How many can you manage?

I think we all have a certain standard of care which we (and the RSPCA I guess etc) agree that domestic animals should receive - When I took Benny and Pepsi on in March I used to clean their litter trays every day and sweep out their shed...When I got the 5 girls in July I tried this for a week and not only bust a gut nearly but ran out of litter in about 3 days!
So I started doing the trays alternate days and sweeping the shed the other days....Now 15 guins have arrived - I carried on with the 'every other day' cleaning for a week and again nearly bust a gut and ran out of litter faster than you would believe...So now I have a cleaning diary and it's every 3 days for the girls (gallons of wee) every 5 days for tidy little Benny, and every 4 days for the guins....How my standards have dropped from when I first got Benny and Pepsi!

Then there's finding time for handling them etc, putting them out to run and all the other to-ing and fro-ing...

When do you get to the stage where you know you absolutely can't care for more animals? Or do you find that it's possible to just work 20 hours a day with 4 hours sleep?? What is a reasonable limit with small furries (ie cages that need mucking out and bottles that need filling and cleaning)? Is there a number beyond which you are merely holding a collection of animals, rather than caring for them properly? How would you know when your standards were too low due to lack of time and space, assuming they're all fed and watered properly - that's the easy bit :?

It also depends on what else you have to do, and what help you get. Say you have a job but your children help out a bit aswell, then obviously you can have more. I would say for me, for my own pets I would be limited at a couple of indoor rabbits, 2 outdoor and 5 or so guineas. I think this would be comfortable. I think you'll know if you have too many, you'll lose a close bond with your animals, see cleaning them out as a huge chore and *agh* think about giving one up! Obviously mine is based on the fact that mum is part time and helps alot and i'm at school so can do only what i can after school. Rescues are different and i bow my head to them as they are amazing! but some do get some help, and they dont have to bond and spend alot of time cuddling and playing with the bunnies as it is on a temporary basis. Of course they DO cuddle and play with them :wink: but the essentials are done first and if one had to miss out on a cuddle to allow another animal a bette life then this would be done so - whereas our pets would probably be put first..

With small furries I hit my limit at four. This is mainly because although Brendan will help out occasionally he sees them as more my responsibility because as he puts it he only bought the one :roll: (his fault I got hooked though)!

If I didn't work full time I could manage more but would probably not get any more, just make sure I stepped up the attention on my current four. They get their litter trays changed every three days because they are out during the day and it fertilises the lawn instead . During winter litter trays are done more regularily. Their sheds get cleaned thoroughly once a week and a tidy up mid week and cuddles are as often as I can grab them :lol: .

We had over 30 fish tanks at one point and that was getting to the stage of unmanagable, I also had lizards and toads too as well as Zeus. When I got my new job, which involved more travelling to work was when it became too much. We sold off the majority of the fish and are just waiting to get rid of the last few tanks. I gave the toads to a friend who wanted a mature complete set-up. The lizards at that time died of old age so I didn't replace them.

We were left with a few fish and the rabbits, which increased to four.

Brendan has been desperate for a dog since we moved in together 2 and a half years ago and I felt we were finally in the position to give a dog a decent home now most of the building works are finished and we only have the rabbits.

Brendan knows Sadie is mainly his responsability although we did compromise so he helps out out with the rabbits more now to make sure we both have enough time to train Sadie together.

I am hoping in a few years to give up work while I have children, then I'll have more time to look after the furries (honestly no rose tinted spectacles here I don't plan to forget about my first babies as soon as I have a human baby :lol: ).

Caz

Mine is rather strange and compliacted set up! For one i live with my mum and dad and my mum is a potty about the rabbits as i am! So she helps out with al the cuddles and feeding! i get to do all the cleaning!!! pants! The dogs are my dads domain! he loves them to bits and does everything for them although i take everything to the vets! The rats are looked after by me as is the hammy and the chin and the cat is kinda looked after by everyone but he is the easiest pet we have!!!!

I don't really do much in the evening but look after the animals, i don't like doing anything! and i have a rota for cleaning! Everything gets completly emtied and changed on a saturday and all poop gets removed every other day! It's not to bad here because of the size of the runs!

i have to say elve .. you are sooo organised.

mine get cleaned when they need it
all mucky corners are scouped out every day in prime fly weather but total clean outs vary from rabbit to rabbit. The realy tidy ones who use only their toilet area get a total clean about every week or 1o days but the messy ones (and we have a few ) need doing at least twice a week.

they are all fed and checked twice a day and i have 2 runs which they all use in turn.

unfortunatly i work as well as a childminder so although i am home most of the day im often busy with other things. this means that grooming, cuddling etc has to be fitted in where i can.

what i will say is i try to treat all the bunnies the same whether they are my own or the rescues. the only thing is , my bunnies sometimes lose out on quality time especialy when there are lots of rescues in.

as for how many is enough .. well i ve reached my limit about 4 times now .. then passed it. i seem to find great difficulty in saying "no sorry we cant take your rabbit we are full. " at the momment all my hutches are full and ihave 13 rabbits here my sister (the other half of the rescue )has 15 rabbits ,5 guinea pigs, 2 hamsters and a rat.

Ok, I know I have reached my limit with the 5 I have, plus the hammy.

I have a strict rota, because I work full time and have 2 kids, so I need to be organised.

Every Sunday the whole lot gets thoroughly cleaned, the hutches are disinfected and left to dry all day. The run and shed are thoroghly swept and cleaned too.

Each morning they are let out into the runs, and if the litter area of the hutch is visibly soiled then I change that. In the evening when the buns go back to bed, I check their bums again, and brush up any poos, and empty the litter tray if it is soiled (usually just one end so jsut scoop out that bit)

On a Wednesday all the hutches are cleaned out and the shed and runs swept again. (this is because the bin men come on Thursday)

If I stray from my routine I end up getting in a right old state, so I stay on the right track every day!!


sorry, just reread this and seen how long it is!!!

I think I am at my limit with three - this is just comfortable and any more hutches/sheds I just know I wouldn't have time for. If I ever got one a boyfriend then that would be fine, but no more living accomodation!! They all get time with me and a run round the garden every day and litter trays are done every other day unless they are really messy. Full clean out every 1-2 weeks (or if I see they are really messy!!). I work full time and often stay late at work so 3 bunnies is just right for me I think we all know our limits + I wouldn't want to take anymore on, unless it was an emergency!

Nicola

Most people do know when they have to many animals to care for properly, you get guilty feelings when uve too many.Im very lucky or unlucky depending whitch way you look at it. Im at home all day and with the rescues sometimes have 85 thats the most i can have space wise.To be honest thats a few too many for me but like others i cannot say no.The morning is 2hrs filling water bottles and hay balls and checking everyone is ok, sweep up.Put a few in the runs, then coffee.After that its clean those out that need it,couple of hours indoors after changing rabbits in runs.Lunch.3oclock change rabbits in runs, imbetween all this getting the phone or seeing people that come to look for new rabbits. Then about half 4 change rabbits in runs and start to feed all do bottles again and hay balls , sweep up. Put all rabbits awayby this time its about six.All cages get cleaned out on monday [ for dust man on tuesday, and all rabbits cleaned out on thursday[ rely on friend to take bags to dump] If anyone has rung to make an appointment for a new rabbit then sometimes its in the evening no later than 9.Most days it works out fine but there are somedays that are very busy if i have a lot of calls and people coming round, but then thats the idea to get people round . I do have one day off [ lol] thats on a sunday when im usualy at a show, then its a very late night.If i was at work then theres no way it could be done and i would have to give it up, a few years ago i did a course and was out for most of the day, then i only had about forty and it was too much but i was only going to be doing the course for a year.When it becomes a chore instead of a pleasure then i know ill have to give it up. val

I guess Im lucky I told the children if they have the pets then they clean them out ....

The boys clean out their hamsters every week.

Pixie our Staffy Bull is looked after by us all.

Buttercup the Guinea pig is a joint effort from my daughter and I she is fed at the same time as the buns but cleaned out every other day by me.

Last but not least our five buns are cleaned out every day. Its a joint effort though between my daughter and I. We get up at seven, chop/shred all the veggies, I will go and feed the boys that live in the shed my daughter goes to feed Bramble and Blossom that live in the play house. We empty all the litter trays wipe them out with discenfectant then replace fresh newspaper and hay. When we get back from work and school this is when the sheds are swept and given a tidy up. I have to say my daughter is an absolute star and a total bunny slave!

All vet trips with which ever animal falls to me.

Do I have enough hours in the day to care for a few more? Yes probably Do I have enough space? Yes Do I want more buns? Yes Does the Hubby say yes? NO!!!!!

This is when it is lovely to have one! I probably have time for more, but at the moment, Soph's cage gets disinfected every day, litter changed every day, and she gets loads of playtime!

I clean all mine out every 2 days, they are all out in runs all day and use hutches only for slleping in. My runs are done and disinfected every night (my oh job) I run a rescue and board them but do it all on my own as I always think that nobody does it the way I do it . I just think it takes a set routine which I have and stick to. I do my housework on the days I don't clean out.

Hi Guys,

Isn't it good to be back online!! :0)

Well, I have 16 hutches. I work full time including every other Saturday, so I actually pay someone to clean out for me. This then enables me to spend more quality time with the buns when I am home each evening.

I don't know how some of the breeders cope with 200+ hutches. :shock:

Katharine x

Katharine said:

I don't know how some of the breeders cope with 200+ hutches. :shock:

Click to expand...

Hi,
I too don't know how they cope - seems a bit excessive to me but I do know a couple with that many.
I have 14 hutches, a couple empty. I spend Sundays cleaning out (or when I am at a show - Saturday), this takes me about 3 hours (not only because I am slow but also as I like to give them a run around the garden and not just bundle them into a carrier), it also takes around an hour on a night to groom/feed when I get in from school at 7pm.
This might not sound like alot but I can assure you when we get 3 and 1/2 hours of homework on a night, and 6 hours on a weekend - it all adds up.
My mum and dad don't mind me having the rabbits, they dont even have a say when I decide I want another one, as they know I won't have so many that I cannot manage - I would not get any more than I have now, it wouldn't become a chore as I love them all and nothing would change that, but at the present time I wouldn't be able to spend the time I like with them, and also as my work increases year after year I don't want to be left with so many that I cannot cope with through my A Levels.
Also as they cost £300 a year to keep (not to mention hutches/sheds, that is on food, bedding and other minor extras alone), on £10 pocket money a month - and no other funding from parents means I also have to go out to work to be able to keep them.
Rachel

i cleen most of my animals out on a sunday and it takes me ages to do it. it takes me about two hours to feed them every day, but im ok with it. itll be harder now that im back at college.

buns

It varies from rabbit to rabbit..Rufus and Daisy are very clean buns so only need the dirty end of litter tray emptied daily and poos swept up, and then whole area cleaned weekly.
Crosby and Fern on the other hand are dirty little blighters!! :shock: Have to clean most of their area daily..they pee all over the place.
Thistle and Bran are clean so same as 1st two.
Shady is a mix so it depends on what needs to be done. As for cuddles..well as many as I can fit in Crosby and Shady are real cuddle monsters but most of the others are happy with lots nose rubs, Thistle seems to love a game of chase!! :shock:

Ours get cleaned out every day - litter trays, dog beds full of hay, sheets, blankets, snuggle beds, towels, vet beds ........... the list is endless. But you have to remember that we have 20 living in the house and the other 3 live in the bunny house. From next week we will have 23 living in the house.
Never a day goes by when they don't get done - we have a routine and we stick to it. Some litter trays get done twice daily - depending on the bun. Most of the buns have 2 or 3 litter trays each :shock: Then of course, there are the large dog beds to scrub out and have new hay in :shock:
It's never-ending but the majority of our buns have something wrong with them and need vet bed - it just wouldn't feel right if we left the litter trays for two days or more :?
We also have the 2 hammies, they get done twice a week They are good boys they don't take long to do at all.
It takes us a good 4 hours every day to get the rooms all stripped and cleaned out - but as I say, we have a routine

how many can you manage

I clean my hutches out every day too as all my bunnies are free range (they are not shut in hutches but have complete 24 hour a day freedom)they live in a large shed which is swept twice a day morning & night the hutches are disinfected once a week & the whole shed is scrubbed out once a month its just a matter of routine I am often out in my bunny shed for 3-4 hours in the evening doing meds & grooming etc. I am lucky as I am at home all day so have my routine revolving around the bunnies. morning feeding & checking every one come back later & clean out hutches then more feeding then evening feeds again & quality time with them it keeps me busy but I enjoy it :lol:

It def depends on personal circumstances....
I have 1 dog, 3 cats, 2 rats & 2 rabbits (I had 2 pigs til recently~both died of old age) & I allow 2 foster rabbits aswell but thats my maximum!
Anymore than that & I wouldn't be giving them enough quality time.
I work part time, study part time & have a 7 year old son!
Its a hectic busy life & I JUST about manage financially but I love it

If money was no object, I wouldn't work & I'd have my own rehoming centre!

It def depends on personal circumstances....
I have 1 dog, 3 cats, 2 rats & 2 rabbits (I had 2 pigs til recently~both died of old age) & I allow 2 foster rabbits aswell but thats my maximum!
Anymore than that & I wouldn't be giving them enough quality time.
I work part time, study part time & have a 7 year old son!
Its a hectic busy life & I JUST about manage financially but I love it

If money was no object, I wouldn't work & I'd have my own rehoming centre! :mrgreen:

It def depends on personal circumstances....
I have 1 dog, 3 cats, 2 rats & 2 rabbits (I had 2 pigs til recently~both died of old age) & I allow 2 foster rabbits aswell but thats my maximum!
Anymore than that & I wouldn't be giving them enough quality time.
I work part time, study part time & have a 7 year old son!
Its a hectic busy life & I JUST about manage financially but I love it

If money was no object, I wouldn't work & I'd have my own rehoming centre! :mrgreen: