Sorry this post is so long, but I could talk about my bunnies forever! I used to have 2 indoor rabbits, although both have now died. My first rabbit was Holly. She was a black and white Holland lop, and the cutest thing you've ever seen (well...except maybe for Sukoshi
). She lived with me in my college dorm room (shhhh...don't tell the university staff), and then after college, she moved with me to the townhouse I bought. I thought she was lonely though (rabbits are VERY social creatures and really do better with a playmate), so I got another rabbit - Hershey. Hershey was a gray and white mini lop, and he was so much fun. I adopted both my babies from the House Rabbit Society - a wonderful organization rescuing rabbits from bad situations, found loose on the streets, those being sold in pet stores for snake food (sickening!), those at the pound that are ready to be euthanized, etc. When you adopt a rabbit from the Housing Rabbit Society, they come already litter box trained and spayed/neutered. You have to sign a contract that you will keep the rabbit INDOORS ONLY and that you will NEVER put it outside in a hutch. They are a great organization, and I would strongly recommend anyone who is interested in getting a bunny see if you have a House Rabbit Society chapter close to you
http://www.rabbit.org/. Their website has everything you've ever wanted to know about rabbits on it. Also, a similar rescue organization is the Bunny Bunch
http://www.bunnybunch.org/, although I think the Bunny Bunch is just a SoCal organization. Anyway, Holly came to the HRS from a family that got her for their kids at Easter time...a mistake soooooo many families make, and of course, after the newness wore off, the kids weren't interested anymore. She was 9 months old when I got her (past the terrible chewing stage they go through as babies), and she ultimately died of liver failure at 5 years old (Much too young! A long story which, had I still been in MO where I had a WONDERFUL exotic vet for her, I'm not sure she wouldn't still be with me today), although that's what led me to getting Sukoshi last December (Holly died in November, and I just couldn't stop crying), so something positive came out of it I guess. Hershey, unfortunately, suffered from pasteurella, and although I took him for almost weekly vet visits for the 1 year I had him (and we tried EVERYTHING out there to make him better), he ultimately couldn't fight it, and he died
. He was such a wonderful bunny, with a spunkly personality, and I would've LOVED to have had him for so many more years. He was so adventurous, and when you'd get on the floor and call his name, he'd run to you, with his little ears flapping in the wind. Ohhh...I miss them both!
Anyway, my recommendation if you're thinking about getting a bunny would DEFINITELY have them spayed/neutered. The phrase "they do it like rabbits" didn't come about out of nowhere. The gestation period for a rabbit is only 31 days, so you can do the math and figure that you can wind up with A LOT of babies if you leave your pet unaltered! Also, please make sure you find a wonderful exotic vet for your bunny. It is my understanding they do not teach rabbit medicine at normal vet school, and that you have to go to additional training and classes to understand everything there is to know about exotics (i.e. rabbits, snakes, etc.). For instance, ORAL penicillins such as Amoxicillin and Clavamox can kill your bunny, and unfortunately, that is the first thing most cat and dog vets prescribe when they see a sick bunny. I made sure to always take mine to an exotic vet, but even then, exotic vets that know anything about bunnies seem to be hard to come by in my area, so I settled for just an ok exotic vet here in SoCal (a HUGE regret when Holly got sick), even though the vet I had for Holly in MO before I moved was amazing. Please find a good one! Other than that, just give your bunny LOTS of greens (I made a weekly trip to the grocery store to stock up on all the leafy greens in the produce section), LOTS of 2nd cut Timothy hay, and some healthy pellets (nothing from pet stores - I recommend American Pet Diner for hay, pellets, and treats -
http://www.americanpetdiner.com/ (shipping is pricey, but it's worth it to have the good stuff)). Just remember that rabbits can't throw up, so they need the fiber from the hay to push everything through the digestive system and out the other end. Otherwise, all the hair they ingest while cleaning (rabbits shed their hair every 3 months) can be fatal. Gosh...you make me want to get another bunny! I wish you a happy, healthy bunny for many years to come! Good luck!
Oh, and no, as long as I kept their litter boxes clean, they did NOT smell.
The pics below are of Holly (first 2), Hershey (3rd one), and then the last pic (4th one) is of the play area they had in the basement of my townhouse on the rare occasions I couldn't let them have the run of the house for whatever reason. For the most part, they were always upstairs, hopping around the first or second level of the house.