Rabbits
tend to breed indiscriminately. We learned that the hard way. Two
male rabbits fight dirty. A couple of times, they more or less castrated
each other. They also broke each other's hind legs.
Your vet might tell you that a rabbit with a broken
leg can't be saved. We were lucky that one vet was willing to experiment
a little. He put a cast on mom's angora rabbit. This male was so
gentle he was never in a fight. He somehow got stuck in the door
as it closed. It happened while we were on vacation, and the petsitter
never made it quite clear to us how that happened.
After that, we learned how to fix a broken leg
ourselves, so we didn't need to fight the vet. If you can keep your
rabbit from moving about too much, the leg should heal fine. This
is not a wild rabbit we're talking about. It won't need to fend
for itself. A (very) slight limp won't make a difference to a pet.
Ours didn't seem to be in any pain. And believe me, if a rabbit
is in pain, you'll know.
One of the rabbits I have now, I got for my birthday.
Well, almost. We weren't supposed to buy her, but that's how it
is with animals - you fall for them and can't help wanting them.
I also have a younger rabbit, a male, who was going to be put down
if I didn't get him. When I'd picked him up, I found out that they'd
changed their minds about having the baby rabbits put down. Rabbits
are so incredibly cute. Especially when they're washing their ears.
And their paws. Ok, maybe that's enough. :)
I really don't think a rabbit is a pet for a
very young child. Before the age of 7 or 8 a child won't understand
how to hold a fragile pet securely but not too tightly. Even at
that age, you can't let a child be responsible for an animal's care.
I don't know exactly what age is right. It depends on how mature
the child is. My sister and I were about 10 when we got our first
dogs, but mom always took the main responsibility back then.
There are hundreds of rabbit breeds, but pet
rabbits tend to be quite small. I guess that might be because you
need plenty of room for a larger cage. A larger rabbit seems like
an adorable pet though. Whatever size your rabbit is, you'll need
to let it out of the cage every day, to get exercise.
Some people keep their rabbits in the garden.
It might be safe. Personally, I'd prefer to keep them indoors, in
the basement, the garage or some other building. You can keep a
rabbit inside your house, but you'll have to be prepared for some
odor, even if you clean out the cage very often. But if you love
pets, you probably prefer their friendship over a perfect apartment.
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