how did you end up getting your first rabbit??

I own 2 adorable little bunny's who are my first ever rabbits and I got them due to when I went to work experience
I was doing work experience in a pet shop and they had some rabbits I was feeding and cleaning them out
At the back of the petshop they had some sick animals or animals that they didn't think were ready to go to their new homes
That's where I first met my rabbit, she was 8 weeks old and was skin and bones she was having weight gain problems so had to be fed this special food through a syringe the vets advised that she be put to sleep but the people at the pet shop didn't want to so continued to feed her through a syringe, as I was helping there I also got to feed her through a syringe and she loved it she ate loads of the food so was hard to understand why she was so skinny
Anyway she started to gain weight and by then I'd fallen in love with the little thing so decided I would adopt her as soon as she was fit to leave. Sadly not long after she started gaining weight my work experience came to end so I could no longer see her but the staff there happily kept me informed on how she was doing. Then as she was starting to gain more and more weight they decided I could take her home in a couple of days but then out of no where she lost a ton of more weight and it didn't look good.
But they stuck with her and carried on syringe feeding her despite what the vet said about putting her down then about a week later I got a phone call saying I could come pick her up!!
When I went to pick her up she was still quite skinny but no where near as skinny as she used to be, she had also been paired up with another rabbit to keep her company and there was no way I could have split them up so i adopted them both

Now almost a year later I still have them both and the rabbit that was once skin and bones is now a big fluffy healthy mini lop

My first rabbit was my beautiful George bunny. I was going through a massive low point in my life with my MH state and wanted something to focus on and thought a pet would help and we'd had rabbits as family pets when i was younger so spoke to my parents and asked if I could get one and they said yes and my nan had an old hutch she wanted to get rid of that she used to use for Hedgehogs so let me have that. George himself came from P@H, he was the last one in the shop and my parents were trying to convince me to wait a few days till more came in but there was just something about him that was drawing me to him and in the end i
decided i had to have him and I'm glad i did as I loved him and he helped me so much and became my best buddy, however sadly he died 2 years ago

I had just turned either 2 or 3 years old (I'm not sure which) just days/a week or so before. We had had a flemish giant that died when I was a baby and my parents/siblings wanted to have rabbits again so my parents got me and my sisters each a baby bunny for Easter. They bought them from a breeder and then scheduled to pick them up later so that we could get them for Easter.

I can still remember being surprised with them on Easter morning. Me and my sisters came into the den to get our Easter baskets full of candy and toys and our parents had us close our eyes and then they put a bunny in each of our laps. And in our baskets we each got a rabbit ornament that resembled the bunny we got - mine was a white bunny that we named Sugar, and my sisters had Ginger and Bonnie. They were german lops, I think.

So that was the start of my love for bunnies, I've never went a day without bunnies from that moment on. From the time I was a toddler I loved going out to the rabbit hutch, pushing a large bucket up to it and standing there petting and feeding them and even sitting in the hutch with them, and following them around the yard, and helping my mom peel veggies and feeding them the peelings, and picking grass to feed them. Then when I was a few years older I became the one that mainly took care of them. I feel lucky to have grown up with rabbits, to have learned from them and have so many wonderful memories of them

My first two bunnies were an anniversary present from my OH. I wanted a cat - he's allergic to them. He wanted a dog - I didn't! So, outside rabbits it was. We visited the local rescue and took the only pair available who had been there a while as no one wanted them - Thelma and Louise (because of the attitude).

Thelma was mum. Agouti nethie.
Louise was daughter. Agouti nethie/Dutch X.

I had them happily for 6 years when Thelma was rushed to hospital on Christmas Day with EC. After a week of fighting, her heart gave in

Louise went onto see 11 as a feisty, house bun.

They were brilliant and the rest is history. I've not had that many bunniless years since


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Rather embarrassingly I was in p@h for dog food. .. saw this one rabbit and despite knowing nothing at all about rabbits and not really thinking it through at ALL decided I HAD to have 'her' (found out later it was a he )

I admit it was a stupid thing to do but I had fallen head over heels with him. He had binkied his way over to see me and would follow me where I walked alongside the perspex.

Anyway, fortunately I'm the kind of person who realised my 'mistake' (he's not a mistake but can't think how better to put it ) and read up all about rabbits and became very knowledgeable, I like to think anyway, and within a short space of time he had everything he needed.
That was May 2013 . Springfield (so named after the singer Dusty Springfield because of his colourings) was bonded with my dog oddly enough til sadly in September 2013 he died suddenly. Springfield moped and became depressed and so we adopted (see I learnt from the past ) Lola. A skittish RSPCA case.
Bonding went very quickly thanks to her nervousness I suppose. .
We now have 2 extremely happy, very well cared for, loved up bunnies

Again like others, my first rabbit was a pets at home bunny. I fell in love with him and never once regretted getting him. He had 2 wives and lived to the grand old age of 9. I miss him terribly.

I might have known nothing when I get him but a lecturer I had knew a bit and I got books and books on rabbits because he was so amazing! We all learn as we go.

I was 14 and the Dad of my sisters friend bred rabbits. We went to see them and came away with 2 uppy eared black girlies who we called Tammy and Clover.

I had a game on a very old phone almost 6 years ago now, it had loads of animals on it and a rabbit was one. I don't know, but some day I just decided I just wanted a cute fluffy rabbit. I convinced my mum (I was 14/15) at the time and I went to pets at home and got Misty.

She didn't have the best life but I did have her spayed after joining here and she did have and excellent life for a few months before she suddenly passed away. A few days later, the year we had loads of snow in March, someone was going to set Lola free because their kids were fed up already (she was only 14weeks then for crying out loud) so I rescued her

Me and hubby always said we'd have a rabbit when we had a house.
Our boss offered us their house to rent, initially I was dead against it, said no way..... I woke up at 3am one morning, woke hubby up, said 'if we rent that house can I have a rabbit?' he said 'yeh we've always said that we would' I said 'well tell him we'll rent it' and literally, having bunnies was the only reason I agreed hahahaha, I started looking into rabbits then (even tho it was 3 months before we were even going to be moving and even longer before we had everything ready). I soon found out we needed to get at least 2, and I already had it in my head that i'd put a hutch in the shed, then one night I suddenly thought rather than buy a hutch, why don't they just have the whole shed (as we'd been looking at hutches and they just seemed so ****!).
Soon after we decided to go the rspca to have a look, and I fell for a gorgeous lop (I always wnted a beige lop, but hubs wanted a black uppy), but she was reserved, and shed wasn't ready etc.... (we started work on the shed not long after we moved in, I decided we should put a shelf in so they had more space with a ramp).
It was December when we moved in.
At the end of January, I was bored at work on a Friday after noon so looked on the rspca brighton website, and there he was... Rupert.... as soon as I clicked the next button and seen him I gasped, he was the most beautiful rabbit I had ever seen in my entire life, literally love at first site, I showed hubby who also gasped.
The next day, we'd been out since 8am having tyres fit to car and stuff, and were heading home along the a27 at about 3.30, john said 'do you want to go to rspca and look at that rabbit?' I was driving, and said no, whats the point shed isn't ready and he's stunning hes bound to be reserved and they close at 4. I cannot explain what happened next, literally, I was adamant that we were going home, I didn't want to see him and not be able to have him.... but, somehow, next thing I know, i'm pulling into rspca! we walked into the signing in room and for the first time, someone asked if they could help (its always so busy there), I said we're looking for rabbits, we filled in form and were taken to the bunnies with the head of the small animals.... she was showing us bonded pairs, and then... there he was... he kept putting his paws thru the bars and touching me!! that's when I knew he had to be my rabbit! she wanted to show us a trio of babies, they were gorgeous but I wanted Rupert... then she said well, we can only rehome in pairs and we've only got 2 single girls, I said ok, she said but a family have already been in and cant decide which they want... I said fine, ill have the other one, went to see them, one was Tia, a beige lop, I gasped again, and said omg I always wanted a beige lop! so we reserved Rupert and told her we'd have frenchy or tia whichever the other family didn't want, but tia was my dream bunny.
Next day she rang to say the other family chose frenchy so did I want to reserve tia! I was like yessssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! she started bonding that day (wel, she moved them both to a separate room, him in a cage, her in the room) and he was neutered on the Tuesday, and they were in the room for 3 weeks, tia waited by his cage al day when he went for neutering! it was just all meant to be! they bonded slowly, as tia had a fight with her previous cage mate, and rupes had just been neutered, they were letting them have half hour dates and decided there hadn't been any aggression so left them together for 10 mins... when she went back in, they'd somehow locked themselves together in the small cage! that was when she rang to say we could come get them! they were the easiest bond ever and have been solid ever since, it was just all meant to be

My younger sister was asked to adopt her friends bunny when she no longer had time for her, and I used to love cuddling him.
After moving out of the family home I was missing bunny cuddles, and I found a local breeder who I got Miss Flops-a-lot from.

that's awesome! do you have any tips on helping a bunny gain weight?? i recently got a bunny at a market in Romania, she is a meat bunny but the sweetest think ever! but and she is really skinny ( you can feel every bone in her body!)

Thanks

When I was 7 we moved into this house and I made friends with the two girls who loved down the road. They had a rabbit each and so I decided I wanted one too we got Peppermint who lived at my grandmas because we had a dog. It wasn't until 13 years later that I fell in love with Dexter at first sight that I "got" rabbits though

I was 4 1/2 when my parents got Charlie as an Easter present I'd been obsessed with animals, always, and as dragons and dinosaurs weren't really available, and I was scared of captive birds and my parents weren't willing to go in for reptiles, bunnies were next on the list! He was ALWAYS a family pet: ostensibly mine but Mum and Dad chipped in too. I spent ages looking at the bunnies in the local pet shop, and my parents chose the prettiest little agouti Nethie buck

It was 1988, I could just about read and it was probably April. He came home to a 4ft hutch in the garage, but the Austin Allegro estate was outside by then. Dad set about building a 6x4x2 run, we painted it in fetching green and it was meshed in 1"x1/2" proper mesh (Dad knew rabbits chewed, and saw what had happened to chicken wire that had been 'rabbited'). After a few weeks cooped up in the garage (the door of which was open all day), Charlie was out in the run, and after a year or so of going back in overnight we just left him withy 24-7 access. And after a few snowy years when he was put in the garage, he was out all weathers and loving it.

He had one vaccine in his life (we didn't realise he was supposed to go back!), was on nose-touching terms with the fox (yes!) but hated the magpies, ate muesli but very little else and died on a snowy February day in 1999 of something sudden like a heart attack or massive stroke. I knew at that point I'd only ever rescue rabbits in the future: I'd seen them in rescues and couldn't face the thought of these poor things pining away unloved.

I'm actually a little embarrassed to admit that we were one of those parents that got their kid a rabbit as a present (my eldest boys 5th birthday back in May 2006). We did at least go to a rescue place and picked out a little agouti netherland dwarf who was called Cookie. The novelty wore off after a bit and Cookie became the family pet. I joined here and read everything and anything....and so began our 8 year love affair with bunnies and many fond memories of the gorgeous rescue buns we have had over that time

I bought baby Alice (later Lady Alice) from a local pet shop. She was just adorable. She had a brick built shed with an open hutch inside and she was soooo affectionate. I bred from her oops and all six of her babies would come and sit on my legs xxxxx She would flop down flat with bliss when I stroked her.

I really didnt appreciate what I had with that darling rabbit.

It's a bit of a long story, sorry...

My mum has a village newsletter delivered every month. I was at her house and had a nose, advert said 'large rabbit needs home' which I barely glanced at. A month later I was reading the next newsletter and the same advert was there, at which point I said to Mum in passing 'why don't they just take it to Woodgreen (our local animal re homing shelter) if they don't want it? It's been advertised for two months'.
Mum then told me that the children had got bored of it, they'd previously had guinea pigs that they got bored of and had left to starve to death. I was obviously horrified and said 'you ring them now and tell them I'm taking that rabbit'. This was a Friday night, They said I could collect her Sunday, so Saturday morning I spent registering here and reading up on rabbit care. Saturday afternoon I spent buying buying food, bowl etc and picking up a run I'd bought on ebay that morning!

Sunday evening she came home with me, it was snowing so she stayed in her too small hutch that night and I built her new run the next day, all the while planning on finding her a new home through a rescue.
I asked when I picked her up where her hay was and they pointed to a bag of straw telling me I could take it!
After a day or two, when I opened the door to feed her, she ran out at which point I panicked. She ran roud the garden twice, did a giant binky and ran back in for her breakfast. I rang my mum in tears to tell her she binkied and that she was happy with me and I was keeping her. It cost me £450 to build a custom run big enough for a giant bun, £50 for my darling Fiver to be her husbun and a fortune in pellets, hay and vet bills but I wouldn't be without her now, I think it was fate she ended up with me. I hate to think what would have happened if she didn't.

I was 10 when I ended up with my first rabbit.

My dad loved rabbits. He'd had one when he was a kid and he'd adored it beyond words and it would follow him everywhere. I think he wanted the same thing for me so when some clients of his were looking to get rid of their large New Zealand buck my dad offered to take it. When we went to pick him up the reason for him being given away became clear, the owners kids had dyed him with food colouring! He was every colour of the rainbow (and it took ages to grow out too!).

I must admit, having a rabbit had never really crossed my mind before then and, although I did love him, he wasn't really tame, and he was huge and a bit scary to a 10 year old. It didn't really turn out the way my dad had hoped. When my dad had his rabbit as a kid, he had a tiny secure terraced garden the bun could run loose in and no other pets to bother it. Whereas we lived on a 1 acre plot with 2 dogs. Poor Sugar had a large hutch (it was probably a 6 foot one, at least) but no run and his hutch was in the garage. I'm pretty sure we had him on sawdust and I don't remember ever giving him hay, just rabbit food and vegetables Added to that he had constant ear infections, requiring drops. In the end I think my parents realised it wasn't working and he went to live at a local farm petting zoo where he was bonded with some other rabbits and had a huge run. He looked happy when we went back to see him. I always feel like I failed him though.

Fast forward 27 years and now I have Eric and Ernie. I know what buns need now and I want to give them the best life I possibly can as they spent a year at the RSPCA and deserve to be spoilt!

I was 9 years old. My best friend had a cousin who bred rabbits in their barn, and I fell in love with a little grey Nethie buck who was a year old... I pleaded with my parents to let me have him, I promised to feed him every day and clean him out, and in the end they gave in he was called Brigadier, which I hated, so changed his name to Bubbles. I loved him so so much he had a hutch with an attached run, even all those years ago (I'm 35 now), and when we were home he had the run of the back garden. Bubbles was awesome, and I was devastated when he died 6 years later. I have had bunnies ever since, with only a couple of years gap.

J&R said:

It's a bit of a long story, sorry...

My mum has a village newsletter delivered every month. I was at her house and had a nose, advert said 'large rabbit needs home' which I barely glanced at. A month later I was reading the next newsletter and the same advert was there, at which point I said to Mum in passing 'why don't they just take it to Woodgreen (our local animal re homing shelter) if they don't want it? It's been advertised for two months'.
Mum then told me that the children had got bored of it, they'd previously had guinea pigs that they got bored of and had left to starve to death. I was obviously horrified and said 'you ring them now and tell them I'm taking that rabbit'. This was a Friday night, They said I could collect her Sunday, so Saturday morning I spent registering here and reading up on rabbit care. Saturday afternoon I spent buying buying food, bowl etc and picking up a run I'd bought on ebay that morning!

Sunday evening she came home with me, it was snowing so she stayed in her too small hutch that night and I built her new run the next day, all the while planning on finding her a new home through a rescue.
I asked when I picked her up where her hay was and they pointed to a bag of straw telling me I could take it!
After a day or two, when I opened the door to feed her, she ran out at which point I panicked. She ran roud the garden twice, did a giant binky and ran back in for her breakfast. I rang my mum in tears to tell her she binkied and that she was happy with me and I was keeping her. It cost me £450 to build a custom run big enough for a giant bun, £50 for my darling Fiver to be her husbun and a fortune in pellets, hay and vet bills but I wouldn't be without her now, I think it was fate she ended up with me. I hate to think what would have happened if she didn't.

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That's a lovely story

When Beth was 5 she said she wanted a rabbit. We said that she couldn't have one until she was 8. Theory being that in 3 years time she would have forgotten she ever wanted a rabbit.

WRONG

For the next 3 years she read things, asked things, googled things about rabbits. She decided that when she was 8 she would need 2 rabbits and they would have to be from the RSPCA (the only rabbit rescue we knew at the time). We would need a wendy house and a run for them.

So in the July when she was 7 the local RSPCA did an open day and we went. They had Biscuit and Alaska a bonded pair of large rabbits, they had been in the rescue a good couple of years because Alaska was a REW. They were free to a good home. Well that was that.

We got a wendy house, we built a run on the side, and they came to live with us after a home check.

Sadly Alaska was a very old boy ( I wasn't aware enough at the time) and died just 6 weeks later, a week before Beths 8th birthday. So the same day now knowing of a local rabbit rescue we brought home Tommy and him and Biccy bunny had a lovely life together. They moved house into a shed and the back garden was fenced in to provide completely safe free ranging.

Tommy and Biccy are now at the bridge and we then had Twinkle and two more boys so had a trio till a few weeks ago when we lost Twinkle Toes.

So Beth is now 16, I now do the 'bunny stuff' she still goes to see them and they love her but I do the dirty work and feeding.

I love the two boys and I think they are happy in their pink shed We have made the decision and it may yet change but we wont be getting rabbits again.

I am a cat lady at heart with my lovely bunnies on the side.