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Are There Any Rabbit Experts On Here?


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Hi there everyone!

 

I was hoping someone on FSF might be able to offer so advice or guidance!!

 

My daughter (who's 9) got a rabbit for her birthday - after much thought! - and she is absolutely gorgeous!! :o She is a lop ear rabbit (called Midnight!) and is about 23 weeks old.

 

Well I kept rabbits all through my childhood - and I never heard one make a noise..... although I thought they do when they are being hunted.. :(

 

That was until this rabbit!! She grunts and squeaks all the time! She is not very lap friendly but both my daughter and I hold her every day for a cuddle and a stroke. She also has a run in the garden which is enclosed so every day she has a 'hop around' the garden. She will jump on my daughter lap sometimes and is very friendly, But when she doesn't want to be picked up she grunts at us as soon as we put our hand near!

 

Yet other times when you approach her she 'flops' on her side and makes it very easy to pick her up!

 

Does this sound normal??

 

When we pick dandelions for her and come back in the garden she goes mad racing around the run, grunting and squeaking until we put the leaves in.... xD

 

I'm concerned she thinks she's a dog...

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No worries mps09, this is a perfectly natural response for a rabbit to display when they are warning you (or other rabbits) of something, best to be very friendly when she is happy and leave her be when she is 'grunty'!

 

Only time I would worry is if she gets a bit snotty!

 

Lucie

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I am certainly not a rabbit expert, but I seem to remember hearing a litter (?) of baby rabbits squeaking a long time ago when I was in my teens.

 

All I can say with some certainty is that she sounds like quite a lively character, some folks think rabbits are boring because they don't do anything - yours certainly does. :o

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At our school we had a talk from a domestic rabbit expert who told us that the cruellest thing you can do to a rabbit is to keep it on their own as they are intensly social animals. My advice would be to get another (female!!!) rabbit as the solitary one is probably seriously distressed.

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My sister has had rabbits for many years but not a grunty one! If you have one alone, make sure you have things to entertain her & her to play with - logs, tunnels (not just the ones they dig) and make sure that she has a balanced diet of nuggets (rabbit variety) fresh veg and a few dandelions etc. Spotted in petsathone or petsmart some hay cakes which proved to be popular with her rabbits last week. She has always kept her rabbits with a companion rabbit unless one has gone to bunny heaven and then it had to be the dog!

 

Good luck

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Can't comment on the noise but my rabbit when younger was a rescue rabbit (abandoned by neighbours and only discovered by accident in his hutch after they moved out). He was very untamed and had to have daily lap/stroking sessions which gradually settled him. He ultimately lived his life running free in the garden with next door's rabbit through the fence for company. A very happy bunny til he died. He was also very certain when he wanted company and when he didn't!

 

Cx

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Our rabbit died last October aged 11!!! We bought her for Laura's 3rd birthday and Laura turned 14 in March. Someone had got her small and tired of her and advertised her in the post office with cage and all.Lucy was very noisy and a strong willed personality. We got her a guinea pig for company and she nearly killed it so she never got a friend! She would grunt and stamp and generally make lots of noise.Her favourite toy was one of the childrens old baby rattles like a barrel with a bell in. She would pick it up and throw it with her teeth across the pen. If her bowl was empty you could hear her grumbling.

My dad used to breed dwarfs when we were little and although I remember Snowball the buck had bags of personality (prefered his veg cooked!) I don't remember him making a noise.

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Lucy was very noisy and a strong willed personality. We got her a guinea pig for company and she nearly killed it so she never got a friend! She would grunt and stamp and generally make lots of noise.Her favourite toy was one of the childrens old baby rattles like a barrel with a bell in. She would pick it up and throw it with her teeth across the pen. If her bowl was empty you could hear her grumbling.

 

There must be something about that name! I've got a cat called Lucy and as we first got to know her we realised her surname must be fur! She's very stubborn and horrible to the other pets. She is at this moment lying across my keyboard and even tho she can't be comfy and I keep pushing her off, she's decided that that's where she's lying so she just keeps getting back on! And every time I push her off she squeaks at me and gives me the filthiest look you could ever imagine!

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We have just the one rabbit now. We got her originally with her sister but the sister died a couple of years ago. The one we are left with was the 'grumpy' one of the pair. She hates being handled and didn't really seem to like her sister either!

 

She seems perfectly happy and content being alone but we would like to get another pair of rabbits at some point. I've held off doing so because Ruby was prone to attacking her sister and I worry that she would not take well to new rabbits either. Since we are talking rabbits, any advice about this?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just to update you all...

 

After a lot of thought - and a long conversation with the pet shop, we have made the difficult decision to return Midnight for adoption.

 

The tooth fairy sent a letter to my daughter explaining that she had spoken with Midnight and she wasn't happy - she wants to run in the fields and be with lots of other rabbits.

 

Daughter is absolutely devastated but I'm sure this is the right decision...

 

Midnight has become increasingly agressive, she gruns and squeeks constantly and is clearly not a relaxed rabbit. When I try to pick her us she launches herself at me squeeling (sounds like when cats fight), claws out and teeth ready! Her heart is pounding and she shakes.... it is actually quite distressing to see.

 

The pet shop have promised me that they will find her a good home where she will be looked after and cared for to help her settle.

 

I just hope I've made the right decision.

 

Anyway, the result is that we now have a new fluffy rabbit - no name yet.

 

If anyone has a black lop-eared rabbit and could post a picture of 'midnight' in her new home with lots of other rabbits I would be very grateful!!

 

Thank you for all your advice.

 

MPS09

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well - I decided that it was the wrong decision to put rabiit up for adoption!!

 

Daughter was in pieces and after a long discussion with hubby - I re-adopted her!! (cost me £10 but worth it!!!)

 

So now we have two rabbits........ living seperately........ daugher is ecstatic .........

 

Midnight is booked in for her op very soon!!

 

Oh the joys of parenthood :o:(xD

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