Moral dilema

Some advice would be really appreciated....

So here it is, whilst looking throught the 'free-adds' online for bunny stuff, I come across loads of 'free to a good home' bunny adverts, with people wanting to find new homes for their bunnies for all different reasons - some want to sell them and the hutch etc, some say they are very sad to have to do it, soem want rid asap. You guys know this all too well - where it is quite a new concept to me that people do this, and the frequency in which it happens

This one caught my eye - I dont know why but it has. Its not because he is gorgeous, they are all gorgeous,




To me, i dont know if its his colouring, but his nose looks dirty, and so do his paws. I think he looks miserable.

I emailed the seller I very generic 'whats the story', she emailed me back and it turns out she is a breeder of mini lops. She has a website, its quite gross actually, lots of cartoon bits and bob's and funny music, pictures of her set up which to me looks vile. She told me that he was born on the 10th Feb, one of a litter of three, but he needed 'more time with his mummy', and 'extra love and care' from her, so wasnt sold at the time. So that makes him 14 weeks. She call's him Miracle. This all makes me think that something is wrong with him. i cant shake the feeling that this little guy is in trouble.

I did some further digging on the website and his mum is also up for sale, saying that she can no longer be used for breeding. The two other kits in his litter were sold at 8 weeks.

I dont want to buy from a breeder, I dont want to support that, I cant shake the feeling that I shouldnt be turning a blind eye, Im just not sure what to do. If he were in a private home, feeling what I do, i would go and buy him and get him checked over and sorted out with hesitation. Part of me feels I should do that anyway, its not his fault she is breeding...

What do you reckon, feel free to be completely honest with me. I have room, I have time, I can swing the vet fee's, I can have him insured, I can give him a great life, I have more knowledge then most and am learning all the time, he has a better chance with me than not.

I can take him, but should I???

Aww he is a beauty. If u feel u can take him on and save him then go for it! We all know how much happier he would be with you and in a sense Beki, u are rescuing him! I say go for it.

Thankyou! Thank you for your advice truly, we will go for a vote.........

His front paw looks urine stained to me, what do you think? Weird colour fur I think?

I have to say that if it was me and I felt I could take him on i would go with my gut instinct. I know that it feeds the breeder etc, but as someone who bought a bun on the spur of the momenton xmas eve some 6 years ago now, because she was all alone and a snotty kid was whining for her, I can appreciate how you are feeling. The bun in question is my Lily!

He looks like a poor wee mite. Let us know what you decide x

He does look a bit mucky doesn't he. He also looks a bit lop sided? Or maybe he is just sitting funny. He does look very unhappy bless him.

@catswhiskers: Thank you you are right, that how I ended up with my two, two little scraps accidently created in a back garden, and the dilema of 'do I take them and learn quick, or do I let someone else have a go', I am so glad i took them, and i look at all the stuff I have learned, and how bunny raising has become my most fulfilling yet toughest hobby/commitment.... I cant take them all, but I can take him.

The seller has emailed me twice today proposing i go and see him, then again letting me know what times i could go, next thing she is going to be dropping the price I know it, she wants rid

Are you going to get him then?

Go with your gut honey.

I do suspect that there is something wrong with him, esp if his mummy "cant be used for breeding anymore" it suggests to me that there is a reason she is not being used for breeding any more. I hate the thought of this breeder getting money for this little guy, or his mum.

But honestly if I had the option, Id get them both. Without hesitation.

Good luck hun x x

@velvettears: He does look a bit wonky doesnt he... ugh I just have this sense of doom - I have seen hundreds of photo's advertising baby buns, and I see them and think 'ahh' and move on, not this one though

I know i'm the same, I look through the ads and see the odd bunny advert and i'm like, if only I could take more on but sadly I cannot. I agree with KatieB, could you get his Mummy too?

I couldnt push to them both, but maybe a friend could take one..... she is still grieving for Felix and Willow's litter mate Cookie that died at 6 weeks, I can try - if there is something obvious wrong there i will call the RSPCA. She wants £30 for the little chap and £20 for his mum - I have the web address but im not sure if I would be breaking a rule by posting it on here - I expect that wouldnt be the right thing to do She is also selling a mini rex that seems to have had multile litters although she is less than a year old

I will try to stay calm and ask her all the things I need to know for him, there is no way he will have been jabbed im sure, should I put him in isolation away from my buns for a period of time? i have an extra cage and an extra run, I obviously will keep them seperate, they dont need to share anything, but perhaps i shouldnt let him run around the lounge incase he is carrying something they could pick up? I could put him upstairs or in the posh shed doo dah I have, im off work untill thursday so will have a few days to sort him out before he needs o be left for any period of time

I cant afford the accomodation, jabs, neuturing and insurance for a 4th - these two have cost me bomb over the last 3 mnths, i could stretch to another but thats the lot - mum looks ok in the photo - not that that tells us anything really. I will go and visit and see what the score is, i will feign interest and check them all out, if its obviously bad i will make my excuses and call the rspca, if it looks like it doesnt meet the threshold (which seems quite high, correct me if i am wrong?) then I will give her 30 quid and scarper with the ewok - sound like a plan ladies?

Definitely keep him separate at the moment being unneautered and with your girls being unspeyed at the moment. A vet check when you get him to make sure he is ok and if he needs any kind of treatment. When you get him look at the area they are kept in and the environment they live in, if it is mucky and just doesn't look very habitable to you then call the RSPCA.

Could you PM me the web address?

Sounds like a plan.

I think that wherever you put him for now is going to be a massive improvement on what he has now hun. s
Shed will be fine i recon x

When you look at him see if you can barter with her. Give her as little money as you can get away with and call the rspca if you are at all worried or suspect anything.

She has made me feel sick.

Good luck honey. x x x x x x

On the plus side, this bunny is going to have a loving and caring new home!! In respects you are not buying off a breeder, just look at it as you are saving him. Thats how I see it. You are rescuing him.

Good luck babe, let us know. Poor wee mite

Yes, you are right, and it would be far easier on my bank account to adopt from a rescue, but they are the lucky ones, the ones that get handed over, or are found, its these little scraps I feel sorry for, what would the future hold for him, I wouldnt like to guess - my friend who loved Cookie for a short time is comming with me, now she is a force to be reckoned with, I think it may be mummy ewoks lucky day too, though my friend is really scared that the same might happen again and she has to tell her children a bunny has to be pts because the vet cant make it better,... perhaps we could come to an arrangement that she keeps her here untill we know they are alright and we have had them checked over.... plotting plotting

Top plan hunni!

You are doing a wonderful thing.

I have the pet carrier with a towel in ready to go - and its sunday, lets hope I dont need the emergency vet, I will be rewarded in heaven im sure Or I will take the reward of 3 happy bunnies in this life if not - lets hope the Ewok is a lap bun, thats me done for the next 10 years hopefully, and Yasi isnt going to want to sit on my lap soon... I have been saying for years I will end up one of those cantankerous old bats that smells of wee and has a house full of cats - I didnt know it would be rabbits! I except my fate, though will keep doing my pelvic floor exercises

I just looked at the website and looking on the adult rabbits for sale page the bun at the bottom called Buttercup looks a bit thin to me, what do you think? Looks like their is a lot of flappy skin. Hmm, what do you to the set up pictures? Look a little cramped to me. Seems she is selling all her buns who recently had kits, as Buttercup who is for sale also has had babies too.

Yeh there is no way those buns can stand up in those hutches, but does it meet the threshold, i doubt it. It says she is a minilop breeder, looks like she has tried those other breeds and now decided to stop. She has alsations so i think i will give her the £30, and leg it with the ewok- never argue with crazy lady who has dogs, i value my skin! I emailed her back with a time, and she asked if i would be buying him- i said we had a few bucks to see, some were free to good homes, some are jabbed and neutured, but we would be visiting her first... Lets see how that is recieved - thats me sewing the seed of 'who is going to buy the poorly looking bun when u can get a healthy younger or neutered one for free' - we shall see!

More than a Mini Lop breeder. Lionheads and Belgian Hares too. Buttercup is a belgian hare.