rehoming my rabbit (sad vent)

[Kat]

:sigh

I just sent an email to the nearby rabbit rescue, which is affiliated with the House Rabbit Society. It's time to find our bunny a new home. :( The previous owners declawed him on all 4 paws, so he doesn't like to hop around on hardwood floors or tile. Our new house won't have any carpet except in the bedrooms, which we plan to keep closed off to keep the cats out. Plus, our cats are not declawed and like to chase him. :nails So I am always worrying about his safety. Consequently, he isn't getting the exercise he needs. :-(

Ugh! Why must this be so difficult?! I really wish we were set up to keep him, but we just can't. :cry And I am so mad at people who tease me about eating rabbits!! How insensitive can they be?! :mad

I need to go cry somewhere. :cry :bheart

[Mother of Sons]

:( I'm sorry. I totally understand about the eating thing. People hassle me all the time about eating my chickens.

[domesticzookeeper]

Oh, hun, I'm so sorry :hugheart

Try posting on RO; I haven't been active there in a while, but the members are AMAZING and they have great connections for finding new homes :heart

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/

[Kat]

:( I'm sorry. I totally understand about the eating thing. People hassle me all the time about eating my chickens.

How do you handle when they hassle you? Do you ask them to stop or ignore it? What happens if they keep doing it?

---------- Post added at 11:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:37 PM ----------

Well, dh and I talked about this and we are having second thoughts about giving him away. I'm going to research this a bit more and see if we can make it work out for him to stay with us in the new house. :)

[Amber]

:hugheart

[domesticzookeeper]

You could always set up a gated area or a puppy play pen with one of those indoor/outdoor throw rugs for him to play on :)

My room has a linoleum tile floor. When I had my rabbits in there I threw down a large outdoor rug. My healthy bunny would easily hop across the tile floor to explore the rest of the house, but my disabled bunny would keep herself quite happily on the rug :heart

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3163/2549524294_4aa3d0f1ce.jpg

[Kat]

That looks wonderful for a rabbit! Our new house wouldn't have the space for that though. As much as I want to keep him, I'm continuing to brainstorm ideas. :think

[Synesthesia]

I wish I could take him. Shame on his owners for declawing him! ARG. Makes my fingertips hurt. Could you keep him in one of the bedrooms? Since you're keeping the cats out?

I did used to threaten to eat Bernie, but he knew I was joking with him because he was too cute to eat, even when he annoyed me by peeing in my bed one time.

i miss that rabbit.

[Kat]

I really wish I could send him to you as well, Syn! :heart

I got an email from the house rabbit society asking if I can just buy some throw rugs to give him traction, which tells me they probably don't have any openings available. If I can't give him to HRS, then I am thinking of just keeping him in one of the bedrooms. I'll have two spare bedrooms, one I'd planned on using as a guest room and the other as a future kid's room. But now I am thinking that instead of having a guest room, I'll use that as a pet room. :think

I've also been researching different rabbit cages, and LOVE this one!! (Sorry, I don't know how to abbreviate links into one word. :blush)

http://www.therabbithouse.com/indoor/rabbitcages.asp?cage=3 :tu

The problem with this cage is that it is Italian and I can't find any dealers that sell this in the USA. But it is twice the size of his current cage and would give him a ton of room to run around. If I could find something similar, that would be awesome!

Another idea is to simply continue to use the one I have and then invest in a large rabbit playpen and a rug along with that. That way, he could still be let out to run around for a few hours in a much greater space. :shrug3

I did used to threaten to eat Bernie, but he knew I was joking with him because he was too cute to eat, even when he annoyed me by peeing in my bed one time.

i miss that rabbit.

:giggle

[Rabbit]

How about keeping the guest room, until you need to convert it to a future kid room?

[Synesthesia]

Yeah, do that!
You could build a large one of those metal cube cages and instead of coroplast you can use something soft and easy to clean in case the rabbit makes a mess. It would be easy on his soft feet. It's simular to that cage, only all you need are squares from Bed and Bathrooms or from other place http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=cube+shelves&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=7788941083086187145&ei=PrL4S-TzM4K8lQeehPz0Cg&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=image&resnum=5&ved=0CDAQ8gIwBA# like this.
Then you can use old rug pieces, put his litter box in there with soft bedding and hay, and it could work.

[domesticzookeeper]

I like Natalie's idea :)

And if you're looking for a spacious cage, and have a little bit of money to invest in one, I highly recommend Leith Petwerks' Bunny Abode :rockon It's large, it comes with one, two, or three levels, each level and ramp is carpeted for good gripping, it's easy to clean, etc. It was really designed with rabbits and rabbit owners in mind.

http://www.leithpetwerks.com/indexpage.cfm?category=1

[Kat]

How about keeping the guest room, until you need to convert it to a future kid room?

I could do that, but we are planning to become foster parents in the next year. I currently have a daybed, a dresser, a desk and a small bookshelf which would be suitable for a guest room or for an older child. But we want to foster babies and toddlers.

[Synesthesia]

They can share...bunnies are really quiet unless they are angry or in pain.

[Rabbit]

All you need different from older kids is a crib, and that can go in the guest room.