# Do you think childrens books contribute to the myth that rabbits are good child'd pet



## Maureen Las (Feb 24, 2006)

Why do people think that rabbits are childrens pets (I don't mean the RO people). I'm thinking about all the childrens books with cutesy rabbits in them. I'd just as soon give a 3 yr old set of fine china as a gift rather than a rabbit. What do others think. ?


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## spitfire (Feb 24, 2006)

I TOTALLY agree with you. I refuse to sell bunnies to people with small children (no offense) because rabbits are just too fragile. One little hug can turn into a squeeze - ever seen intentines coming out of a rabbits butt? I have. I have kids too but they weren't allowed to handle the rabbits until they were older. 
And those kids books...GRRRR....
I think people view the size of the animal most when finding their child a pet. They think that something small can be handled better by a child - they dont even think about how that animal will feel with inexperienced hands grabbing and squeezing them. 
I've met so many small dogs that were so messed up emotionally from being mishandled and sometimes abused by small children. People buy one at the pet store for their small child based on size. Ridiculous.


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## naturestee (Feb 24, 2006)

I don't think it's just the children's books, I think it's the whole culture of disposable pets. And the idea that small cute fuzzy things should be with small cute children who have no concept of how to handle an animal. I still maintain that the best pets for a family with small kids are big, friendly dogs or cats that know how to get away without hurting anybody. I grew up with one of those cats.

But wouldn't Timmy look cute with a 6 week old Netherland Dwarf? Aww There is actually a very high rate of paralysis due to mishandling, but these people also don't think to take their rabbits to a vet.

As a side note, you can have kids and rabbits if the parents know what they're doing. They usually don't let the kids handle the rabbits at all.


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## mygrl2k3 (Feb 24, 2006)

I have two boys 11 and 5. I don't like either one of them to hold the bunnies.. Luv for some reason will bite the 11 yr old and my sons reaction was to toss her on the floor.. She didnt get hurt.. I was very upset with him.. So I just perfer he don't hold her. My 5 yr old is only allowed to pet them. We have lots of animals. A little dog and cats. I teach him only to pet, they don't need to be carried around. I think he treats them very nice.. Today Shadow who is a small dog, was laying next to him on the couch.. Tyler saysdog loves me too much.. He can't say his name so he calls him dog.. Shadow don't mind cause he gets pets and treats.. Same with the bunnies.. I think small kids and bunnies can mix, but only with close supervision. But personally I didnt get bunnies for my kids.. I did it cause I wanted them. 

Cristy


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## bunnytopia (Feb 24, 2006)

hi all, i have children 1 is 5 and the other is 3, they are not allowed to touch the smaller breed of our rabbits unless they are supervised and they are certainly not allowed to pick them up, although they do know if they want2 fuss a bun they can fuss our french lops, i trust the children with lilo and butter because i know they will not try and pick them up and when lilo and butter have had enough fuss they go right to the back of their hutches where the children cant reach them (but saying that i cant reach the back of their hutches either) they sit just out of reach as if to say ha ha u cant getme!!!!!!


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## TinysMom (Feb 24, 2006)

I hate to say I disagree - but I disagree a little bit with what y'all are saying. 

I had gerbils as a little girl - I don't remember how old I was - but it was before 5th grade - I do remember that much. I loved those animals and I handled them a LOT. The worst thing I ever did for them was to give them a bath once ... although they were just fine - just a bit wet. 

I also had rabbits as a child (and a dog and cat). I used to play with the rabbits all the time. (Looking back, I think I had Florida White rabbits - but I'm not sure). 

BUT - I think I was good with pets because my mom took the time to teach me how to handle them and made sure I could handle them properly before I was ever left alone to play with them. I was taught that God created them and therefore I needed to be careful how I treated them because they were "fragile" (I think mom might have shown me a china dish and compared them to her china). 

So I'm afraid that I disagree with y'all a bit. I believe that *IF* the parents are willing to be involved and responsible - a child can handle a rabbit and be good with them. We've even had children handle some of our younger lionheads. We were at a show where someone wanted to pet them - so Art sat on the floor with them and put a lionhead in their lap and he showed them how to hold the rabbit without hurting it and what the rabbit likes for pets, etc. 

Peg

P.S. I believe it takes a special parent who is willing to be committed to training their child and being WITH their child during playtime....so I'm not saying that rabbits are good for all children or anything like that. Just that it IS possible!


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## jordiwes (Feb 24, 2006)

I've seen it all in my years of babysitting. When we've had kids over to our house, we tell them to pet gently and not to pick them up. I don't think the kids would be able to catch them anyways!

But I've seen kids pulling cats tails and just really badgering a cat so I've seen the other side of the coin too.

I think it boils down to that itreally depends on the parents!


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## Maureen Las (Feb 24, 2006)

Peg..I don't mean that a child couldnot have the pet if the mother really had the pet and totally supervised everything and taught the child the correct way to handle the bunny and how to respect the bunnies emotions etc....I just don't think that that is common except with people like us.


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## Lissa (Feb 24, 2006)

*naturestee wrote: *


> I don't think it's just the children's books, I think it's the whole culture of disposable pets. And the idea that small cute fuzzy things should be with small cute children who have no concept of how to handle an animal. I still maintain that the best pets for a family with small kids are big, friendly dogs or cats that know how to get away without hurting anybody. I grew up with one of those cats.


 Right on!


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## naturestee (Feb 24, 2006)

Peg, I started having hamsters when I was in 4th grade. Before I got my first one, I read every single book on hamsters in the library. I'm not kidding! It took about six months. My mom didn't like the idea of me having a pet like that because she was worried that she would end up taking care of it. That changed her mind. She didn't regret it, either. 

I have known other kids that are really responsible- we have some on our forum. But in my experience the responsible kids are the exception. I saw a lot of various rodents and rabbits neglected by my classmates growing up, and the shelters here are filled with bunnies, guinea pigs, and hamsters that were abandoned for no reason other than the owners didn't feel like taking care of them. Of my four rabbits, three were from homes where they were quickly ignored and then neglected. The only one that wasn't was Mocha, because I got her when she was 8 weeks old.


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## Maureen Las (Feb 24, 2006)

I think that a small child could squeeze a hamster too hard but I think a guinea pig is not a bad pet for a grade school age child. I just think that rabbits are too delicate for most children (because they could hurt their backs by picking them up incorrectly) and also children couldn't deal with all the medical problems that rabbits have..(look at what we go through). I think that if a child was unsupervised with a rabbit thatthe rabbitprobably would have a short unhappy life...their are exceptions of course (All RO members as children)


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## TinysMom (Feb 24, 2006)

*naturestee wrote: *


> Peg, I started having hamsters when I was in 4th grade. Before I got my first one, I read every single book on hamsters in the library. I'm not kidding! It took about six months. My mom didn't like the idea of me having a pet like that because she was worried that she would end up taking care of it. That changed her mind. She didn't regret it, either.


 That sounds so much like me.....reading every book available on the subject.

Before I bought my first rabbit as an adult (Tiny)....I think I visited over 50 rabbit sites - to read about what to feed them, etc. I also ordered books off Ebay on how to care for rabbits and I bought the annual Rabbits magazine that comes out. 

Now that I breed - I spend about as much time reading and educating myself and updating my knowledge - as I do grooming and working with the rabbits...or so it seems some days! I developed a series of mentors that I go to when I have questions - and most of these people have bred rabbits for 10+ years. I'm always looking for new books to add to my collection and I'm constantly rereading books to see what I might have missed the first time around.

Anyway - I think that a lot of the problem with children& pets is our culture nowadays and parents that aren't involved. Yes- some of it could be that we've convinced people that rabbits are good pets for children and not made them away that rabbits are fragile...but I think that the idea of "disposable pets" has really come of age in our society....just like disposeable people...

But that's another soapbox that I better not get on!



Peg


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## Maureen Las (Feb 24, 2006)

Peg..the reason I brought this up is because when I bring the shelter rabbits to Petco I sit there for several hours and have noticed that it is usually kids bringing their parents over to look at the rabbits. It is the kids begging to get the bunny..the parents don't seem to be interested in a rabbit for themselves.


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## TinysMom (Feb 24, 2006)

*angieluv wrote: *


> Peg..the reason I brought this up is because when I bring the shelter rabbits to Petco I sit there for several hours and have noticed that it is usually kids bringing their parents over to look at the rabbits. It is the kids begging to get the bunny..the parents don't seem to be interested in a rabbit for themselves.


 Aha....I see where you're coming from. Well, a few years ago when we were in Petco one Saturday...they had some rabbits there and I begged and pleaded with Art to let me get a rabbit (the kids were seniors in high school). No Go! 

I think that a lot of times parents think of rabbits as something that belongs on a farm or out in a hutch - they don't realize that rabbits can make wonderful INDOOR pets (and I'm not criticizing folks who have outdoor rabbits when I say this - I've heard of many rabbits who seem to prefer the outdoors). 

But I do see where you're coming from. I wish we could educate both the kids and the parents!

Peg


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## Maureen Las (Feb 24, 2006)

I beg for rabbits too...but we are different. People need to be educated. Read my new post.


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## Nadezhda (Feb 25, 2006)

When I first learned that 'we' were going to get a bunny (originally it was supposed to be my brothers pet) I made mom buy me a couple bunny care books.

Now, my brother didn't treat Oreo very well, and bunny ended up being the family bunny, ending up being my bunny, but I was an exception. : ) I agree, rabbits are not a good childs pet, the average child doesn't have enough responsibility.


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## Maureen Las (Feb 25, 2006)

I'm so glad that you take such good care of Oreo.and that you are a responsiblepet owner,but of course you must be because you are a member of this forum


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## Spring (Feb 25, 2006)

I sort of agree that kids book make rabbits to ber sort of toys, but it's also some pet stores and breeders and advertisment about how great rabbits can be for children. Being only 13 myself, I've had some difficulties in the past (I got my first rabbit when I was about 3-4 and she passed when I was 11). I didn't know anything about the rabbit and I feel guilty saying this but I was one of those people who didn't spend time with her and she was left out in the cage outside with just pellets and water.

After looking up stuff on the internet, I'm much more educated about rabbits and I'm satisfied about the care my rabbits are given.

Unless the parents want to totally %100 agree to look after the pet with the child as just a little care giver I wouldn't recommend a rabbit for a pet to someone under 10 years old. They just loose intrest in it to quickly and even I lost intrest in my rabbits but I forcedmyself to stay committed and I'm glad I did because now I have two happy bunnies!


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## TinysMom (Feb 27, 2006)

*Spring wrote: *


> I sort of agree that kids book make rabbits to ber sort of toys, but it's also some pet stores and breeders and advertisment about how great rabbits can be for children.


 I just want to say that as a breeder - if you're talking to a breeder and they're pushing the idea of a rabbit for a child.....stay away from that breeder (just my opinon). They're out for the sale- not for the welfare of the child.

We did sell 2 rabbits to one family with a small child. HOWEVER....the family was very involved (the father was going to be breeding a different breed of rabbit) and my husband sat with the child and was showing her how to hold the rabbit, etc. He commented later that she was the only "natural" rabbit person he'd seen as a child and that was why he felt comfortable with us selling to that family. It was also obvious that the whole family 

But normally - we don't push sales of rabbits for children....in fact, we try to discourage it.

Peg


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## Spring (Feb 27, 2006)

Very true. Less from the breeders side, but more on some petstores that will sell anything to anyone for the right price. 

How many rabbits do you have? What Breed to do breed?


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## iamawesum69420 (Mar 2, 2006)

I think, as with anything involving children, this varies case by case. Not every child is the same so therefore not all of them are going to react the same when handling an animal. There are some children that I wouldn't let near any of my animals (well maybe I'd let my 60 lb boxer/lab have a go at them lol) but I show the same feelings towards some adults. I believe the some people are animal people and some are not. Some children are careless and will just throw the animal around like a doll. Some children are just cruel and will intentionally hurt the animal. Other children are great with animals; they are patient and gentle. I will admit that very few childern are in the last category that I mentioned but still they do exist. I would like to be so bold to say that I was one. When I was younger, can't remember the exact age but around 11 or 12, I got a hamster from a pet store. The young girl who sold me the hamster wasn't actually supposed to sell her because the hamster was ill. I started noticing something wrong around 9:00 that night which was too late to contact the store. I ended up staying up all night with the hamster trying to do anything I could think of to make her better. Sadly this story doesn't have a happy ending. The little hamster ended up not making it. My mom took her back to the store the next day and the owner said that since the girl wasn't supposed to sell the hamster she would give us another. Sorry to get off track but I think that's a bit of proof that some children aren't as irresponsible than made out to me. If anyone in my story was irresponsible it was the young woman who sold me the pet.


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