A pet bunny

Question
Hello, I was considering getting another dog but decided it wouldnt be a good idea at lest not right now, I am considering a single male rabbit as a pet I was wonderi if you might be able to help with my questions listed beow;

How much daily interaction and time will a single rabbit need?  

I work alot in the spring/summer and early all and work slows in the winter I will be able to spend some time with the rabbit daily but depending on work days the time spent will likely be short.

I was thinking of keeping the rabbit in smaller cage and setting up my puppies old playpen and letting him hop around while I'm home in that which would be around 6 foot around......would this be ok or would he be stressed by the daily shift around?

I am not sure what breed to get I was looking into a Flemish giant as i think it would be great to have a rabbit that is as heavy as my smallest dog...not so fragile(?)  Thou I want my bunny soon and the felmish giant breeder lives 5 hours at lest away from my city and is Only planning litters next spring and summer, Would you be able to sugest a breed that isnt overly skittish or hyper?

And lastly about neutering is it really needed for a single pet rabbit and if so what age should it be done?

Thank you for your help I look forward to your reply.

Answer
Hi Hannah,

please know my response is based only on what you've written here in the letter.  I don't what kind of dog (or dogs) you have or how well they are trained and such.

From what you've written, however, I would not recommend that you adopt a rabbit.  And I base this on several key things you've stated.

First, the short time to give him combined with him being a solo bunny.  If you had a lot of time to spend with him, that would be okay.  If you didn't have as much time but he had a second bunny friend (that they both liked each other) that would be okay.  But your lack of time to give him combined with him being by himself is not a healthy combination for the rabbit.  And based on the fact you already have multiple pets and are short on time, I do not think that getting two rabbits is the solution for you.  You'll just have two additional pets that get less time from you.  With some of the rabbits' special health issues, it requires you to really know them very well and be able to read them very well, and I don't think you'll have the time to be able to do this properly.

Second, your dogs could be a problem.  They don't have to physically be able to touch a rabbit to stress them out, or even scare a rabbit enough to kill him.  Combined with the fact they would be alone with your bunny for long periods with you gone, this is potentially a bad situation for the rabbit.

Third, even with well-trained dogs, there is a strict process you must go through with each dog to make sure nothing would go badly.  You not only have to train the dog to act right around the rabbit, but you also have to make sure the rabbit is okay with the dog(s) as well.  This takes lots of supervision and work and you may not have the time right now to dedicate to doing this right.  

Fourth, the space you are mentioning you'd give the rabbit is rather small.  Too small for a large rabbit that you are talking about.  I would also be concerned that the puppy playpen would not be sufficient for keeping your dogs from getting into the space where the rabbit is.  Accidents, injuries and death can happen very quickly, even when you are just around the corner.

Based on these issues, I would say at this point in time, you are better off with your current level of pets, or if you really do have an urge for another pet, to get another dog.  I know this probably isn't the answer you were looking for, but please know I'm not trying to personally make you feel bad or hurt you.

Feel free to write back anytime.  Lee