BlackRabbits
Well-Known Member
About a week ago, I adopted my Princess Zelda. She's my first rabbit, even though I've lived with numerous species of pets. I could charge admission to my apartment right now, with cats, dogs, reptiles, tarantulas, and a parrot. And now a rabbit!
My user name is "BlackRabbits" because I seem to end up with them in my life, starting with the black rabbit in my kindergarten class. As a teenager, for several years I babysat for a family that had another giant black rabbit, this one had the run of their house. I got quite attached to him. Over the years I thought of getting a rabbit many times, but I believed they required too much space to be happy in an apartment. After all, I had only ever seen the giants up close.
Then a couple of weeks ago I was on an errand far from my home, when I noticed a small black rabbit grazing on a lawn. I tried to catch him but I went home empty-handed, but determined to try again, knowing this little guy (or girl) won't survive a Toronto winter outside. Local animal services wouldn't help, and a rabbit rescue couldn't get any of their volunteers to check on the rabbit. Then we had a big snowstorm. I very reluctantly gave up on the stray rabbit, but decided that if I couldn't help him, maybe I could help another homeless rabbit instead.
I was saddened to see how many rabbits end up in shelters! In my city alone there are literally hundreds at different facilities, and they take in overflow rabbits from shelters across Canada. The funny thing was that when I went to the biggest shelter ready to adopt, they were full to capacity of rabbits - but not one was available for adoption! They had just received a big shipment in from Quebec shelters and all rabbits were still on vet hold. I had to go back a couple of days later, but in the meantime I mentally picked one that was really beautiful (bluecream/harlequin) and the only one who came to the cage bars when I approached.
I really recommend getting your first rabbit at a good shelter! A great advantage to adopting from a shelter is that you get a pet who's vet-checked, personality tested, neutered and microchipped - for very little money. The shelter I dealt with (Toronto Humane Society) had very rabbit-savvy staff. They asked a lot of specific questions about my lifestyle and other pets, and I had to show them pics of my enclosure and equipment for the rabbit, as well as giving them the name of the rabbit-savvy vet I plan to use.
They had a number of beautiful New Zealands that I *waaaanted* - but the shelter staff didn't recommend that size for an apartment. :shame They basically chose Princess Zelda for me, based on her laid-back personality and friendliness. They told me the bluecream is too shy, territorial about her cage, and would be spooked by my other pets. Of course I was offered other suitable rabbits to choose from, but Zelda was the most outgoing when I met her. And, of course - she's black! (Shelter staff thought I might not want her because of her "boring" colour.) They recommended I adopt a cagemate for Zelda, so I'll be looking into that in a few months. They even emailed me a few days later to make sure everything was going well.
And the Princess? She's settled in quite nicely in her multi-level cube castle! She's currently sprawled out on the Third Floor, where she has a good view of the living room. I also built her a pen out of cubes, which doubles as a "moat" for her castle to keep out prying feline and canine noses. Actually she's fine with the animals, she just ignores them when they peer into her cage. They've mostly lost interest in her anyway. BTW I always sit in the pen with Zelda when she's out, she's never unsupervised outside her cage.
Here are a couple of pics:
My user name is "BlackRabbits" because I seem to end up with them in my life, starting with the black rabbit in my kindergarten class. As a teenager, for several years I babysat for a family that had another giant black rabbit, this one had the run of their house. I got quite attached to him. Over the years I thought of getting a rabbit many times, but I believed they required too much space to be happy in an apartment. After all, I had only ever seen the giants up close.
Then a couple of weeks ago I was on an errand far from my home, when I noticed a small black rabbit grazing on a lawn. I tried to catch him but I went home empty-handed, but determined to try again, knowing this little guy (or girl) won't survive a Toronto winter outside. Local animal services wouldn't help, and a rabbit rescue couldn't get any of their volunteers to check on the rabbit. Then we had a big snowstorm. I very reluctantly gave up on the stray rabbit, but decided that if I couldn't help him, maybe I could help another homeless rabbit instead.
I was saddened to see how many rabbits end up in shelters! In my city alone there are literally hundreds at different facilities, and they take in overflow rabbits from shelters across Canada. The funny thing was that when I went to the biggest shelter ready to adopt, they were full to capacity of rabbits - but not one was available for adoption! They had just received a big shipment in from Quebec shelters and all rabbits were still on vet hold. I had to go back a couple of days later, but in the meantime I mentally picked one that was really beautiful (bluecream/harlequin) and the only one who came to the cage bars when I approached.
I really recommend getting your first rabbit at a good shelter! A great advantage to adopting from a shelter is that you get a pet who's vet-checked, personality tested, neutered and microchipped - for very little money. The shelter I dealt with (Toronto Humane Society) had very rabbit-savvy staff. They asked a lot of specific questions about my lifestyle and other pets, and I had to show them pics of my enclosure and equipment for the rabbit, as well as giving them the name of the rabbit-savvy vet I plan to use.
They had a number of beautiful New Zealands that I *waaaanted* - but the shelter staff didn't recommend that size for an apartment. :shame They basically chose Princess Zelda for me, based on her laid-back personality and friendliness. They told me the bluecream is too shy, territorial about her cage, and would be spooked by my other pets. Of course I was offered other suitable rabbits to choose from, but Zelda was the most outgoing when I met her. And, of course - she's black! (Shelter staff thought I might not want her because of her "boring" colour.) They recommended I adopt a cagemate for Zelda, so I'll be looking into that in a few months. They even emailed me a few days later to make sure everything was going well.
And the Princess? She's settled in quite nicely in her multi-level cube castle! She's currently sprawled out on the Third Floor, where she has a good view of the living room. I also built her a pen out of cubes, which doubles as a "moat" for her castle to keep out prying feline and canine noses. Actually she's fine with the animals, she just ignores them when they peer into her cage. They've mostly lost interest in her anyway. BTW I always sit in the pen with Zelda when she's out, she's never unsupervised outside her cage.
Here are a couple of pics:
