I need to second the idea of an outdoor bunny cage/hutch. Personally I'd get a nice cage with a tray (bunny pee burns the lawn) which will prevent your dog and raccoons from nipping bunny toes from below and put it in a shady spot. Get a nice X pen for some bunny lawn grazing.

Your daughter btw is at the starting age for 4-H as well if a rabbit is really her thing. 4H rabbits is a really fun hobby.

As far as kind of bunny. There are a number of breeds to pick from. Personally my favorite pet rabbits were an english lop doe, a holland lop buck, and a flemish giant buck. I had a fair number of rabbits over the years, the only few I'd discourage you from are the very fine boned like the Britannia petite, angoras, a rabbit that is too big for your daughter to safely pick up, and full arch breeds. Personally netherland dwarfs make a fine kids pet imo.

Another thought is a guinea pig. They're a great kid pet and are really interactive, far more so than a rabbit. If I had to do things over again I'd spend more time doing the cavy/gp thing than I ever did with the rabbits.

my issue with the rabbit hitches is the SIZE of them. they, every single one of them is just way too small. indoor or out, a proper rabbit enclosure should be, imo, at LEAST 4ft by 4ft, for a single rabbit. absolutely no wire flooring, it causes hock sores. if you live in a climate that doesn't get too hot in the summer(freezing temps are no problem with rabbits), the rabbit can have a fulltime outdoor enclosure, it needs to be covered, and have a buried bottom, they DIG.

i have found that an enclosure the size of your typical puppy exercise pen(its what i used) is the perfect size for a rabbit, a litterbox, a hidey box, food and water dish and some toys.

it is risky with a dog, it can be done though, it would just take commitment, from everyone. i always applaud those who realize what is actually realistic, and decide NOT to get the pet. working at a petstore i had to sell rabbits to people who wanted to keep them in 12 inch by 24 inch plastic bottom cages, never let them out, and only feed them pellets, not even hay. i had to sell small animals to people who said upfront that they had no interest in keeping their dogs away from the animal, or training the dog(dog is at the store already lunging at the rabbits in the cages).

I found a nice plastic & wire indoor cage. About 5 feet by 2 1/2 feet and 2 feet high.

Muggle goes out at least 2/3 times daily for 30 mins - 1 hr. She also gets some free indoor time if I shut pup and bitch away, adult male is fine with anything.

While I admit she doesn't have 100% the best life for a bunny, she has a fairly good life. I've had her 8 years and she's happy, healthy and loves to play. When I rescued her she was an adult with a self-inflicted wound down to the bones in her back - I didn't want a rabbit but after months of TLC I couldn't part with her.

 Quote: mallory kwiatkowski

my issue with the rabbit hitches is the SIZE of them. they, every single one of them is just way too small. indoor or out, a proper rabbit enclosure should be, imo, at LEAST 4ft by 4ft, for a single rabbit. absolutely no wire flooring, it causes hock sores. if you live in a climate that doesn't get too hot in the summer(freezing temps are no problem with rabbits), the rabbit can have a fulltime outdoor enclosure, it needs to be covered, and have a buried bottom, they DIG.

The industry standard last I looked (about 10 years ago) was 2/3 of a square foot per lb rabbit. Most of my 2 lbers (netherland dwarfs, dwarf hotots, and petites) were housed in 18 x 24" cages, 4lbers (holland lops, dutch) were housed in 24 x 24" cages and so on and were pretty much removed for training, grooming, showing, breeding etc. Bigger isn't always better, alot of rabbits get very VERY flighty in big cages even if regularly handled, a flighty rabbit easily hurts itself. I know it's a point of popular contention between fanciers and pet owners but different isn't always good or bad. It just is.

Wire flooring again is something of great debate between the rabbit fancy, industry, and pet owners. Personally I wouldn't have a rabbit without wire floors because it avoids coccidiosis which is actively present in rabbit crap after it has aged 24 hrs. If you clean the bunny cage daily it's no issue. If you miss a day, you might have a problem.

Sore hocks is an interesting topic for me. I'm convinced at this point sore hocks is a partially genetic issue combined with a sanitation issue. I came to this conclusion after meeting a rex breeder who simply culled it out of her line. Rexes are notorious for sore hocks... yet here was a herd of rexes without bare feet or sores, living on wire like any other bunny house. Anyway most sore hocks can be completely prevented on a wire floor cage with a sitting board the size of the bunny.

As far as the digging thing... no domestic rabbit properly kept ever died from not digging. Anymore than any dog ever died from not sniffing another dogs butt. It's one of those things. I don't see a terrible need for it.

 Quote: Melissa Thom

As far as the digging thing... no domestic rabbit properly kept ever died from not digging. Anymore than any dog ever died from not sniffing another dogs butt. It's one of those things. I don't see a terrible need for it.

until you house the rabbit outside, it digs under the cage, escapes and falls prey to a large bird, stray dog or cat, or even your own dog if you let it out thinking the rabbit is put up. a rabbit doesn't HAVE to dig, but you place it on the ground outside, and it will, and escape. other animals can dig into the cage too.

the rest, i have to very strongly disagree with, though i know others who have no problem keeping animals in cages that are just plain too small. i have had MANY rabbits, and never had a single bunny get flighty in a large cage. they flopped themselves down, stretched out full length, and gave perfect relaxed bunny poses.

if you litter train a rabbit(very easy for a fixed rabbit), and scoop daily, there is no issue of waste sitting around. its no different than a cat box.

Awww....that's like my male bun. I got him as an emergency foster home (I'd just had a male bun die, my first pet ever, my beautiful Thomas) and wasn't ready for another rabbit really but he'd worked his way through 3 foster homes in 3 weeks so I couldn't refuse, the foster home he was at was refusing to have him any longer....I was warned he was a 'bit nippy'. I read up on rabbits that bit, decided I didn't need gloves or boots....how bad could it be? First morning I let him out in the kitchen, I bent down to get something off the floor and he went for me, right into my hand, bit so hard that when I pulled my hand away he held on, it was only when I started screaming he let go. Then he ran to the corner and peed. Fear aggressive, I figured - hit first before they hit you. After I'd doctored my hand (you could've used it for a mold for bunny dentures, other than all the bleeding) I got him and calmly petted him for awhile.

I kept him because I thought he need some consistency and a stable home. Once he'd improved, b/c we couldn't guarantee he would regress, nobody else in the rescue would take him to foster him, and nobody wanted to adopt him. After two years I made it official and adopted him. Now? With me, and my family, you'd never know he had fear issues. I can hold him like a baby for an hour, he just zens out and loves it.

He did bite my mom on her arm (she had gloves) the first time she pet sat, caused enough inflammation that she started to have nerve problems and had to go on meds. For the first year or so if I went away I had to leave big yard gloves and a winter jacket so if he did bite they'd be safe....a bunny bite suit!

Now he's fine with her. And he bit a 'rabbit' person who was over and who wouldn't leave him alone, I told her he was getting pissed off and when he nailed her, I just said 'I TOLD you to leave him alone' but he got the message through better than me. He's the dominant jerk (I won't even get into the fights he got into with a dominant female I had....rabbit fights can be scary, he scalped her in under 30 seconds once, I separated them immediately), but he's the dominant jerk who isn't scared of Teagan, which, while admirable, is very bad judgement on his part.

The only animal, including my cats and 3 dogs, who has left a scar from biting me. It's 5 or 6 years later now and it's still there.

Sorry, off-topic, was just awwing at Tanith's bunny and how much happier she obviously is now - yay Tanith - and reflecting on problem bunnies.

Well, after asking around, and getting really good input from people both here and on other forums, I decided we are NOT getting a rabbit. I called the vet I use (he's one of the more expensive in town, but I think he's the best). A rabbit neuter is between $210-$250. So, that finished the discussion. I don't want a rabbit enough to shell out that kind of money, and more importantly, I don't think we could give it the happy, stress-free, 100% safe environment that it needs.

However, I decided that we can do a hamster. My DD was disappointed at first, but now she's already getting excited. Today she told me for the 10th time that if we get her a hamster, she'll spend her allowance on it's food, etc. (Little does she know that I will be taking her up on this offer!) I had hamsters as a kid, and know what they entail. Also, I don't think we'll have nearly as much trouble keeping Kodee away from a hamster, as a rabbit (although of course we will still be vigilant all the time).

Thanks everyone for the help!

When it's all over, ask Kodee how hamster tastes.

Hamster tastes just like chicken. Doesn't everything?