# My First Three Bunnies



## Reactor (Nov 10, 2012)

I'm seventeen years old, and I wanted bunnies since I was around the age of nine. I got these bunnies January of this year though, so I was still sixteen at the time. I still remember the day, me and my father pulled up to one of his co-worker's houses. Keep in mind though, my fateher didn't really want me to have them because he used to raise masses of rabbits, but he gave in for me and my mother. Luckily, they were all female rabbits, and luckily my dad did give in. The woman opened the garage door, and there they are, three large rabbits (Daisy, the mother. Sunny and Sara the two daughters.) the in a small cage which gave them less than a square foot to move in. Filled with flies and droppings, I nearly vomited. We took them of course, and I made them a larger cage at my own house, about the size of two full sized bath tubs side by side to give them some room to play. I tried for months sitting with them for a few hours nearly every day in their cage, and they just continued biting, stomping, and ignoring me. I understand this though and that's why I keep them. I feel like they're very happy, and occasionally I can get one to let me hold it for a few minutes before it bites me again. I understand why they must hate humanity though, they were treated terribly for a long time. I'm still happy with them, and during the winter time they're staying in the cage in my garage to help them keep warm. I know they have fur for a reason, but still. I could never take them to the pound or anything because I'd hate to think they could be treated poorly again.


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## agnesthelion (Nov 10, 2012)

Aww poor buns and it does sound as though they were treated horribly. That is great that you have made a little progress but it definetly sounds like they still have some trust issues.
Have you ever considered bringing them inside? I'm a proponet of bunnies being inside the home with their family. I also think in this case, letting them see you move about the house and be able to see you and smell you all the time would help getting them to bond with you more. Just something to think about.
Welcome tom the forum!


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## JBun (Nov 10, 2012)

You might have better success with spending time with just one rabbit at a time, maybe in someplace like a bathroom, where you can just sit with it on the floor and let it hop around, but it won't be able to go too far.

You don't want the biting to continue. When they bite, gently but firmly press down the shoulder head area, to the floor. It's what a dominant rabbit will do to discipline another rabbit. You have to do it firmly because you don't want to get bitten while you are doing it and the rabbit may fight you doing it, but you also need to be gentle because you don't want to hurt the rabbit at all.


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## Nancy McClelland (Nov 10, 2012)

:yeahthat: They do learn fast. You may also want to spend time with them other than in their hutch. They would be more likely to interact with you if they were in a neutral setting than in a hutch they see as their domain.


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## Imbrium (Nov 11, 2012)

I'm so sorry those bunns were in such a horrible situation! they're very lucky you came along and rescued them!

are any of them spayed? it's generally not considered safe to keep unaltered bunns together (though on rare occasions there are exceptions that get along), and spaying tends to curb aggression a bit.

(females also live, on average, about twice as long if spayed due to unspayed females being incredibly prone to cancers of the reproductive system)


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## Reactor (Nov 11, 2012)

agnesthelion wrote:


> Aww poor buns and it does sound as though they were treated horribly. That is great that you have made a little progress but it definetly sounds like they still have some trust issues.
> Have you ever considered bringing them inside? I'm a proponet of bunnies being inside the home with their family. I also think in this case, letting them see you move about the house and be able to see you and smell you all the time would help getting them to bond with you more. Just something to think about.
> Welcome tom the forum!


Thanks for the warm welcoming! I have considered bringing them inside if they were more tame, because my father still doesn't "want" them, I should say. He doesn't mind them being here in the garage but while they're still well, evil, he would think I was crazy if I even brought up the idea. I do spend a bit of time outside though, and my mom is usually across the garage smoking (with the door open, of course. I told her I'd beat her if she was close to them. In jokes, of course.) Some people tell my they're too old, would that be true? I THINK the mom is probably like four or five years old, I KNOW the daughters are about two and a half years old now. I'm not sure of bunny biology and when they reproduce typically or I could get a better age range on the mother. I just figured she's gigantic. So she's probably a bit older. 

JBun wrote:


> You might have better success with spending time with just one rabbit at a time, maybe in someplace like a bathroom, where you can just sit with it on the floor and let it hop around, but it won't be able to go too far.
> 
> You don't want the biting to continue. When they bite, gently but firmly press down the shoulder head area, to the floor. It's what a dominant rabbit will do to discipline another rabbit. You have to do it firmly because you don't want to get bitten while you are doing it and the rabbit may fight you doing it, but you also need to be gentle because you don't want to hurt the rabbit at all.



That's a really good idea, I never really thought of it like that. Pretty much right now they're wild rabbits in a cage, I'm not sure if that's relevant because they're on a diet like research will suggest, I'll just get to the point, if they pee on the floor, it's not going to like, smell terrible forever and be uncleanable is it? I'd make sure they were on tile. Probably in the bathroom. That comes to another, kinda nasty, question though. I'm tired in the mornings. I pee in the mornings. We clean it up all the time but some parts of the caulk around the toilet are just like, stained with urine. Would they be safe to go in there? We're clean people, no doubt about it. My mom and I have terrible OCD and make everything spotless. Just that's one of those things that you can't really clean up all that well I guess. 

Thanks for the tip on the discipline though, I never knew that. If they've never been around a male rabbit or anything would they understand? They do still stay with their mother though, so I'm not sure if she'd be dominant to them. Is it something they'd know from birth? I'd hate to do it and they just look at me like, "Stupid human..." 

Nancy McClelland wrote:


> :yeahthat: They do learn fast. You may also want to spend time with them other than in their hutch. They would be more likely to interact with you if they were in a neutral setting than in a hutch they see as their domain.



Thanks again. I'm going to have to try this soon as long as I can get one of my parent's approval. Typically they don't mind what I do, but with pets they're strict because of droppings and such. 

Imbrium wrote:


> I'm so sorry those bunns were in such a horrible situation! they're very lucky you came along and rescued them!
> 
> are any of them spayed? it's generally not considered safe to keep unaltered bunns together (though on rare occasions there are exceptions that get along), and spaying tends to curb aggression a bit.
> 
> (females also live, on average, about twice as long if spayed due to unspayed females being incredibly prone to cancers of the reproductive system)



Thank you! I'm happy I came along too.  Actually.. none of them are spayed. I looked online a month or so ago and some people say it would be around $100 for each one to be spayed and then I'd want to do a checkup on each one of them and everything, because sadly I've never had a chance yet. It costs a bit I guess, but soon I'm going to try to find another job so I can do more for them. 

Amazingly they've all been getting along, usually when I go out into the garage they're sitting there in a row really close just stomach to back, stomach to back, like well, spooning. With an odd shaped spoon.. They seem to love their mom though I think, I'm not sure if rabbits can show forms of love or anything, but it always seems like they're together with their mom. They're always cleaning her and stuff, and the mom will clean them, it's really sweet to see.




*Please, for anyone going to reply. Ignore my ignorance, if there is any. I know a bit about bunnies, but I'm not really positive on some things.*


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## JBun (Nov 11, 2012)

They should be fine in the bathroom. If the rabbit pees on the tile, just wipe it up. You can use vinegar to clean up any residue. You may want to lay a towel down for the rabbit so they don't feel nervous on the slippery tile.

Disciplining by pressing the head/shoulders down, is actually something the momma bun would do with her babies, so they will know exactly what it means. They may try to wiggle out of you holding them. You just need to be firm, and you only need to hold for a second or two once the wiggling stops.


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## Imbrium (Nov 11, 2012)

*Reactor wrote: *


> *Please, for anyone going to reply. Ignore my ignorance, if there is any. I know a bit about bunnies, but I'm not really positive on some things.*


we all started out knowing only a bit about bunnies . if you want to learn more (which it sounds like you do), this is a great place to do it - we're always happy to answer questions no matter how silly you may fear they are


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