Rabbits as pets

[Freyja]

My oldest DD (13) has been asking for a rabbit for a couple of years now and now my middle DD (7) has joined the cause I feel like I´m about to give in

If we get a rabbit/rabbits they would have to live indoors in a cage and this would be a new experience for us. We had rabbits a few years ago when we lived in Denmark but they lived outside, year round.

Soooo, I have a few questions. Do they smell if kept inside? Is it better to have 2 rabbits than 1? I mean do they get lonely? Can you put 2 males/females together (last time we had one of each and they had babies)? Is one gender better than the other?

Please tell me anything you can about rabbits as indoor pets And if someone has experience with having a dog and rabbits I´d love to hear all about it.

TIA

 

[WDWBarb]

I am not a bunny expert, but shared my home with one for two years. She just recently passed away ... I still miss her every day.

But .. here's what I know.

They will smell if kept inside in you don't clean their hutch (or cage) at least once a day. And they need "running about" time - they are active creatures and need exercise. Bunny-proofing your home is not easy! I've also heard that they very much need companionship, so two is better than one. But I can't speak to which sexes work out the best together.

My dogs didn't like my Bunny, but she loved them! Ever seen a German Shepherd roll her eyes at you?

 

[AshleyW]

My future MIL had 2 rabbits for awhile. One got sick and died suddenly, so now she only has one.

They have him in their spare bedroom in a cage. When she had two, she kept them both in the same cage. They were both male, but I think she actually had them neutered. The one they have now (his name is Snickers) doesn't seem to get lonely.. she gives him lots of toys to play with that seem to keep him busy. She's pretty particular about cleaning out his cage, so it doesn't stink.

She seems to enjoy having a rabbit quite a bit.. in the summer time, she puts him outside in the grass in a little fenced in area. She also has 2 dogs, and they like to sit and watch the bunny jump around outside. Her cat thinks the bunny is his best friend.. the cat lays on top of the bunny cage all the time and cries if she shuts him out of the spare bedroom.

 

[booger73]

They make pretty good house pets as long as they get roam around time..

They can be taught to 'poop' in a kitty litter box, but, they still smell.. pee as well.. they're just as 'busy' as dogs
Lots of 'fur' can fly, so they need to be groomed.. can be allergy-worsening
Female ones in heat (non-neutered) can get very tempermental so fixing very suggested
They are usually prety healthy can live 10-12+ years (ours did)

 

[Freyja]

Thanks everyone! Very worried about not being able to clean their cage everyday and don´t want the entire room to stink.

Otherwise sounds good

 

[susykt4]

Two un-neutered males will fight. I'm not sure about two females, but fighting-wise you should be fine with one of each sex. If you can get them from your local shelter or humane society they will likely be spayed/neutered so you won't have to worry about babies.

I work at a zoo and occasionally take care of our collection of education animals, which includes a rabbit. Its cage is cleaned every single day and I am always amazed at the amount of feces one little animal can produce. Rabbits also have strong smelling urine. Our bunny is supposedly litter box trained, but he also goes wherever he wants in his enclosure. Rabbits can live 10 years or more, so that's a major consideration! Indoor rabbits tend to live longer than outdoor rabbits.

In my experience, rabbits are somewhat cleaner and much better smelling than ferrets, sugar gliders and chinchillas. They are better pets than any rodent. I personally would not get one for my children, regardless of age. To ME, the huge amount of care they require in cleaning does not equal the love and enjoyment you get from their companionship. I personally will never own another pet other than a cat or dog or maybe a goldfish. However, I work with a variety of animals every day and cleaning up after lots of animals at home would be just like work

 

[lillygator]

actually rabbits make very good pets and can be free roaming. We had one and he was litter box trained, no need for a cage.

 

[flying_babyb]

As far as the stink you can train them to use a litter box then you just clean it once every two days. Mine was so well trained he would only go in the box and No were else. If I let him out to run (which I did alot) he would ONLY go when he got back to the box.

 

[taylor3297]

I had a male rabbit for 7 1/2 years. Though I loved my Sicily very much, he did take a lot of work! I had a large rabbit condo that he lived in, and would occassionally would allow him to roam the house. You do have to make sure all electical cords are out of the rabbits reach because they will chew on the chords. Also rabbits need a special diet and certain things to chew on in order to keep their teeth filed down. I highly suggest that you go to your local library and get a book on how to take care of rabbits. If you do decide to get one, adopt one from the animal shelter.

 

[kacaju]

we have a rabbit indoors. My dogs do not bother him and he uses a litter box. Yes it can stink, and we do clean it daily. I read on a rabbit forum if you put a small amount of vanilla extract (can be the fake stuff) it takes the odor away. It really does work, we do it and you cannot smell his urine.
I love our bunny, he is a lot of fun!!

 

[ghoulishgirl]

They make pretty good house pets as long as they get roam around time..

They can be taught to 'poop' in a kitty litter box, but, they still smell.. pee as well.. they're just as 'busy' as dogs
Lots of 'fur' can fly, so they need to be groomed.. can be allergy-worsening
Female ones in heat (non-neutered) can get very tempermental so fixing very suggestedThey are usually prety healthy can live 10-12+ years (ours did)

Actually female rabbits only ovulate once they have been bred by the male, so they do not go into heat like other animals. My mom raised rex rabbits ( a fur and meat rabbit) when I was younger. We also had a house trained rabbit that would only use the litter box and would roam the house. However, he would try to breed the cat occasionally!

 

[Joyciemc]

rabbits can make very good pets (I have two), but they are a lot of work!
The House Rabbit Society is a great place to start your research!
Make sure that you are ready for this to be YOUR pet, even though it's your girls that want one. Just in case they don't keep up with the bunny maintenance, it'll become your job!

Good luck, and I second the adopt from a shelter suggestion- the bunny will likely be spayed/neutered for a MUCH more reasonable cost than if you were to pay for the surgery yourself!

 

[bettyann29]

my DD11 has a rabbit.. when we first got it we thought we were buying a dwarf rabbit.. Yeah right its full blown.. we had her in the house in a cage for awhile but we were having to clean the cage all too often and it still smelled bad.. one of my friends had a nice big outside cage and gave it to us so she then moved outside.. she seems to like it much better as she has so much more room..

one of my dogs would drive me crazy because she would always whine when she saw the bunny.. she wanted to play with it..

 

[chell]

Bunnies can make great pets. I'm shocked to see that no one has mentioned their strong personalities. They can have very strong personalities and sometimes more than a cat. I had two, one was a true dwarf and the other seemed to be between a dwarf and a full-size. Both of mine were males but the dwarf didn't know the larger one wasn't a girl so he tried to mate with him on several occasions. They never fought or tried to fight. The one just tried to be too friendly with the other.

The small one was especially protective of me. If he was out of his cage no one could be on the couch with me. He would climb up on my shoulder and chew at my shirt until they moved. If my ex was in the room he would stand up on his back legs at the ex's feet and growl and hiss. He would scratch and dig his front paws in the ex's feet. Who would have known that this big guy would be scared of a tiny bunny rabbit? If I let him on the bed he would pee on my side of the bed to mark his territory and left droppings on the ex's side. He was only on the bed twice because of this. The first time I thought he was just scared or something.

One bunny was more active and the other was cool, calm and relaxed. When they were out you did have to make sure there were no cords they could find! They can chew through a cord in seconds.

As someone stated they need hard stuff to chew on to keep their teeth worn down. Their front teeth never stop growing so they always need something to chew on. Never feed them iceberg lettuce either, it is full of too much nitrogen maybe and that isn't good at all for them.

They really are fun pets and very loving.

 

[ShootingStarMom2]

I had a French Lop that I won at a county fair during a ring toss game. My mom begged me to pick a stuffed animal instead of the rabbit. We had him for 8 years.

But he turned out to be really happy and fun. He was animated and did tricks for treats. He was very social, so if you don't have tons of time to be with him and play you might want to get 2. They can be very smart but sneaky. There were a few eaten cords and rug edges over the years. Although some don't want to be held close or cuddled, ours loved it. He also loved small dog toys and tennis balls.

We kept him inside until he started to spray and then was moved outside in the garage. When the weather was severely bitter he stayed inside though. He made quite a bit of noise at night too stomping his feet and eating/drinking.

 

[chell]

I had a French Lop that I won at a county fair during a ring toss game. My mom begged me to pick a stuffed animal instead of the rabbit. We had him for 8 years.

But he turned out to be really happy and fun. He was animated and did tricks for treats. He was very social, so if you don't have tons of time to be with him and play you might want to get 2. They can be very smart but sneaky. There were a few eaten cords and rug edges over the years. Although some don't want to be held close or cuddled, ours loved it. He also loved small dog toys and tennis balls.

We kept him inside until he started to spray and then was moved outside in the garage. When the weather was severely bitter he stayed inside though. He made quite a bit of noise at night too stomping his feet and eating/drinking.

That reminds me before I got the second one the smallest one would kick his cage with his back legs in the middle of the night sometimes, especially if I had not had enough snuggle time with him that day. Sometimes just for fun he liked to kick his shavings out of his cage; so they can get a bit messy. But they are worth it!

 

[Freyja]

Thanks everyone for all the great info and stories

We will probably be getting Mini Lops and at least 2 if not 3, so they shouldn´t be too lonely. We have a great big yard they can have some outdoor time in and a garage we could keep them in, if I find them to be too messy for the girls bedrooms.

We are very aware of the responsibilities that will lie on us as parents. We already have a dog and a toroise and have had rabbits before (that lived outside, while we were in Denmark). Unfortunately there aren´t any shelters here that have rabbits (only cats and dogs) and so therefore we will either buy from a breeder or from a pet store.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

My brothers GF had a rabbit who recently passed away. His name was Cadbury.

He did not "live" in a cage although he had a cage, was litter trained, and also she is a preschool teacher so he went to school with her everyday and ran around free there as well.

 

[PatsGirl]

Worst mistake I ever made I paid alot of money for two lion-head bunnies from a local breeder, had each fixed (one male/one female), had a two level condo built for them, and within a couple of months they wouldn't even let you put your hand in the "house" ~ they became a team and needed no one else or so the vet says.

The amount of work to keep the house clean was staggering and they "marked" the two walls surrounding the cage on a regular basis so the smell was disgusting. After 6 months I gave them away. Last I heard, one had died and the other was still ferocious

 

[amid chaos]

We have a lionhead. Google and see how darn cute they are. They are small and have a mane.
We keep ours in a cage inside. There is a litter box in the cage so clean up is a breeze. For a few hours a day he has the run of the downstairs. We put a litter box on the floor when he is out of his cage.
As long as wires are inaccessible to him he is safe to go from living room to dining room, to screen in porch and back again.
Along with his pellets and hay, he gets a few Kix a day and bits of banana, apple or a grape.
He is great fun to have around.