Wondering about adopting a dwarf rabbit...

[Karen]

How come you want a female rabbit. I have found that if you are only getting one rabbit a male is the way to go because they tend to be more docile, and because the female is the one that will dig huge burrows in your backyard. You have to constantly keep an eye on them outside because they will dig under the fence and escape very quickly. Males tend to just dig tiny in a spot a tiny bit while spraying urine just to mark those spots for them. If you are considering getting more rabbits though, a female is the way to go. Although that is still no guarantee that they will get along. Take it from me. lol. Bunnikins and Thumper were both female rabbits. (See siggy for pics) and they were mortal enemies. One day thumper ripped bunnikins lip open through a seperation fence. We couldn't even let them go for a run at the same time. It was too dangerous.

That is not necessarily true. Miss Hoppy is a female, she is a house bunny (litterbox trained), and never, ever digs. We have had her outside many many many times over the years, presented her with nice soft dirt, normal dirt, snow - she is just not interested in digging whatsoever. And she is perfectly happy as a lone bunny. She is spayed, maybe that make a difference, but all rabbits who are not going to be bred should be spayed because of the high incidence of ovarian cancer in unspayed female rabbits.

[buttercup132]

That is not necessarily true. Miss Hoppy is a female, she is a house bunny (litterbox trained), and never, ever digs. We have had her outside many many many times over the years, presented her with nice soft dirt, normal dirt, snow - she is just not interested in digging whatsoever. And she is perfectly happy as a lone bunny. She is spayed, maybe that make a difference, but all rabbits who are not going to be bred should be spayed because of the high incidence of ovarian cancer in unspayed female rabbits.

That's mostly why especially if she was done at a young age. It also has to do with her personality.

[SunsetRose]

Hey male rabbits dig too.

I have a dwarf lop rabbit AKA Holland lop female and she is wonderful. I got her when she was a baby and she became really tame and bonded. I've never had any problems with her digging (it's mostly my other rabbit, Wendy), she never sprays, and she was very easy to potty train. I had her potty trained in about a week after I got her. Emmy is about 5 years old now and has cataracts in both eyes, but I still love her and she's still a happy bunny.

Really it doesn't matter what gender Katey gets. If she wants a female, then she should get a female. There are pros and cons for each and it depends on the individual rabbit too. Some female rabbits have a false pregnancy every few weeks, others rarely, others never. Some will get moody when they start nesting during a false pregnancy, others don't. None of mine did. All my male rabbits (fixed and unfixed) sprayed, none of my females do and I've had males and females dig.

[Blue Dragonfly]

I can only go by own experience. Females do have false pregnancies. i forgot to mention that. They pull out all the fur from there neck and belly and it is nice to provide them with a nesting box, they just want to be mothers. Also females have something called a nap which is a fold of skin under the neck where they store fat when they are pregnant. If you overfeed them with grain this can get very big and sometimes be mistaken for cancer by people who don't know better.

I have never had a problem with the boys spraying urine. They only do it when you first let them out of there cage or the house for a run. Because it is outside, you don't smell it anyway. As long as you keep a rabbits living area clean, they don't smell at all.

[SunsetRose]

Yeah, I should have explained better what a false pregnancy is lol. Basically the rabbit acts exactly as she would if she were pregnant and roughly within a week or 2 of delivering. They will pull hair off their neck and belly to make a nest, although I've never had a rabbit get any bald patches from this except when my rabbit really WAS pregnant. They can sometimes get moody and territorial and may rush at you and grunt trying to defend their nest. Some don't though, my girls were never like this. And the false pregnancy can be a regular thing or it can be a once in a blue moon kind of thing.

[Blue Dragonfly]

Yeah, my baby Bunnikins used to do that. She would do it till she was all bald on her stomach. I would give her rags and stuff so she wouldn't need to pull out as much fur. I miss Bunnikins.