Bunnies are Expensive!!!

[3willowsbunny]

But sooooo worth it! I put aside money each week for pet spending (food, upkeep, supplies, toys) and come to find out my 4 month old Flemish Giant is my most expensive pet thusfar. He has a vet visit next week just for a new bunny check up which will run $65, his neutering will be at least $350, his food, hay and litter run me $120 per month average, plus the toys and extras I get him (fleece for cuddly blankets, grass mats for chewing/flopping etc...). Stewie's set up was a pretty penny even before I got him but he loves it and it is easy to keep clean. I just thought it was interesting that looking at my budget our golden retriever, parrot, parakeets and 10 bettas are much less expensive all together! My sister was considering a bunny addition until I told her the cost involved, she changed her mind quickly! Bunnies are not cheapo pets.

No complaints though, Stewie is an excellent addition and well worth whatever I spend on him.

 

[MuddyAcresHomestead]

They are completely worth it <3

I just spent $140 yesterday to take my doe into the vet JUST TO CONFIRM A PHANTOM PREGNANCY. lol.

I'd do it again in a heartbeat though!

 

[PaGal]

Your food, hay and litter bill sound very high. I use horse stall pellets in conjunction with kiln dried pine shavings for three buns one of which is a flemmie. I change the flemmies every day and the others every other day. It costs me about $12 per month for litter. Not sure how you get your hay but buying a bale could save you some even if you had to have it shipped. Just thoughts.

I think one of the least expensive pets would be a ferret. The cage can cost you but they are already spayed/neutered when you buy them and really don't require any vaccinations. I did have mine given rabies even though they didn't need it so in the off chance anyone was ever bitten they wouldn't have to be put down but that cost $5.

Other medicine was inexpensive as they require so little.

Surgery for cancer for my one would have only run $200

 

[Azerane]

Wow, your food bill is huge, are you feeding him golden pellets? I personally think that feed-wise, rabbits are very cheap animals to feed. They eat a lot of hay which is very cheap when you buy a bale, pellets are rationed so they don't go too quick. Then most of the greens he eats I pick fresh from my garden, apart from the occasional head of lettuce that I buy.

Otherwise, yes, rabbits are quite expensive animals to keep. The set-up cost is high, large toy cost since they tend to destroy things often, vet costs are high because you have to see an exotics vet. I would personally look around at other vet clinics for neuter costs, as $350 is very high, Bandit's neuter cost $99 for the surgery (plus a little extra for the cost of painkillers and maybe the visit, but at absolute most $150).

Still, high cost or not, always worth it in the end

 

[3willowsbunny]

Wow, your food bill is huge, are you feeding him golden pellets? I personally think that feed-wise, rabbits are very cheap animals to feed. They eat a lot of hay which is very cheap when you buy a bale, pellets are rationed so they don't go too quick. Then most of the greens he eats I pick fresh from my garden, apart from the occasional head of lettuce that I buy.

Otherwise, yes, rabbits are quite expensive animals to keep. The set-up cost is high, large toy cost since they tend to destroy things often, vet costs are high because you have to see an exotics vet. I would personally look around at other vet clinics for neuter costs, as $350 is very high, Bandit's neuter cost $99 for the surgery (plus a little extra for the cost of painkillers and maybe the visit, but at absolute most $150).

Still, high cost or not, always worth it in the end

I WISH his neuter was only going to cost $150, my vet (that we have used for our dog for 9 years) quoted me $390 for a neuter so I called the vet that is closer to me with 3 exotic specialists that are highly reccomended and they quoted $350, I'm going with them due to their reputation. I already have the $ set aside so no biggie.

My food/hay/litter bill is very high mostly due to the litter @ $7.00 per bag (i go through 3 per week!), I need to get those pellets for litter!

We had ferrets 20 some years ago, they were cheap (rabbit cage, cat toys, cat food no vet bills, already fixed) but they were illegal in my state back then so taking them to a vet would have gotten them taken away. Luckily they were very healthy. They were great (but yes a bit smelly) pets.

 

[MuddyAcresHomestead]

Oh yes! Ferrets are kind of smelly. My early 20's boyfriend had one and even though it used a litter box it still made his bedroom stinky! My "fondest" memory of this ferret is that instead of going clubbing for my 21st birthday, we spent it driving 4 hours away to spend the next 7 hours at an all night clinic because the ferret was dehydrated. lol

 

[BigBunny]

You are not wrong ! I am afraid to add up the costs of having a bunny and i have only had mine for one week !!! i guess the initial cost of set up is a killer but then the general up keep wont be so bad....

So far Boomer has cost.

Boomer the Bunny - Free
Cage- $82.00
Litter Pellets x2 bags - $9 $9
Hay x 2 types - $12 $8
Bowls x2- $13 $15
Fleece Blankets x2 - $7 $7
House - $32
Litter pan- $5
Toys - $30 total
Pellets - $8
Grooming set- $15
Potted herbs just for Boomer - $20 total
storage bucket for all his stuff- $20
that's just 1 weeks worth of costs so far not including small amounts of fresh food and cleaning products.........

yet to come annual vet visits, vaccination, desexing....etc........ :heartbeat:

Lucky I love him.....

 

[Tessiesaurus]

Haha! I'm sure we can all relate to this post! Goodness!

I think I spend about £30 a month on litter, £8 a month on food, and £20 a month on hay!
Plus £52 on pet insurance.... plus whatever other cool things they need/I think they need..... that's a lot! lol

It's funny to think that many think of bunnies as a cheap pet! I think when I leave London it will cost less at least.

 

[Leopold_Ruby]

We have some clinics who charge $400 for a neuter but the spay/neuter clinic does them for $125. The rescue I just adopted from has been accepted to our communities free clinic but she wont allow me to include this adoptee. Laaame!

 

[PaGal]

I did have to take my one ferret to the vets for reoccurring abcesses but the cost was minimal compared to other pets. They do have a musky smell but I did bath mine and they weren't bad.

Thumper wasn't so bad cost wise. I haven't had to change too much with his set up. When I first brought him home his cage was one we already had although I did buy him an extra large dog cage as he got bigger but that was $60 which wasn't bad considering it was brand new and the same size at a pet store would have been double. I have had to buy a bunch of baby gates. Funny as I don't think I had a single one when my kids were young.

The girls though cost me for the x-pen, extra large dog cage, different litter boxes, different hay racks. many zip ties, a piece of coroplast and I'm probably forgetting stuff.

Vet care has gone up a lot though in the past six years or so. That's the last time we had a cat spayed and it was about $80. The same vet a month or so back for a neuter on a cat cost $150 and neuters are less expensive than spays.

 

[MuddyAcresHomestead]

Even the "low cost" spay/neuter mobile clinics are $200 in our area...and they won't do rabbits :/

 

[honeybunnies]

My Lops live in the house with me, in enclosures, so they tend to be my companion pets.

I buy their feed in big bulk sacks, which works out a lot cheaper than small packs & then there's their litter which is actually cat litter, being recycled paper pellets, for their litter trays, which I also get in a big bulk bag & then just scoop out the soiled part each morning, so that doesn't work out too pricey.

I like to breed mine 2 or 3 times a year & I tend to sell the young ones on gumtree fairly easily, for $40 each, so mine tend to almost pay for themselves I guess you could say. Perhaps I've been fortunate, in that I've never had to take them to a vet as yet.

 

[kmaben]

I'm well over the 2500 mark for my one rabbit. In between her eye injury, stitches twice and shipping her from Germany to US I'm beginning to wonder where my pet limit went!
My Franklin was in the 600 dollar range before he died.
Mansel now with his Myxi virus and deformed eyelids has started me at the 300 dollar range and will climb.
Thankfully it hasnt happened all at once but yes they do get expensive!

 

[J.Bosley]

I actually find my new puppy more expensive than my two rabbits!

The first year for a puppy is ridiculous... I've spent TONS on vet bills. 200$ for his first visit, 140$ for the second and 100$ for the third! Plus he has one more set of shots to go, and his neutering which will be around 200$... not to mention the high quality food, toys, treats and of course the kennel! I also do dog sports, so training is always a pretty penny haha.

My rabbit vet isn't too bad! 80$ for a new rabbit exam, and then around 200$ for a neutering. I am NOT getting my female spayed as she is allergic to anesthetic. And it is NOT worth the risk to me!

Good thing we love our pets haha :rollseyes

 

[Nancy McClelland]

I buy a lot of my stuff at Walmart. I use Dr Foster and Smith for hay and Pet Mountain for treats and chew toys--going online has saved me a ton. That sound really high to get a male neutered. When we lived in Calif I found a vet 25 miles away that did the females for $125 and 2 vets in town that did the males for $90--that included the check up, procedure, pain meds and follow up for stitch removal. There were some that wanted $350 to $400 in town, but with 17 rescues it was just too much to pay. Are there any rescues near you that you could ask about referrals or mayhaps a Veterinary College?