Unfortunately, there are many aspects of rabbit-ownership that a parent could be concerned about.
You have to keep fresh veggies and large amounts of hay in stock at all times, which can get expensive and inconvenient (though if you buy hay by the bale from a feed store, the cost of feeding hay to a rabbit for 10 years is equal to the cost of feeding them for just ONE year using pet store hay). Bunnies also need toys and chews, which are routine expenses, and a bunny first-aid kit should be maintained as well.
You NEED to get females spayed for health reasons (unless they're part of a breeding program, of course) and males may need to get neutered either to make it possible to bond them to another rabbit or for sanity reasons (an unneutered male can spray urine 6 feet up in the air!), though not all males display obnoxious hormonal behaviors. Granted, this expense is avoided if you get a rescue/shelter rabbit.
Bunnies hide signs of sickness very well and a sick bunny can rack up expensive vet bills. (The same is true of ANY pet - an "emergency fund" for unexpected vet bills is a must.)
Bunnies can be destructive and messy.
I'm not sure exactly how old you are but given that bunnies live for up to 10 years, I'm guessing there's a good chance that a bunny would still be alive when it's time for you to go to college. I've never heard of a college that actually allows pets in on-campus housing and not all schools allow you to live off-campus as a freshman - what would happen to your bunny when you went to college? Where would it live and who would care for it?
You only mention your mom, making it sound like it may just be the two of you. My dad passed away when I was nine, so I was an only child raised by a single working mom. She had two PhDs (speech pathology and deaf education), so she never had to worry about job security or having enough money to cover the essentials as long as we lived frugally as a general rule... however, that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to stuff a single mom worries about.
No matter how "together" a single mom may appear on the surface, I guarantee she's always worrying about a million things in the back of her mind - her life is a balancing act where unknowns and surprises can be ordeals. How they find time to keep everything cleaned and organized, to repair/replace or have someone else repair anything that breaks, to handle unexpected illness or injury (in a child or pet), etc. is a mystery even to me. When your mom thinks about a bunny, she's most likely thinking about all the variables a bunny could add to the equation - the "emergency" runs to the store for bunny food, the possibility of vet visits, the havoc a bunny could create, you name it. Even if she isn't able to provide you with a reason why she's saying "no," that doesn't mean she doesn't have one - her reason is most likely the sum of all the little things that could go wrong with a bunny.
Getting a rabbit is an 8-10 year
commitment to always be able to provide a proper diet, a clean environment, enough attention and to be able to take them to the vet whenever they need it. While a minor can handle most of the day-to-day care for a rabbit, their parent(s) are ultimately responsible for the rabbit's care. When bringing a new pet into your home, ALL members of the household should be on board with the decision and be prepared for the commitment. You may be able to eventually change your mom's mind, but you should be prepared for the possibility that you can't.
This site has some good information for anyone trying to convince their parents to get them a pet.
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Many shelters accept volunteers as young as 16 without their parent or guardian needing to be involved; some will allow you to volunteer as young as 13 if your parent or guardian is involved.
Also, most rabbit rescues (and shelters that accept rabbits) are in need of foster homes. If your mom doesn't want to let you get a rabbit, it may still be possible to convince her to be on board with fostering. Fostering is a short-term commitment (anywhere from a few days to a few weeks or months) rather than a 10-year commitment and, while many places only supply food for cats/dogs being fostered (meaning you'd have to provide a rabbit's diet), the programs pretty much always cover medical costs. Fostering circumvents many of the concerns a parent might have about adopting an animal. Many rabbits are placed in foster homes because of medical issues or because they need socialization, but this isn't always the case - the Houston SPCA, for example, sometimes sends "adoptable" animals (including rabbits) to foster homes because they've been there for a long time and simply "need a break from shelter life."
Volunteering or fostering would let you get your "bunny fix" and might even help convince your mom that you're fully prepared for the commitment of adopting a rabbit permanently.
