Easter Hamsters Might Be Better!

Every Easter, thousands of bunnies are bought in pet stores as a surprise for young children. They are brought home, stuck in an Easter basket, and given as an Easter "surprise." Normally the children receiving the gift squeal with delight and play with the rabbit for a few hours, but lose interest after a while.
Then they leave the rabbit in a very unsuitable housing situation such as a cardboard box.

No Rabbits For Easter

Bunnies have particular needs. If parents just go out and buy a bunny, the rabbit is going to suffer. There are a handful of reasons why you should never get a "surprise rabbit gift" for anyone, including these "Did you Know's":

DID YOU KNOW......?

.......Pet rabbits can live from 8 to 15 years old?
.......Young children and bunnies are not a good match?
........Pet rabbits aren't "low maintenance" pets - they have specific dietary needs and must be handled with extreme care?
........Rabbits must live indoors with the family(see all posts tagged rabbits, indoor, and housing)

Seriously Speaking

So, your child is really leaning on a bunny for a pet? Rabbits are family pets, so if you are going to get a bunny, then it's best to get it as a whole family. In the child'(s)Easter basket(s), put a little note saying that "for a gift, we will visiting the pet shelter." Parents should check out the local website and look for rabbits up for adoption beforehand. A few days before, get a rabbit care guide and read through it as a family. In all rabbit care guides they have a list of needs and things for the new bunny. To avoid improper misplacement of the rabbit, get the cage or playpen on the day before and get it ready. If you have a family of young kids under the age of ten, the bunny should always be a family pet for the rabbits safety. Although adults should be the caretakers, children can help with lots of things. Suggest to your child: "Sophia, help put fresh litter in the tray while I clean out the cage," or "Daniel, would you like to fill this food bowl up for me?" Older children can personally own rabbits if they are seemingly independent and gentle to animals. Always check up on the rabbit to make sure he is being cared for. Some adults have a "whatever you think is best" state of mind. If a bunny hurts himself, the adult should be ready to help the rabbit and research the needs instead of letting the child always taking it upon himself to look it up. The adult should know just as much about the rabbit as the child does.
Bunnies are constantly neglected by people who buy them without research. If you know you yourself cannot take care of the bunny completely, then surely you wouldn't get it for your child. The final statement is, if your family can obviously not take complete care of a bunny, get a stuffed toy or a candy instead.

And remember, rabbits are NOT low-maintenance pets! A hamster or fish might be a better suggestion instead!
A great place for more info is myhouserabbit.com. Check out the blog section to see a video about how Easter bunnies hurt rabbits!

Although rabbits are often portrayed playing happily with children,
young children should never be left unsupervised with them.

Instead of a pet bunny, get a stuffed or chocolate one. It's much
safer and no one get's hurt. (except, of course, the chocolate bunny!)