Getting A Rabbit

**cinn&sprinslave** · #1 09-29-04, 10:19 am

Ok, So to start off my friends want to get a rabbit for their two Children and themselves. The Children are ages 2 and 4.
They want a large rabbit, and they also want to adopt. So thats a plus.
The rabbit would live in their sun room, it can not live in the house because they run A Senior Foster Care center, and there can be pets near the Seniors.
The cage they are going to use used to be for their Chickens (The chickens flew away.) except for they are going to put coroplast on the bottom for the rabbit (before it had no bottom). The cage measues 24 wide x 72 length in inches. They are going to put the coroplast walls on the outside of the cage. So the rabbit can't chew. They may also add one upper story but they are not sure. They have a large yard so it would get to run outside on nice days. Please make any comments about the cage etc. They want to know....

Oh and another question, they want to know all the supplies they will need for the rabbit.
So far I have-
Hay
Food
Water
litter box
Corplast
Spay
So if anyone has a large breed of rabbit or knows about them please make comments suggestions etc. And add onto the list of what they will need to get.
Thanks
Cinnn&Sprinslave
PS they want a female.

**cinn&sprinslave** · #2 09-29-04, 10:24 am

Ohhh also they will be building a door so the kids and them can reach the bunny.

**cinn&sprinslave** · #3 09-29-04, 10:26 am

Oh and they also want a web site that tells them how to litter box train the rabbit in case it isn't when they adopt it.

**cinn&sprinslave** · #4 09-29-04, 11:37 am

Anyone?????.....................

**bunnyluv17** · #5 09-29-04, 12:56 pm

Definitely start at www.rabbit.org It is an awesome site! It should help with any questions or help they need. Make sure the floor is not wire. Timothy based pellets from Oxbow are the best for adult rabbits. The sunroom sounds fine as long as the rabbit has room to exercise every day. I wouldn't let the rabbit out in the backyard by itself because of all the risks. But supervised outdoor time is great. Check perimeter of yard to make sure there are no gaps.

If they don't want to supervise then they could build(or have built) a predator-safe run. The run would need to be very large with top, bottom, and sides. They could fill it up with hay/straw so the rabbit can dig. The rabbit would also need protection from the sun.

Check out the sections on outdoor hazards, children and rabbits, diet, litterbox training, and toys on the website. Rabbits definitely need toys to keep them occupied.

Large rabbits are best around young children because kids can't pick them up and they are usually more mellow. Check the website to see if they have a House Rabbit Society chapter or other rabbit rescue near you. If there are no rabbit rescues near you, they will just have to adopt from a shelter.

**bunnyluv17** · #6 09-29-04, 01:05 pm

P.S. I know a lot of people use water bottles for rabbits, but they really prefer a bowl. Heavy ceramic bowls would be hard to knock over.

the only safe wood shavings are aspen. I use wood stove pellets for the litterbox, they are cheap, absorbant, and help control odor. The only bad thing is you have to stock up during the colder months.
Other safe litters include Yesterday's News, Feline Pine, and Carefresh.
DO NOT use cat litter or pine shavings. Good Luck!

and if they want a book for reference, The House Rabbit Handbook is the only good rabbit book I've found.

**cinn&sprinslave** · #7 09-29-04, 01:20 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by bunnyluv17

P.S. I know a lot of people use water bottles for rabbits, but they really prefer a bowl. Heavy ceramic bowls would be hard to knock over.

the only safe wood shavings are aspen. I use wood stove pellets for the litterbox, they are cheap, absorbant, and help control odor. The only bad thing is you have to stock up during the colder months.
Other safe litters include Yesterday's News, Feline Pine, and Carefresh.
DO NOT use cat litter or pine shavings. Good Luck!

and if they want a book for reference, The House Rabbit Handbook is the only good rabbit book I've found.

Ok thanks I will have them check that out. Um can't rabbits be totally litter box trained with no bedding except news paper? I will remember the bowl thing. Does the cage sound big enough? 24in wide x 72in length?

**cinn&sprinslave** · #8 09-29-04, 01:21 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by bunnyluv17

Definitely start at www.rabbit.org It is an awesome site! It should help with any questions or help they need. Make sure the floor is not wire. Timothy based pellets from Oxbow are the best for adult rabbits. The sunroom sounds fine as long as the rabbit has room to exercise every day. I wouldn't let the rabbit out in the backyard by itself because of all the risks. But supervised outdoor time is great. Check perimeter of yard to make sure there are no gaps.

If they don't want to supervise then they could build(or have built) a predator-safe run. The run would need to be very large with top, bottom, and sides. They could fill it up with hay/straw so the rabbit can dig. The rabbit would also need protection from the sun.

Check out the sections on outdoor hazards, children and rabbits, diet, litterbox training, and toys on the website. Rabbits definitely need toys to keep them occupied.

Large rabbits are best around young children because kids can't pick them up and they are usually more mellow. Check the website to see if they have a House Rabbit Society chapter or other rabbit rescue near you. If there are no rabbit rescues near you, they will just have to adopt from a shelter.

What type of toys? Do they like hidey houses (mine didn't but do yours)?

**cinn&sprinslave** · #9 09-29-04, 01:22 pm

Oh and there is a rabbit rescue near us and we already contacted them they wouldn't adopt out to my friends because the rabbit wouldn't be inside the actual house. Apparently sun rooms aren't ok..............

**cinn&sprinslave** · #10 09-29-04, 03:11 pm

Oh and is there any other food that is ok?
They live in the same area as me and it is so hard to find Oxbow products. And shipping costs waaay to much.

**cinn&sprinslave** · #11 09-29-04, 03:15 pm

http://www.petfinder.org/pet.cgi?action=2&pet=3402670&adTarget=468petsgener al&SessionID=415b25cd1ed875d3-app2&display=&preview=1&row=0&tmpl=&stat=
this is one of the rabbits we are looking at...

**bunnyluv17** · #12 09-29-04, 03:22 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by cinn&sprinslave

Oh and there is a rabbit rescue near us and we already contacted them they wouldn't adopt out to my friends because the rabbit wouldn't be inside the actual house. Apparently sun rooms aren't ok..............

the only problems I can see with the sunroom are
a) the rabbit will be seperated from the rest of the house and may not get the attention he/she needs
b) rabbits are sensitive to heat and so the sunroom may be too hot in the summer(or too cold in the winter)

**bunnyluv17** · #13 09-29-04, 03:25 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by cinn&sprinslave

Ok thanks I will have them check that out. Um can't rabbits be totally litter box trained with no bedding except news paper? I will remember the bowl thing. Does the cage sound big enough? 24in wide x 72in length?

The dimensions sound ok. Just make sure it is tall enough so the rabbit can stand up fully on his hind feet. and make sure he gets at least three hours exercise time each day.

Rabbits do need safe litter in their litter box, but they don't need bedding in their cage.

**cinn&sprinslave** · #14 09-29-04, 03:27 pm

[quote=bunnyluv17]The dimensions sound ok. Just make sure it is tall enough so the rabbit can stand up fully on his hind feet. and make sure he gets at least three hours exercise time each day.

Rabbits do need safe litter in their litter box, but they don't need bedding in their cage.[/QUOT

Um I think we decided that they will use wood pellets cheap and easy to get...
Um I do believe the cage is 2 1/2 feet high not sure though.

**cinn&sprinslave** · #15 09-29-04, 03:30 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by bunnyluv17

the only problems I can see with the sunroom are
a) the rabbit will be seperated from the rest of the house and may not get the attention he/she needs
b) rabbits are sensitive to heat and so the sunroom may be too hot in the summer(or too cold in the winter)

Hmmm, ya but there is no where else they can keep the bunny......... And the sun room isn't that hot during the summer..... And in the winter they have a little heater. Um the kids pretty much spend all their time in the sun room because the rest of the house is for the senior care facility....

**cinn&sprinslave** · #16 09-29-04, 03:31 pm

They take really good care of their animals, you should see how well they treat their fishies. And the chickens were well taken care of too.

**bunnyluv17** · #17 09-29-04, 03:34 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by cinn&sprinslave

What type of toys? Do they like hidey houses (mine didn't but do yours)?

Some of my rabbit's favorite toys are cardboard boxes with multiple bunny doors cut in the sides, cardboard tunnel (available at home improvement stores), untreated baskets, pinecones (baked at 200 degrees for 20 minutes), phonebooks to shred, a digging pot, hard plastic baby toys, a towel, newspaper to shred, etc.. He also likes toys that make noise (like certain baby toys). Some rabbits enjoy a digging box filled with hay or shredded paper, or a sand box. www.rabbit.org has a long list of toy ideas. There are also many websites that cater exclusively to rabbits. Rabbits tend to like hidey houses only if they have multiple doors. Untreated apple tree branches are also a favorite.

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