# "Renting Out" Easter Bunnies



## smilesnsunshine (Jun 14, 2009)

Hi Y'all,

I brought this up off-topic in another thread and thought it might be interesting enough to start a discussion.

I understand there is an increased market for young cute bunnies around Easter, but many end up in shelters when the family loses interest. And animosity increases between house rabbit folks and rabbit breeders, with weeping and gnashing of teeth.

I was thinking about offering "rental" rabbits next year. The family agrees to return the rabbit to me, not transfer it to anyone or abandon it. The rental fee would be about the same as the market sales price for a rabbit, plus something for wear and tear of the cage, set up fee, starter feed, guide book, etc. The generous deposit would cover the cage costs. The family keeps the rabbit as long as they'd like, and I pick it up. If they decide to keep it, I've sold a rabbit and cage at a decent profit. 

Another possible market might be "Glamour Shots" and other photographers, maybe even offering weekly rabbit care while they have the rabbit.

Plenty of time to figure this out - what are your thoughts? :boring: or :rock: ?

Thanks!

Bryan


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## Green Egg Girl (Jun 30, 2009)

I think it sounds like a great idea. Come easter time, you can bring the bunnies to parties and let the children have a bunny petting zoo. Or team up with a photographer and do portraits with the bunnies in them.


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## ladysown (May 3, 2008)

i do all that without the cage.


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## ChristieAcres (Apr 11, 2009)

In my area that would fly fly fly! If I have any issue selling my kits, when it is time, I'll keep that idea in mind...


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## laughaha (Mar 4, 2008)

very interesting idea....


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## arachyd (Feb 1, 2009)

I've seen ads on Craig's List for that kind of service. You want to be careful that the renter does not have other rabbits that could transmit disease to your rabbits and endanger your herd if the rabbit isn't kept.


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## horsepoor21 (Mar 14, 2007)

At a nice pet store I went to just before last Easter , they had a photo shoot with a cute fuzzy bunny and a baby lamb . It was a huge success !


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## cowcreekgeeks (Mar 5, 2009)

arachyd said:


> I've seen ads on Craig's List for that kind of service. You want to be careful that the renter does not have other rabbits that could transmit disease to your rabbits and endanger your herd if the rabbit isn't kept.


If the renter had rabbits, why then would they have need to rent a rabbit?

I've thought about this idea myself...it seems reasonably sound. Also thinking about chicks and ducklings. My idea is selling them to the buyer and let them know that if the bird or bun becomes too much to handle, I'll take it off their hands at no charge. They just paid me to raise my chicks or buns to butchering age. Woohoo!!!


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## Truckinguy (Mar 8, 2008)

I suppose it would depend on what type and temperment the rabbits are. I had a lady photographer contact me just before this last Easter wanting to rent one of my rabbits for a week. I told her that my New Zealands wouldn't do well around a room full of children as they were being raised with very little human contact except myself and being a bigger rabbit they could be hard to handle if they got scared. I think those who have been bitten by a New Zealand will know what I mean! Now, if you had a different type of rabbit that is raised with lots of people around that would be different. 

Even if the people didn't have other rabbits there are still many things that can be brought back to the rabbitry so you would still be taking a chance of your rabbit picking up something in it's travels.

Not that it's a bad idea but it should be thought out very carefully.


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## rabbithappy (Jun 24, 2009)

I like the rabbit rental idea too. The agreement sounds like it would benefit everyone, bunny, buyer & seller!


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## Wildfire_Jewel (Nov 5, 2006)

I will be offering this service for a fee next year. I have done it for 3 years now for friends and my husband's co-workers. I figured it was time I get something out of the deal or at least make it pay for a bag of feed!
On the chicks and ducklings.....Make sure you factor in losses due to miss handling by young children. One of our silkie chicks was held too tightly and had to be put down. There happened to be a vet at the b-day party who took care of it. Most children do not understand how gentle they really need to be. A rabbit has teeth and claws to let you know but a chick is is pretty much defenseless.
I am still working on a price. I am thinking approx $20 a session which will pay for a bag of feed and still give me a $5 profit. I think I will have to have a contract written up though about any loss of life and reimbursement for that. That is if they pick up or if they come here and do pictures here. With digital cameras now alot of people can get a better shot than the professionals. Especially of their own children.


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## smilesnsunshine (Jun 14, 2009)

Thanks, Y'all!

Any lingering doubts on whether this is *The Best Rabbit Forum Anywhere *have just been put to rest!

I think I might just bring rabbits to the farmers market with some straw bales as a backdrop, and a polaroid camera if people didn't bring a camera. Though these days, it seems everyone has a cell phone camera. . .



> i do all that without the cage.


 Ladysown, details???


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## Otter (Jan 15, 2008)

I didn't quite "rent" rabbits, what I did was this;
Once word got out that I had rabbits, I was sometimes given some. Usually small or lop eared buns, often complete with cage. I'd sell that rabbit, complete with cage (or young bunnies of my own breeding with a homebuilt cage) to anyone who wanted a pet. I'd get their phone # and give them a care sheet.
This is important,
_I'd tell them to tape the care sheet to the inside of the door of the cabinet they would keep the rabbit food in_ (I'd give a large zip-lock bag of pellets with bunny)
I would tell the new owner more then once, and put it on the care sheet more then once, that if they ever didn't want the rabbit anymore I'd be happy to take it back - no questions asked. They could even just leave it in it's cage by the front door. This was also written on the care sheet.
I would call in about a week to check up, answer any questions and remind them to tape up the care sheet if they hadn't already.I told people up front I would call and everyone was pleased when I did.

I usually got the rabbit back in 6 to 9 months. Complete with cage and equipment, and often with a plea to not eat them. Of course I never ate them, but I'd let them know that the rabbit might be rehomed (ie:entered into my stable of not-exactly rental rabbits) Sometimes they entered my breeding herd. I recall one pair of bucks who turned out far, far nicer then I thought they would and ended up replacing their father as sires for my meat buns. Their former owners came to visit (and buy garden produce) for 9 months. Also Dave, the black lop who was sold and came back twice before finding a permanent home with a gardener, who loved him for his cuteness and manure. 

Key things;
I never, ever sold a bunny as a surprise. If anyone wanted a surprise, they could buy the cage and equipment with a voucher to come and pick out the bunny of the child's choice. This saved many grateful mothers from nasty arguments with well meaning uncles and lot of bunnies un-needed stress.

People will throw out the care sheet -BUT- if they are told specifically to tape it inside a cabinet door they will, and then have your number when they need it.

I was never argumentative or demanding. They were buying a rabbit from me. I was a very caring and helpful seller. Because they never felt I was at all judgmental they felt free to ask me any questions and to bring the rabbit back under any circumstances. If they wanted to bring it back, I wouldn't even let them tell me a reason.

I was not afraid to sell people other things while they were there for any reason. "Yes, they are tasty tomatoes, want a pound?" 'That sure is Lemon Grass, want a start?" "Hay for the bunny? Sure, have some right here, only a dollar a bag. (grocery bag stuffed to overfilling) Anytime you want more you know where I am, number's on the care sheet, just tape it inside the cabinet."

I was happy and low stress, the bunnies were happy and low stress, the buyers were happy and low stress, told all their friends and relatives how great I was, came back to buy other things. Win-win all around.


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

*Great* advice, Otter! 

And may I say it's *very nice* to see you back here! :sing:


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## smilesnsunshine (Jun 14, 2009)

I second that!

Just curious, why aren't you still doing it?


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## Niomi (Apr 29, 2009)

Great Idea, but don't give those house rabbit people a second thought. They would be against the idea because you are breeding rabbits instead of using rabbits from a shelter! 

I would like to take my rabbits to schools for visits around Easter, but don't think they could take the excitement. I have one rabbit I am going to try to around train for a therapy animal to take to nursing homes. Any idea on how I could get him socalized without making a nervous wreck out of him?


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## ladysown (May 3, 2008)

what I do is low stress as well...I just don't have all the extras to sell with! Wishing I did.....that would mean I'd have a farm....... (dreams)  

buy a bunny, return a bunny, no issues.  

Renting a bunny I learned to do from contacting photographers and asking, how much would you pay to rent a bunny for pictures and then setting my price right down the middle.  that way you know what the local market will bear.

I learned...YOUNG (5-6 weeks) meat rabbits take the best sit still photo shoots. they tend to stay put. 

Mini rexes...not a good idea as they are the explorers of the world unless you have an active child following it and a good photographer and camera. (in other words...NOT me)  they do work really well for candid shots on the grass in an enclosed area though.

Holland lops .... makes people want to buy them...and without a care sheet and a way to stay in contact with....I'm not selling one of my bunnies. So that's a bit of a hard one to figure...I think next year for hollands I'll charge more for rental to help defray costs of "it was there and then it wasn't".


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## Otter (Jan 15, 2008)

Thanks for the warm welcome back guys!!
The baby is keeping me pretty busy and I'm moving to TN Mon or Tues, but Bruce is colicky today so I get a break from packing to sit and rock him and type one handed.

The reason I'm not still doing it is because a hurricane did bad things to my house and rabbitry and I haven't had the heart/stability to keep rabbits for a while. But after I move I'll be getting a bunch and doing some hard-core work with the Brazilian Rabbit Project. Orphy's going to hook me up with a couple of Flemish/Harlequin crosses. Woot!

Ladysown, I had a really big garden, 3 chickens and a small herd of rabbits on a suburban lot. I bought hay a bale or 2 at a time and sold a flake or so at a time. It was all in the backyard so worked pretty well. I've lived and worked on lots of farms, but never owned one.

Here's the only popple I've had in a few years


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## ladysown (May 3, 2008)

otter....THOSE are the best kind of popples.


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## laughaha (Mar 4, 2008)

so so so cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Beaners (Feb 23, 2005)

Niomi said:


> Great Idea, but don't give those house rabbit people a second thought. They would be against the idea because you are breeding rabbits instead of using rabbits from a shelter!
> 
> I would like to take my rabbits to schools for visits around Easter, but don't think they could take the excitement. I have one rabbit I am going to try to around train for a therapy animal to take to nursing homes. Any idea on how I could get him socalized without making a nervous wreck out of him?


I loaned out some meat rabbits at about 5 weeks old for a local school program. The instructions were that only adults (teachers and room parents) were allowed to handle them. That decreases any liability on your part exponentially. I sent three so that they would be a little more confident.

I don't handle my young rabbits except to occasionally grab and sex any of them that look promising. I am in and out of the rabbit/duck shed at least a handful of times every day, but just to grab tools or move the ducks or feed and water. They were fine being in a classroom full of elementary aged children. They were perky and inquisitive, not cowering in the cage freaked out.

I don't know about a nursing home setting and actual physical handling of the animal, but the school thing is do-able as long as your rabbits aren't super high strung.

Kayleigh


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