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Big bunnies, little bunnies, medium sized bunnies

joey&boo

Wise Old Thumper
I always seem to get medium sized bunnies. I do love the idea of a well sociaised giant - I like the thought of spooning with them in front of fire:lol: The charm, aloofness & entertainment value of nethies also seems very appealing. For medium sized rabbits I like their rabbityness, their generally better health (prospects).
I've also never had a bunny i can't pick up / handle as necesssary so think medium sized bunnies must be better for this??

Does bunny size matter to you?
 
I always seem to get medium sized bunnies. I do love the idea of a well sociaised giant - I like the thought of spooning with them in front of fire[emoji38] The charm, aloofness & entertainment value of nethies also seems very appealing. For medium sized rabbits I like their rabbityness, their generally better health (prospects).
I've also never had a bunny i can't pick up / handle as necesssary so think medium sized bunnies must be better for this??

Does bunny size matter to you?
Not really tbh, I've had two very small mini lops, a mini rex, two standard rexes, and two californians, so a bit of a mix, nothing really tiny though and nothing giant.. I like big buns though, I'm more drawn to them for some reason [emoji38] not sure why.. I'd have a continental giant quite happily and also a nethie, but if I had to choose between the two I'd always pick the continental [emoji38] wish I knew why!

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We had Theo and Vincent, Theo standard, Vincent small. The last 4 have been biggies. Sometimes trying to carry conti/flemish in a carrier made me wish for smaller. I dont think size matters.
Spooning in front of the fire usually is Rups sitting on your back/heard/legs as you stay still to accommodate him before realising you are so very uncomfy and a little squished.
 
Size doesn’t matter to me, I’ve never had a giant rabbit though, but had lots of medium sized rabbits and Frosty was my only one tiny bunny. Boots was medium sized and my one and only true cuddle bunny. I’ve had a few that were definitely hands off timid bunnies, and one aggressive one!
 
What matter to me the most is health. And I'm not keen on small, rounded muzzle with cats, dogs, rabbits, brachycephalic faces. The tendency of teeth problems is high-way higher then with normal muzzle breed. And not just teeth also breathing and possible heart problems.

So I would ask all the breeders, do best for breeds and change standards to the better-normal lenght muzzle. A lot of dwarf breeds and lionheads have this problem.

That is the main reason I've decided together with my boyfriend-we will never buy /adopt dwarf breed again. Only for fostering-yes. I will always take the bun in need. But I choose medium/large breeds.

And not too fond of giants. Well. I adore them. But quite often they have spine problems.

That said. I think there is still a long way to improve breeding in buns. At least in Slovenia. I'm spoiled with dogs. Educating breeders, owners is the way.
 
I'd say it doesn't matter because I love bunnies of all sizes, but in reality I need to be able to carry them when they need to go to the vet, so I stick with small bunnies because I'm weak. :lol: I think Casper's the smallest bunny I've had, though. He's very little. :love:
 
Charlie, our family rabbit at home, was the smallest, a Nethie with bunnitude. He was fab :love: Lopsy's the biggest rabbit I've had and he's much more difficult to handle, so I prefer smaller bunnies from a handling sense. Although I do threaten Matt with getting a house giant who'll be really annoying to him :lol:
 
My rabbits are appr. 4.5kg, I definitly prefer stumbling over them than stepping on small ones :D. Also, they are completly safe from cats.
 
My preference is definitely uppy-eared, non brachycephalic, because of health issues. Appearance-wise I find them all cute. If a rabbit doesn't like being picked up or handled then I think medium size is probably the easiest, as large ones are strong and heavy to manage, whilst small ones are wriggly.
 
I forgot I posted this last night :lol:

I think what I like about bigger bunnies is theres more bunny to the bunny :lol:
When I adopted Rudey I thought he'd be a bigger medium as I was told he was 3k. He wasn't, he was 2.6 but looked & felt 2. I was a bit disappointed by how small he was:oops:
Otherwise perfect of course :love:
 
We've only ever had the giants, but I think I would struggle with smaller now - even they seem small at times, but they just seem to be a good "rabbit" kind of size somehow! But I do have lean, fit giants, I really don't like seeing so many huge fat ones, mine will never weigh as much as most giants seem to as my focus is on them being healthy and fit rather than just BIG.

Normal rabbits are very cute but seem so small! And I don't think I'd ever go for dwarf/lop type by choice due to the health considerations.
 
We've only ever had the giants, but I think I would struggle with smaller now - even they seem small at times, but they just seem to be a good "rabbit" kind of size somehow! But I do have lean, fit giants, I really don't like seeing so many huge fat ones, mine will never weigh as much as most giants seem to as my focus is on them being healthy and fit rather than just BIG.

Normal rabbits are very cute but seem so small! And I don't think I'd ever go for dwarf/lop type by choice due to the health considerations.

See I am more scared by giant breeds in terms of health considerations than any other. In some ways this will be personal as I've had some experience of sore hocks & arthritis, both I find harder to deal with than many other bunny health complaints. To a large extent both of these health risks of giants must be reduced by correct handling throughout their lives & keeping trim I'd have thought.
 
See I am more scared by giant breeds in terms of health considerations than any other. In some ways this will be personal as I've had some experience of sore hocks & arthritis, both I find harder to deal with than many other bunny health complaints. To a large extent both of these health risks of giants must be reduced by correct handling throughout their lives & keeping trim I'd have thought.
I thought giant breeds are known to have a lot of health issues. Not done loads of research, just what I've heard etc plus things my vet has said

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I thought giant breeds are known to have a lot of health issues. Not done loads of research, just what I've heard etc plus things my vet has said

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oh yes, defo, that & their shorter lifespan puts me off. But I was wondering how much of these risks relate to poor handling & being inactive & overweight
 
We've only had one giant our English Lop Flopsy and he was a gentle giant although sadly he didn't survive until adulthood so I'm not sure how big he would have been.

He was amazing and I would happily have another giant however I must admit their lower lifespan does weigh on my mind, but then so far we've lost buns before that at each point.

To be honest I'm not sure I have a preference other than cheeky mischief maker, health wise I know which are preferable but I'm not logical enough to make choices like that when picking out a bun. I tend to go with gut instinct and that awwww feeling.

For instance Rodney was chosen because he nibbled hubby when we met him at the RSPCA and I knew he was coming back with us [emoji23]



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oh yes, defo, that & their shorter lifespan puts me off. But I was wondering how much of these risks relate to poor handling & being inactive & overweight
Hard to know, Penelope is 5kg, and obviously did her leg in binkying and she's not overweight. Even though my vet hadnt seen one before in rabbits himself he said its always the very large/ giant ones from what he's heard. I think FHBs husband wrote the chapter on it which he was reading after he figured out what was wrong with her leg. Must be the same with dogs, I had a German shepherd, so hip dysplasia was what everyone worried about, but it's all large breeds which are prone to it, breeding is a factor but also just size I think. Interestingly what Clementine had with her knees is very common in cats and westhighland terriers apparently [emoji38]

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We've only had one giant our English Lop Flopsy and he was a gentle giant although sadly he didn't survive until adulthood so I'm not sure how big he would have been.

He was amazing and I would happily have another giant however I must admit their lower lifespan does weigh on my mind, but then so far we've lost buns before that at each point.

To be honest I'm not sure I have a preference other than cheeky mischief maker, health wise I know which are preferable but I'm not logical enough to make choices like that when picking out a bun. I tend to go with gut instinct and that awwww feeling.

For instance Rodney was chosen because he nibbled hubby when we met him at the RSPCA and I knew he was coming back with us [emoji23]



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That's so sweet about Rodney, that's like my last dog, she stole my flip flop and ran off with it.. I was only 12 and I remember because it really annoyed [emoji38] they were my favourite pair and this huge puppy who kept biting me had stolen it and ran off with it and was chewing it to pieces [emoji38] I remember feeling so unsure when we left with her (still chewing my bloody flip flip [emoji38]) adult me would be like yep I'll take that one tho now.

When I got Clementine and Atticus their dad was this huge show rex from Belgium or something idek.. That place was such a disaster.. But the guy was all like proud of the dad and all the stuff he'd won or whatever and brought him out.. Anyway he sprayed my mum.. [emoji38][emoji38] Like absolutely covered her, face, neck, tee shirt, bag... [emoji38][emoji38] I had to drive her car home she was too traumatised to drive and got straight in the shower when we got back [emoji38][emoji38][emoji38] was really funny though [emoji38] animals are the best [emoji38][emoji38][emoji38]

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I like slightly fluffy lionhead tyes, esp white ones!

I also like wildies, rex, dutch and belgian hares.

I am in love with all mine. I do find that I like smaller ones but agree that they are very wriggly. Loganberry and Moondust are real wrigglers.





Snowflake is a lionhead x and Dusty is a nethie x. I think she is part rex due to her soft coat and voracious appitite!



Frosty and his blue eyed white doe, Daisy are both lionhead x and middle sized, like Snowflake (Frosty's brother).

 
See I am more scared by giant breeds in terms of health considerations than any other. In some ways this will be personal as I've had some experience of sore hocks & arthritis, both I find harder to deal with than many other bunny health complaints. To a large extent both of these health risks of giants must be reduced by correct handling throughout their lives & keeping trim I'd have thought.

Yes, I know what you mean, and I was aware of that when I was writing - but for me it is easier to deal with the health issues they come with than the ones dwarfs come with - I understand skeletal type stuff, and heart stuff, and there is a lot that can be done to offset it, whereas if there isn't enough space in the mouth then there isn't enough space in the mouth, that's it.

As I learn more about giants, I do wonder how much of their health issues can be avoided or certainly reduced if only people focussed on health and not size. It really upsets me when so many conversations on the giant groups are "how big is your rabbit" followed by post after post of 10kg rabbits that are clearly grossly obese and very unfit, not to mention how much of their housing is seriously small and understimulating. People keeping them on concrete and wondering why they have sore hocks. And people who are too scared to work with them to handle them, so they just don't, which means they don't pick up on health issues early enough. If more giants were owned by genuine rabbit people rather than people who just want a big-eared dog that doesn't need walking, then I seriously think their health record would improve.
But yes, I never set out to get giants, and I'm not sure I agree with them, but now I know them I can't imagine having anything else. I'm not sure what I will do when we lose these guys, but hopefully the life I give them will give them the best chance of that being some time far in the future.
 
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