Pet rabbit

[TryingAgain]

I have been thinking about getting DD a pet rabbit.

As a child I had lots of pets, cats dogs hamsters etc. DD did have a hamster but he died a few months ago.

A friend at work has 4 baby house rabbits free to a good home, can these be kept outside?

Ideally I want a pet rabbit that I can keep outside in a hutch and can have the run of the garden and be bought into the house for a fuss. Just a few questions:-

1. How much does it cost to keep a rabbit in food and bedding per month?

2. Are they good pets for toddlers? do they like a fuss?

3. Are they OK to be kept outside all year round or do they have to come in for the winter?

4. Are they OK to live alone or better in a pair?

5. Would you recommend anywhere in the West Mids/ Birmingham area in particular to buy a rabbit or the hutch.

6. I am TTC at the mo, is it OK to clean a rabbit out when pregnant? and how often do they need to be cleaned?

Any general rabbit advice appreciated

[Kasha]

We had a rabbit when i was a child. I am not an expert but in my experience:
I have no idea if house rabbits are suitable for outside, sorry.
No idea on cost either but i think the mai. Cost is bedding, as they do eat rabbit pellets but also veg somyou can feed them that.
I personally dont think they are good for toddlers in some ways because they can be quite rough with pets without meaning to be, and rabbits can get quite stressed. They also bite. Having said that my daughter loved the rabbit my sil had and was gentle with it, even tho she drags our cat round by his feet! (and the stupid bugger lets her!)
You can keep them out all year as long as they are sheltered from the bad weather. We used to bring ours inside at night when the weather was bleak but we lived in quite an exposed area.
They can live alone, or in groups but be aware they do 'breed like rabbits' lol and they can fight too. So i would get professional advice on that.
I would not risk cleaning out any animal whilst pregnant. We used to clean ours out a couple of times a week i think.
The other thing i would be careful of is having it in an area where predators can get to it, and that includes dogs or even foxes. My rabbit was killed by a dog that got over our back fence when my dad was in the garden with the rabbit! We used to let her out for a run about while we were bimbling in the back garden and my dad spent a lot of time in the back and the dog literally run in to the garden and ran out with our rabbit in its mouth before my dad had chance to react. (when he did react he reacted with a rifle and our dog but that's another story and by then the rabbit was dead) so just make sure your garden is sexure from other animals!

[kate s]

I have two rabbits that are nearly two years old now.

1. How much does it cost to keep a rabbit in food and bedding per month?
It depends on where you buy your hay from. I am lucky as a friend of ours keeps horses so she grabs us a full bale every now and again which is much cheaper. If you buy from a pet store or super market it will cost about £4 - £5 a go and that will last probably 1 -2 weeks. Plus you have to buy sawdust or something similar which is the same again.

2. Are they good pets for toddlers? do they like a fuss?
Mine a daft a brushes but they weren't to begin with. It took them time (especially roland) to settle in and get used to being handled.

3. Are they OK to be kept outside all year round or do they have to come in for the winter?
Mine are outside all year round but in the depths of winter I did put them in the garage and cover them with an old duvet at night. Be careful about when you buy them. I got mine at christmas time and they were stilll very young. They had never been outside and we were told that they would not have developed winter coats so could not go outside until the weather was warmer. So we had to buy an in door cage / run which cost about £100 and they were in the spare room from december until april!!

4. Are they OK to live alone or better in a pair?
Mine unfortunately are brothers and despite being brothers they fight like mad. They have been spade but harvey is bigger and has done some damage to roland in the past. He is still violent towards him if they are put together so be careful if you do have them in pairs. Two females are the best option. Mine are fine though. They are seperated in that one lives upstairs in the hutch and the other downstairs (we had to adapt the hutch we bought but it works fine).

5. Would you recommend anywhere in the West Mids/ Birmingham area in particular to buy a rabbit or the hutch.
I got mine from pets at home.

6. I am TTC at the mo, is it OK to clean a rabbit out when pregnant? and how often do they need to be cleaned?
When I was pg recently I made OH clean them out just to be safe. I think you can (I remember a vet nurse mentioning that they were ok) but I was being cautious.


Hope that helps.
Kate xx

[cath]

The vet nurse was probably me!!

They are perfectly safe to clean out whilst pregnant, no worries at all there. As to whether they are good pets for small children, I would have to say no. The majority of rabbits dont actually appreciate being handled very much and small kids dont get that. They are very jumpy as well and get stressed very easily. They can also break their back if not handled correctly and they are trying to jump around.
If you want a pet that lives outside then you would in my opinion be better with a guinea pig as they are less stressy and more handleable. If you are happy for something that lives inside then rats actually make very good pets, not that I would ever have one myself, but are also good at being handled.
As to house rabbits and outdoor rabbits, there is no difference, all house rabbits are, are rabbits that are being kept inside! So yes they can live outside, but as someone said its always best to keep them sheltered, out of the wind and rain and when it gets cold then move them somewhere warmer.
Hope that helps.

[TryingAgain]

Thankyou for this info.

We have dceided against a rabbit for her... seems as though not the best pet for a toddler.

We have decided on another hamster as we already have all the gear and we know she likes them and will handle it well x x

[MsMara]

The vet nurse was probably me!!

They are perfectly safe to clean out whilst pregnant, no worries at all there. As to whether they are good pets for small children, I would have to say no. The majority of rabbits dont actually appreciate being handled very much and small kids dont get that. They are very jumpy as well and get stressed very easily. They can also break their back if not handled correctly and they are trying to jump around.
If you want a pet that lives outside then you would in my opinion be better with a guinea pig as they are less stressy and more handleable. If you are happy for something that lives inside then rats actually make very good pets, not that I would ever have one myself, but are also good at being handled.
As to house rabbits and outdoor rabbits, there is no difference, all house rabbits are, are rabbits that are being kept inside! So yes they can live outside, but as someone said its always best to keep them sheltered, out of the wind and rain and when it gets cold then move them somewhere warmer.
Hope that helps.

This is pretty much everything I was going to say. Also to add to the rats as pets, I have 12 boys at the moment and they are the soppiest, sweetest things I've ever had, and are also brilliant with the little ones that I sometimes have around. Just to say though that if you do think about getting them, please don't get them from pets at home please... you can contact the NFRS and find local breeders and it'll be better for you as you'll get much better pets