Craigslist baby rabbits being sold too young

[Kora]

So sometimes I get curious and check on craigslist for rabbits, even though I know I can’t get them. A thing I see a lot is rabbits being sold at six weeks old, which I know is too young for rabbits to be taken away from their mother. But I just now saw some baby rabbits being sold at FOUR WEEKS old. I’m seriously shocked. Should I try contacting the breeder and telling them that’s definitely not okay? I’m not sure if they’d even listen, as a lot (not all) of breeders who make mistakes like this aren’t very receptive to advice.

 

[Kora]

These rabbits also look insanely young,
oh my gosh.

 

[Preitler]

What's the point in saying "They are selling fast"? I mean, that's actually crying out loud that they don't sell at all. Litter trained? Sure. I definitly believe that.
100$? Sure. Although I never had problems with charlies, the hand raised part makes me wonder, what was the issue with the dam? Health issues?

Those aren't breeders, they don't seem to have much clues about what they are doing. Are there any laws in your area about the age rabbits can be sold? A friendly message or email with some pointers wouldn't hurt, me myself would use a disposeable account just to be on the safe side.

 

[Catlyn]

You should definetly call to these sellers and poke them a little, ask if they know that in many states, selling rabbits under 6 weeks is illegal, and why they put these kits up for sale so early.

I once saw a rabbit youtuber Lorelei do the same-raise awareness of how to better take care of these sellers' rabbits and how to make sure they go to loving owners

Or something of that sort, i have a terrible memory.
and from her video it seems that it helped.

 

[Niomi]

Can you flag the post to be taken down?

 

[Kora]

Those aren't breeders, they don't seem to have much clues about what they are doing. Are there any laws in your area about the age rabbits can be sold? A friendly message or email with some pointers wouldn't hurt, me myself would use a disposeable account just to be on the safe side.

I’m not sure what the laws are in Texas about what age rabbits need to be to sell them, but if any of you know, I would gladly inform them.

You should definetly call to these sellers and poke them a little, ask if they know that in many states, selling rabbits under 6 weeks is illegal, and why they put these kits up for sale so early.

I once saw a rabbit youtuber Lorelei do the same-raise awareness of how to better take care of these sellers' rabbits and how to make sure they go to loving owners

Or something of that sort, i have a terrible memory.
and from her video it seems that it helped.

I saw the video Lorelei posted too; that’s where I got this idea from.

I’ll definitely shoot these people a text or email and inform them on the proper age to sell rabbits and maybe a few other pointers. It’s just shocking how uneducated people are in businesses such as breeding animals (it’s not just rabbits that people do this with, sadly). You’d think they’d do at least a little research, even if they weren’t breeding for the right reasons. I’ll also try to flag the posts and get them taken down if the breeders don’t take well to my advice.

 

[Kora]

What are some good things to say/ask so they’d be more receptive to me? I know going about it the wrong way could only make it worse.

 

[Mariam+Theo]

I would just say very friendly that rabbits can not be sold until they are 8 weeks old and that the sellers should not say that they are litter trained when they are too young to be litter trained.

It could be that these people who are selling them are going to keep the rabbits until they are 8 weeks. The buyers could be just holding them so they don't get bought by someone else. We don't know what their intent is, we are just assuming.

I look over Craigslist all the time for rabbits and they are always in the worst conditions. I just want to take all of them in to rehome them to great homes.

 

[Kora]

I look on craigslist all the time, too, and see rabbits in the tiniest of cages, or people mass breeding rabbits in not very clean conditions. It’s horrible.

 

[Kora]

This is what I said to the first person:

“Hi! I saw your ad on Craigslist for the baby holland lop rabbits, and I just would like to inform you that 4 weeks old is entirely too young to take rabbits away from their mothers. Rabbits shouldn't be sold until they are at least 8 weeks old. It's also too young to litter train rabbits, so saying that they are litter trained isn't right. I'm not sure if you're holding them for the buyers until they're 8 weeks old, and I'm definitely not trying to be rude. I just want to inform you in case you didn't already know! ”

What do you think? I wasn’t rude, was I?

 

[Catlyn]

@Kora No, it would become a very polite and informative email, now to hope that the seller takes your advice.