got Tommy from a local rescue. Biccie had hubby number 2 and all was well. We upgraded to a shed and bunny proofed the patio so they could have hours and hours of safe free range time. We lost Biccie 4 years later. Then got Twinkle from the same rescue for tommy but she wasn't enough, he died within weeks of Biccie, definitely a broken heart:(

So then Twink was all alone, so Ozzie came and everything was happy again.

Then last year my hubby rang to say they had found a rabbit in the cellar at work, so Stanley was caught, taken to the vets, and finally bonded to Twinkle and Ozzie.

So we have a very happy trio now. Beth has lost interest and they are now my bunny babies. We have made the decision that these will be our last rabbits, which wasn't an easy decision to make.
 
I moved in with my boyfriend and we wanted a pet. We looked at hamsters and chinchillas but then I read up on rabbits and decided i'd love a house rabbit. I originally looked at getting a mini lop from a breeder but then found RU, looked on here a bit before joining and realised there were rescues. Started buying all the bits rabbits need, then saw two beautiful little bunnies on camp nibble's website. Reserved them and went to pick them up when they were 6 months. They were born in rescue. Now they're free ranging house bunnies, that love nothing more than jumping on me in a morning for pellets. :love:
They may not be cuddle buns but I wouldn't change them for the world, they're both so cheeky.
 
I had rabbits as a child and later as a young adult but had been a 'dog and cat' person for many years when I went in to our local pet shop and saw two teeeeeny little rabbits cuddled up together (OMG the cuteness). That was Frosty and Snowflake.

It was totally awesome having baby rabbits (expensive with neutering and vaccines mind you). I found RU and had them free ranging in my room with a dog crate as a base.

I then decided to add to the rabbit family (why stick with two)? Along came Mottle and Peaches (advertised by a small rescue on preloved) and later Tessie and Daisy who I saw on the 'rabbits in need' section on here.

I decided that six was absolutely enough until one day when I saw two belgian hares in rescue (cottontails in wiltshire). So now its eight (Autumn and her son, Sunshine) and I LOVE them all. I really enjoy going out to see them and dream of having a house big enough to have them indoors ...
 
I originally wanted a rescue cat, never wanted rabbits, but went into P@H for a look round and saw Barney sat in the adoption tank, he leaned up and snuffled my hand and I knew I could never leave him! He came home with me the same day :D

I wasn't planning on getting any more but a few months later I saw a free ad online for baby rabbits, two of whom were missing ears and toes. It was an hours drive so I went for a look and the conditions they were in weren't good :( The lady said she knew her set up wasn't big enough and she was stopping breeding so wanted rid of the babies. I took the two worst-looking ones as I was worried they'd end up being given away as snake food or some other horrible thing :(

When Barney started acting depressed and not eating as much I decided to try bonding him to see if it would make a difference. He went for a date with Priscilla at the RSPCA and once she came home he improved dramatically! :love:

So I went from wanting one cat to ending up with 4 bunnies! Definitely no more now :lol:
 
I decided I wanted a pet after having a cat 20 years ago. I love cats but there are lots of foxes where I am and could imagine calling it in at night, really worried and it not coming in so not sleeping, so decided an indoor rabbit would be easier.

I had no idea that rabbits were more complicated! I looked around rescues but there were only cats and dogs so I went to a breeder as didn't think there were rabbit rescues. I saw a few as I felt some were frightened bunnies and I didn't like it.

There were two litters of about 5 babies in each. I didn't see her at first as she was so small, half the size of her brothers and sisters then the breeder took the door off and she came over and she nearly fell of as she was being so nosy seeing who I was. The breeder told me she was by far the smallest rabbit she had ever had but also the greediest, she never stopped eating. She put some food in and Doughnut run over and all the others piled over her but she still stayed there. I knew she was the one for me and she's being eating me out of house and home ever since.

Here she is when I got her
Me6.jpg
 
I wrote an epic thread here http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?343321-Your-Bunnies-Stories-How-did-it-all-begin

But I need to update it. Unfortunately Gypsy passed away in February :cry: :cry: leaving storm and I heartbroken. Storm just lay there not wanting to move. I wasn't ready for another bunny but I had to do something. I looked on rescue sites and wondered what to do. It didn't feel right so soon after gypsy.

A lovely lady got in touch with me. Her male bunny had sadly died leaving behind her female. She did not want her bunny to be alone but did not want anymore bunnies. I agreed to take her.
Aurora is only about a year old, so 8 years younger than storm. I traveled to Leicester not even knowing what Aurora looked like imagine my shock when I was faced with a gypsy look alike! :shock: nothing could have prepared me for that.

Storm seemed interested in this new little girl in a pen in his room. For the first time in weeks he seemed animated and lively. Things looked promising as the buns laid side by side against the bars. Unfortunately when I lifted the barrier allhell broke lose :( I tried everything but they just wouldn't get on. I didn't know what to do. I kept them in the same room but I kept swaping them around so one was in the pen, the other in the room. I did this for weeks. One day I just left the pen open and the buns ignored each other. Over the next week I took the pen away all together. They are still not loved up but they live together. Aurora tries to sneak next to storm when he is sleeping. She won't give up on her grumpy old man :love:
 
Our story begins just over 2 years ago when hubby went to P@H to get fish food on a Monday - so I was at work - and we had seen the cutest little bun there over the weekend, and he was still there on the Monday. Hubby loves animals - and is impulsive too - so Bobo came home - with the requisite cage that was obviously far too small but that was something we rectified pretty quickly.

Over the next few months we learnt so much about rabbits - and realised the Bobo needed neutering and would be happier with a wife. I really wanted a lionhead - so we went to Dee Millen and bought Harley. These are the only 2 rabbits we have bought for a shop and/or breeder. It took as AGES to pluck up the courage to bond Bobo and Harley - but once we did - it was the easiest bond ever. They just sniffed at each other, Harley did a massive rolly flop to show she was now very content and Bobo plonked himself down next to her as though to say 'mine!'.

In the meantime - we had gone back to P@H - our vets are there and we buy food/hay/treats from there - and one day 2 weeks before Christmas, we saw Holly in the adoption centre. She was +/- 9 months old and had been dumped there in a cardboard box. She was so adorable - scrabbling at the glass to get our attention, and so she came home. She had obviously been well loved and looked after - I still want to tell her old owners that she is a very happy little bun.

So of course once Harley and Bobo were together - we turned our minds to Holly and were just about to start contacting some rescues when we went to pick up an ebay purchase and I notice the woman had a rabbit - in a TINY cage (about 1 foot by 2.5 foot) - on my enquiring - the woman just said 'waste of time he is - doesn't do anything' - so we offered him a home, and Sheldon turned out to be a really lively, naughty, adorable boy...once he had the space to run and run and run. We didn't waste much time this time - and bonded him with Holly very quickly - again, very very easily. These 2 buns truely do adore each other - brings tears to my eyes just watching them.

Hubby was chatting to a customer at work - the guy has snakes and went to purchase a new tank - and saw that the tank seller had 2 rabbits - scruffy malnourished creatures who were destined to be snake food. Hubbys customer said how it is illegal - so the tank seller gave him the two rabbits... and the customer wanted to only keep one - so we offered a home to the other. Unfortunately - due to a poor beginning and being so young - Luna got ill and passed away 4 days after we re-homed her. It was a terrible time - I poured all my emotions into her and it destroyed me that we couldn't save her. Hubby's customer was lovely about it though - and gave us Bug (he was beginning to realise that buns are way more complicated to keep that snakes) - Luna's sister (we assume - they looked very similar). Thankfully - Bug was a healthy girl, and is now a gorgeous little madam.

Soon after that - in November last year - I was told by my MIL about a baby rabbit that needed a home - I of course went racing over to the house where the rabbit was - turns out that a grandmother had bought a P@H bunny for her 4 year old granddaughter - but the G/Daughters mother hates animals and refused to have it. So poor little Cheyenne spent the night outside - in November! She obviously was going to come home with me. Within a week she had snuffles quite badly - but despite the horrendous sneezing she was - and is - a lively little cuddle bun - she and I have a wonderful bond - she is my soul bunny I think. Oh - and she is well and truely over the snuffles now too:thumb:

So - we now had 2 single girls - eeeeek. And no - not chance of bonding - we tried and it was not good. All was not lost however - we have a friend who works at Foalfarm - and through him we have re-homed Lenny - soon to be bonded with Bug - (fingers crossed) - and there is another gorgeous boy at the rescue who we will re-home for Cheyenne once Bug and Lenny have solidified their bond. We have already named him Prudhoe.

And whilst we've said we will stop at 8 - we said that at 2 - and 4 and 6 - so who knows :lol:
 
As is far too common to hear, my first bunny Mei Mei was purchased along with a guinea pig as a cage mate. My younger brother had been doing a lot of research into getting a guinea pig and asked for a hutch for his birthday, which much to his surprise he got. And he took excellent care of GP as he decided to call him :love:

I had recently lost my dwarf hamster sisters, one to a tumour and her sister not long after on my birthday :( They were my first independent pets and boy did my parents make me work for them, and I'm proud to say they did. So I was looking into getting another pet, but not quite as soon as that! I looked into rabbit care and did a fair amount of research and purchased Mei Mei. Thankfully it was clear to us, even though misinformed, that they weren't destined to be cage mates so bought the bun her own cage.

She lived a good 6 years with us, but after finding RU and doing so much more research I can't help but see the problems we had. She was the sweetest bun ever, and a best friend to me. Losing her hit me hard and I couldn't face getting another rabbit, until just recently. 4 years after losing my sweet girl, I'm picking up Indi on August 1st and can't wait to have a new bun in my life to spoil rotten :love::love:

PS. So nice to read all these stories,love this thread!!
 
OH decided he wanted house rabbits. So off he and the kids went to PAH. They saw T&F on the Saturday, but were told they weren't for sale 'til the Sunday. So they went back there before it opened and waited for them. There was another family there who also wanted them, but because OH was there first we got them and the other family took what were presumably their siblings. I will always wonder what became of them.

So T&F came home, with a Nero 4 cage etc. At 12 weeks they started fighting, which is when I found RU and really started to learn about rabbits, and the rescue situation.

A couple of years ago I persuaded OH that we had space in the shed to foster a couple of bunnies, and Tulip and Mango came to stay with us from Camp Nibble. 6 months later they were still with us, my job changed at work and I was comfortable to adopt them. Unfortunately last summer we lost Mango to bloat :( As a result of that we discovered Tulip and Mango had been mixed up (not by Camp Nibble!) and that Tulip was actually a boy! He was renamed Tully and we adopted Kyla for him from the rescue last year.


That's it currently!
 
I don't know why rabbits. I just remember telling my husband when we were dating that I would only live with him on the understanding I could have a rabbit. So along came my soul bun Bluebell. We did everything wrong, small hutch, not enough hay, too many pellets. I don't even know how I found RU, possibly when he first got ill, but I'm so glad I did. We fixed everything we were doing wrong including getting him a wifebun. She was the total opposite of him but I loved that. Their little characters and personalities fascinated me and when I learnt what a raw deal these special little creatures get it wasn't long before our numbers grew.

My heart broke when we said goodbye to Bluebell and shortly after Willow. I was surrounded by other bunnies but it took me a long time to enjoy them again instead of worrying about them all the time.

On Bluebells anniversary this year a little bun called Oliver came along. I love all my bunnies and I will tell everyone I don't have a favourite which I think is true, but from the moment that little skinny bun who wasn't strong enough to binky jumped on my lap and licked my face I remembered why I love these beautiful animals so damn much.
 
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