Greetings from CA

[animalmom]

Another big howdy and welcome from the Great Lone Star State, where the stars at night are big and bright! Glad you found us! Grab yourself a beverage from yonder table and come sit a spell. Since you want a couple rabbits for pets it seems to me your big question should be how big do you want the rabbit to be once it is full size.

There are several real cute little breeds, like the Dwarf Hotot which is a white rabbit with goth eye makeup. Here is a website that can give you more info: http://www.thenaturetrail.com/rabbit-breeds/dwarf-hotot-rabbit-breed-information/. Others have mentioned the little Lops, all are cute as a bug.

If you want a medium size rabbit the Dutch is a good choice. Here's a website for more Dutch information: http://www.dutchrabbit.com/aboutthebreed/aboutthebreed.html.

You can also go the the American Rabbit Breeders Association website: www.arba.net, and go to the Member Resources tab at the top of the screen and get a listing of advertised breeders by breed. I think purchasing from a breeder is the best because you can see how the breeder raises the rabbits, see the parents and ask all your questions and get reasonable answers.

I raise meat rabbits and have experienced that all most all my males (bucks) are love bugs and my females (does) are polite ladies but not necessarily love bugs. Any kit (baby bunny) raised with lots of attention, petting and holding should grow up to be a fine pet. My rabbits know their names and come to the front of their cages for head scratching and they love raisins.

You will find that rabbits are a lot of enjoyment. There is even a club that promotes hopping events, kind of like the agility trials for dogs: https://sites.google.com/site/americanhoppingassociation/home.

Good luck with your search, keep us posted, and of course we would love to see pictures of your new bunnies! Please and thank you.

 

[Pastor Dave]

Hello from Indiana
My rabbits are meat rabbits, but general husbandry and nutrition will be the same.
If you get two doe bunnies that are young starting out, you can try to keep them together.
Some on here have meat rabbits and still colonize them. I would not put two bucks together past a certain age of 12 or 13 weeks(or opposite sex for that matter until desiring to breed them). Most rabbits do better being in their own cage(in my opinion). I use a galvanized feeder that has the hopper outside of the cage and the trough inside the cage. I prefer water bottles that hang rather than crock bowls.
Use a good alfalfa pellet with 16% crude protein. Feed some grass hay or timothy hay occasionally or daily to help with fiber to digest, and keeps teeth worn down as they grow continuous. A tsp of black oil sunflower seeds (BOSS)is good for coat and digestion too.
They can be litter box trained if you are keeping them inside. There are cages more suitable for inside than the galvanized wire ones for outside. I would also find a good vet that deals with rabbits before you acquire them. There is a lot more, but that will get you started. And, there are some good knowledgeable people on here to answer questions as they come up. That is why I joined.