How do you find good homes for your baby buns?

[Thumperina]

Not the case when you breed for money and have people waiting for the buns. Suppose you got surprise litter of cute buns, but nothing really fancy, just pet bunnies. What are the ways to give them away to good homes?

 

[Imbrium]

I've never actually had a litter of baby bunnies... but I wouldn't give them away for free unless you actually know the person you're giving the bunny to. "free bunnies to good homes" can also be interpreted as "free snake food"... and even if they want it as a pet, people willing to pay some money (even if it's just a small amount) for the animal are generally going to take better care of the animal than someone who would ONLY want it if it was "free".

 

[Nancy McClelland]

We had ads at the vet and in the paper. I did face to face interviews and went to their house to see where my baby would be. Didn't adopt out a whole lot of our rescues, but when I did, they went to good forever homes.

 

[Thumperina]

hi again,
I just posted my bunnies on the craigslist, here is the text of my ad

Our rabbits got 4 adorable bunnies who are about 8 weeks old now. They just weaned from nursing so they are ready to find new loving homes.
2 bunnies are white with some spots, and 2 buns are light-brown (solid color). Males and females are available.
Their parents are nice, unagressive pet rabbits who live outdoors in the hutch, with play time allowed every day in the yard.
During hot days we were bringing bunnies indoors where they seemed to use cardboard box as the little box. Otherwise, they are staying outdoors with the parents.
Serious inquiries only please. We will discuss rehoming fee in person.

So here is a response I got so far

1. a school teacher called and said she needed a classroom pet. I said "Sorry, no way"

2.I found ad on the same craigslist that people are missing a bunny right in my area. I asked if they found the bunny andoffered to look at my ad as the missing bunny looked just like one of mine. They saidthe bunny wasnot found andsaid theywould be interested to see mineon the weekend -I even gave my address, they never got back with me.

3. Somebody who sounded like a 10 yo child called and she said she needed a male bunny as she already had a grown up female. I said that all my buns seemed to be girls (not 100% sure though). She said BYE.

4. a military family texted me and said they needed my white bun if he is a male. We chatted with them andI found outthey had had a netherland dwarf but before they moved to our area, they asked a friend to keep the bun as they didn;t know how thingwere going to work out here. The friend kept the bun and now they couldn;t get itback. I said my bunmay not be a boy and that they were not a small breed. They said it was OK. I said I would prefer to accomodate them in pairs but they said they needed just one. I said I would keep them in mind.

5 and 6. Some people just texted me saying they were interested. I was asking everybody to e-mail me with the short intro - why they needed a bun and if they had any other pets. Nobody ever e-mailed me.

A result? I still have all my bunnies and nodoby even coming to see them. WHAT DO I DO WRONG? I guess I need toedit my post on craigslist about the gender, after I make sure they are all girls.

BTW why do everybody want a male? I would say that males are more problematic.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

See my previous post--your experience sounds the same. I think they may want a male because there is no progeny to worry about and they cost less to neuter. Our females have tended to be more of a problem than any of the males.

 

[Thumperina]

Hello,
I still haven't accommodated my buns, and I need an advise.
I guess, I expect too much from adopters but the situation would never be ideal.
Now I have a lady who wants to take 2 of my 4 buns, which is what I wanted (for them to go in pairs). As a reminder, I have 3 boys and 1 girl. The lady lives in the country on the farm; she has chickens, dogs, cats, horses, etc. She used to have rabbits in the past, her last rabbit passed away recently.
She wants 2 boys as she doesn't want babies. As far as I understood, she didn't plan to neuter them. She said they would be in the same outdoor hutch. I just read here, though, that unneutered males should never be kept together because of the fights. She has 2 hutches, so I am afraid that when the fights occur, she just will separate them.
There is another thing that doesn't meet my expectations. She is willing to let them out in the playpen (too small to me!) but as far as I understood not on the regular basis but only when her kids with grandkids are visiting. What she really wants is an interaction. I want them to be let out daily (they are used to run a lot in the my bunny-proof yard). The playpen she has looks like the metal fence without the top, she said she would only let them out when she is there (which of course is OK), I just not sure how often and for how long she would have time to do it. Sounds like bunnies would be the toy for grandkids when they visit.
The hutches she has are OK - not very large, not very small, 2 levels, but I still would hate them to be stuck in the hutch most of the time.
Would you please comment on both of my concerns?
If somebody recalls the farmer who wanted all my rabbits -- this is the different farmer.
Her farm looks pretty well maintained, she has 5 or 6 horses who look beautiful, and some of them she rescued. She looks and sounds responsible, but just has different with mine point of view about the rabbits.

My daughter (8yo) wants us to keep all the rabbits (I love them too!) but I am pretty much worn out by taking care of all of them (it was a surprise litter).

 

[Imbrium]

bunnies aren't meant to be toys for when the grandkids visit and yeah, they HAVE to be neutered to stay together... personally, I'd pass :S

 

[Thumperina]

I probably said it incorrectly about "being toys". This is exactly what she says

Our last bunny, a Checquered Giant, just passed away 10 days ago. We have had at least one rabbit for 30 years. Checquers was a lone rabbit because I got her from a breeder and he was only selling one. I prefer to have 2 of the same sex, preferably siblings so they get along. I definitely don't want babies. In all those 30 years of pet rabbits I never had to deal with babies.
What I'm most interested in, though, is handling ability. I want for my grandchildren and their playmates to be able to pet the bunnies [with supervision always].
Our rabbits stay outside [mostly]. We have 2 very nice hutches with a top 'house' and a bottom exercise area. A jug of ice in the house for extreme heat and hay for the cold. We have 2 collapsible play yards that we can put together for a large play area where the children can interact with the rabbits.
My husband takes a salad with him to work most days so our bunny got salad trimmings as well as commercial rabbit pellets. Fresh water daily.
We live in the country. We have 6 horses, 12 hens, 6 ducks, 3 cats [2 inside, 1 outside] and 2 large dogs. Our dogs are kept in a large kennel. I let them out to "romp" a couple times a month. They are both retrievers so when I do that I make sure the poultry are cooped up and I bring the bunnies in the house.
I have been looking for 2 sibling bunnies. I was hoping to find some mini-rexes but have not found a source. Do you know the breed of your bunnies? It really doesn't matter that much, our Checquered Giant was too big for the grandchildren to pick up which was nice. I don't let the children pick up the rabbits as a rule but they usually try to if I don't watch them every second so I teach them how to do it properly. The mini-rex is a nice size because the children can pick them up without hurting them.

Then she said during our personal meeting that she did let her previous rabbit out to the playpen only when grandkids were visiting.

 

[Thumperina]

She also said she had had 2 unneutered boys together in the past, and they were doing OK.

 

[Thumperina]

Our 2 boys went to a new home last Friday. I feel bad about how things worked out for them. First of all, the weather sharply changed that day from warm sunny to very windy, almost freezing temperatures, which was a stress by itself. She (the new owner who was described a few posts right above) was saying she might go to the farm swap to get other bunnies there if my bunnies were not coming. That's why I felt rushed.
The new owner for some reasons decided not to put them in the hutch she had but into "transitional" cage which is wired on all sides (so the poor buns didn't even have protection from the very cold wind). She placed the cage in the middle of her property, not close to the house. The cage is not small, and she attached it to the small run so at least they have some room.
The purpose of transitional cage is that she wanted them to get used to her handling them.
Today she e-mailed me some pictures and my heart is bleeding after I saw them. This are not the buns I used to have. Their eyes look like they were crying a lot. My older male rabbit had the same red eyes after being neutered.
My child was looking forward to see some pictures but I won't even show her that pictures.
I would say by the pictures that the bunnies are very unhappy there. Do you think they have a chance to adjust?

 

[Imbrium]

poor bunnies! hopefully they adjust well after a bit.