House rabbit. Where to start?

[richatnort]

Hi all,

So the OH is pestering me to get a house rabbit. She had one when she was younger but I've had nothing but dogs. I've kept saying no but now I'm warming to the idea. The only thing is I have no idea where to start.

What are good breads? Where do you get them from? What's the best bedding? I've read you can get cat litter as well as their cage but do you need both?

We have a lot of wires behind the TV in the living room is it wise to rabbit proof these before we get one? How long do they live?

How much do they realistically cost?

Sorry for all the questions but I'm clueless! Haha

[Crush]

I had a house rabbit when I was younger, definitely hide / protect any wires...... Mine caused a bit of a bang when gnawed through the DVD player wire

For house training, we used a cat litter tray and he was trained in a week. Everytime he pooped we just put them in the litter tray and after a few days he was urinating and pooping in the litter tray. If you gave an OCD rabbit like I did, you might find he drags the litter tray to you after each toilet session for cleaning.

[hman]

cables are like crack to a crack addicted rabbit - you will need to raise them up out the way or conduit them - this includes telephone cables and alarm cables which may be surface mounted on the skirting board etc.

[richatnort]

Thanks for the tips. Do I always have use cat litter or will they do it in their cage?

Is there any particular bread to go for or did you just go to pets st home or what ever and get one? Not sure where to get one from? What do you feed them and do you just put saw dust and hay down in their cage?

[kev b]

In my limited experience of house rabbits I think males are easier to litter train.

We had a fantastic dwarf rabbit that would sit on your knee like a cat, unfortunately he eventually succumbed to tooth abscesses which commonly affect small rabbits.

His replacement was a "dwarf" lop which ended up growing to the size of a Jack Russell weighing nearly 6 kilos! So buy from a reputable source, impossible to litter train she lived in the garden all year and only went in her hutch at night.

All rabbits will chew cables, we had a few near misses with power flexes, they seem to love them. The outside rabbit regularly severed the telephone cable where it entered the house.

I had to repair a play station cord with about fifty wires in it after the house rabbit bit through it quicker than a pair of pliers when my son left it unattended for thirty seconds.

[Alapeno]

We trained ours in a couple of days by putting his hay next to the corner litter tray in the cage. 5 years later and he still runs back to the cage to do his business and have a munch.

As everyone else has said - cables. I found it easier to block the back of the TV cabinet and underneath with shoe boxes and things. Also cover up any little holes as they'll be down them straight away and I know chewing can become an issue but wasn't for us.

Rabbits also love to be up high. Ours loves to go upstairs at any opportunity, so upstairs needs rabbit proofing too. They are just as curious as cats and love mental stimulation, so get loads for it to play with and explore. They are also very social so need interaction rather than just being left to their own devices.

Ours was dead easy to train and get in a routine, we lock him in the cage in the kitchen at night and he tends to jump in of his own accord when it's time. Helped along by a treat though.

[bazza white]

They remember routine really well, ours is outside but you stand next to the cage call her and point and and she goes in. Occasional I don't think so but usually pretty good.

Pellets should not make up most of the diet only a small %. Ours eats grass mainly with anything else she can find like flowers, leaves and only use pellets when its been raining a lot.

You can put sticks in the cage and they will chew the bark off which keeps their teeth down.

They need to be handled a fair bit when younger, ours wasn't and although will come up to you and is fairly relaxed around you she won't allow you to stroke her let alone pick her up.

[richatnort]

Thanks for all the tad ice guys! Do you recommend any bread that I should look out for?

Hopefully if we get one I can spend a lot of time handling it and I'm used the OH will too. How often do you need to clean the cage out?

[mrmaggit]

Expect to get your shoes and anything else left at ground level chewed as well as the wires. Our lot also managed to round off all the door frames and skirtings. Curtains that reach the floor are a no-no too.

Ours also hated laminate flooring with a passion.

Clean out the cage when it's dirty. That can mean daily, but sometimes a week is OK. The litter tray will normally last a couple of days, dependant on the size and number of rabbits.

You will get much from a house rabbit, you will learn their personality, they are all different, and you will bawl your eyes out when they wander off to the great field in the sky.

Christmas morning with all the wrapping paper and boxes was our rabbits favourite day of the year.

[richatnort]

I think I've decided on a male mini lop rabbit.

Anyone had any expletives with thee? Also has anyone taken pet insurance out? If so can anyone recommend one?

[mike13]

i would get insurance, rabbits are prone to gi stasis,they need to be seen by vet asap, most vets are not knowledgeable about rabbits so look about even if it means travelling, we had Petplan and they paid out a few times but premiums increased at 7 years old

[rosie11]

As you have decided on a mini lop don't end up getting it from pets @home, it won't be a mini lop and you'll be supporting the trade of importing rabbits from Spain ( not many people know that where the animals come from)
What area of the country are you in?
As a British rabbit council breeder/exhibitor I can locate a breeder that has proper mini lops not these giant overgrown poor examples that you see advertised on the pet pages .
Do get him nuetured else they can develop a habit of spraying urine to mark his territory and you don't want the sofa and carpets covered in rabbit pi**

[richatnort]

Hi rosie,

I'm located in Sheffield and have found a breeder in Leeds going to travel up there today to get one. She said she's brc and seems legit.

[rosie11]

Just be careful, many people join the BRC as they think it looks good and helps to sell babies,
Does she show her rabbits?
If not then I wonder why she joined the BRC.
When your there get her to show you how much the adults weigh, the ideal weights are in this link.
http://www.webring.org/l/rd?ring=rabbit8;id=48;url...

[rosie11]

Look under breed standards on the left hand side.

[vinnie01]

richatnort said:

I think I've decided on a male mini lop rabbit.

Anyone had any expletives with thee? Also has anyone taken pet insurance out? If so can anyone recommend one?

dont let the name Mini foolyou mini lops are anything but. we have a Mini lop and hes the size of an average cat. the only mini bit is his ears

[richatnort]

Hi rosie,

I'm located in Sheffield and have found a breeder in Leeds going to travel up there today to get one. She said she's brc and seems legit.

[richatnort]

Well he's here. Called him Charlie.

We're leaving him in his hut for 24 hours to get used to play it and then going to start to handle him and get him used to me and the Oh.

Named him Charlie

[andrew_huxtable]

Ours don't like laminated flooring, so much so we had to get some old carpet and create 'runways' for them.

They are funny little animals, keep an eye on it eating. If it stops eating then it's a vet visit, honestly if it's like ours it will lurch for you when you put food in it's bowl. If it doesn't then make sure it eats within the next few hours. As mentioned before stasis is one of the things that will kill them.

[rosie11]

They are lovely compact little rabbits, this picture shows a adult black.
And yes they should look like they have run into the back of a bus