poor petshop bunny

I feel so so guilty for not taking home this bunny the petshop were giving away.She is a 6 month old english rabbit who has been there since birth.No one wants her as she is not "pretty"(I think she is!)I had a look at her but when you put your hand near her she cowers away and growls!!.I felt i did not have the experience to handle this doe so had to say i couldnt take her.She has never been outside and had lived in a 3ft by 3ft cage surrounded by noisey birds.

On Nicola, that is very sad to hear.....has anyone got any ideas as to how we can help this bunny and cheer Nicola up in the process :?

Do you feel the bunny is being cared for adequately?....could you not ask someone you know to take her in temporily or tell a local Rescue/ Charity about your concerns.
There are no easy answers to this dilema, frustrating isnt it :?
Ideas please :idea:

She looks in good health,she has a shiney coat/her teeth are ok.I just feel so sorry for her stuck in that cage for 6 months.

Hi Nicola, sounds like she is hormonal and doesn't appreciate hands in her bed, don't blame her really. Spaying will take away most of that problem. You also may find that away from screeching birds etc she is much better. The poor girl is probably just frightened by it all. You could always give it a try, getting her used to handling will be the biggest bit of the challenge but hey we're always her to help and if it doesn't work or you really can't manage then you can rehome her to people who can help her? At least you are not lining the pockets of a pet shop as she is going free!

Angela

I don't think we should be putting pressure on Nicola to take the bunny in. I'm sure if she thought she could she would have already done so.

There are some other ways to help though such as taking in some information on spaying and perhaps suggesting the petshop owner sends something to the news paper about 'the bunny that no body wants' its good publicity for him and the bunny is likely to find a new owner.

Tamsin

Ouch - don't these tales just tug at your heart!

Tams - would it be an option for Nichola to suggest if all else fails that they could run an Ad on Rabbit R.Home for this bunny.

I'm sure she just needs spaying and someone to love her as you good folks have already said and I bet she'll then be a changed bunny.

I hope this bunny finds someone to love her soon. :roll:

Just a thought :?:

If the petshop is willing to offer the bunny for free then they or Nicola is welcome to put an ad on RR.

Tam

hi all myself and a mate take unsellable rabbits from petshops around near us!
has this pet shop offered to give this bunny away or sell it?
i would take it if someone would get it to me as this way i always know pet shops dont have poor rabbits stuck with them forever or until the do the deed with them that many do!
if this rabbit is a true english she will be spitefull as this is often what english turn out like they bucks are live wires does grumps part of the breed i am afraid.
you get exceptions as in all rabbits but maybe not with this little lady.
otherwise there are many rescues near you if your surrey based who could most likely help!
i like to take from pet shops as when they cannot sell these rabbits they work at a loss one day they will stop selling we can always hope!
if i can help let me know!

Hi there Shazlew thank you for your kind offer of help.
I know you have a lovely web site and breed bunnies(and do Rescue work as well I believe) so you would give the bunny a knowledgable home.
Would you be able to offer a Forever home yourself and be prepared to pay for the bunny to be spayed?.

If not, your suggestion of Nicola approaching a Rescue or Rabbit Charity, or advertising (with the Pet shops and Tamsins permission) on the Rabbit Rehome web site are good ones.

hi no i would not be able to offer the rabbit a long term home as with any rabbit who visits me it is until a home comes up!
in some cases this does often not happen for a good many months maybe years so then yes that rabbit will live out his/her life with me!
all rescued rabbits are normal nutered but i do add in a case of a nasty rabbit this will infact make sure that rabbit will stay as it is nasty!
i do wonder why so many people say to spay a grumpy doe as in all cases i have seen and take my word i have took on a lot it doesnt work!
not saying the doe wouldnt get done just saying it wouldnt help her!
only age and learning what that rabbit needs will work!
ie:could be more space or less more or less handling in this doe it i think is a built in grump but she has been i would imagine unhandled for a long time maybe moved from one pen to another but in fact doubt very much handled as rabbits should be!
i do love a nasty rabbit shows spirit and if you can get round to that rabbits way of thinking its great to say cured
i think if this rabbit is really in need of being rehomed then someone should pursue it!
but always remeber for every rabbit took from a pet shop gives them the chance to buy in more! anyway my offers there

Thats interesting point about the spaying, I've generally found the opposite most people who have had problems with grumpy/agressive does have seen a big improvement. It does depend on of the reason behind the problem its not always hormons sometimes its fear in which case as you say gentle handling and understanding gives the best results. Does with hormal agression also tend to end up not getting handled much or handled roughly before they end up in rescue so there can sometimes be two causes at the same time just to confuse things.

Spaying can also take several weeks to show the effects so a gradual improvement is seen rather than the instant fix some pet owners seem to expect.

Tam

I've had a lot of what I would term psycho bunnies handed over to me. After neutering they have still been difficult in temperament to some degree. I have not found neutering to be the end of the problem. I must admit I find it worrying that people are led to believe that simply by neutering the problem of aggression goes away. However as you said Tamsin, there are possibly other factors than just hormones causing this anti-social behaviour. Most of the bunnies I am refering to have come from homes where they were mishandled and badly treated and would have therefore become agressive in self defence as well as having hormonal tendancies.
Perhaps it is different if the bunny is young and well handled and cared for and therefore the only problem causing aggresion is the hormonal one. In that case I would think that the problem would indeed be solved in most cases by neutering.
Shazlew, I have to say I am also fond of the psycho bunnies and enjoy the challenge of helping them to try and overcome thier problems. We must be mad :roll: :lol: .

Tamsin said:

I don't think we should be putting pressure on Nicola to take the bunny in. I'm sure if she thought she could she would have already done so.

There are some other ways to help though such as taking in some information on spaying and perhaps suggesting the petshop owner sends something to the news paper about 'the bunny that no body wants' its good publicity for him and the bunny is likely to find a new owner.

Tamsin

Click to expand...

Wasn't pressuring no-one, merely suggesting that bunny may not be so grumpy when out of this situation it's in now.

Oh Dear Angela, I do not think Tamsin was implying that you were pressurising anyone...I think she was just wishing to say that Nicola should not feel obligued to take the bunny in herself, as there are other options.
Please do not take offence Angela, we know what you meant, and you were being your usual astute self and thinking purely of the bunnies immediate needs.

I don't know where but I am sure somewhere on the forum someone asked about spaying to calm a bunnie and it was said it might. Surely if you have a hormonal female thats a problem to handle you have got two problems building up. The hormones making them hard to handle and lack of handling making them less handleable ( that make any sense?) So once one factor is removed you at least have a chance that the automatic behaviour isn't as much in your way?

That is a good point to make Amber, and makes perfect sense .
I would like to add though, that having had experience with bunnies with behavioural problems that, that we do not spay Does as soon as they arrive at our Sanctuary.
We tend to give them a Month to De stress, and spend a lot of time handling them...we have found that rabbits already under stress do not cope well with being further stressed by surgery, so we play it by ear, and when we see that the Doe is more settled in herself, we then take her to be spayed.
We have had much more positive outcomes from allowing the Doe this breatheing space to find peace within herself in a calming environment before facing major surgery.
We also play relaxing CDs, Animal Healing and sprinkle lavender around the place and this further helps to relax stressed bunnies (and me at the same time :lol: ).

Yes, sorry Angela I didn't mean to imply that you were

Tam

Ok it's cool Nicola have you had a chance to think about what to do?

Angela

pet shop bunny

which shop in Surrey? I live in Bagshot and can always take a peek... :roll: