Bunnies as pets

I confess, I have a soft spot for bunnies. I have tried twice in my life to have bunnies as pets.

First time I bought a bunny from some kid who raised hundreds of them in his backyard. I saw a cute one milling about with a zillion other cute ones and he bagged it up for me. Literally, he sent it home with me in a brown paper bag.

I was so ahppy tog et my little bunny home but wait, without him being surrounded by milling buddies, look, he limps. Boy friend (now Hubby) picks up wee small bunny and turns him over. A bone was sticking out of the bunnies leg. Looked like it had been that way for some time, blood was dry, but the bone was through the skin. Boyfriend heaved a sigh and without a word left the house with my bunny. When he came back, no bunny.

Second time was when daughter was small and we got two bunnies we named Fish and Chips. Turns out they were both males and the first thing they did when you held them was pee on you and then scratch frantically and bite. As they got older, they got more aggressive. One day they got out and were eaten by our dog.

I know Piet will have nothing to add since he considers bunnies FOOD and not pets. Besides, looks like his bunnies could eat my dog! But do bunnies ever make sweet, affectionate, cuddly pets or are they always distant things that may tolerate handling but never really grow to like it? I so want to cuddle something with a twitching nose, but not if it's making plans to bite my jugular. (I just keep remembering that Monty Python documentary about the killer bunnies of the English countryside, terrifying!)

So...do they get affectionate like dogs, or are they more like guinea pigs, rodents that you keep and feed until one day they die and you ask yourself, what was the point of that?

I have tried bunnies, my sister has tried bunnies, but all with the same guinea pig style. Some tolerated cuddling more than others, none were ever aggressive or bit, but none were real loveable. If you put a blanket on your lap they would sit there seemingly scared half to death, but never seemed to like it - not like a nice cat. I don't know if anyone else has any other stories, but I much prefer the "I will cuddle you on my terms, middle finger up all the time" attitude of a cat. Mine is even extra soft, almost rabbit-like. sometimes I put big ears on him and dream. The kids dress him up like a princess with jewels and a crown.

my $0.02

Off course, I have to reply! I consider my rabbits to be great fun to raise and watch. We have several that will never leave my place and I would be terribly sorry if those would expire. Then there are some I would eat, usually bad behavior and other faults I won't tolerate so all I am left with are sweet, big ass bunnies that are healthy, strong and great parents to their kits. SO, UNO..you need to meet one of my rabbits, maybe you should meet tubby, he licks your palm if you scratch his bum like crazy and then head butts if you quit to ask for more. They are like dogs, but without the bark and most all people that have gotten them from me for pets, tell me how wonderfull and funny they are. They virtually litter train themselves and are a joy to watch fool around.
These are 4 weeks old,
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Piet

I have 4 lop boys you need to meet (not meat) they are super friendly and we have done almost nothing with them!

On another note, Once there was a huge French Lop by the name os LOUISE>
Louise was given to me by a lady who could no longer keep her beloved pet. Louise was house trained, very rarely chewed anything other than her toys, peed and pooped only in her tray. Stalked the Siberian and Keeshond. Scared the living crap out of the Akita, and would get up standing almost like a haloween kitty and gnash her terrible teeth and roll her terrible eyes and growl her borrible roars and boss the dogs about, guard thier food, bully us every so often. Otherwuise she ws a very sweet fluffy 300 lb lop.

One day I was taking two angoras downstairs to try to do a breeding. I was wearing a thick velour housecoat. Louise followed me downstiars and took exception to the two lovely little angoras being in her house. Rising tall Louise started her posturing, growling and gnashing. I put the buns int hier cage and tried to make a run for it.

She cornered me in the bathroom, from the knees down bleeding profusely from Freddie Kruger slashes. It was the last straw for that dang rabbit, I was leaving a bloody trail, I grabbed the doorframe, swung back my leg and went to boot that rabbit into the next century. I nailed the doorframe square on and received another doezen scratches from Louise.

Standing on top of the toilet, blood everywhere, 3 toes compressed to little stumps, I started screaming for Cheryl to come save me and bring the broom! The Siberian (clueless) Keeshond (not wanting to be a statistic) and the Akita (scared of Louise) stood at the top of the basement stairs staring at the floorshow. Louise stalked off to check out the rest of the basement and I made my get away.

I ended up in emergency, Louise ended up in the freezer.


On a side note, my youngest sister Lauren was in Kindergarden at the time. She was a precocious child, exceptionally bright and surrounded by siblings ranging frm University to mid elementary school. A few days later my beloved little sis went to kindergarden and told all the other kids about the ferocious lop rabbit with terrible teeth and terrible claws (think "Where the Wild Things Are") and the blood and the violence and the hospital and the freeezer and then the roastpan (she is very thorough in her stories). My parents were called into the school, the teacher worried about Lauren's terrible fantacy life and all the wailing children she left in her wake.

My parents had to say yes, yes it did indeed happen, just like that.


.

Well Uno, there you are, the two extremes of rabbit character. Choose one.

Arctic, I had a moment of silence at the end of that story..

It was the weirdest thing. Cheryl and I used to sort of laugh off Louise. She was a cool rabbit. The Dog thing we thought was kinda funny. I ended up with scars that lsted many many years from her attack. It was light trying to fight off a rabbid wolverine, WEIRD and terrifying! At first Iw as scared to hurt her, then I was fighting for my life! She was lightning fast, razor sharp nails a full inch long, it was like some insane movie!

AHA! Vindication! So I wasn't far off when I said Piet's rabbits looked like crazed killers! It DOES happen! Arctic, you're proof!

Piet, okay, I confess that the cuteness quotient in your video is off the scale. I want to kiss their widdle faces!

My niece has a pet rabbit. It would be more accurate to call it a 'caged' rabbit. It lives in a small cage and looks utterly bored with life and everything that goes on around it. Talk about disconnected. You have to see if its nose is moving to be sure its alive. Not my idea of a fun pet...and yet the cuteness thing is still there.

When I was about 15, my neighbour gave me a male rabbit. He was a wonderful old Italian man, whom moved to Canada in 69 from Italy with his wife. Their english wasn't that great, but growing up next door to them, I understood them well, and spent a lot of time with them. It was my second home.
Just wonderful people, I still miss his heartwarming smile.

Anyway, he bred rabbits for meat, and gave me one. He lived outside in his hutch in the summer, getting let out to eat grass, and of course, go next door to visit his ladyfriends.
In the winter, he lived in my bedroom. No cage. Just ran amuk. It was a garage, that I had spent money on to carpet, wallpaper etc, so it was quite roomy.

Rabbits are fantastic creatures to litter train. Get a litter box. Fill it with litter. Put one little nugget in there, and that's where they will go until the end of time.

I had that rabbit for years. He was like a dog. We'd go outside, no fence, no cage, just walk around. Every winter, same routine, inside until spring, living in my room. Loved being scratched behind the ears. He just melted.

Needless to say, we ate a lot of free rabbit, due to his frequent visits next door, but he made a great pet!