how much work/expense are rabbits ?

[minniemouse]

hi everyone,

we have DD4 and DS2 we already have 2 cats but im thinking about getting another animal for them (for us all), how much trouble are rabbits ? how often do you have to clean out the cage etc ?

and do you think they are good for children the age my children are ?

thanks !

[Lulu]

I dunno, maybe they are heaps of trouble because there are record numbers of them being dumped lately. If you do go ahead, grab one from a shelter!

[Phteven]

At least if they don't work out you can have rabbit stew

[Honeybee]

I'm not sure how good rabbits are as pets for little kids. I remember someone telling me once that little kids tend to try to pick rabbits up by the ears, and end up damaging the ears quite badly. I used to have mice, and cleaning out the cage was a lot of work which had to be done very often, or it got really, really stinky. I'd stick with the cats as a low maintenance kids' pet.

[KimB]

Try hermit crabs. The kids love them and they are very low maintenance. You can even buy painted shells for them to move into when they get bigger

[skybie]

i dont think 4 and 2 are a suitable age for a rabbit. they dont like being picked up and tend to scratch and they can leave some nasty marks.
work wise, they are a suprising amount of work, they need to be let out into a play area everyday (bare in mind female rabbits enjoy digging so if ur in a rental or something it can be troublesome) and theyre hutches need cleaning out very regularly to control flies and odours. i do the whole hutch everyweek and the litter tray every second day.

cost wise, an 8kg bag of bunny mix from petstock is $15 my guys get a bowl a day, hay can range depending on the season, but u can pick up a bale for about $20 usually, that being said a whole bale will go stale for one rabbit so u might be better off buying a bag of eating (not litter tray straw, HUGE difference) hay from ur pet shop.
petstock have big cubes of woodchips for about $14 that should last quite a few months with just one rabbit.

if i can help in any other way just ask

[minniemouse]

hhhhmmm thanks everyone, honeybee and skybie you make really good points, the kids are probably a bit young (i should probably have said they are nearly 5 and nearly 3, but still too young), i originally liked the idea of a turtle but then i saw a website of a place that takes in unwanted turtles after they grow too big and need more room and that made me realise they probably aren't for us !!

maybe i should get another kitten, is 3 cats too much lol