William
Wise Old Thumper
Is anyone else kinda irrationally afraid of health problems in rescue rabbits? I see so much unhealthy rabbits on RU, before joining here I never knew rabbits were quite so unhealthy despite having rabbits since I was about 2. I wonder if it really has anything to do with their previous owners or if it's just genetics or if it's because people post when they have a problem so it just seems that way. And probably many people have rescued bunnies from bad situations and they already had health problems. I guess there's probably lots of healthy rabbits on RU but it's skewed...
What makes me apprehensive is diet is such a big thing with rabbits and most people don't feed them properly, they don't even know hay is necessary...if I adopted a dog I wouldn't be too worried about what the old owners fed it but with rabbits a bad diet/not enough hay makes it that much more likely that it'll develop dental or GI tract problems.
I feel more comfortable getting babies because they couldn't have been fed badly for long, so if we had rescues here (I think the closest one is a couple hours away) I'd probably adopt baby rabbits first. I have gotten 2 babies in the past from craigslist where the previous owners bought them for Easter and then quickly got bored and another that was abandoned in front of a pet shop. So that makes me feel a bit better knowing that not all rabbits that don't come from responsible breeders are unhealthy. I guess it's partly that I've never gotten a rescue rabbit before so it's like fear of the unknown, I don't know what to expect... I just see people constantly talk about how unhealthy rabbits are and I haven't really experienced anything on the same scale....
I guess what I'm asking is, am I being completely irrational? I suppose I'm looking for reassurance that I am lol.
I'm definitely not adverse to rescue rabbits though, I want to make that clear before everyone jumps on me. I'm sure I will adopt rescue rabbits, I'm just not entirely sure if my next rabbits will be because of the rescue being far away. Although, local cat/dog shelters and rescues sometimes get in rabbits so that's certainly an option if they'll contact me when they do get rabbits . Will obviously need to see if they're examined by a rabbit savvy vet and neutered though.
What makes me apprehensive is diet is such a big thing with rabbits and most people don't feed them properly, they don't even know hay is necessary...if I adopted a dog I wouldn't be too worried about what the old owners fed it but with rabbits a bad diet/not enough hay makes it that much more likely that it'll develop dental or GI tract problems.
I feel more comfortable getting babies because they couldn't have been fed badly for long, so if we had rescues here (I think the closest one is a couple hours away) I'd probably adopt baby rabbits first. I have gotten 2 babies in the past from craigslist where the previous owners bought them for Easter and then quickly got bored and another that was abandoned in front of a pet shop. So that makes me feel a bit better knowing that not all rabbits that don't come from responsible breeders are unhealthy. I guess it's partly that I've never gotten a rescue rabbit before so it's like fear of the unknown, I don't know what to expect... I just see people constantly talk about how unhealthy rabbits are and I haven't really experienced anything on the same scale....
I guess what I'm asking is, am I being completely irrational? I suppose I'm looking for reassurance that I am lol.
I'm definitely not adverse to rescue rabbits though, I want to make that clear before everyone jumps on me. I'm sure I will adopt rescue rabbits, I'm just not entirely sure if my next rabbits will be because of the rescue being far away. Although, local cat/dog shelters and rescues sometimes get in rabbits so that's certainly an option if they'll contact me when they do get rabbits . Will obviously need to see if they're examined by a rabbit savvy vet and neutered though.