Is A Bunny Right For You?
11 Reasons Why Bunnies Are
Not Right For Everybody
(Why you need to do your research before
bringing a bunny home)
Bunnies are Delightful Animals
Bunnies can absolutely make wonderful pets! We have had bunnies as companions in our home for over twenty years and we truly love our funny, mischievous little creatures. Our lives have been made so much richer with our bunnies sharing the journey. But they are generally not good starter pets.
The problem with rabbits is that they are cheap to acquire (and are often even free), inexpensive to feed, small enough for children to handle, and generally very quiet. As a bonus, they are incredibly cute! The result is that people frequently make the mistake of assuming that they make excellent starter pets, especially for children, particularly around Easter time.
Part of the issue is that bunnies are equally easy to dump when they outgrow their cute baby faces and start objecting to treatment that they may find intolerable. Sadly, because bunnies grow up so fast, this always happens sooner rather than later. And people that had started out with the intention of doing something good and kind realize pretty quickly that they managed to get themselves into much more than they bargained for.
So while bunnies do make good pets, under the right circumstances, it is incredibly important that you first do your research before deciding that a bunny (or two) may be right for you. An excellent way to do this, for those who have not had bunnies before, is to foster for your local rescue. You get a sense of what bunnies need, what they are capable of, what the challenges are in keeping these sweet, delicate creatures, and what does and does not work for you. All without the commitment and cost that is a natural part of having a rabbit as a permanent member of your family.
Stopit proving that he never outgrew his cute face
The popularity of bunnies as pets has been growing over the past several years, and this is reflected in the ever growing number of people posting cute photos and videos of their adorable bunnies on social media. What you don’t see, however, is all the work that goes into keeping those bunnies. What you also don’t see is how so many of those cute bunnies end up forgotten or abandoned after the novelty of the first few videos wears off. An alarming statistic suggests that around 80 percent of all Easter bunnies either die or are abandoned within the first year. That is an appalling number!
It is, in my opinion, the direct result of otherwise good people not understanding what they are getting into when they get a bunny.
If you already have bunnies and are taking good care of them, there is no need for you to read any further. You already know what I am going to say. However, if you recently acquired one or more of the most wonderful creatures on Earth, or if you are thinking of getting one, please read on and heed my warning!
Why Bunnies are NOT Good Pets
Bunnies are bottom of the food chain prey animals so they are nothing like cats or dogs. They don’t like to play games like “catch the bunny” or “let’s carry the bunny around as a large predatory bird would”. Bunnies typically don’t find those games amusing at all.
Rabbits are quiet, complex creatures with subtle ways of communicating. If you have no experience with bunnies it is easy to miss what they are trying to tell you. It takes time, patience, and a lot of quiet interaction with your bunny to learn his or her language. They are social creatures but are not pack animals and their social hierarchies can be quite nuanced.
Dammit relaxing in the sun
Points to Consider before Getting a Bunny
1. Rabbits are not good pets for children
Rabbits are small and cute. It is easy to see why someone might think that a bunny is the perfect gift for a child. What you have to realize though is that rabbits are delicate creatures that are easily harmed by rough handling. Those spectacular leaps that rabbits are capable of are, in part, thanks to light, fragile bones that are easily broken. Because bunnies are prey animals they really don’t like loud noises and sudden movements. It is actually unfair to give a small child a cute fluffy bunny that is almost guaranteed to eventually dislike the kid.
There are, of course, some bunnies that are not bothered by the running and shouting of children, but those are not the norm. And even those bold bunnies are not immune to the dangers of less-than-gentle hands.
Also, very importantly, while bunnies have the cutest faces, they also have VERY sharp teeth. A bunny that is frightened or hurt is very capable of inflicting a serious, painful bite. Rabbits can also kick and scratch in their efforts to evade capture or escape from being held, which can result in injury to both the child and the bunny. It is a rather unfortunate end to a well-intentioned relationship.
2. Rabbits are a long-term commitment
Bunnies can live well into their teens. If you get a bunny on impulse and then regret it, you are left with the choice of trying to rehome the bunny, surrendering it to a shelter, or putting up with it for the remainder of its life. All of these are not good options. If you have kept it past its cute baby stage you are likely going to have some trouble finding the bunny a new home. Giving it away for free also raises the possibility that anybody interested in taking your bunny may be looking for food for another pet, such as a snake.
Surrendering your bunny to a rescue or shelter is also not as easy as it may seem. Because bunnies are abandoned or surrendered in such huge numbers, particularly in the few months after Easter, many shelters and rescues become overwhelmed and may limit the number of bunnies that they are able to accept.
This is probably one of the biggest reasons why so many people simply abandon their bunnies outside. In the northern hemisphere, the few months following Easter are in the summer, when there is abundant grass. In the southern hemisphere, even in winter, it is often quite warm. People, I think, assume that their released bunnies will do well. This is unfortunately not the case at all.
3. A rabbit’s ability to breed is legendary
Rabbits breed like, well, rabbits… A rabbit’s breeding ability is actually quite interesting but is probably a topic best left for another day.
The point is that rabbits are very able breeders. They reach sexual maturity quite early in life, generally after only a few months, which brings a number of different challenges for the unsuspecting bunny parent. First comes the obnoxious teenage behavior. Your previously sweet, cuddly little bunbun becomes a destructive hellion who bites, challenges you at every opportunity, and sprays everywhere. And this is the good news part of this point. Or, at least, the least bad news part!
Male rabbits, in particular, also become obsessed with procreation. They honestly think of almost nothing else, and everything around them is fair game - your other pets, your slippers, you… To be honest, neutered bunnies of both sexes will exhibit mounting behavior, but not with the same fervor as an unneutered buck. It can be quite funny to watch your bunny fall madly, deeply, passionately in love with everything that moves (and most of the things that don’t move too) but it seems really unfair to the poor bunny that simply cannot satisfy his need for, um, affection.
Worst of all, as soon as a female bunny is capable of reproduction, generally at around six months of age (although this varies by breed), she is almost guaranteed to fall pregnant, if mating occurs. After a gestation period of about 31 days, you will be blessed with anything up to about a dozen (possibly even more) itty-bitty little babies. Female rabbits are typically good mothers too, so you know that most of those buck-toothed little bandits are going to thrive. And the instant your beautiful bunny girl has given birth, she is capable of falling pregnant again. Then, within a handful of months, all those cute little babies will also be old enough to become parents.
Berkley, Pipkin, Naughty and Molly at three days old
4. Bunnies need specialized veterinary care
Bunnies are considered exotic pets and most vets do not specialize in their care. That means that you may have to look outside of your immediate neighborhood to find a good vet for your bunny. Vet care can also be quite expensive, especially if your bunny needs emergency attention. Because rabbits are prey animals, they like to pretend that they are feeling perfectly fine, even when they are not. No need to attract a predator’s attention unnecessarily, right?
This means two things. First, you have to know exactly how your bunny behaves under normal circumstances so that you can spot changes in his or her behavior before it becomes an emergency. It also often means that, even if you are very attentive, by the time you notice that something is off with your bunny, it is already an emergency.
5. Allergies are a real possibility
It is not uncommon for people to adopt a bunny only to discover that they are allergic to their new friend. Bunnies shed a lot so it takes a significant amount of effort to deal with all their hair. Allergies to the bunny’s hay is also frequently an issue, and may in fact be more common than allergies to the bunny itself. There are ways to deal with the challenges that allergies can present but it increases the effort involved in keeping companion rabbits.
Hay is often very dusty as well, which presents additional challenges for those wilth allergies. Hay can be misted with water but, because mold is toxic to rabbits, this has to be done with great care.
6. Bunnies are not low-maintenance pets
It is a very common misconception that bunnies are low-maintenance pets but this is, in my view, not the case at all. Bunnies are in many ways inexpensive pets. They don’t cost a lot to buy or adopt, and their hay and vegetables are typically not too pricey. Their toys are also very cheap - there are few things a bunny likes more than a plain cardboard box and a couple of toilet paper or paper towel cores. Actually, one thing that bunnies do like more than those things… They love the cardboard honeycomb packaging that Ikea uses in their furniture boxes, but I digress…
Bunnies are a lot of work! As I mentioned before, their hair is very fine and goes absolutely everywhere, as does their hay. I have often wondered how it is even possible for hay to show up in the places that it does. Like the mystery of how hay can end up wedged under the baseboards in a room that the bunnies never go into?
While bunnies are quite easy to litter train, they do tend to drop their poops all over the place. Bunny poop is simply grass, repackaged into neat little pellets, so it is not hard to deal with. But the fact is that you will have to deal with those little gifts everywhere.
You will also need to invest in a very good vacuum cleaner; one with a large capacity collection bin and hoses that are easy to unclog because I can assure you, vacuums do not like hay very much.
7. Bunnies need spacious indoor accommodation
Bunnies should never be kept outside as it puts them at risk from both the elements and from predation. It also means that if they find a way to escape from the enclosure they are in, they are at risk from other hazards as well, like passing vehicles. Another consideration is that bunnies that live outside cannot be watched as closely as indoor bunnies can, which makes it even more likely that your bunny will be able to conceal any illness past the point of recovery.
Bunnies should also not be kept in small enclosures. Ideally, your bunny should have at least one room where it is able to run and jump, find safe places to hide, and generally stretch out its legs.
8. Bunnies need plenty of mental stimulation
Bunnies are intelligent, inquisitive creatures and can become bored without sufficient stimulation. Providing a large enough living space helps, but it needs to be enriching too. It is fortunately quite easy to provide this for your bunny… A few well-placed boxes with some entrances and exits added, some bunny-safe plastic baby toys to toss about, and a variety of novel things to chew on will keep your bunny content. And you do want to keep your bunny’s mind occupied because a bored bunny is a destructive bunny!
Naughty’s quest for mental stimulation
9. Bunnies need the company of their own kind
I know that there are lots of bunnies in the world that are kept as single bunnies, or as part of households that have other kinds of pets, and I know that many of these bunnies are very happy. And in truth, I think that it is much better that a bunny lives as a single bunny in a home where it is loved than with a bunch of other bunnies in a home where it is not well cared for.
However, from watching our bonded bunnies interacting together, and having seen how our bunnies react to the loss of their bonded partners, as will happen from time to time, I am of the opinion that a bunny companion is the best thing that you can do for your fluffy friend.
10. Bonding bunnies can be very stressful and is sometimes unsuccessful
Bunnies do need other bunnies but sometimes they don’t seem to realize that. Bunnies can be quite territorial and don’t always like it when another bunny enters their space. Bonding is often a slow process but sometimes it goes well and your bunnies accept each other quickly and fall in love almost immediately after they meet.
That was the case with Molly and Little Bunz. Bunzy fell in love with Molly the first time he saw her and, even though she can actually be quite feisty, he won her over right away with his charming demeanor, and now they are inseparable. Most bonding is not this easy!
At other times bonding can seem almost impossible and proceeds as a few tiny steps forward followed by some huge steps backward. Difficult bonds can be very stressful on both you and your bunnies and, sometimes, all your bonding efforts are for nothing and the bunnies simply will not bond. These complete failures are thankfully rare, but they do happen.
11. Bunnies are incredibly destructive!
Seriously! Even if you do everything right and provide your bunny with the most enriching environment, and you do all your bunny-proofing just right, your bunny is still going to find something of yours to destroy. Truthfully, it will probably find lots of things to destroy.
Bunny proofing is a must, of course, because bunnies can be seriously hurt getting into things that they shouldn’t. Unfortunately, however, it is almost impossible to remove every opportunity for bunny destruction. Bunnies will chew everything: the furniture, the baseboards, the house plants, your shoes and clothes, your books, and the curtains. Everything. They are even up for peeling paint or wallpaper off the walls and for destroying your carpets or flooring. Nothing that a bunny can potentially reach is safe.
“Who, me?” ThunderBun helps redistribute the cushion stuffing
Some bunnies are good, but they are the rare exception. In all the time that we have shared with our bunnies there has only been one that did not destroy much. I cannot say for sure that it was because he was old, arthritic, blind, and lived in a completely controlled environment, but maybe…
Is A Bunny Right For You?
If you are thinking about getting a bunny for a child, get them a stuffed toy rabbit instead. You will be doing a greater kindness for both the bunny and the child.
Giving toy rabbits to younger children gives them a friend that they can cuddle whenever they want, somebunny they can take to bed with them or have tea parties with, and a companion that they stuff into their backpack so that they have a friend with them on their first day of school, or for a dreaded trip to the dentist. Children can do none of these things with a real bunny.
If you do want a bunny to be a companion in your home, and you have done all the research that is necessary, then go ahead and get two. Adopt them as a bonded pair from your local rescue or shelter. They will come pre-neutered and pre-bonded, both blessings for the new bunny parent. Bunnies are amazing companion animals and the right person will never regret sharing their home with these complex little beings.
But bunnies are not for everybody. If they are not for you, no shame at all. Choose a different kind of friend; one that is better suited to your life and your personality. You and your more suitable friend will both be much happier because of it.
For a speculative account of what happens to unwanted bunnies, read Jack’s story.
Whitey and his beloved daughter Naughty taking time to stop and smell the roses
