rabbit for sale too young?

[Diamond]

Im at a local pet store and there is a bunny here that is TINY.  They say its 3-4 weeks old and I can’t remember if thats old enough but I’m a little concerned.  Any advice?

[Deleted User]

Gosh, that is young. I was told 8 weeks. I got Henry at 9 weeks. Cheers Diamond.

[LBJ10]

Yep 8 weeks is the recommended minimum. Did you ask the store if they had paperwork on them? Perhaps there is a date of birth listed somewhere.

[Diamond]

http://s302.photobucket.com/user/lupinepyrefly/media/Mobile%20Uploads/1394325337578_zps063ba732.jpg.html I got a picture

[BunnyLady1989]

When I got Lulu she was four weeks old, and at the time I didn’t realize she was that young, and I was uneducated in that department. Now that I know I will never shop and only adopt! Of course I wouldn’t trade Lu for anything either I wish more people would get educated when deciding on a bunny and go for adoption. But then every bunn needs a home too

[LBJ10]

OMG, SO TINY! Poor little thing. Did you talk to anyone? What did they say?

[Diamond]

I asked how old it was and theyre like “yeah, 3-4 weeks is the minimum age you can separate them” which I didnt believe, but I wasnt sure what else to do.

[Sarita]

Well, it’s been along time since I’ve contacted whoever is in charge of animals at USDA but it is recommended 8 weeks old but they have to be contracted w/USDA APHIS and was in contact with a vet on their board and those regulations (per APHIS) were only for Federal – you have to find out what the state and local regulations are and see what those are. Regulations vary from state to state, county to county and city to city. That is your best bet to see what the regulations are.

[Lulu Cuteness]

I heard between 6-8 weeks i got mine at (they sent him to the pet store early because he was so healthy) 6 1/2 weeks

[Cochin]

4 weeks is ok for weaning if needed, but shouldn’t be SOLD before 8 weeks. They will probably die 9/10 times if sold at 4 weeks (no immune system, stress, new diet -perfect storm!)

Poor thing. It needs poop to eat. It’s how they develop their gut system. They eat their mothers cecal poops. Hopefully it’ll stay at the store a while longer. Please yell at them saying 3 weeks is too young to wean and 4 weeks is too young to sell. On my behalf. Thank you (:

[Diamond]

I was sort of expecting that, but was hoping it wasn’t true. Poor baby. I’m going to have to pluck up and ask if I can talk to the manager. Probably won’t accomplish anything, but it can’t hurt.

[Megabunny]

Good luck. Stupid pet stores. Anything to make a buck. I get so angry at the pet store near my daughter’s college because they sell puppies and everything and try to talk kids into buying puppies even if they know the kid lives in a dorm

[LBJ10]

Puppies at pet stores are the worst. Most come from puppy mills and have genetic issues. It’s really sad. I worked with someone (who was in college at the time) that bought this little puppy on impulse from a store. She had the puppy for 2 days and it suddenly died. Her vet said it looked like the puppy had a heart defect. When she went back to the store (that had a health guarantee), they accused her of starving the puppy to death and refused to refund her money.

Diamond – I’m sure anything you say will go in one ear and out the other. But it can’t hurt and maybe if you make a big enough stink, other people will witness it and know not to buy a bunny there.

[Imbrium]

In some states (or cities/counties), it’s actually *illegal* to sell underage rabbits – you might find out if yours is one of them

 

http://rabbit.org/ordinances-protecting-rabbits/

http://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Rabbit_Sale_Laws_in_the_US 

[Ellekke]

I’m happy to say that in Belgium, it is more difficult to buy a pet. Pet stores are only allowed to sell rodents / rabbits, fish and small birds and they can only have a very small selection. About 15 years ago it was prohibited by law to just sell all sorts of pets. Before that you could find puppies and cats in pet stores and even on market sales. In my search of a bunny I went to several pet stores and I never saw bunnies too young to be sold. But then again you have the internet….

I hope that young bunny gets a good home though!!

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