10 Reasons to Own A Rabbit As A Pet
Submitted by spinmedown16 on Wed, 09/24/2008 - 01:24
- NOTE: Comments on why NOT to own a rabbit at bottom.
- 10. Their shit don't stink:
- No, really, it doesn't! In fact, my friends family own 21 rabbits (they breed them) and all you can smell is the hay. Their crap honestly does not stink. The only time it does is when they have diarrhea, and that doesn't happen unless you feed them "unnatural" foods (such as bacon or chocolate, or really any variation in their diet, even if it is good for them).(This does NOT mean you cannot change their diet, but you must do it slowly and over time, and yes, brands do count. I tried changing my rabbits pellets and she had diarrhea for a week!)
- 9.They take up almost no space:
- I have had my rabbit for almost three years now, and she takes up just a little 4x4 (ft.) corner of my room. One would think that an animal would view that as torture, or that the space is way to small for an animal that is used to such wide, lush gorgeous open spaces. Well, that may be true for "natural" rabbits, but for domestic ones this is certainly not the case. Whenever I let my pretty girl (that's what I refer to as my rabbit) run around the backyard for a short/extended period of time, she is always excited when going back to her cage. In fact, one time she lunged out of my hands onto the stairway...which almost gave me a heart attack (she was fine).
- 8. They come in various sizes and weight:
- Do you know HOW many rabbit breeds there are? There are hundreds of breeds (only 50 are currently recognized in the USA) of rabbits and they vary in both size and weight. A Flemish Giant (adult) can weigh up to 25 pounds! That is larger than a small dog (and I'm not talking about a Chihuahua here people). The smallest rabbit, a Netherland Dwarf, weighs on average < 2.5 lbs (about the same as the Chihuahua). I personally own a Netherland dwarf, and they are my personal favorite breed.
- 7.Their little faces:
- If you have ever seen an adorable rabbit in person, you will know where I am coming from. If you ever get the chance to even look at one, just watch their nose. I have NEVER in my life met one person who's not at least grinned as they watch the little noses (or big noses) go up and down. Depending on the mood, a rabbits nose can be almost vibrating, or very very slow (they breathe through their noses if you did not know that). The way they lick their lips, and the way they stand up and clean themselves, or clean their ears is almost a heart stopper. Even ugly rabbits look damn adorable.
- 6. The rabbits natural schedule:
- Are you a person who has to get up early? Well, then a rabbit is absolutely perfect for you. Around sun rise they are hopping avidly around their cage, playing with toys, and enjoying their extremely simplistic lives. But they don't just want to play alone...they crave attention this early! My rabbit has become so "attention-deficit" sometimes that she has jumped (3 ft high) out of her cage and onto my bed. If I don't wake up, she starts scratching me, and if I still don't get up, she just lies right next to me and falls asleep. Now don't think every rabbit is like this, I heard one man's story about how his rabbit (it was only a 4 month old rabbit mind you) peed in his mouth to wake him up. Don't want to have the rabbit doing that to you? Easy, just put a covering over the cage top, and they normally aren't too loud (at least not loud enough to wake you up, normally)
- Also, they often sleep throughout the day (smaller animals sleep more, I believe that has been scientifically proven for some time now...correct me if I'm mistaken) so while you are at work wishing you weren't working and that people would just come by and throw money at you because you are so special, the rabbit is lazily lying down tummy up sleeping away in a safe and secure home. But if you don't work and people DO throw money at you because you are so special, then a rabbit is STILL perfect for you. Just like us humans, they will crave attention at any part of the day.
- 5. Their personality:
- A pet has their owners personality. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about that. If you treat it like crap, don't be surprised to watch it treat you like crap. If you don't pay attention to it, don't expect any attention in return. If you treat it with love and adoration, expect it in return. It's not rocket science people, it's called emotions. Simple animals give simple emotions, of course humans had to come along and make drama about it.
- 4.They cost almost nothing:
- Alright, here is this years worth of expenses, this is counting purchasing the rabbit and its necessities (some of the best, mind you).
- -Rabbit $50 (I got it for a B-day present, but that is about how much the average good quality from a breeder costs)
- -Cage - $50 +/- great cages here, the best
- -Hay (for a year) - $90 (every 4 months I'd need to buy another 30lbs., you do the math)
- -Pellets (this is not a necessity, and is often used for rabbits people eat, but it makes 'em happy and helps their diet often. But only a little bit! It also is fantastic for nursing mothers, although bunnyluv.com seems to be against pellets) - $28.50 (got 15 lbs of it, and kept it fresh)
- -Toys and Accessories - $23 (some bunnies love them, others could care less)
- -Litter boxes, water bowl, food bowl - $19
- ...so overall, counting the cost of the rabbit itself, and it's home, and it's supplies, and what it eats and drinks out of, it costs... $261.50 +/- depending on the owner.
- NOTE: Per average living year, this is obviously about $100 dollars less +/-
- 3. A rabbit roommate!:
- Want to have a rabbit with another rabbit? Easy as pie...(*note to self* this saying makes no logical sense) If you are busy all the time, but still want a pet when you get home, but are worried that it will be all alone and sad, not to worry! Buy another rabbit! No really, it's extremely simple. Here are the basics:
- -Male with Male: It works NONE of the time, and I would STRONGLY advise against this. After puberty it will be a 95% chance of "this is mine, this is mine, this is- HEY, THAT'S MINE YOU LITTLE BITCH!"...and the fighting starts. You get the idea...Also, they tend have homosexual tendencies (just like every other animal out there), but not to worry, they are just trying to find out who's the "alpha" and who's the "beta." AKA they want to see who will be the "leader". Also, even after being fixed this problem may still exist.
- -Male with Female: Works almost 100% of the time. Just make sure the male rabbit is castrated or it will be a XXX-a-thon all the life. Unless you want to have babies, then i would recommend separate cages, 'cause the male daddy sometimes gets hungry when he see's them babies. Or jealous...or whatever. Just don't do it.
- -Female with Female: Works almost ALL of the time. Around a 99% chance of it working. Unless they are somehow feuding in a way that started at birth...such as "she ate my lettuce leaf, that little rascally rascal" then it may not work. Females love females, and no, not in that way...I think.
- NOTE: If a female has wittle baby bunnies, the daughters can stay with each other forever and ever and ever. But not males, 'cause the wittle baby boy will reach puberty and have a little..."nature call". It's called incest I believe.
- 2. Lifespan:
- To all of you people who bought rabbits on Easter thinking "Hey! My son/daughter would love this little...thing. I'm sure it will only last a couple years" I truly truly hope that some random guy comes on the street and slaps you very very hard. Bad thinking! They can live from 8-12 YEARS friends. I've heard of 16! So if you were thinking of a hamster life span...do your homework before going out and wasting money. If you are looking at this list before getting a rabbit, then I applaud you. No, but really, I hope no one slaps you, just do your homework before you find buy the darn thing. I'm sure you would expect your child (or whoever you are giving the rabbit to) to do the same =D.
- 1. It's not a human:
- No, I'm dead serious here. Human's bitch and moan and come up with excuses all the time for all sorts of things. Most never stop talking, and most are complete assholes. I trust you are not one of them. But think about it. A dog barks (most do) a cat schemes about all sorts of things and often is very independent (or so I've found). A rabbit...does none of those things. A rabbit is quiet (unless you hurt it, or it is terrified, in which you are NOT doing your job as a pet owner) and are, most of the time extremely friendly (unless they are in puberty which starts around 6 months of age, and about 6 months later the rabbit will return back to normal. In this state they can be complete dicks, but the rabbit will 99% of the time mature and be an even happier rabbit, depending on how you treat it during that time period). They are not stupid creatures, and they learn over time. They love discovering the same thing over and over again, and are NEVER bored of the same thing. If you want to pay attention to your rabbit, let it run around the room (make sure you rabbit-proof any wires) and just let it have fun. He/she will come up to you or watch you every once in awhile, making sure you are still there and you are safe. You can be an animals crutch, and if you don't trust people, or you have difficult social skills (as I, because I'm just a total misanthrope around some people), then a rabbit is JUST for you. But hey, even if you don't I would still strongly recommend it. It is the BEST pet I have ever owned, and my friends rave about them all the time.
Author Comments:
This is my top ten reasons for owning a rabbit, I'm sure other people's opinions will vary, and, of course, there are always reasons not to own a rabbit:
-If you are mean
-If you are lazy
-If you have children 6 or under (children can unknowingly strangle or kill rabbits, if you have a young child, I would STRONGLY advise no rabbit)
-If you don't like animals
-If you are horrible with long-term commitments
-If you are "too straight to own a rabbit," cause you are obviously such a big strong man *cough*.
(you = owner)
A rabbit is a creature just like you and me. It has emotions, and it is not afraid to let you know what it feels. How you treat a rabbit is how it will treat you. Keep that in mind. Also, there are many more reasons to own a rabbit, I just wanted people to know the mainstream reasons of why this is such a popular animal to own.
NOTE: If you have any questions concerning the list, disagree, or agree, please post a comment! I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions, because they could change my opinion...you never know =D.
I've never had those experiences with rabbits. I've never owned a rabbit, but everyone I've known that's owned a rabbit has had pretty much the opposite experience you describe here (and having met the rabbits, I've agreed). Some of them have bought rabbits that came home and were shreiky pains all day, all of them have been vicious and bite-y things, and yes, their shit has always, always stank terribly. They've also been really high maintenance, like they had to clean their cages every day (or more) - which took forever - and give them constant attention or they'd rattle around angrily in their cages and bite when you eventually do come. Plus you can't train them. Someone once described their rabbit to me as all the maintenance of a dog, with all the intelligence of a cat, like the worst of both worlds. And none of them were mean or lazy (in fact, (of the four rabbit-owners I've known) one was like a hard-driving overachiever, and another was so nice that it was almost pathological - the other two were basically normal, but on the nicer side)
But it's also possible you were very lucky, and they were very unlucky.
My God! Those rabbits sound like total dicks. Well, this is what most likely happened.
A rabbit takes on the owners personality. NEVER but a rabbit from a store. Why? Imagine all the people coming to it all day long. The kids that poke it and strangle, the people that hit the cages, the pet store owners that treat it horribly, etc. The rabbit will understandably be insane. I've always found it smart to buy ANY pet (except fish...usually) straight from a breeder. My rabbit has bitten me about two times, and the way that I teach EVERY pet I own (about respect) is to basically hit them hard on the head. No violently, but hard. Works very well on a dog ('cept the nose is better). The crap stinking means that they have changed the diet too quickly, and too much. The same reaction is if you feed a vegetarian meat. It doesn't matter how good quality the meat is, it will still horribly effect the digestive system in a negative way. I clean my rabbits cage FULLY about once a month. I clean their litter boxes every couple of weeks. They can be potty trained. I have trained my rabbit to bite people I don't like too LOL. I would view their experiences as both unlucky and the fact they were most likely not prepared for what a rabbit is truly like. I have known my rabbit since the DAY it was born, and I would recommend getting to know a rabbit before it is 8 weeks of age. Also, a rabbit should not be pulled from its mother until 8 weeks (at the very least), because if he/she does it can result in...stinky shit. The screaming some rabbits do do, that usually means they want attention. When they scream, you slap 'em on the head. As aforementioned, not violently, but solidly. Also, I have found my rabbit to have outsmarted ME sometimes (ha.ha.ha. I'm not that retarded), so they are intelligent creatures. Some are stupider than others though....a good example of a species like that is the human race!
Heh, well, that would explain it rather nicely.
A rabbit roommate!:
-Male with Male: It works SOME of the time, but I would STRONGLY advise against this. After puberty it will be a 95% chance of "this is mine, this is mine, this is- HEY, THAT'S MINE YOU LITTLE BITCH!"...and the fighting starts. You get the idea...Also, they tend have homosexual tendencies (just like every other animal out there), but not to worry, they are just trying to find out who's the "alpha" and who's the "beta."
-Male with Female: Works almost 100% of the time. Just make sure the male rabbit is castrated or it will be a XXX-a-thon all the life. Unless you want to have babies, then i would recommend separate cages, 'cause the male daddy sometimes gets hungry when he see's them babies. Or jealous...or whatever. Just don't do it.
-Female with Female: Works almost ALL of the time. Around a 99% chance of it working. Unless they are somehow feuding in a way that started at birth...such as "she ate my lettuce leaf, that little rascally rascal" then it may not work. Females love females, and no, not in that way...I think.
# NOTE: If a female has wittle baby bunnies, the daughters can stay with each other forever and ever and ever. But not males, 'cause the wittle baby boy will reach puberty and have a little..."nature call."
They have a rather selfish nature don't they.
I own a sort of breed between rabbit and hare (that is originally meant for food dishes in our parts). My little brother brought them about 8 years ago, but he soon got bored of them, so I took on to manage them. But as an animal lover I never had the heart to eat or more further to sell them for hunting. And through those 8 years they lived in a large cemented shelter out of my house, ran in my fenced orchard on sunny days, 'have eaten of the crop we grew (but plain grass could often do). They multiplied and died natural causes and some ran away from their shelter into the nature (it was nice to think of those that then they ran freely in the nature where they belonged, but ultimately 'was sad that they've got gunned down). In occasions I swapped the breeds with other owners; they've bred them for food though, so I stopped. I gave more to people who said they'll have them for pets, but 'later heard somewhere that they've eaten them... $/&%#$ or that their kids accidentally killed them... !"#$%#.
I moved to out-of-town collage some time ago, and my grandma vowed to take care of them the way I did. I know my grandma can't care that much for them, or manage their nature, so I'm in a pickle with what to do with them now. I haven't got the heart to give them away to people who'll breed them for food, or sell them to hunters, or give the hares away to some menacing children. It' a tough one.
And by the way hares/rabbits are (despite their selfish nature) beautiful, remarkable and awesome creatures.
And they have a lovely odour. :)
That sounds like rabbit paradise! You sound like a total rabbit person, which is very badass. That sounds like a very interesting rabbit breed, would you happen to know the name of it (I would be curious...)?
Haha, I know exactly the kind of irony you are talking about when you say what people do to rabbits (accidentally or intentionally), I've had that happen with me too before, so I am very careful with whom I give my rabbits.
I sincerely hope your grandmother does as a fantastic job as it sounds you have. That really is a very difficult decision to make, and I hope everything works out for you!
P.S. They are very selfish, but they are so dependent on us also. I don't believe they realize how much they depend on us lol! =D
That sounds like rabbit paradise! You sound like a total rabbit person, which is very badass.
Thank you. I also respect all creatures.
I just look up Wikipedia on hares and rabbits and I'm so wrong on what I said - they are not a breed of hares and rabbits, they're rabbits but a cross of some different breeds. They're a bit more timid, probably because we brought up them that way; they have their habitat for themselves, and I get to observing them more, then petting them. But I guess if I was to regularly be petting them they would become more tame, and more of the pet rabbit.
They're basically the ones in the second picture, but have fur of other colors
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_rabbit
P.S. They are very selfish, but they are so dependent on us also. I don't believe they realize how much they depend on us lol! =D
Yeah, they depend a lot, even if it's just something like opening the door and letting them in the orchard.
And regarding my decision, my latest idea is to buy off some land (wishfully some of my childhood favorite places, before they all get mangled down, as most of it does these days), fence it down and inhabit the rabbits there. Of course this is so far-fetched that I know some people (probably those I know too) would call me crazy, but I don't know, maybe in a few years... And my grandma keeps telling me how keeping rabbits reminds her of me, a shortens the days I'm away, so I guess I could wait with the decision a bit longer.
That's an interesting breed! Most rabbits are timid unless they are around humans about 24/7, but sometimes it's more interesting just to watch them live their life without you involved...other times you can't help but pet one specific one nonstop! And that rabbit is adorable!
I wish you the best of luck with the land! I wouldn't call you crazy in the slightest, I would call you loving and caring. Seems like your grandmother would like to keep them a little bit longer lol =D!
You could name him "George"
...and you can pet him and squeeze him and rub him and stroke his bill and rub his pretty feathers...
Haha! That really is an entertaining series isn't it? Thanks for showing it to me, I got quite a laugh.