Snowshoe Hare

Question
QUESTION: Pam,   

My son's three mini-lops were murdered by dogs while being watched by the pet sitter. These rabbits were our 12 year old son's little loves and he was completely devastated ( and is still having a hard time with it).  We found him a new bunny for him to start new memories with.   This little guy was purchased from a breeder, and he appears to be mixed with Snowshoe Hare and Holland Lop.  He is very very sweet and will not even jump down from the bed.  He is playful when he is in the outside hutch (he has a huge duplex outside, and a hutch inside).  He seems to want more attention than any rabbit I have ever seen.  He loves to be held and will fall asleep on our lap.  We have had him 5 days and he nudges us for petting.  Is it likely that he will always be like this.

ANSWER: Hi Janita

I am so very sorry about your mini lop rabbits.  Your poor son.  I know how hard it is to lose a rabbit but fortunately I have never experienced a loss under such tragic circumstances.  I don't think I would ever get over it.  I would like to try to help your son and then I will talk a bit about your new bunny.  I know that each person has their own beliefs and I certainly would never want to offend anyone but there is a web-site that I go to when I feel a great loss.  It brings me such great joy because it is my belief that each and every animal that I have had is waiting for me at a place called the Rainbow Bridge.  I can't prove if it is true or not but I just can't find any other way to find comfort so I believe that it has to be true.  I know a day will come that I will die and when I do I am going to see every lost pet I have ever had.  It will be a giant circus because I have sure had a lot of them.  It will be the most joyous moment.  Every time I go to the site I cry happy tears remembering my lost pets.  I think that your son is old enough to understand and it may be something that the 2 of you can do together to remember his beloved bunnies.  It helps to bring closure so that he can fully enjoy his new pet without feeling like he is just a replacement for the others.

http://www.hgrabbitry.com/rainbowbridge.htm

Now about your baby.  I am not familiar with Snowshoe Hare's.  What I do know about all Hare's is that they can't live on wire cages.  Their legs are to fragile and the weight of their bodies can't be supported by the wire on their fragile legs.  I guess you are going to have to see what kind of bone structure he has.  Honestly I prefer to see all rabbits have hutches with mostly wood bottoms and maybe just a small portion of wire.  

If you is nudging you now and you are giving him plenty of attention then it is most likely that he will always stay that way as long as you continue to give him the attention.  What generally happens is that when rabbits are young they seek attention.  It is much like young children.  They reach out for attention in hopes that you will give it to them.  If you do then they are happy and content and will usually be that way their entire lives.  If you fail to give them the attention they need they may become aggressive or withdrawn to attention.  It doesn't always mean that if they don't get attention when they are young that they are going to grow up to be mean.  Some rabbits are content with just being left alone and others will take it out on you or other rabbits, stuffed animals, their babies, other pets etc.  It is like children, some children that are neglected will grow up to be withdrawn, anti-social, or axe-murder's.  Some children that are neglected will grow up to be average, content or mother Theresa's.  The same goes the other way around.  You can give him all the attention he wants now and something might happen once he hits puberty and he might suddenly change and he may turn into the devil.  If that happens then all you need to do is get him neutered.  I will tell you honestly that almost every house rabbit I have that was given constant attention as a baby has been fine without being neutered.  I did have one out of several that was given constant attention and as soon as he hit puberty he got nasty and started to bite.  I had him neutered and he turned back into a perfect angel.

One other thing I wanted to mention is that you said he has an outdoor hutch some of the time.  Since there were dogs in the area and they did know that you had rabbits out there at one point they may come back.  It is really not safe to put him out there at all.  I personally would never leave any of my rabbits outside in a hutch.  I will keep them in a barn that is enclosed with locked doors that are predator proof.  Raccoons can open barn doors so my doors are electric and can only be opened with a door opener.  They do have a safety opener but there is no way a raccoon could open it because it requires 2 hands to open them with the safety latch.  You can use a shed as a last resort, it is far safer than the outside.  I just worry that those dogs or another predator may come back and get your son's new friend.  I think it may devastate him to the point that he may never want a rabbit again.

If you can find it in your heart to let the baby stay in the house I can give you some tips on how to litter train him so that it will be easier to clean his cage.  Just let me know if you may want to do this.  Then your son can play with him all the time and I am sure that he will never forget his other bunnies but it will help him to heal faster.

Good luck and I hope your new bunny is making everyone happy.

Sincerely,

Pam

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Our outdoor hutch is very secure, and he only goes out so he can get some air in the early morning and late afternoon.  It has a wood bottom an inclosure, a wood tunnel that takes it to the bottom area, where we have a hutch sitting on the ground (wire underneath---so our other sweeties did not tunnel out) and have planted a patch of grass.  When we put him out there he runs, and jumps and does bunny hops.   But we live in Arizona, and since he is part snowshoe (designed for the cold) we are keeping him in the house.  We are looking for a indoor hutch for him and I appreciate the note on not having a wire/mesh bottom.  Now we have him in a travel kennal, of course that is only when he is not being handled, or laying on the bed.  We also have a large decorative basket in the living room that he has clamed.  He will walk up to it and nudge me to put him in.  I put a cloth liner in the bottom to make it softer.  His feet are VERY large and covered in wool (it looks like lambs wool), and he has loppy ears.  He looks like the bunny in this picture with lops.  http://www.hedweb.com/animimag/snowshoe.htm  The one funny thing is that we named him Rusty---before we found out there is a 50% chance he will turn white in the winter.

He is not yet litter box trained, and this is something new to us, since our other bunnys were (they were three years old).   

We found the bridge passage about a week ago, it has been somewhat helpful.  I thank God that my son did not find his rabbit murdered, they were at my mothers while we were out of town. She has been quite depressed about it. We never thought anything like this could happen as she lives in a secure 55+ community were only small dogs are allowed.  The irresponsible pet owners who allow their dogs to run will never know the pain that this has caused my mother (who found them) and my son.  

Answer
Hi Janita

Wow he sounds so adorable.  He has quite the little personality already and sounds very bossy for a little one.  I think their unique little attitudes are what make them each so loveable in their own way.  I have all kinds of bunnies.  My giant 16 pound bunny sounds a lot like your little one.  He nudges me when he wants in the bed, he will jump up on my legs and nearly push me over when I am folding laundry until I pick him up and put him on the bed.  I ended up buying those dog steps for the bed because he decided that he isn't happy until he is sleeping with me.  He is my angel.  I lost my dog in March and she was a 200 pound great dane.  He took her spot in the bed and it is just nice to finally have that spot filled again.

I guess I misunderstood before.  I thought the bunnies were outside at your house.  Your hutch sounds pretty secure.  I certainly wouldn't leave him out there over night or while you are gone for a long period of time but during the day while you are in the general area should be ok.  I let my rabbits out during the day too.  I don't have a top on my run so I won't let them out unless I am right there.  I am afraid of hawks swooping them up.  

Your poor mom!  It is not her fault at all but I understand how horrible she must feel.  I can't sympathize with the dog owner and he or she absolutely should have been more responsible.  I hope that your mother made a complaint with the owners of the community park.  Not that it will make you feel better at all but the dog owner may feel bad too or they could just be jerks.  When my great dane was young she played rough.  The neighbors little runt dog who only weighed about 5 pounds would come right to the end of my dogs chain and taunt her.  Well one day my dogs chain broke and that little runt dog was standing there not realizing my dogs chain was broke.  We were all standing outside including the very young children that owned the little dog.  My dog picked that dog up and tried to play with it.  I don't think she meant to do it but it only took one shake and by the time I ran over there the dog was severely injured.  By the time I rushed their little dog to the hospital it was to late.  I felt so horrible.  I never felt so horrible in my life that those little boys that weren't even 5 years old had to see their little dog hurt like that.  I didn't even know how to apologize and I don't know the people whose dogs got your bunnies and maybe they aren't nice people but they might really feel sorry about what happened.  I don't know I just always feel so horrible when any animal dies but I guess maybe that is just me.  Some people are so careless and heartless.

I hope someday that your mom can forgive herself because no matter what it was not her fault.  Hopefully she will be able to love Rusty as much as she loved the other bunnies.  Your son will heal with time and so will you.  Rusty sounds like such a sweety and he sounds like he is going to get very big.

Oh I almost forgot.  Here are some litter training sites that might help.  When they are young it is harder so just be consistent.  I have found that keeping them caged at night and when you are gone helps tremendously.

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/litter.html

http://www.hgrabbitry.com/littertraining.htm

Good luck Janita and give the bunny nose kisses for me.  

Sincerely

Pam