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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum DIET & CARE I’m pretty sure these bunnies are doomed…

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    • GiggilyPuffBunny
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        Hello, 

             I live in a hot area and I got a disturbing text from a friend the other day. She told me, “My dad finally broke down and got bunnies.” My first thought was, “no no no no no…” I asked about them and she said that they got them from a breeder and that they were going to live outside all together in the HEAT and they are—lion heads… with. all. that. fur. Guys… my heart is breaking! I asked how many and this scared me- she said, “3 for now.” THREE!? FOR NOW!? Guys… ugh, what do I do!? 

        I told her that they should NOT be living outside in this heat and summer is almost here and you will have 1 of 2 things. Either a MAD hot bunny or a DEAD bunny. And she said, Oh they lived outside before that’s where they were breed. I said– NO! Wild dogs are suppose to be outside but you don’t see herds of pugs running around do ya!? Lion heads were breed for AC, the hair the tiny ears- they wont last. I use to live in the dessert in CA and I saw a bunch of rabbits and you know what they looked like? NO fur- BIG ears. Both for getting out the heat. In colder weather the bunnies have LONG FUR and SMALL EARS… you know where this is going. OK SO what do I do? These bunnies are doomed. 

        THE WORST PART… They want to breed them… AAAHHHH!!! They know zip, zero, naha, nothing about rabbits let alone breeding!!!  makes me ANGRY. DO you know how may animals are in shelters and we’re breeding?! ahh


      • KytKattin
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          Unfortunately there really isn’t anything you can do in these situations except try to educate them on other ways. If you truly think there is abuse happening (dead rabbits, rabbits with matted hair or super long nails, wire cages not kept under some sort of shelter or cover, etc) you could call animal control, but simply having bunnies outside in a hutch or cage, and breeding them is not considered abuse by many people, nor are there laws against it. I sympathize because I just recently moved to a very rural area where not even dogs are well kept, rabbits don’t even make the list for pets. Just about every time we go out about town for shopping or whatnot we see a stray dog or two. My neighbors keep their dogs in the backyard 24/7, even a small Chihuahua. The only time I believe in outside dogs are for farm dogs, where their people are outside with them all day. Getting off track though…

          Basically, it sucks, it really does, but all you can do is take care of your own bunny and try to educated others by sharing what a wonderful house pet they can make. Anger, telling someone they are wrong, or otherwise attacking someone for how they do things is not going to change how they feel. If you don’t feel you can be calm and rational in discussing her rabbits, politely tell her you are not interested in hearing about them because you do not agree with how they are kept and change the subject. You might also want to add that you are open to talking about transitioning them to house rabbits if they are ever interested in doing so. Keep the door open so to speak. I know I had some trouble with my cousin keeping/breeding rabbits for 4H. She doesn’t anymore, but she still has a fair number from that time that aren’t kept how I would keep them. I find it is best to simply not talk about rabbits at all. Our relationship otherwise is great, we simply disagree when it comes to rabbits. It is kind of like religion; a lot of people have different ideas about it and follow different ways.

          On a bigger scale, if you want to help change the way rabbits are perceived by society, joining your local HRS (if you have one) and helping with adoption events is a great way to spread the word. Most people simply don’t know rabbits can be kept inside, use a litter box, and can be spayed/neutered. 30 years ago it was even more of a foreign concept. Progress won’t happen overnight, but if we keep working it might eventually be “weird” or unusual to keep rabbits outside, just like many more people think it is “weird” or unusual to keep dogs outside today. Some day it might even be somewhat of a taboo!


        • Wolf
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            The way I see it, they aren’t being abused or doomed. Just because somebody cares for an animal differently doesn’t mean its wrong. Keeping them outside and breeding them isn’t abuse.

            I understand that this is a house rabbit forum, so I see why you would want her to bring them inside. I personally wouldn’t keep rabbits outside, but thats only because we have cats in our neighborhood and I wouldn’t be able to interact with them as much.

            I think if they are kept out of direct sunlight and their hair is kept short, they should be fine.

            If you feel she needs more information on the care of rabbits, you could always try referring her to reputable websites like this one and talk to her about it.


          • Tessie
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              I tend to agree with KytKattin, there’s not much you can do unless you believe there is abuse going on and then you could call the SPCA or something. :/

              I think the best you can do it try to educate them.

              If this is a friend of yours, why don’t you suggest she joins the forum?
              I know I have learnt basically everything I know about bunnies from the forum. Maybe she would too?
              Plus, it’s a bit awkward to tell a friend how to look after her pets… if she joined the forum she might work it out on her own, haha!


            • Megabunny
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                To add to Wolf’s post, I’m not altogether against outside rabbits either when kept in humane safe conditions, but this obviously doesn’t sound like they have researched their facts, and if you say you live in a hot area, that’s more worrisome. Would your friend take some of the advice that’s out there for keeping the bunnies cool (floor tiles chilled in the freezer, ice water bottles..?) maybe they can have a backup enclosure in a basement for the really hot days, but if they’re all hot, that’s going to be rough. And I doubt they would want to mess with cooling techniques on a daily basis all summer. People who come to this forum for ideas about outdoor rabbits often regret it due to the bombardment of posts against the practice of outdoor housing. But maybe you could just educate your friend about all the unwanted rabbits out there. They will have to have separate enclosures if they’re going to breed (holy cow!) and the heat of a desert? That’s just not OK. I feel sorry for you as well. I’d be flipping out


              • Sarita
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                  I agree it doesn’t sound like a good life for these rabbits – feel free to steer her towards our forum for help.


                • GiggilyPuffBunny
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                    Ugh, it’s just breaking my heart… I’ve rescued all my babies and there are so many. YEEAAAHHH, I suppose yelling at her won’t do anything, haha.
                    …I’ll just have to steal them and make it look like a fox ate them haha. Yeah, I know that if they had a fan with SHADE, and some frozen water bottles every few hours it’d be okay…I don’t think they have much though 🙁
                    What should I suggest for cooling methods if she doesn’t want to join us online?
                    Frozen water bottles and fan- check.
                    Floor tiles, hum- interesting. How long would those stay cool though? Eh a few hours? I’m going to try to slowly talk to her about it and if she puts up a block then I’ll just have to drop it I suppose. But for now what other techniques are there? OOOH there’s a whole section on here about that isn’t there?
                    HA duh-


                  • GiggilyPuffBunny
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                      ***Suggest for COOLING methods***


                    • Yellowdogfish
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                        Would shearing them help keep them cooler in the hot summer? Anyone have any thoughts?

                        I don’t think frozen water bottles will work; they would need replacing at least 2 times per day. These folks are probably to busy to make that happen.


                      • Tessie
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                          I live in England so I don’t know much about keeping bunnies cool because it’s hardly ever an issue (Ha!)
                          Yeah, shade, a fan with a damp cloth on it, frozen bottles…

                          I don’t think shearing them is a good idea though… I imagine that would be horribly stressful for them, not to mention the damage you could potentially cause… I really wouldn’t do that I don’t think.


                        • LongEaredLions
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                            You could invite them over to your house to show them proper bunny care- this is no life for these rabbits.
                            :/


                          • QuinceysMommy
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                              Oh no! As what some of the previous posts suggested, all you have to do now is to educate them properly on how to care for the rabbits… In some circumstances people actually really take care of rabbits that have to be housed outside, but then again as you mentioned, these are Lionheads…and I can agree about California heat. It gets hot IN MY APARTMENT! Since I’ve gotten my bun I’ve definitely been using the A/C more just because of him.

                              I would advise to just tell your friend that you are happy to show them how to care for the rabbits the right way. If they’re going to keep them outside, they’re definitely going to have to reconsider especially when EXTREMELY hot weather comes through. It’s just not a good idea.

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                          Forum DIET & CARE I’m pretty sure these bunnies are doomed…