What you need to know before adopting a bunny — and why you shouldn't get one for Easter

It's an adorable problem to have — being overrun by bunnies. 

Amy Honey, who runs Honey's Bunnies Rabbit Rescue in Seaforth, N.S., would know.

She has 35 rabbits in her care this month, almost double what she normally has at any given time.

But even though Honey's rescue is drowning in the cute creatures, that doesn't mean you should run out to adopt one as a pet, she said.

"Nobody should go get a bunny for Easter. You should get a chocolate bunny if you want a bunny or get a stuffed bunny if you want a bunny," she told CBC Radio's Mainstreet Halifax.

"You could always make a donation to your local rabbit rescue. That would be an amazing Easter gift for many rabbit rescues."

Rabbits are often adopted as gifts for Easter, but people need to understand that they're 10-15 year commitments, she said.

What you need to know before adopting

Honey said if you want to adopt a rabbit, education is critical.

She said rabbits are active animals that shouldn't be kept in cages or a hutch, but rather in an expandable wire pen or allowed to be free roaming with a home base.

"I do encourage everybody to try and bond with their rabbits as much as possible, but more often than not, what happens is they get stuck in an inappropriately sized cage and kind of forgotten about," she said.

She said rabbits are just like cats and dogs in that they will need similar veterinary care.

"In fact, it's sometimes harder to find veterinary care for them because they are considered exotic pets," she said. 

Honey said it's critical for rabbits to be spayed or neutered because it will prolong their lives. Females will avoid reproductive cancers and it will prevent accidental pregnancies.

The animals will also be much more likely to use their litter box, she said.

Honey said although rabbits can be snuggly, they don't like being picked up.

"[Owners] need to understand that rabbits have no desire to be picked up and cuddled. Rabbits are prey animals so as soon as their feet leave the ground they think they're going to be eaten," she said. 

"So a lot of people think I'm going to go get a bunny for my kids because it's an easy pet and they'll be able to just cuddle it all the time."

She added that all rabbits have incredible, unique personalities, just like people, and they can live long happy lives if owners follow these guidelines.

"You're going to see the best side of your rabbit if your rabbit is happy," she said.

"Sometimes I will get people that want to surrender a rabbit because the rabbit is aggressive. And I always say there's no such thing as an aggressive rabbit. There's just a rabbit that is responding aggressively to a bad situation."

Fostering and adoption

Honey said most of the rabbits she gets are Flemish Giant or New Zealand white mixes, some of which are abandoned pets.

One of the female rabbits she took in recently became pregnant before being rescued from the streets of Berwick in the Annapolis Valley. She gave birth to eight bunnies.

"It seems like I get unexpected litters more often than I would like to, but when it happens, I just have to go with the flow, and so this is going to be a lengthy process here," she said.

Honey said the rabbits can take six months to find foster homes or adopt out.

"Fosters really save lives. Without the fosters, I wouldn't be able to continue to bring in bunnies that really need help," she said.

"I do adopt out rabbits, but my screening process is pretty heavy because I have to make sure that they're going to go to a home where they will be able to stay there forever."