Considering buying a bunny

[Briebomb241295]

I am considering buying an indoor pet bunny/rabbit. Do you have any thoughts/ideas/advice/tips for me? I have quite a few questions: Where's the best place to buy a sweet bunny? What's the best, cutest, friendliest breed? Do they smell? How hard would it be to keep it inside? How often would I need to clean out its cage? Is it really hard to housebreak them? Are they very expensive? Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

[BettaBlossoms]

finding a "sweet" bunny is hit or miss, you can find some great ones at shelters, or breeders, or petstores...

I'd look to the shelters first, then perhaps start talking to breeders, see if you can find one that will let you visit their rabbitry and you can see how handlable the parent stock is... Show breeders seem to be pretty good for finding pet bunnies, they need o be able to handle their rabbits and have them calm for showing, you can usually find they have pet stock for sale cheaper but from the same lines...

My chinchillas are mush buckets... very easy to handle and hold...

I have a dutch that came to me a wanna be murderer.. but shes very sweet now and throws very sweet babies..

My cali doe is tame and handlable, but she would just rather you left her alone, her babies this time around are very sweet, tame, curious and brave.. Makes me wonder if litter size plays a big part in that

I got some smaller cross breeds from a lady (she wants to start meat breeds so im trading to help her out) and these are not "nasty" but they are not tame... I handle them every day for grazing time, but i cant just hold them and carry them, i have to scruff them and secure their hind ends, only rabbits ive been mauled by, terrible kickers, with a more "native" personality and high "self preservation" drive

I had a lionhead cross that was pretty tame a little while ago, but it was harder to keep weight off her, idk if that just the breed or her

 

[wooliewabbits]

I have holland lops,they have floppy ears but if you don't get one that has been handled plenty, they hurt. I found that bigger breeds are more calm but small, dwarf rabbits tend to be more nervous than big breeds. I once had Angoras, a lot of work with their fur but very calm.

As for the expense, it all depends on what you want to spend. You could pay from $10 to $40 for a friendly rabbit.

 

[Elyssia001]

Just two weeks I purchased my first rabbit. She herself does not smell, but her pee is pretty foul. I find myself changing her litter box every couple of days. Also, if you feed hay, whatever room you keep her cage and food in will smell like hay.

As far as training goes, I just waited until she started to pee in a corner, then I put a litter box in that corner. She has peed in the box ever since, but she still leaves her "cocoa puffs" all over her cage. I've read that it's a territorial thing; by pooing all over she's claiming her cage as her own. I don't plan to spay her, since I want to show her.

Since you're looking for a pet rabbit I recommend you look into a shelter bunny, since they will likely be neutered/spayed when you get them. That is a good thing, as hormones can be rough on pets. It's also supposed to reduce the territorial-ness of adult rabbits (i.e. marking).

Do you want a bunny that is smaller or larger than a cat? If you want a small one, you should look into the dwarf/mini breeds. They fall in the 3-6lb range. Smaller breeds are easier to handle and eat less. There's more to love with the bigger breeds, but you have to be careful because not all breeders handle and socialize the kits well, and the last thing you want is an unsocialized 12lb animal.