Given my current situation, do you think I could get a bunny?

[Vinegar]

I’m a first-year art student, and I miss living with animals. My landlord is pet-friendly and my roommate isn’t allergic. My apartment has only one exposed wire, easy enough to cover up, and it’s kind of a run-down place so a few more scratches on the floor isn’t a huge problem. No carpets.

On Thursdays I have classes from 1:30 to 10, but most of the time I’ll only be gone for 3-4 hours. I was thinking of getting it a cage, putting a litter box and some toys and bedding in it, covering up one end to make a cozy little cave thing, and then just leaving it open all the time. I’m also getting a water bottle and one of those gravity-feeders. So it’ll be able to run and eat and poop all day if it wants.

I had rabbits when I was a kid, so I know a decent bit about how to care for them (I’ve also been doing some more research, recently). What I don’t know about is the price of everything. I’d hate to get a bunny and then find out a few months down the line that I can’t afford to keep it. I’ve got a general idea of the one-time stuff – cage and water bottle and brush and litter box, etc – but I was wondering if anybody could give me a general idea of how much I should expect to spend monthly, on food and litter and stuff? Keep in mind I’m going for the bare minimum, here.

And if you had any tips or advice, that’d be sweet too.

Erin

[Sarita]

Hi Erin, I think one of the major costs is going to be vet care and the cost for spaying/neutering – however if you are willing to adopt then many rabbit rescue groups include the cost of altering in their adoption fee so I guess I would consider those costs first and foremost.

The major cost after that is the housing and rabbits need alot of space even if they have outside time – generally the cages they sell at pet stores are not adequate and very expensive.

I would say as far as food, litter, supplies you might want to go to a local store that sells what you need and price it that way as costs can vary greatly from state to state – town to town, etc…I find that most especially greens which are part of a rabbits daily diet can vary in price by location.

[Vinegar]

Mm, yes, I was thinking of adopting. Unfortunately the local shelters don’t appear to carry anything but cats and dogs.
As for spaying / neutering I seem to remember it being around $60.
Are there any other regulation vet bills? Eg vaccinations?

I hear a cage should be at least five times the size of the rabbit, and even that seems pretty small. Luckily it’s a one time cost / 10 years of having a bunny.

How much, roughly, does a rabbit eat a day? How much litter does it go through? I’ll just multiply.

Also is there any problem with regularly feeding a rabbit kitchen scraps, provided it’s clean, fresh, and all stuff a rabbit can eat (I hear there are certain fruits and veggies they shouldn’t eat, for example potatoes)? Seems a shame to toss it in the trash.
Then again we subsist mostly on pizza, noodles, and alcohol, so I don’t think the beast is in any danger of getting too many treats.

[helloellenkitty]

I’m a law student in my second year and I have two bunnies, but my boyfriend does pay for them. If you buy the hay, litter and pellets in bulk it will probably come to less than £50. Of course the vet bills will cost the most. Day to day you will need to buy veggies and so on. So I wouldn’t say that having a rabbit is unachievable. So I would say go for it!
Also I think it would be a bad idea to let your rabbit have free roam of the house if you are not supervising them. They could easily hurt themselves.
So here is what I spend-
Hay (I buy it in big boxes) £30 (should last about three months
Carefresh for litter box 60L £20
Science Selective Pellets 20kg £18
Hutch £50
Pen £50
Fleece (I use this for their bedding) £15
Litter Trays £15
Carry case £30
Food bowls, water bottles etc £12
Toys £35
Cleaning products £20
Medical supplies £20
Veggies £10
Hay racks £20

These are of course rough estimates, and I do buy only the best for my bunnies haha. So really it may not come to as much for you. Sorry if ive forgotten anything off the list

[helloellenkitty]

Rabbits cant eat things like potatoes as they are too starchy.

Depending upon the size of your rabbit you should feed them a large handful of fresh greens everyday (romain lettuce, kale, parsley etc). and about an egg cup full of pellets. Depending on how well litter trained your rabbit will be you will probably have to change the litter box at least three times a week.

You can look up which veggies you can and cant feed a rabbit. As far as fruit goes, you wont want to be feeding it too often as it is high in sugar. Things like banana, apple and carrot can be seen as very special treats.

The bulk of your rabbits diet should consist of hay as that is the most important thing.

[MoveDiagonally]

Rabbits can’t really eat most kitchen scraps. Check out Rabbit.org’s diet and veggie section for what’s appropriate for each age group:

http://rabbit.org/faq-diet/
http://rabbit.org/suggested-vegetables-and-fruits-for-a-rabbit-diet/
(read article, not just list). 

BB also has a wonderful article about the costs of a rabbit with great explanations and links:
https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/CategoryID/4/PID/940/Default.aspx

To estimate veggie costs print out the veggie list and walk around you local grocery store’s produce section. Store bought cages are over priced and under sized. It would likely be more cost effective to build a NIC Condo or use an X-pen. For vet care I would suggest you call around and see how much spays/neuters and check ups cost in your area. Remember that rabbits are considered exotic animals and not all vets are trained to treat them. This does usually make their vet care more expensive. 

Some ways to save money on monthly costs:
– If you have a local source of high quality or horse quality hay buy it per bale. It’s usually cheaper.
– Buy horse stall pellets, untreated wood stove pellets, or feline pine as litter. You can usually find this for $4-5 per 40-50lbs.

[Stickerbunny]

The cost is going to vary greatly by where you live, what is available to you, etc –

If you can get farm fresh hay bales, they usually run around $5 a bale and it will last a few months. If you can’t, the little oxbow bags from pet stores last my buns a week at most. The 50lb boxes of hay are $50-$60 each and will last mine a month or two.

Spaying/neutering in my area runs $95 for a neuter and $136 for a spay. Depending on the area and what vet is in the area, it can run anywhere from $90-$500, so you’ll have to call and ask your local rabbit savvy vets (make sure they are rabbit savvy, not just take their word that they treat rabbits, since many vets will do it without the knowledge needed to do it safely).

Pellets cost me about $35 every two months or so.

Fresh veggies cost me about $5-$10 a week. I have no farmers market or cheap produce stores, so it’s not that cheap for me to give them fresh greens.

Buns shouldn’t have scraps really. If you mean like you buy a salad spring mix and let them have some, that is OK. But, you can’t just give them your leftovers if you eat say, mashed potatoes and green beans. For one, they need raw foods, not cooked.

A vet checkup runs $35 for my area, but again costs vary by area. It can be anywhere from $20-$150 for an office visit, you’ll have to call and ask. You’ll want to be sure you can afford any emergency visits, so I would have a vet fund started before you get one. Buns are fragile, so they can’t really wait if they need a vet. Stasis, tooth issues, etc can become pricey to treat and are fairly common ailments. You can get insurance if it’s available in your area, I think on average insurance for them runs like $12-$20 a month?

Other costs are toys. Which, the only chew toy mine really like are willow balls, which last an hour and cost $5 a ball… gotta love picky rabbits. A bored rabbit is a destructive rabbit. But, most buns will take home made toys like phone books, cardboard paper towel rolls, etc.

 And if you have no carpets, you might need some rugs for the bun since a lot of rabbits dislike tile/linoleum/wood flooring and will treat it like a moat. They have trouble getting traction on them. 

 For a cage, a lot of the time college students will have NIC storage they no longer want at the end of a semester and you can find them for free around campus/dorms.  NIC condos are easy to fit in a smaller area, give the bun lots of room (since you can make levels) and are cheaper than store bought cages.

[LongEaredLions]

Adopting bunny
Bunny-adopting from resque, already spayed/neutered-$60-$150
Bunny plus neuter/spay-$90-$350

The starting cost
Cage- best would be xpen or nic condo-around $60
Litterbox-cat sized-$5
Hidey house-store bought, or cardboard box-$0-$10
Toys-homemade or store bought- $0-$30
Bowls-Heavy ceramic, can buy at walmart/target/petstores-$2-$10
Bunny proofing supplies-cord covers, etc-$0-$10
Brush, nail clippers, basic emergency kit- $20-$40
other costs I probably forgot-$50

Monthly costs
Veggies-$20-$40
Hay-$4-$25
Pellets-Oxbow adult rabbit cost-$2(my oxbow lasts 4-8 months)
litter-$5-$25

Other costs
Vet care
Bunny sitting
deposits

[CheriB603]

Bunnies can also get sick and need Emergency Vet care on a moment’s notice. Costs for, say if a friend accidentally steps on him and breaks his leg can run into the high $100’s to thousands. Tooth problems can be chronic and require vet trips several times a year etc… I’d say this : If you can put aside several hundred dollars as an emergency fund, and if you ALWAYS have access to a car or a way to get your bun to a vet quickly in case of emergency, then do your research on diet and housing and go for it. Keep in mind buns can live a decade or more. What happens when you graduate and possibly get a full time job? Can you also afford to lose / replace phone charger cords, laptop cords, shoes, books etc? (Because you WILL lose some things to bunny teeth). What about the wood trim and moldings in your room? Do you know how to spackle?

Really, really think on it. Who will feed bun while you’re on vacation?

Good luck and let us know what you decide.

[BinkyBunny]

I ditto the biggest expense being vet care.  Rabbit savvy vets have extra training to treat rabbits properly, and many times it’s exotic vets you may have to look for if you don’t find near you the HRS vet list.

It might be a good idea to call around your local vets and ask if treat rabbits and if they do, ask them what are some of the most common issues they see in rabbits and what does it normally cost to treat. That way you can get a feeling for that vets experience and knowledge and of the costs.

[tanlover14]

Thought I would pop my head in and comment – I agree with everyone else about vet care being the biggest expense. My boyfriend and I both have Care Credit cards which can help with unforeseen vet expenses. Care Credit is a credit card that can only be used at certain vets, doctors offices, etc. Depending on how much your visit is – you can qualify for up to 6 months, 12 months, or 24 months of payments before interest is applied. We use it for all of our vet visits (but they just changed the amount to $200 before you can be on a 6 month plan). But it definitely has made emergencies more planned out rather than having to come up with a large amount right away. We also have a bunny savings account where we put $11 a month away for each bunny. It’s added up to quite a bit over the months and it’s to be used during emergencies only.

I would definitely check out spay and neuters. Check and see if your area has any recommended vets that do low-cost spay/neuter for rabbits. My rabbits cost $250 for the neuter and $350 for my girls spay so as you can see it can vary greatly depending on the area you are in.

As for monthly costs – I agree with the others that you will just have to go around to your local stores and figure out the costs. It takes my 5 rabbits a month to eat a $5 bale of hay so you can definitely save A LOT when it comes to hay by purchasing locally. If it helps you decipher costs vs other costs, my Oxbow 50 lb. box lasted as long as the $5 bale of hay I buy so you can assume most bales usually come in 50 lbs, I believe. If you get a baby – they need to be on unlimited pellets until about 6-7 months old, so you’ll have to add that expense in. There’s so many different types of litter – that I think you’ll really have to guestimate that for yourself also. My five rabbits have three LARGE cat litter boxes. I change them every three days and we go through about a 3/4 of a bag of Care Fresh a week. At the store, CareFresh is about $27 dollars a bag but we get it on-line at PetCo using the deals they have. They recently had one big deal where they were about $12 a bag. But typically with their deals they’re about $20. I believe a lot of people find cheaper options by using horse pellets also. But I’ve never looked around for those – I’ve been using CareFresh since the beginning.

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