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in over my head?help!

S

sk2

New Kit
So, plain and simple. I wanted a pet, went pet shopping. Did NOT intend on buying a rabbit, but automatically I fell in love with a random white lop eared rabbit. The pet store seemed very unknowing about the rabbit. They only said he was less than a year old. Anyway....Now I find myself confused about what to do with him. I am still living with my parents. They will not let me rabbit proof the house let alone my bedroom. The poor rabbit only gets out about two and a half hours max every day. By the time I put him back in his cage he HATES me. I feel terrible. I love him, but I can't let him out constantly because every second the little guy nearly kills himself somehow.
I am considering getting him a companion? Or maybe just a big hutch? I want to treat him right but....I'm just scared. I don't want to neglect him. Simply, I dont want my rabbit to hate me....advice?
 
Hi there :wave:

How big is his cage? General guidelines are that rabbits should have a 6ft by 2ft hutch and a 6ft by 4ft run, if they are going to be left inside them for long periods of time. Otherwise they should have 4-5 hours outside of their cage each day... Is there no way that you can rabbit proof your room? Surely if it's only your room you are changing, your parents can't mind that much?

Rabbits live very happily in pairs or groups, and it is a good idea to get companions for single buns. However, I would make sure that you have got your current arrangement sorted out first. Give your bun some time to settle in. He is probably a little bit stressed from the move and the fact that he is in a new place.

I would also get him to a good rabbit savvy vets as soon as you can. If he has not had them, he will need a Myxomatosis and VHD jab. Myxo should be done first, and he will need this vaccination once every 6 months. VHD should be done about 2 weeks after the Myxo and he will need this vaccination once a year. It is also a good idea to get him neutered, and this will be essential if you would like to get him a companion at some point.

There are tons of useful threads on this forum. I would have a look at the care reference section, and use the search to look for particular topics (e.g. indoor housing set ups).

Having a bunny is fantastic, but I would be lying if I said it was easy.

Good luck :D

PS - would love to see some piccies of your bun!
 
Hey, don't worry about him hating you when you put him away. After 6 months Biscuit still attacks when we put her away, she just doesn't like it. And I can't pick her up either, she hates that. All bunnies are their own people! ;)

Do you have a lawn? Ideally you should buy a hutch/run combo so that the bottom is large and on the lawn, then he can have a run. I would then rabbit-proof your room so that when you are home you can have him up there and he gets to explore and he gets some company.

Can't remember if you said he is snipped? If not, then that might help, especially if you bring him indoors as you will want him litter trained. You don't want to find little presents in your bed :p

Good luck. Everybody is a bunny-learner at some time. You will get to know him so well that you know what he is going to do next!
 
Sorry, I wrote my earlier message in a bit of a hurry before I went to work, so was a bit formal :oops:

Just wanted to say that we only got our bun about 5 months ago, I had never before had a pet rabbit, so I really knew nothing when I started out. Luckily a friend recommended this forum straight away, and I have learnt so much from it.

I would just take it one step at a time. We have made loads of changes to our set up over the months, and have finally now reached the set up that is right for us. You don't have to do everything all at once. Maybe start off by deciding whether you want your bun to be an indoor or outdoor bun, then think about how much space you have available, and what kind of housing would be best for this space. There are tons of options (cage, hutch, dog crate, pen, nic cubes) and you can always extend in the future. Try and make sure that he has incentive to go back into his cage (toys/food to keep him occupied plus a good supply of hay to munch) so that he doesn't see his house as a bad place to be. Do your best to rabbit proof your room (even if you just remove things that can hurt him for now), so that he can spend valuable time with you, and just take it from here.

Don't beat yourself up over this, you just need a bit of time to get things right for you and your bun :)
 
:wave: He wont HATE you if you treat him right, he may dislike what your doing at times but they dont realise its for their own good! You can soon win them round like when you have put him away give him a few treats (pellets are best) to reward him for going to bed.

Where does he live at the moment? and how old are you if you dont mind me asking as you live with your parents.

A big hutch with attached run would work as would a companion to keep him company but obviously both must be neutered and spayed. Has your little man been neutered?? and a proper bonding must take place but thats a whole different story..

Keep in touch - you will get a lot of advice and help here x
 
Thanks all =]

thanks all for the advice.
no the little guy hasn't been neutered yet.
I got him a little over a week ago.
I was nervous about getting a rabbit seeing as how I didn't know too much. However,one of my good friends has a couple so I relied on her to show me proper care. She gave me a cage for him. She told me about this so I figured that for now I would be able to afford the sweet thing. Although, I thought the cage would be bigger. He lives in my room with me at the foot of my bed. The cage is a little longer than twice his size and he can't fully stand in it. :(
And what I mean by my parents not letting me is, I need financial help.
I'm 18, just started college and am paying for EVERYTHING on my own. I just don't know how much it costs for everything to be made well for him. I have taken a LOT of stuff out of my room for him to be safer...Alright, I'm just rambling now. But Yup. I plan on taking his first trip to the vet within the next two months. And I think I'm going to buy him a MUCH larger cage.
I guess I just feel like an animal neglecter when I put him back in his little cage and his sweet eyes look so sad...and that is the last thing I want to do to my sweet little bun :(
 
When you buy him a larger cage, don't do what I did and get a 5'x2'x2' hutch thinking that was plenty big enough, only to have to then go and get something even bigger later on. What I'm trying to say is, to avoid wasting money, get the size right first time. :)
 
If you look on Ebay, you can get dog crates, pens or nic cubes (which can be attached together to make an enclosure of any shape/size) really cheaply. I will look for some links and post them in a bit.

As far as rabbit proofing is concerned, we mostly use cardboard to prevent our bun from getting to places she shouldn't. It may not look pretty, but it does the job, and is free :D

I can appreciate why you would feel sad at putting him back in this cage, as it does sound really small... but just think before too long you should be able to get a fantastic set up for him and he'll be really happy.

About the vets... as well as the routine things (like vaccinations), if you are unlucky enough to need urgent/unplanned veterinary care, you will need to figure out how you will pay for this... some things can be expensive, so it may be worth thinking about taking out insurance for any unexpected costs. To be honest, I don't know much about this and whether it is worthwhile, but I know there have been a few threads discussing the pros and cons.

Will look for some links and post them in a bit :)
 
Hiya - what country are you in? If you're looking at improving his accommodation you need to remember that he is now used to being indoors so if you want to get a big hutch and run, you can't put him in it now until it warms up again next late Spring, as he won't have a thick enough coat to see him through the winter. But from what you describe his accommodation is nowhere near big enough so you definitely need to get something sorted as soon as possible, it's very unkind to keep a rabbit in something that small.

Some kind of panels that you can fit around his cage so he has somewhere bigger to be? Dog crates are usually much cheaper than rabbit cages and you can put a shelf in too so he has more space.
 
 
Dog crate on ebay. :)

You can even make a shelf for them to give him more room with two planks of wood and a shelf off an old cupboard or something.
 
Hiya

Dog crate is your answer, can be bought quite cheaply. If second hand just make sure there are no sharp bits from previous occupant.

Much cheaper, longer lasting and bigger than hutches AND you can keep him indoors.

Alot of people make cages from NIC/storage cubes but for me getting 4 dogs crates was the cheaper option :)

Can't wait to see a picture, me LOVES white lops :love:
 
The thing to remember is that you will always wonder if you are doing the right thing for your bunny. Ours was spayed yesterday and I felt and feel horrible about it, I know it is for her own good, but it doesn't stop me feeling guilty. It is a natural thing to worry when you have something you love so much, and the fact that you do love him, want the best for him (and give him lots of bunny snuggles I'm sure), and are here asking for advice and ideas means that you are trying to be the best bunny mummy you can :)

I am sure he will be OK in his cage/hutch when you are not there just until you can save up enough to make some modifications! ;)
 
Hello :wave:

I see you were thinking about the money side of things as well so I thought I'd post a bit about how much my two bunnies routinely cost me. This doesn't include costs of toys or accomodation because I make free toys as well as buy them, and I'm not sure of indoor accomodation costs. But if you use storage cubes they are about £30 for 17 squares I think.

Food stuff!
I spend £5 - £6 a week on food.

- £2 per week on 1 bag of hay (lasts 1 week, though I might start buying bales soon instead)
- £2 - £3 per week on vegetables.
- £4 per month on dry food.

Vet stuff!
I will spend £50 a year on vaccinations.

- £15 per 6 months to vaccinate against myxomatosis.
- £20 per year to vaccinate against VHD.
- I also got my boy neutered so that he could have a companion, this cost £60 at my vets (this is quite expensive it seems). I know a place nearby where it costs £30 but it's not as good.
- Vet bills for rabbits can be very expensive as someone else said. With Petplan insurance I think you pay about £10 a month per bunny, but I just put some cash aside each month instead.


When I first got my rabbit I read a similar money post to this and it really helped me because I'm pants with money, so I hope you might find this useful. :) Good luck with your lovely new bunny!

P.S tell me if I've forgotten something, I feel like I have :oops:
 
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