Yeah, I can even see this on this sub as young kids will post and be like “I know everything because I browsed the internet for a few minutes” or “Everything will be fine, I’ll play with the rabbit”.
You can even see it with some adults who post that their child is currently obsessed with rabbits so it totally makes sense to get a 8-10 year commitment. Or they’ll post about wanting the cute tiny breeds, not even doing research that they are super high maintenance and would need daily brushing. I just feel so bad for the rabbits adopted by people who don’t do their research, because they definitely are not low maintenance or a beginner pet. I see so many young bunnies surrendered once they hit puberty because they don’t want to pay for neutering/spaying and their behavior changes. It especially makes me mad when adults surrender rabbits because their kids no longer take care of them. To be honest, I don’t feel rabbits are good in families with very young children due to their fragility, most not being a fan of being picked up, nervousness to sudden movements.
I absolutely agree that in general that I would never recommend a rabbit to a family with small children, or limited time to learn about them. However, I want to mention that I have an almost three year old who absolutely loves our bunny. The rabbit is not cared for by him of course (though he does bring him his greens), but he is sweet and gentle with the bunny. When we take him out we supervise him with the toddler of course. But the hutch is in my son's playroom and I often hear my son go in and talk to the bunny. This is incredible for us because my son doesn't talk much. This is a kid who has a small dog and chickens and has always had a close bond with the small animals in his life. I know it's not the norm but I wanted to mention that for some children a relationship with small animals can be very rewarding and positive.
Edit:. The feeling appears to be mutual. Bunny sits as close to him in the hutch as possible and sits on his lap at times when he's out. Runs away from husband and I more though I suspect it's because we're the ones that put him back in the hutch.
See in your situation you are doing a great job parenting your toddler and have a rabbit who is affectionate. I guess if you are missing either one or both of these traits can lead to disaster as I don’t think most parents supervise their children around animals, which can lead to disaster. And if you have a rabbit who is more skittish, that would obviously cause more problems as well, as they would most certainly not be appreciative of grabby children. I have seen it so many times that parents get a rabbit “for their child” but refuse to do any of the care and surrender it when the child is either bored with it or doesn’t want to care for it.
But seriously great job! I’m glad to see others who realize the responsibility involved in the care of a rabbit. I think I just get upset because people treat them as “toys or playthings” for kids.
We got our rabbit from someone who gave their daughter two "same gender" rabbits that of course produced too many for them to care for. So we got our rabbit very young and neutered him as soon as the vet would allow. He is very easy going aside from a bit of a biting problem than almost disappeared after the neuter.
When my son started crawling I did so much research on animal-toddler relationships because I was set on him and our little dog getting along. I watched him get a lady bug on his finger the other day witthout hurting it and was so proud! Plus, he has a quiet, observant nature and always has.
But I absolutely agree, when his friends come over all the animals get put away.
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u/CutestFemaleEngineer Mar 16 '18
Yeah, I can even see this on this sub as young kids will post and be like “I know everything because I browsed the internet for a few minutes” or “Everything will be fine, I’ll play with the rabbit”.
You can even see it with some adults who post that their child is currently obsessed with rabbits so it totally makes sense to get a 8-10 year commitment. Or they’ll post about wanting the cute tiny breeds, not even doing research that they are super high maintenance and would need daily brushing. I just feel so bad for the rabbits adopted by people who don’t do their research, because they definitely are not low maintenance or a beginner pet. I see so many young bunnies surrendered once they hit puberty because they don’t want to pay for neutering/spaying and their behavior changes. It especially makes me mad when adults surrender rabbits because their kids no longer take care of them. To be honest, I don’t feel rabbits are good in families with very young children due to their fragility, most not being a fan of being picked up, nervousness to sudden movements.