| How to be Cost Efficient You would like to get a bunny, but think it is too expensive to take good care of him/her. The conflict comes when you see that darling little kit or poor homeless rabbit in need of a good home and the sight pulls at your heartstrings. Below are hopefully some answers to perspective questions: Q. What do I need to start with when I first get my rabbit?
A. You will need:
An appropriate sized hutch, one square foot per pound of rabbit.
Food/water dishes
Toys
Feed; fresh greens
Timothy hay THE HUTCH This is usually your most expensive initial expense. If you or your other half is good at building, you can shave at least half off the cost of a good cage. If you get a hutch from a feed store or pet store or even a discount store, it is going to cost you more than the cage is actually worth. What we have done is to go online and have found relative decent prices from the following sites: You may be better off contacting a local breeder to see if he has any extra available cages for sale. You can often find breeders through the ARBA clubs, link to them, and got through their Breeder’s directory at:
http://www.arba.net/photo.htm The only catch is that you need to know the weight of the animal as an adult before buying your cage. If you do purchase a hutch from a breeder, make sure you have sterilized it with bleach before using it to decontaminate it. Another option is to check your local newspaper in the classified section. FOOD, WATER DISHES, & TOYS Many of these items, such as hopper feeders and water bottles can be found at reasonable prices through one of the supply companies listed above or through a breeder (again, make certain that they are sterilized before use). In a pinch, you could purchase the dishes at one of the dollar stores, which we have done. You would wish to find bowls that can’t be easily tipped over. Garage/yard sales are a great place to find toys for your bunny. Used baby keys or other sturdy chewable items that make noise work well. Rabbits like to play with dishtowels or other linens of this sort, which also can double for bathing or health care use. We have used the hand towels, cloth diapers, old bath towels (aka ‘bunny towels’), and even receiving blankets for our rabbits. Dollar stores are also helpful with these items. FEED, FRESH GREENS, & TIMOTHY HAY The feed can be bought at a feed store in large quantities, but pose a problem if you live in a city/town. Wal-Mart sells it reasonably, but one needs to watch for the type with too many processed treats, as the rabbit may have a tendency to eat the treats and not the pellet, causing excessive weight gain and poor health later. What you should be looking for is a feed which has primarily pellet with natural, unprocessed ‘treats’ in them for better health, not the kind that has the shapes similar to what you find in kids’ cereals. Depending where you live, it can be difficult to find the fresh greens during certain times of the year. Keep in mind that much of the salad scraps that you would otherwise throw out could be fed to your rabbit. If you wish to give them grass, make sure that it is at least 30 feet away from a road/railroad track because of omissions (we often cut ours fresh from our backyard). During the six months of the year with the better weather, we will often go to the vegetable/fruit stands and get scraps for our rabbits. Below is a list of rabbit safe fruit and vegetables: FRUIT* VEGETABLES
Apple (remove stem and seeds), Blueberries, Melon, Orange (including peel), Papaya, Peach,Pear, Pineapple, Plums, Raspberries, Strawberries Alfalfa, Basil, Beet, Carrot, Turnip and Mustard greens, Broccoli (mostly leaves/stems), Brussels sprouts, Clover, Green peppers, Parsley, Radishes and their greens, Raspberry leaves, Romaine lettuce (no iceberg or light colored leaf, no cabbage) Spinach (small amounts), Wheat grass.
* Sugary fruits such as bananas, grapes or raisins should be used sparingly, as occasional treats. Bunnies have a sweet tooth and if left to their own devices will devour sugary foods to the exclusion of healthy ones. * Add one vegetable to the diet at a time. Eliminate if it causes soft stools or diarrhea.
Timothy hay can be purchased at feed stores, on the internet, Wal-Mart, or pet stores, but the internet and pet store prices can be very expensive. This type of hay is important for wearing down the rabbit teeth and especially for their digestive tract. You may be able to get timothy based feed, but if you do so, then you need to supplement with alfalfa hay to make certain that they get some of each. The rabbit can have as much hay as he wants since it does not add much weight. We carry the timothy hay in 4 lb. mini-bales for the urban dweller, 5 lb. bags of premixed feed (successfully formulated for our shelter bunnies with excellent results), hopper feeders, and toys at competitive prices. See these pages for our price comparisons: All proceeds go toward helping our rabbits, but you may wish to consider us more if you live in the NY, OH, PA tri-state area to save on shipping. VET BILLS Unfortunately, these can get rather steep, but here are a few helpful hints:
Put aside a predetermined amount of money in the case of poor health (bunny money). Hopefully you won’t need to use it, but it is good to have just in case.
Consult your rabbit savvy vet about the cost of spaying/neutering (usually about $90-$120) and set aside cash (bunny money) to get this done. Remember, this will save you the cost of possibly having to deal with unwanted litters or cancer problems late.
Calculate the cost of the necessary yearly examination for your rabbit and save the amount in your bunny money. In essence, you do not have to spend excessive amounts of money to care for your rabbit, just be a smart shopper. ©Gander Gab 2007 For Educational Purposes Only Graphic ©morguefiles.com
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