Bunnies

[kevin007]

I am thinking of getting a bunny, just one a dwarf kind. I have some questions that keeps me from doing this.

1. Most importantly, do they have mites? lice? (i'm scared)
2. Is it easy to have them litter trained?
3. Should i get a male or female? I dont want to get them spayed...
4. is care in general for them easy?

I'm just concered about the mites and lice

 

[wuvmybetta]

We have a house rabbit who's going on four, I personally wouldn't trade him for anything. He had ear mites when we bought him, but those went away after one treatment and he's never had them again. He's also never had lice or anything of the such, do you plan on keeping it inside?

I highly recommend spaying or neutering though, it's better for the rabbit in the long run, and it makes them better pets. Litter box training is anything but fun, but patience will get you through it.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Since you asked, mites can be caught from untreated hay. Ours has had mites before, they're not nice at all. To kill the mites, all you need to do is freeze the hay for 48 hours (although less would probably do it), defrost it, and off you go. Litterbox training is handy, ours learnt fairly quickly but has now developed a favourite patch to go to the toilet outside... TBH, once they've picked a spot it's hard to change it.

 

[WILDER]

I had a dwarf rabbit and they can be very nasty, mine bit a dog on the head, he had a big attitude problem.

 

[Mr.September15]

Mines completly fine. I dont have hay at the moment because its always dispearing... . But the thing about them is they like to poop.

-Arrowhead

 

[kevin007]

Thanks everyone for the reply. I plan to keep it inside, with me all the time, so i certainly dont want them to bring mites or whatever to my bed or my house. I plan to bring it to the vet right after i buy him..how much do you think the trip to the vet will cost? I plan on getting a dutch. also, how big should the cage be? thanks

 

[emma12321]

Hi,

The cage should be as big as you can make it this site http/www.cavycages.com/ has some great ideas. Its a site about guinea pigs really but you get the idea. My rabbit had a 2 level cage built this way. You just need to make a lid so they can't hop over. They are cost effective too, theres no way you could buy a cheaper same size cage from the store. I had my dwarf in a 2 x 6 grid cage which was 2 grids high and had a shelf at either end for him to jump up on.

Emma

 

[houndour]

1. Most importantly, do they have mites? lice? (i'm scared) nugget.gif
2. Is it easy to have them litter trained?
3. Should i get a male or female? I dont want to get them spayed...
4. is care in general for them easy?

It's possible to litter train your rabbit. It takes time an patience. But once trained they are very good. Saying that if you have a male and do not get it castrated he will much harder to litter train.

I would recommend neutering. In england it costs around £50 depending on where you live. If a female should get pregnant you will be left with lots of bunnies and it's not always so easy to find new homes.

Care is easy, but takes a fair bit of time. I don't want to put you off, but I also want to put the point across that a rabbit is not an _easy_ pet to keep. IMO a cat is a lot less work.

For example, I have 2 rabbits, I clean their litter trays daily, and living area twice a week (scrub and disinfect floor). I feed them twice a day.

They also require jabs. Where I live they have Myxi jabs every 6 months and a VHD jab once a year. So include these into your budget.

Dwarfs can be prone to teeth problems, so bare this in mind for future costs. I would also consider insurance or perhaps stashing away some money every month incase he gets ill or has an accident.

As for a cage the bigger the better. My 2 rabbits have a 4 foot hutch left open inside a 7 x 4 foot room (well ventilated, no heating and wire free). And if you do let him out in the home you need to rabbit proof all wires (in general rabbits will chew anything!). I rabbit can electrocute himself if he chews a plugged in wire. So its for their safety as well as your own convenience.

I let my buns roam the living room supervised. On the whole they are pretty good. They only chewed through my arial on the radio and my CO2 tubing for my fish tank! They've also made a start on chewing the back of the sofa.

Hope that helps!

Sam