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Why do you keep rabbits?

Ben's mum

Warren Veteran
Started typing this and got distracted then closed the window :roll: So take two!
We clean up their mess, put up with their destruction, spend our wages on food, toys and vet bills. We deal with nightmare bondings, slave away making fox-proof runs or rearranging room to fit another hutch in...what makes it all worthwhile?
What do you get out of owning rabbits? There must be something special about it, especially for those who own quite a few (naming no names *coughPhillandJanecough* ;)
 
Started typing this and got distracted then closed the window :roll: So take two!
We clean up their mess, put up with their destruction, spend our wages on food, toys and vet bills. We deal with nightmare bondings, slave away making fox-proof runs or rearranging room to fit another hutch in...what makes it all worthwhile?
What do you get out of owning rabbits? There must be something special about it, especially for those who own quite a few (naming no names *coughPhillandJanecough* ;)


Just because i love them. I get a nice warm fluffy feeling that i am giving to something that otherwise might not have had it. I take on mostly those buns who have been in rescue a while or have been there because they are demed aggresive or too old or the wrong colour. It isn't very often i will take on a bun just because i want that perticular one. My buns may not get lots of handeling, they only get picked up when i need to check them but 90% are quite happy with that thank you very much. i love to get a bun who is deemed aggressive and then work with them and know that 2,3,4,5,6 months or however long later that that bun isn't trying to box people because of me. Or that i ahve given a bun freedom to be a bun, in a safe environment where there well fed, dry and have proper vet treatment. I think it somes donw to a certain amount of selfishness, i feel good because i can provide 20 (soon to be 22) buns with a good home, where there not scared or proded, or poked, or dumped, or cooped up in a tiny hutch. I love each and everyone of my buns, yes i am attached to some of my buns more than others but they all have there own and very individual personaltys and i know each of them inside out. I love sepnding time outside in most weather (even rain) and i might be gardening or cleaning buns but i just love it! Watching them play and flop and being bunnies is the best thing in the world. Ali doens't always understand my bunnies fasination, he gets it with oakley as he is soo very attached to her but with her being a house bun he spends alot of time with her. he also thinks i have too many and as i keep pionting out to him i have 5 less than i did last year, he gets annoyed sometimes at the amount of money i spend on them esp my vets bill, but he would never have me get rid of my buns or never have nay ever again, he knows that although i won't have this many for ever i will always have a few. they are just so special and so overlooked as wonderful creatures, people often say to me, ''why rabbits they don't do anything'' and i say come round for a day and watch them. They do the most fasinating things and there interaction between bonded groups and partners and even through the wire with there next door naigbours is extrodinary. Yes on wet, cold and miserbale winter nights when im trying desperatly to get them clean using a torch and a very wet bin bag i sometimes think ooh i wonder what i could be doing right now if i weren't out here, and then it occurs to me that iwould be very very very bored! And on occasion lonley. I have had animals since i was born, i had my first gp at age 5 and my first bun at age 8, my animals have always been my comfort, if im havinga difficult time i go to them, they listen to me and love me no matter what (well unless i have to take them to the vets). As someone who suffers from extreme stress ( i react very badly to most things) my buns keep me calm and also make me feel as though im doing something. Even on really bad and upsetting days when i really could do with not seeing anyone i can see them. They are my little bundle of fluff and i love them, i definatly wouldn't have it any other way.
 
i like the fact that even though they are hard work they love you unconditionally and they give me a reason to get up in the morning i love the fact that they are always happy to see me and come to me in the morning they make me genuinely happy so for me there worth a bit of poop shuffling
 
Wow phil I couldnt agree more!!!
Mines kind of strange - I could never be without a furry animal ...
My dog died, and I couldnt take the heartache of having another dog. So I thought why not a rabbit - having never owned one before....
They arent as much work as a dog - you can just shove them in a hutch and I wont get attached to them.
That theory went bang out the window when I met Snowflake who was my 21st birthday present.! I never knew anything about bunnies when I got her, except what I read in a book. Now I have Isaac for her as well ... a massive hutch and run - *which they spend not much time in at all :lol: * yuh its a pain in the behind cleaning the hutch in the rain and they get to sit inside and laugh at you while you are doing it... but in weather like this. You cannot feel much more love or pride than lying in the garden watching them binky and flop and climb over you and lick you to death - knowing that you have given an overlooked animal a home, where they can be whoever they want to be - whenever they want to be it - however they want to be it....
I just dont understand how people can be so horrible to them.... I just totally and utterly am in love with them.
 
I initially got mine as they were really the only pets I could get when I moved, apart from my hamster and fish. I wanted a larger animal that could interact with me more. ANd we finallly had a garden so we said RABBITS! Couldn't get a dog or cat as we work (not good for dog) and don't have a suitable door for a cat flap or anyone who could look after a cat when we're away.
So rabbits it was as there was a good rabbit holiday home just down the road and our garden is small and walled, so perfect for them.

Then I got them, and realised more than I thought, what lovely, funny, cheeky, friendly animals they are. I love making them as happy as i can. I love seeing them bound over to me when they think it's dinner time with Ozzie's ears flapping, i love seeing them interact and snuggle with each other. They are just so rewarding, and that's with them not even being cuddly buns. They are very much independent rabbits who don't really like human cuddles etc, yet they are the best!
OOh they make me go all gooey!

And when I have the space and money in the future for more, I'll always get more difficult to rehome rabbits, older ones etc. Mine aren't exactly young though at 5, and I've only had them less than a year.
 
I didn't even want a rabbit.

I loved my guinea pigs and thought they were fun and nothing would beat them. How wrong was I. My sister bought a rabbit, soon got bored and asked me "while you're cleaning out the guinea pigs can you clean out Charlie." Soon I was looking after him day in, day out and he soon became mine.... That was ten years ago and 13 rabbits later...
The addiction is in full flow...
Its difficult to put into words what makes them special from other pets. I think its their vunerability..... A dog will happily go to anyone....With a rabbit you have to earn that trust.... Theres nothing more rewarding than when they come up to you voluntarily for affection. Its just the best!!!! :love:
 
Well, as one of those who has 'quite a few' (lol !), and who spends and absolutely ridiculous amount of time and money looking after them, it is very difficult to try to explain in a few words what they do for me......because they do SO much! They really DO bring a GREAT deal of joy to my life. I enjoy looking after them, I find it extremely fulfilling......it is a fantastic hobby, and I find it very relaxing. The rabbits themselves give me SO much pleasure. Anyone who says 'they are JUST rabbits' obviously doesn't 'get' it! They are playful, and affectionate, and love their cuddles.....they follow me around and get up to all SORTS of antics that make me laugh. I can't imagine not having rabbits in my life.......I have had rabbits for about 35 years now!:love: :love: :love:
 
Teletubbies!

Yes, you did read that correct.

There are rabbits on it and my son loved Teletubbies (gets very embarrased when we mention it now).

He had two for his third birthday - Teapot and Porkpie.

He helped with everything we did with them. Feeding, cleaning etc

After having them for over four years, we lost them within a week of each other. The garden was not the same. It was weird going out and not been greeted by a bun at my feet. Also, the grass was getting long :lol:

We then got Donut and Nibbles. Unfortunately Nibbles died and after a while we got our big boy Bailey.

My son is 9 now and still loves his rabbits. It has taught him to be responsible and caring. He is adamant that he wants to be a vet and I am sure he will be. If any of our animals go the vets, they are always amazed at how knowledgable Joe is. They also show him what they are doing and explain everything to him.
 
I didn't want rabbits either - I was happy with mice and guinea pigs, then someone at work was trying to get rid of her 2 rabbits to somewhere I didn't want them to go, so I agreed to take them. And... now I'm smitten! I love the way they run up looking for treats, chase around like loonies, and... their cute little faces and ears!!! :love:
 
I love watching them interact with each other. Or after a hard day at work & they come over to see me (ok - they are after food, but still!:lol: ).

Or when you see/hear of the history of one of your buns & see what they turned out like.

Alfie (who Jill rescued) had been kept in the sleeping compartment of a hutch, in the dark. Alex (my NZ white free ad bun) was kept in a hutch & not let out for over 6 months. His feet bled when he walked cos his nails were so overgrown. Both of them are incredibly friendly. Alfie happy bunny flops on my knee & Alex falls asleep during nose rubs. They are amazing animals to put up with what we did to them, but still love us anyway:D

Even scary Calel. his backflips are amazing to watch:lol: & sometimes he forgets he's evil & I'm allowed to stroke him.:D
 
For me it is a nose being put under your hand for tickles, the nudges saying I'm down here, pay me attention.

One minute they give the impression of "I'm a Noble Rabbit" and the next they binky off like nutcases :lol:

Fred's impression of an elephant with his cardboard tube.

When Alice cleans her huge ears, it all gets a bit WWF because no matter how hard she tries they will not cooperate even when she lays down on the floor :lol:
 
They are amazing! I love my bunnies to bits. I've had people say "they don't do anything" but they so do! I sit in the garage watching and chatting to them for hours. Its such a rewarding experience to take a scared and hand shy bunny and watch it develop into a confident, friendly bunny with each one having such individual personalities. I only started keeping bunnies when I was 19 and bought Alice from a pet shop. Since then I have rescued Halo, Milo (both now at the bridge with Alice), Benny, Betty and William. All are very different characters and have their own sad story, I like to think they are happy with me and I will do my very best for them. Of course they take all your money, space and time...but its the same as any hobby or interest, this one just gives you a warm fuzzy feeling.

Oh...and they're also a substitute for having kids. I've told my OH that I'll stop rescuing bunnies when he says we can have kids!! :lol:
 
They are amazing! I love my bunnies to bits. I've had people say "they don't do anything" but they so do! I sit in the garage watching and chatting to them for hours. Its such a rewarding experience to take a scared and hand shy bunny and watch it develop into a confident, friendly bunny with each one having such individual personalities. I only started keeping bunnies when I was 19 and bought Alice from a pet shop. Since then I have rescued Halo, Milo (both now at the bridge with Alice), Benny, Betty and William. All are very different characters and have their own sad story, I like to think they are happy with me and I will do my very best for them. Of course they take all your money, space and time...but its the same as any hobby or interest, this one just gives you a warm fuzzy feeling.

Oh...and they're also a substitute for having kids. I've told my OH that I'll stop rescuing bunnies when he says we can have kids!! :lol:

Ahhh! I'm considering never having kids and just having the rabbits!! lol! I don't think the OH would agree though.....:rolleyes:
 
Me and OH agreed no kids just rabbits :lol: :lol:

I have always love rabbits, as soon as I got my own place I had to have some, hard to say why, superficialy they are generally quiet (they don't bark-usually:shock: ), nice to stoke and their "waste" isn't as yucky as dogs and cats. ( I could never pick up dog poo :shock: )

On a deeper level they really do have such endearing characters, I love their stubboness and grumpyness, makes it all the more rewarding when they come running up to see me after a long day at work :D
 
Rabbits binky, beg for food and nosey strokes, conk out in TOTAL relaxation, don't eat meat (I am veggie and wouldn't like buying meat for a meat eating animal), lick each other, chase each other, keep the garden 'tidy' (well, a desert is tidy), can be trained to do tricks, will try to push you out of their way even though you weigh about 40 times as much as them, burrow, stand on tiptoes to try to get a leaf, wash their faces with their hands, rearrange the room to their liking with a focussed demeanour...... that'll do for starters, anyway
 
Well, I've had kids.......and Grandkids......so I have to use the excuse that I am using my rabbits as a substitute for GREAT Grandkids!!!!!:p :lol: :lol:
 
I keep rabbits cos I'm a sucker for a sob story :lol:

Seriously though, I would love to keep horses, but don't have the money. I would love a dog, but work full-time. I don't like cats. I don't believe in keeping exotics like reptiles, or birds in cages rather than aviaries. And my O/H is scared of small furries.

Doesn't leave me with much choice :?

Now, I will always choose rabbits over other pets because I have reached a 'comfort zone' and know what I'm doing with them. The thought of keeping other animals just scares me now. :shock:
 
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I've always had rabbits, but I can't really explain, why. They are amazing to watch, I love the way their nose goes up and down and their ears move towards sounds. It's also very sweet when they eat. I am very sensitive to noise, and rabbits are fairly quiet animaly, maybe that's why I get along with them better than with birds or dogs. I like cats a lot, too, and had some strays and a rescue one before, but now I am allergic to them.
I have a soft spot for reptiles and amphibians, but have never had any as pets. I love to watch them in our pond and am waiting for the exodus of the little froglets in a few weeks. I just hope that the magpies don't eat all of them. :(
 
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