Nords, I've heard you mention that rabbit many times and know he's been a handful. I've heard the typical rabbit lives about 10 years. Never seen a picture though. Just curious what he looks like.
He's a dwarf orange rex, cleverly named "Peter Cottontail" by our then nine-year-old daughter, picked up by the Humane Society off the tough streets of Waimanalo. Four pounds and about 18", and he maintains his weight within an ounce of that.
Nearly a year old and almost full-grown when we got him, he proved equally tough to re-train. He was probably raised outdoors without much human contact and is not very well socialized. In retrospect we were stunningly ignorant about bunny body language and their preferences so it took us a few months to figure things out. They actually have a fairly large emotional range, can interact well with people and other animals, and can even be taught some commands. A friend of ours has hers trained to ride in her coat pocket and use a harness/leash. That bunny has traveled to the oceans of both coasts, it rode the Maid of the Mist boat at Niagra Falls, and it even participated in her wedding.
If they're raised from birth with people, frequently handled and taught to use a litterbox as soon as they can move around, then they're easy to clean up after. Ours won't actually use a litterbox but rather a section of the familyroom that's about 10'x10' in puppy training pads. He's also not averse to marking his territory or leaving a little present or two if he's too busy to get over to the bunnybox.
They're also better socialized if they're raised in pairs or packs and live with one or two other bunnies or with other housepets. Ours is poorly socialized and will not play with the other bunnies-- he gets very territorial and stressed out.
We used to keep him in a cage and let him out when we were home from work/school, and make him sleep in the cage at night, but we finally relaxed. Now he has free run of the familyroom/diningroom, with most of the moldings & drywall covered behind plastic or cardboard. Because he can run around as much as he wants and chew on just about anything, he's able to avoid a lot of typical cage-related problems. Although he's nearly eight years old, the vet says his teeth & body are similar to three-year-olds.
Their teeth never stop growing so they have to chew. Our familyroom is filled with crappy furniture, old books (the older the yummier), palm branches, and lots of cardboard boxes. He uses the boxes to build his own burrow. He can move a surprisingly large box and he's planned out quite a warren behind the couch. It looks like a scattered junkyard mess but he can shoot straight through it at top speed to escape predators.
They have all the attitude of a cat with less brains. He expects a certain amount of daily petting and can get pretty demanding about it. (They shed an amazing amount of fur, even molting 2-3 times a year, and it must itch like crazy.) He does not like to be picked up and won't tolerate the handling that other bunnies can be trained to accept. He goes nuts for fruit (like crack cocaine for bunnies) and his digestion can tolerate very small pieces once or twice a day. (He'll practically moonwalk for the nub of a banana.) For some reason he thinks green tea bags are yummy, like catnip for bunnies, so in the morning when he hears me pop the top off my thermal mug he somehow teleports to my feet out of nowhere.
He's taught our kid a lot about responsibility and behavior around pets, and now she claims that she won't get a pet until she can be home most of the day to take care of it. He doesn't tolerate kids well (with good reason) and he's grumpy if too many people get in his face. To his credit, he gives plenty of warning-- charging, bumping with his nose, and even grunting/barking. If those warnings are disregarded then he'll take your fingers off at the elbow.
So I wouldn't recommend bunnies as pets, not that it was my decision. But when we pet him, we can feel our blood pressure and pulse rate dropping right along with his. And it is kinda nice to have him racing around the familyroom each morning to greet me.
