Getting house rabbits!

[Mayden]

So whilst we were at the breeders store today, he also had a ton of rabbits in. My boyfriend, as much as he loves birds, he's a pretty much "all round" animal lover. We had been considering getting cats when we moved out, but andy has been anxious about this (even though he wanted them the most!) because of Merlin & the guys and obviously the cats instincts.

When we came across these lovely little curious bundles of fur, skipping around their cage, we both fell in love and came to the conclusion that we're going to get two rabbits and have them in the house (kitchen mainly!) We'll litter train them and when someone is home they can have free rein of the house as they have no 'hunting' instinct, so are of minimal threat to Merlin&the guys!

Seems like the perfect solution. So within a day, we've gone from "NO MORE PETS!" to agreeing on getting a b&g macaw around Jan, and two house rabbits within the next few weeks, alongside our clan of 6 already

Oh, and we'll be using my currently unused fish tank and getting some fishies too.

My house is going to become a zoo.

 

[suebee]

awww house rabbits are the best!! but neuter the buck, i say this as i had a house rabbit, a buck an he use to do some dam vicious attacks!!!

he was litter trained, though due to the nature of there digestive system, did leave little pellets about lol

 

[merlinsmom13]

My sister had house rabbits. Her cockatiel actually bonded to a big white one. Slept in the cage w/her & everything. House trained they are fairly clean, alot of spilled food & hay. They do tend to live a long time, her last 1 was 12 when she died.

 

[ann]

lol thats like what my my house use to be! my parents would say "ok, this is the LAST one for now" then two months later another pet. at one piont we had 10 pets! we came sorta close to getting a quaker today, my dad wasnt there but the bird loved the rest of my family, especially me. if someones had him on there hand he would run up and hop back to me. we could kiss him and he rubbed his head on us! my dad would have said no anyway ( he thinks we have too many pets right now), but the lady told us he was verry nippy and bites allot and that you couldn't do much with him because he bites first, asks questions later, it was shocking lol. sorry for rambling on lol, its wonderful your getting rabbits, the more the merrier!

 

[melinda]

I have two cats one came from the shelter. She was full grown and i had to buy a water bottle and keep it near me the first week she was home. Every time she looked at the birds she would get sprayed. Now she acts like they are not even in the house. The second cat i got off of craigslist as a 4 week old kitten ( she was suppost to be 6 weeks). She grew up around the and loves my cockatoo. She sleeps on the playstand under her during the day. The cockatoo bombs her at least one time a week with poop lol. She sleeps in between the cages during the night if she isn't on the bed with me. Birds love having "pets" of there own. The do bond with other pets and it is surprising how much they enjoy each others company. You babies will soon love the new rabbits as much as you do.

 

[Mayden]

I'm expecting some odd pellets around, but considering all my birds arn't potty trained, I'm cleaning up after them all every day anyway, some hay and pellets wont make all that much difference

It's great, haven't really had any bad reviews on house rabbits!

@Melinda, we would love cats, but I'm also really allergic, so it'd be nice to have a rabbit vs the cat. Even if I did have them well trained, I could never 100% relax about them being together unfortunately. Might get some pictures of these rabbits we wanted tomorrow Hopefully they will still be there by the time we move in... they were so cute!

 

[suebee]

when they live in a house, they are more like cats or dogs! mine use to attack cats that wondered into our garden etc?? after watching an saving cat from 1st attack, i really had no worries, other then with dogs, but mr nitz knew his limits lol and this was after he got neutered!
i am seein a pattern with me an overly aggressive animals lol

the house we lived in had no fenced in area, but he stayed in his teritory so to speak, went to sleep in one of the kitchen cupboards, so he would open door an then close it behind him for the night, he would chase my step kids around the house, kinda like herding them?? think this is the main reason i didn't get another rabbit, cos i miss his charactor soo much, though i do have a lovely scar on my left thigh still (reason he got neutered! lol

 

[Mayden]

when they live in a house, they are more like cats or dogs! mine use to attack cats that wondered into our garden etc?? after watching an saving cat from 1st attack, i really had no worries, other then with dogs, but mr nitz knew his limits lol and this was after he got neutered!
i am seein a pattern with me an overly aggressive animals lol

the house we lived in had no fenced in area, but he stayed in his teritory so to speak, went to sleep in one of the kitchen cupboards, so he would open door an then close it behind him for the night, he would chase my step kids around the house, kinda like herding them?? think this is the main reason i didn't get another rabbit, cos i miss his charactor soo much, though i do have a lovely scar on my left thigh still (reason he got neutered! lol

Haha, that's fantastic! Yeah we'd love the rabbits because they can hold their own without actually 'hunting' other animals in the process. I'm looking forward to getting them, and Andy especially is, he's counting up how much it's gonna cost us The house we're moving into has a yard, concreted with high walls, so we'll be letting them just play out in there with some toys etc.

CONSIDERING getting some netting to actually put over the top of the walls so it's a walk in aivary for Merlin/macaw, chuck a perch and some toys out in summer without having to worry about them getting away. :21: It's all veryyy exciting, at the very least we're getting netting over the back door that we can undo, but is strong enough for the birds not to get out, so we can leave the door open and let the breeze come through for them. We're looking forward to vamping up the house so we can accomodate them all and give them a good run around of the place

 

[PetoftheDay]

I'd definitely put netting our just to protect your future bunnies from any airborne predators, as well as protecting your parrots.

Congratulations on deciding to get a pair of house bunnies. Definitely spay and neuter, that cuts down on behavioral "spraying" and have everything "bunny-proofed" before they come home! If you need any tips, please PM me, Miss Hoppy ruled our home for 11 years, and taught us a whole lot! Start saving paper towel tubes now, as they are a great inexpensive way to cover any electrical cords, and even some chair legs, if you have wooden-legged chairs with squared-off legs. Round legged chairs aren't as vulnerable but those right angles are just begging for bunny beveling, they think!

 

[Mayden]

I'd definitely put netting our just to protect your future bunnies from any airborne predators, as well as protecting your parrots.

Congratulations on deciding to get a pair of house bunnies. Definitely spay and neuter, that cuts down on behavioral "spraying" and have everything "bunny-proofed" before they come home! If you need any tips, please PM me, Miss Hoppy ruled our home for 11 years, and taught us a whole lot! Start saving paper towel tubes now, as they are a great inexpensive way to cover any electrical cords, and even some chair legs, if you have wooden-legged chairs with squared-off legs. Round legged chairs aren't as vulnerable but those right angles are just begging for bunny beveling, they think!

Thanks for the tips. Don't worry, house is going to be bird and bunny proofed from top to bottom! Merlin's teaching us new things every day about whats... chewable or not. We'll be putting off getting the rabbits for a little while since we're getting our grey first, but once everyones settled in, bunnyland! We're looking forward to it, and bless, my other half is doing his research into everthing he can find about bunnies, health wise and things like alfafa straw. We'd definitely be getting them neutered/spayed - purely incase of a mis-sexing incident!

 

[PetoftheDay]

Excellent - yup - alfalfa for baby bunnies, but then Timothy hay for grown-ups! Miss Hoppy, by the way, never ate pelleted bunny food, just greens and hay, dandelion flowers the neighborhood children picked for her (and her daily raisins), had definite preferences and lived a long life!

 

[Mayden]

Guess who's getting a rabbit today! >: D

 

[birdybabies]

Umm! Umm! Thinking, thinking (gee that hurts) Oh, I know, YOU! Am I right LOL. Congrats

 

[Mayden]

Got one! She's grey&white, and we've called her Annie (since it's mine and my boyfriends 4 year anniversary on Thursday). She seems an absolute sweetheart and she's just hiding in her 'bed' right now. Will post updates+pictures when she's out and about!

 

[PetoftheDay]

Congratulations! Let her emerge in her own time, and things should be fun! Welcome, Annie! Let the adventures begin!

 

[TeakwoodBirdHouse]

When you cover the yard with netting, maybe you should choose chicken wire, or steel mesh. Flying predators can strike so quickly, and have little trouble going through plastic netting. Also be sure to provide hiding places from the sun, and weather, as well as predators.