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costs etc of 4 buns??

clairen

Warren Scout
Just wanted some advice, particularly from those of you with multiple bunnies.

I've recently reserved 2 rescue buns, as planned for some time. These will be my first rabbits, although I've owned several other pets in the past and my hubby has had rabbits before. However, at the rescue centre I also fell in love with 2 others who were older and had been at the centre for some months with no interest. Now I can't stop thinking about the 2 buns I 'rejected' and am seriously considering applying to adopt them too. Making a decision was so difficult and I feel so guilty about the 2 I left behind.

I have enough time and space to care for 4 rabbits and lovely neighbours plus back-up to care for them if we go on holiday, however the cost worries me a little. How do those of you with large numbers of rabbits manage?

I think the sensible plan is to care for my rabbits for a couple of months and see how I get on, then if I still feel the same and the other 2 still haven't been homed, apply to adopt them.

Any thoughts??
 
Hiya. I have four rabbits and too be honest it isnt as bad as you think, we buy a big bag of food (like a huuuuuuuuge bag) at £6.99 which lasts almost two months for four! and we spend £3 every month if we buy a big bale of half hay half straw from the farm, or £2 every 2 weeks if we buy it in bags. We buy lots of toys etc but they all get swopped around. The only thing that really costs is the jabs/boosters cus its £33 a rabbit but thats it.

Im not counting my accomodation etc, cus i jus added up the 'cost of living' etc! x
 
I have 5 and it's not really too bad. It's just vaccinations and any other vet bills to be honest. I buy a bale of hay every two weeks which costs £4 and I order Megazorb online which lasts quite a while because it's a huge bag. They then get different types of hay and toys from the hay experts or bunny basics which can come up to about £40, but they're fine just eating hay from the bale, I just like them to have timothy hay and other types as well :)

x
 
Hiya =]

I only own two rabbits at the moment, but will be hoping for a 3rd in the not too distant future =]

Are these bunnies already spayed/neutered? If not, I should imagine that's where the majority of the cost comes from... with regards to any vet treatment alot of people on here have a seperate bank account where they commit to putting money away every week/fortnight/month so they can budget for any problems. Because rabbit illnesses can just come from no where, this is something I've just allowed myself - In a way I wish I hadn't insured them because the excess is £50 and, touch wood, I can't forsee any problems they may have which may cost over that in one go...

The things to bear in mind are the facilities you have... at the moment I have an indoor cage which is spare, a large pen with a hutch on to it (also indoor) and a 6ft x 2ft x 2ft hutch with 6ft x 4ft run... I think this will cope for 3 rabbits, it's excess for 2 easily =] If you don't already have the hutches/accomodation then that's another big chunk of money. As rabbits require a good sized hutch and run you're looking at least parting with a hundred + per hutch and run, or if you opt for a shed around one thirty +.

Vaccinations have to be taken in to consideration also, if your buns are living outdoors it is recommend to have them vaccinated every 6 months to prevent myxi - if you read through this forum there's plenty of devastating stories of myxi cases which are appearing all the time this summer, so i think taking 6 month precautionary injections are a good thing. As you probably know the injections don't prevent, but they do help when treating these illnesses. Depending on your vet you'll be expected to pay anything from £25 to £40 for the course of injections at any one time.

Food isn't such a huge issue - as rabbits need a high fibre diet lots of hay (which can be obtained for reasonable prices from www.thehayexperts.co.uk), high fibre pellets (alot of people will recommend Science Selective which is around £2.50 for one.5kg, or Allan and Page which is alot cheaper), and vegetables - which aren't too expensive.

I wish you luck with your choice, I'm sure whatever choice you make it'll be the right one. I got Jamie and Kitt about 2 months ago now, and I've waited to see if I can afford these in terms of the time I can offer (as I am a student) and the money I can spend on them... and I think I can offer a 3rd bunny a great home too =]

x
 
The stuff you can plan for it's too back. Feeding a rabbit is pretty cheap. It's the unplanned expenses - vet bills that can really stack up.

One bun can set you back £100+ in a trip so more than one ill at once or even close together can really add up.

I know it's hard to choose but four buns at once is really jumping in the deep end :D

I'd start with two and go for there. You could always look into fostering or helping out at a rescue if you'd like to do more :)

If the rescues near you perhaps you could post photos/info of the two you don't get here or on RR, and help them get a home too :)

Tam
 
As has been said the day to day care of four buns isn't that expensive its the vets bills that are scary, also i find looking after three rabbits a lot of work so if its your first buns i don't think i would get four straight away maybe wait a few months and if their still at the rescue reconsider it?
 
Thanks very much for all your advice. I'm heartened to hear the weekly upkeep isn't too bad. Like you say, it's the unexpected vet bills which are scary. As advised, I'll concentrate on caring for my first two and will start a savings fund for vet bills etc. If in the next few months all is going ok and if the other 2 are still available I'll definitely consider adopting them too. Many thanks
 
Apart from having a vet fund put aside for emergencies (insuring multiple bunnies is too expensive so I like to keep £1000 by, just incase) keeping 4 rabbits is not much more expensive than keeping 2 as you can take advantage of bulk buying hay, feed and megazorb - but storing it is another problem! No danger of half a bag of greens going to waste in my house though :roll: :lol:
 
I have 5 bunnies, and spend about £5 per week on hay, £3 on fresh food. Readigrass costs me £7 for a 15 kilo bag, and their food £6 per 20 kilo bag which both last ages! Litter is maybe £2 per week.
Their first aid kit (infacol, Recovery food, nail clippers, syringes) about £10.
Vaccs round here are fairly cheap - £10.50 for myxo and £12.50 for VHD, but that's still £150 per year.
On the whole, since I added Salt and Pepper to the family (buns 4 and 5), I've not noticed much more difference in the outlay.
 
I've got 16 rabbits and usually a fair few fosters in and I find that feeding them and looking after them day to day can cost as little as some people who have fewer rabbits as I buy in bulk - bags of food are £7, bales of hay £4, the veg is probably the biggest expense. But - when it comes to vax's and vet bills - that's when I notice. I have a fund set aside for them and their jabs are spread out over the year to spread the cost but myxi is £11.75 so thats .... wow £188 a year just for the myxi :shock: Wish I hadn't worked that one out! :rolleyes: :lol:
 
I'd just echo what other people say. I have four buns which costs next to nothing for feeding (big bags of pellets, a bale of hay, grass in the garden and you can pick them things for free from the countryside). My vet is very expensive though, so you might want to check out the vets in your area first. It costs me about £100 to get all four vaccinated. I do myxi twice a year and VHD once a year, so that is £300 a year just on vaccs.

I agree with Elve that insuring many bunnies isn't economic, so you need to have instant access to a LOT of money (Elve's suggestion of £1000 sounds about right to me) in case one of them gets sick. A sick bunny makes you really appreciate the NHS.

I used to have two bunnies, and I always wanted more, but now that I have four I wouldn't have any more. I love them all, and they all have different personalities, and wouldn't be without any of them, but I would like to give each of them more attention than they get as part of a group of four. I have three that like to have their heads stroked, but unless they are very obliging and lie very close together, somebody always gets left out as I have only two hands. I don't know how people with 10+ rabbits manage!
 
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