|
||||||||
I have just had a letter in the post accuring me of neglecting my rabbit!!! |
![]() |
|
|
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
|
|
#26 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Midlands, UK
Posts: 10,943
|
Quote:
I think the letter writer has a point. In fact I've rarely seen either rabbits or guinea pigs kept in properly humane conditions. Some people who were once next door to me kept a rabbit in a tiny hutch (but also pretty much standard sized) and often didn't bother to remove the cover for days on end. A new neighbour has guinea pigs that live their entire lives in a hutch that must be less than a metre long. I really don't understand why people feel the need to keep these animals in what amounts to battery farm conditions.
My rabbit has a decent size hutch ( 2 floors ) and a pen constantly attached to it - securely - so he can choose to be in or out when he wants. He's put away at night for safety reasons but that's about it. |
|
|
|
|
Please sign in or register to remove this advertisement.
|
|
|
#27 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: OP is a murderer!!
Posts: 27,203
|
Quote:
They have runs on hard standing for their claws.
Mine were always on grass and I clipped them every few months or when needed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
#28 |
|
Guest
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 203
|
Quote:
I agree.
My rabbit has a decent size hutch ( 2 floors ) and a pen constantly attached to it - securely - so he can choose to be in or out when he wants. He's put away at night for safety reasons but that's about it. ![]() Quote:
Why don't you clip their claws? I don't like that they are running on concrete
Mine were always on grass and I clipped them every few months or when needed. |
|
|
|
|
|
#29 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 1,010
|
Quote:
Whilst I agree with this point, if the guinea pig had severe vitamin C deficiency, it would ether be dead or poorly by now and I speak as someone who saw victim C deficiency in guinea pigs whilst working in a pet shop ( it wasn't nice ) and owned 11 over 15 years.
|
|
|
|
|
|
#30 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 7,983
|
Quote:
It is actually illegal now by the RSPCA not to keep rabbits and g.pigs housed together, it came in a few years ago, which is why pet shops have stopped housing them together, for the reasons the other person said.
|
|
|
|
|
#31 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: France
Posts: 3,592
|
Our understanding of animals increases all the time. While many people have kept guinea pigs and rabbits together successfully, current knowledge suggests it’s a bad thing for several reasons:
[LIST][*]Close proximity to rabbits can stress guinea pigs[*]Rabbits can damage guinea pigs because of size and behaviour differences[*]There are, as pointed out, differences in food requirements[*]Rabbits can pass on a respiratory disease to guinea pigs[/LIST] But the fundamental fact is that rabbits and guinea pigs are social animals. Rabbits need rabbit company (assuming they are neutered / spayed and get on with each other). A rabbit cannot get the social behaviours it needs for a happy and fulfilled life from a guinea pig. Rabbits do not need vegetables to supplement their diets. I collect a carrier-bag full of fresh grass and herbage twice a day and during the winter they get good quality hay from a local farmer along with a small supplement of pellets. Vegetables – other than an occasional treat – are not necessary. Grass and hay is vital to them to enable their teeth to be maintained by chewing. I do not keep my rabbits on hard standing and would never do so. I understand the issues with rabbits burrowing under wire but the answer is to put a wire base down on the run and let grass grow through it. This cushions the wire but still prevents them tunnelling out. Where my rabbits do have a gravel base to their run, it is covered with several inches of straw which is changed regularly. I do understand the issue with the OP’s rabbit’s nose but straw should not aggravate the nose and there’s no point solving the problem with the nose if the feet and pads suffer as a result. I note that the OP mentions that all indoor pets are chipped and vaccinated. I hope that the rabbit, as an outdoor pet, is also neutered / spayed and just as importantly vaccinated at least annually against myxomatosis and VHD. I know it’s not always welcome to have people question our animal welfare standards but unfortunately, it is not enough just to love animals. We have to work to understand their needs and do the best we can to meet them. Sometimes people’s desire to save animals actually ends up giving them a worse life than if they’d been euthanaised. While I’m sure it’s not the case here, loving animals and rescuing them does not always go hand-in-hand with knowledge and correct care… or even enough money to provide what they need. Certainly, if someone criticised what I was doing I’d check to see whether my thinking had got into a rut and if in fact the new information I was being given was worth taking on board. |
|
|
|
|
|
#32 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: OP is a murderer!!
Posts: 27,203
|
Quote:
Before you comment please look at my last post which explained in more detail why my rabbit is on hard standing. To quick to quote before you get to the end of the thred!!!!
"Originally Posted by Um_Bongo View Post They have runs on hard standing for their claws." So I will say again why do you not clip their claws? Them running on concrete will NOT keep their nails down it will cause them to be sore footed and in my opinion it's cruel. |
|
|
|
![]() |
|
|
All times are GMT. The time now is 22:57.



Mine were always on grass and I clipped them every few months or when needed.

