Rabbit Halters/Leads....

Hi! My name's Kerry and I plan on rescuing/buying a Himalayan bunny within the next few months. Right now, I'm just trying to prepare my future bun's home and health by learning all I can about rabbits. I have had one rabbit before, a very sweet and suprisingly cuddly Polish dwarf named Toby. And, now that I'm older (at the time I got my 1st, I was 4 yrs old), I really want to get a bunny and provide a very good home for him. What I was really wondering about is, are halters/collars with leads unsafe for rabbits to wear? Can you teach them to walk safely in a halter? I have asked a few bunny owners about it, some say it is fine and some say it 'breaks the bunnys back!'. I'm not sure about it, really. Any advice would be so so appreciated!! Thanks

You can't use a collar on a bunny like you would a dog but you can use a "cat harness" and can even get "rabbit harnesses". These do up in front of the rabbits chest and round it's middle.

I don't agree in harnesses for hamsters, gerbils etc because they are too small but when I had rabbits I had a harness for them. Of course if you misuse the harness and pull the rabbit about you can hurt it.

When you "walk" a rabbit on a harness you cannot pull it about or lead it anywhere, you have to follow the rabbit. My rabbit would just lay on the floor with a look of "get this thing off me" so I would carry him everywhere instead!!!

Remember if you are going outside not to let him eat plants which may be poisonous or anything which has been fouled by other animals.

I hope you and your future bunny are very happy together.

Sarah

Before you get a bunny please go to www.rabbit.org and read up on their care....they are a lot more work than cats and dogs. Bunnies do make wonderful pets but they are not for everybody. They will not instantly fall in love with you like a kitten or puppy will. You have to earn their trust and affection and it often takes several weeks before that happens. Most bunnies DO NOT like to be picked up and carried around. Many are not cuddlers. They are a prey animal, which means they have been food for predators and humans for thousands of years and are instinctively shy and afraid of loud noises and things (like humans) looming over them. They are expensive to feed and require a rabbit specialist veternarian.... Rabbits are considered an exoctic animal and many, many vets do not take the classes for exotic animals. What treatments work for a cat or dog will kill a rabbit.

I see so many abandoned rabbits that were impulsively purchased with no thought given to what the animal needs and how much work they are...it just breaks my heart. So please educate yourself on what you will be getting in to first. It's only fair. ;)

Daisylover,

I had my 2 angora rabbits many years ago when I was 8 or 9. My mum rescued them from a petstore as they had mange which we paid a fortune to have them made better (and they had to stay at the vets for what seemed like ages).

I wish I knew then the things I knew now. For example they were brother and sister so had to live apart. Now I realise they should have been fixed and could have lived together. To me it seems people know a lot more now about how best to keep rabbits.

Both were an amazing pair and I'll never forget how sad I was when they died, it was the summer and they had their runs on the grass next to each other so they had each others company. Fluffy the female died (she was 6 or 7) one day and the next Misty had a stroke, the vet tried to treat him but he died. To this day I think it was losing Fluffy that caused Misty's heart attack.

Sarah

Shellonabeach,
How sad for you but what a wonderful thing you did in rescuing those bunnies from the store! I am sure they had a wonderful life with you. You were obviously a good bunny mom because it's only been in the past ten-fifteen years with improvements in nutritiion and health care that bunnies live as long as yours did.

I know there is a very active UK bunny website....I'll have to see if I can dig up the address for you. :)

okay here's a safe bunny harness
http://www.superpetusa.com/catalog/200px/62294.jpg
http://superpetusa.com/

Quote:

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Originally posted by Daisylover
They will not instantly fall in love with you like a kitten or puppy will. You have to earn their trust and affection and it often takes several weeks before that happens. Most bunnies DO NOT like to be picked up and carried around. Many are not cuddlers. They are a prey animal, which means they have been food for predators and humans for thousands of years and are instinctively shy and afraid of loud noises and things (like humans) looming over them.

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Don't tell Julian any of this :eek: I think he is half dog or something :eek: Womens best friend, LOL. Julian LOVES to be help and cradled in your arms. He also loves when you sit on the floor and he can come and sit in your lap, or eat your homework :rolleyes: LOL.

I would definitly have ot agree, bunnies are not for everyone, be prepared for a messy little guy, but the mess is well worth it! I wouldn't trade him for the world.

Ash

My rabbits wear a harness wheb they are in the garden as I find it easier to catch them when they have a lead trailling behind them, I don't actaully keep a hold of the lead as the go nuts. I let them run free.

a tad off topic, lol but that site brie posted well

http://www.superpetusa.com/catalog/200px/61376.jpg

umm their was a bunch of these for guinea pigs there, exersize balls are EXTREMLY dangerous for guinea piggies.

anywho I am getting a holland lop soon, I think you should build a hutch for your bunbun, that way you can make it nice a big, petstore cages/hutches are WAY to small :p good luck:D

Quote:

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Originally posted by cali
a tad off topic, lol but that site brie posted well

http://www.superpetusa.com/catalog/200px/61376.jpg

umm their was a bunch of these for guinea pigs there, exersize balls are EXTREMLY dangerous for guinea piggies.

anywho I am getting a holland lop soon, I think you should build a hutch for your bunbun, that way you can make it nice a big, petstore cages/hutches are WAY to small :p good luck:D

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I agree, those balls are horrible for all small animals.
I've had people complain (from their own stupidity and lack of supervision) that their animal has rolled down the stairs. Their child picked up/shook/dropped the ball with the pet in it. I heard of smaller animals getting their legs and feet caught in the ventalation slits.
Horrible.