Our animal loving farmer girl has mentioned a number of times she would like a pet rabbit. I've seen some wonderful rabbits at pet shows. I was wondering how easy they are to care for if they are an inside pet.

We use to raise them years ago, but they were strictly outside.

Any hints?

We don't have one, DD would like one too but Daddy isn't in agreement. I have a book here all about them that I will send to you. It's a good one.

Although I'm a dog person (we have two) we decided a few years ago to get our DD a pet rabbit of her own. We thought we were being sold a dwarf lop-earred bunny only to have him grow into the size of a cat with ears that stand straight up! LOL He's adorable though and he has such personality... and a beautiful black, shiny coat. I never dreamed a rabbit would have such a sweet disposition.

He was an indoor bunny for the first couple of years but it just wasn't working out with the two dogs. One of our dogs Di (cocker spaniel), gets along fine with him and we could let them run around together.. but the other one, Fergie (a Scottish Terrior) just wants to see what would happen if she grabbed it by the neck and shook it! ;) She can't help it.. it's in her blood. We eventually decided to transfer Fudge to the garage, by a large window where he has a nice view, is up high, toasty warm with hay in the winter, and can hear the outdoor sounds and feel the breezes. We are constantly going in and out of the garage through a kitchen door and he gets lots of attention. My dd also takes him out on a leash to run around the grass in the front.

Easy to care for.. well, I guess yes. As an inside pet his large cage was cleaned (by my dd) twice a week. (but that's just us, other people may say once a week is enough). Now as an outside pet, we let it go to once a week. We change water and add food as needed and give him treats of carrots, lettuce, apple slices, etc. And lots of love. That's it! Oh, I clip his nails with my dog's nail clippers when they get too long. He's so gentle and just lets us do our thing. Once in a while my DH baths him in the downstairs bathroom sink. LOL He loves it! He's such a sweetie.

He does make a nice pet... but would I do it again, no. Only because I know I'll always have dogs .. and most likely a terrior. It's just not a good mix and we don't live in the country where I can have a bunny hutch or anything like that.

My dsil raises them and loves them as house pets. She swears that you can litter train them as well. I've often thought that they would be fun pets, but it's enough trouble to have a poodle and have to leave her when we leave on a trip, I can't imagine saying "would you care for my poodle, my rabbit, 2 cats and a cockatoo?" (ok I don't have a cockatoo but have wanted one for ages! I've decided against owning one for the aforementioned reasons though)

I had a lop eared bunny years ago. I kept him indoors. He was litter trained and I loved him to pieces. Those claws were sharp and he loved to chew.

As you may tell from my avatar, we are rabbit people. My daughter began with one Satin doe as a 4-H project. This project has grown to 29 rabbits, 7 breeding does, we have 3 litters due soon (hopefully, winter is hard time to breed).
She shows through the American Rabbit Breeders Association and is a member of the Land of Lincoln Satin Breeders. Both have great web sites.
We show all over Illinois, we traveled to Wichita Kansas for the National ARBA show because dd qualified to be on the state judging team.
In April we will go to Pueblo Colorado for Satin Nationals.
Go to the ARBA web site and check out a show near you, they are fascinating. I've drug lots of family members to shows and they are always totally surprised by what they see.

Needless to say our bunnies don't stay in the house. They can't acclimate that way for seasonal changes. They also chew like mad, I'd never want one loose in my house. Dd gives them golf balls, blocks of wood, and horse treats for chewing.
Sorry I went on so long, we are really into our bunnies around here. :rockon: