I had a thought of keeping maybe just one rabbit.... purely to keep well fed and give me a source of fertilizer for the garden.

Id want to house it well and keep it through the winters of course.
It would be a very pampered rabbit... anyone got any suggestions of a good breed and what sex would be best ?
(female I guess )

Ideally rabbits should be kept in neutered mixed-sex pairs as they are naturally sociable and get bored and lonely when kept alone. Even if you do just get one you should get him or her neutered. For the female, neutering actually prevents against certain types of cancer. A single unneutered male will be very frustrated.

Other than this, they make excellent pets - though they're not at all suitable for young children as they don't like rough handling.

We've had quite a few rabbits over the years. the friendliest ones were the dutch one and a lop with otter markings. The dwarves were horribly bad tempered, one used to growl if you even looked in it's cage.

The Dutch boy wasn't as cute as the lops but he was the most loveable, friendly creature I ever met. He even used a potty and played with a ball.


All our rabbits were just pets. You might be better contacting one of the show clubs for ideas about temperament etc.

French Lops are like big playful puppies..they grow to the saze of a small dog/cat are very confident,laid back and excellent fun..they are a large breed but probably one of the most laid back friendliest of all rabbit breeds..I used to keep these in large numbers and breed and show them so am probably a bit biased..but they have such great characters..

They can be housed in a small shed as opposed to a hutch which gives them room to run around and play if they dont get onto the grass due to our wet weather..they can run free in the garden as they are too big to lose..and same goes for indoors..they are happy laying on the rug in the warmth.

I currently have 3 litter sisters living in a large outdoor enclosure..complete with various houses in there..digging areas,masses of hay to hide in..they love it..its over 18 ft long and approx 8 foot wide..so lovely to sit on ym bench and watch their natural behaviour as opposed to being hutched up..

If you would like some info on french lops please pm me..I can put you in touch with some reliable breeders..

if you want them for fertiliser, a dwarf breed likely isn't for you, just going by the volume of "fertiliser" they produce
however, i will point out that i have 5 nethies and they're not as bad as everyone makes out, in fact, the grumpiest i have is an english butterfly

that said, she hates me, but is fine with everyone else. go figure

I have a male English butterfly called Finn and he is so bad-tempered. He doesn't bite as such, but wriggles like crazy to get free if you attempt to pick him up. He and his other half - a X breed lop named Amy - are so sweet together, though, just a lovely wee couple.

My other rabbits are cross breeds - one looks just like a wild rabbit and is the tamest, sweetest little rabbit in the world. I used to have a lionhead and she was also adorable. She died at the grand old age of 10 a few months ago and I still miss her like mad.

I used to have crossbreeds and they were mostly good-tempered and healthy. One was a wild rabbit x French Lop and was the most laid-back bunny ever. He lived to be almost thirteen.

ahh this is betty, we found her wandering the streets (she was out running for months the year before last, during all the snow and a very bad cold snap) when you see her dig, you can see exactly how she survived so long

she is a lovely rabbit when it suits her, but 9 times out of 10 she growls at me and attacks the scoop when i feed her
once you pick her up, she's fine though, but keep hold of her too long & she starts eating your clothes

they're lovely rabbits, but some definitely need an attitude adjustment!
she made a very very good mum though.

and craps for england!

I have 3 English Angoras; Albert, Terry and Nigel and they produce so much muck, I'm now having to let some of it go in the council green bin as I literally have more than I can use.

One thing - avoid using sawdust - there are products out there like Megazorb (horse bedding but looks like kitty litter) that are safe to go straight on your garden and don't need to be 'aged' for 6 months before they go in the soil.

The old 'girls are cuter/better natured' doesn't apply to rabbits. Many people find bucks to be friendlier than does. Of course that's a generalisation, and individual bunnies have their own personalities just like dogs or cats. But starting out, if you get a choice of gender then male is probably a safer bet.

Mine are housed in large hutches inside an outhouse but n the spring and summer they go out in the daytime in runs on the lawn. If I am artful about moving the runs, I find I hardly need to cut the front lawn as the bunnies keep it clipped and fertilised. Of course the corrolary of that is, if you garden organically it's safer for the bunnies. And their vaccinations must be upto date if you're putting them on grass.

I did have a doe who had an entire old garden shed to herself - and a hutch left open inside it as her 'bedroom'. We lino'd the floor, and cut the door in half to make it like a stable door and put a mesh door under to keep out the cats. She loved having a whole shed to herself. Many people buy kiddies' play sheds from B & Q or Homebase or wherever and convert them (with an added run and a catflap into it) into excellent rabbit housing.

Buns are easily litter trained - I found them easier to litter train than any cat - as they tend to pick one place to poo in. So you star by putting the tray there. They soon get the idea.

I don't think breed matters - anything shorthaired. I have longhaired as I have the time to groom them and also I spin the fluff. But wouldn't recommend longhaired except to other people who want the wool as they are very maintenance heavy. The plus side is, they've been bred for a couple of thousand years as domestic rabbits (angoras are the oldest breed) so are extremely easy to handle, and human friendly.

I had a Rex a couple of years back and he had the most personality of any rabbit I ever had - buckets of character.

I have had a very chilled out Lionhead, I lost him last year at 9. Im now left with his buddy who is a rescue old english. House trained very chilled, as I write he is by my feet. he is not a fan of being cuddled or picked up but will quite happily jump on the setee next to me and sit on my lap!

Im forever taking him to the vets though to get his nashers chopped.

We were given one of these last year, around mid-August, was only like three months old at the time.

Now, the thing is, I've brought up dogs so I'm not sure if that's had an effect in this, but now the Lionhead is like a hyper little maniac, he's potty trained, freely roams around, rarely goes into his hutch, very playful but I've noticed in the last week or so he's become quite clingy, constantly around our feet, standing up wanting attention, that sort of thing, don't know what's brought it on, hope he chills out for a bit soon.

Prolly hit puberty!

I noticed when my buns ahve been a few months old they often revert to doing stuff I thought they'd grown out of - like forgetting their litter box training, etc. And also get feisty (does more than the bucks). Then in a month or two are fine again.

My bun was half English Lop, huge but gorgeous!! He hated being picked up but was so affectionate and came for cuddles and would nudge my feet for a cuddle! The standing by your feet and jumping in and out of your feet is meant to be rabbit way of saying I love you!! Mine used to do figures of 8 around my feet as I was walking!

I miss my bun
Last edited by TitchyN : 23-01-2011 at 21:01

if you put a moveable coral on a lawn
what height would it need to be ?
would it need a top ?

it would need to be tall enough that your rabbit can sit up on its hind legs without it's ears touching the top of the run

and yes, you're best off having a top on there

and you need to watch him/her too as they could well dig out

Probably be best to build something... say
6ft by 6 ft with chicken wire... the rabbit would probably happily graze the lawn and save me cutting it !
Id have to keep watch though in case he tries to go underground !

They sound like great pets for children and if I do get one Ill go for one with perfect white fur or some lovely colouring.
It can be a great pet, but at the same time provide lots of fertilizer for the garden and plant tubs.

I really don't think it's fair to keep a single rabbit. They need the mental stimulation provided by a mate. They're social animals.

I've had rabbits since I was about 9 but never even thought to get them neuteured if they were alone :S

Rabbits I have had

Benji was my childhoodbun lived til 13. He lived in a hutch in the garden but came into the house for a run around a lot (eventually didnt pee or poo too much). He was a dutch rabbit. as i was a kid i malhandled him and fed him rubbish like biscuits, but he was happy

Cushty was my first house rabbit. she had malaligned teeeth that I had to trim or they over grew but this meant she couldnt actually bite through wires etc. she came from a generic pet shop and probably was overbred, she died at 5 from heart problems but in the last six months of her life i had to inject her with diuretics as she had a heart attack. her vets bills were huge. she used a litter tray with sawdust in, and was very human, ran to us when she heard the rustle of a ice lolly opening and nibbled it from our hands. she was a brown bun with dark brown ears and nose and female - she had to be put down when she started losing her hair and wouldnt eat at all - the vet said it was that her heart problems were exhausting her and she was born of a over bred mother

george and humphrey came next brothers - lops, george was totally white and humph was the same colours as Cushty but with lopped ears. they were both neutered so they could live together.

all was fine til 9 months and then i came home from work to find fur and blood everywhere - george had bitten through humphs ear during a fight. we then built a run that was divided in two with two runs and two hutches, and had a pull out divide to bring them into the house. H has emergency op to sew his ear up

george one day woke up and was dragging his hind legs behind him (he was 3), went to the vet and he was xrayed and he had some spinal degeneration, eventually he couldnt hop at all and dragged his legs around and pooed and peed everywhere, took him to the vet and tried treatment, eventually they said he was in agony so he had to be put down

humph came to live in the house with a flap to his run in the garden. one morning we woke to find his head was at a 45 degree angle. went to the vets and tried drugs and steroids, and hand feeding. he tried to hop and just went in circles. vet said it was cruel to keep him alive so he had to be put down. he was four. an ear infection had caused the torticulis

all my rabs had injections against mixamatosis, and were neutered.

buns deserve full treatment and arent cheap. with lots of attention they are amazing pets, i do not regret having my boys and girl.

dont get one just as a fertilizer though they deserve to be a loved member of the household., what you put in your get back out

Yep, our's have runs. I have a big(ish) front lawn but never need to cut it in summer, if I keep moving the runs artfully.

Mine are vaccinated but we have seen hares as well as badgers, foxes, deers, etc right by our house so I do worry they can still get myxi or summat form the grass (the myxi vaccine doesn;t always stop them getting the disease - but they are more likely to survive it).

But I have had to say to myself the benefits of them going on the grass outweigh the risk. They do love it. My postwoman often fetches them a treat to eat (the farmers give her stuff on her rounds). And my neighoburs and their visitors love to look at the buns too.

testing

wHAT about feeding,
I get out in the lanes quite regularly..
dandelion leaves come to mind, but Im wondering what else is their favourite nibble ?

Well, we once had a rather domineering Lionhead who had the run of the house, and on one occasion when I left left my dinner unguarded for a minute to answer the phone, she displayed a hitherto unsuspected fondness for chicken vindaloo, but I wouldn't recommend it as a general rule...

Just double check with your council nothing is sprayed with pesticides before you pick.

Great info here.

My bunnies like plantain (a weed in my lawn) and they like to chew on de-thorned rose branches and hawthorn - sometimes they get willow, too. This keeps their teeth in check and is great for tackling boredom.

I grow a lot of herbs - they love mint and comfrey and lemon balm - plant them once and they grow like weeds so that's a great fere source of food!

mint and parsley are firm favourites

most grasses etc. are fine for them,but i would be wary of pesticides, parasites and wild rabbits which may have been in contact with them.

ticks breed in hedges for instance. flowers i'm not so sure about.

but vegetables etc. you can get away with most things, no potatoes onions or anything related to them though, and definitely no lettuce (i give mine a little bit of romaine when the guinea pigs have it, though and it's done no harm)
fruits are likelyto put weight on the rabbit though, so should only be once in a bluemoon
bananna peels, the leaves from the outside of corn on the cob are favourites of mine
they can eat any part of a sweetcorn plant.