# £150 rabbit



## Callia (Jan 14, 2009)

I know little about rabbits I must admit but, I was really shocked today when I went into a local pet shop and they had some very sweet rabbits for sale for £150 each !!!!!!!  They were British Giants apparently and the reason they gave for them being so expensive was just that they had to pay a lot for them from the breeder, they weren't rung or vaccinated or anything.
Is that a usual price for this sort of bunny ?? Would people really pay that for a rabbit ?? Just curious.


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## Guest (Feb 25, 2010)

That is the same price as one in my local pets at home and he/she has been there since october :crying:


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## Clare7435 (Dec 17, 2009)

I can asure you that not all breeders, harldy any in fact charge this much for a giant....I paid 55 pounds for Dolly, she is a giant yellow continental...quite rare..(pics in profile) .most breeders I know od charge between 40 and 80 pounds depending on the time of year...colder weather and they like to get them out to new homes quicker so might knock some off, hence my getting dolly for 55.
I think pet shops say what they like to make money, i know of one that pays 40 pounds for a particular bird and sells them for 130.
I do no agree with pet shops selling animals anyway.
Clare xx


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## Clare7435 (Dec 17, 2009)

heres dolly

http://www.petforums.co.uk/general-chat/87106-warning-never.html


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## MerlinsMum (Aug 2, 2009)

Clare7435 said:


> heres dolly
> 
> http://www.petforums.co.uk/general-chat/87106-warning-never.html


Dolly is Lovely!
The Yellow Continental Giants aren't as common as some of the other colour Contis such as agouti or steel, black or white.

Anyone looking for a Giant rabbit, whether Continental Giant, British Giant, Giant Papillon, or Flemish Giant (UK type) might do well to start by contacting Giant Rabbit Rescue as a starting point.
Giant Rabbit Rescue

Or you may want to contact the rabbit clubs who can help find you a breeder in your area. That way you will have a rabbit from a decent source (if you don't like the breeder, walk away) perhaps see mum & dad, aunts uncles, get details of any health issues in the line and most importantly Longevity - like Giant dogs, Giant rabbits do not live as long as smaller breeds.
You can find the list of National breed clubs here:
Untitled Page

Anything is better than spending £150 for an un-neutered un-vaccinated rabbit from a pet shop where you won't even know its date of birth, is being sold by people who are not knowledgeable about the breed, and supporting the whole dubious trade of selling animals in pet shops from unknown sources.


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## Clare7435 (Dec 17, 2009)

MerlinsMum said:


> Dolly is Lovely!
> The Yellow Continental Giants aren't as common as some of the other colour Contis such as agouti or steel, black or white.
> 
> Anyone looking for a Giant rabbit, whether Continental Giant, British Giant, Giant Papillon, or Flemish Giant (UK type) might do well to start by contacting Giant Rabbit Rescue as a starting point.
> ...


Thanks MerlinsMum....she's lovely both in looks and in temprament. Yellows haven't been around that long yet, only in this last year have they been recognised as a breed by the BRC.

I must stress how much I agree wth MM on how important it is to make sure you know where your bunny is coming from. I was very lucky with the breeder I went to, I got to see the mum and dad and how fine they where, he has many show rabbits, dolly was from a litter of 5, all boys but her, all pure yellow and beautiful..I knew how old she is, what kind of temprament her parents and siblins where, what food she liked, what sort of vitamins they used the lot, anything i needed to know I found out.....well worth the hours of traveling in the ice to go look at her and bring her back with us.
I also got a bag of medicated food which is what he feeds all of his rabbits in the weeks after leaving mum, information and numbers to call should I need and info on where to show her should I want to, which I don't...she's a pet only.

Dolly is the only rabbit I have bought purely because I wanted her, all my buns aside the ones I've bred have been rescues or unwanted cases....but I couldnt live without a giant aftr losing Goliath in such traumatic circumstances so along came dolly.

Clare xx


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## MerlinsMum (Aug 2, 2009)

Clare7435 said:


> Thanks MerlinsMum....she's lovely both in looks and in temprament. Yellows haven't been around that long yet, only in this last year have they been recognised as a breed by the BRC.


You're welcome  I'd have to get out my BRC standards book to look but I think Yellows would have been recognised, except the likelihood was there weren't any til recently, imported over. Sometimes a new breed standard encompasses all possible colours - other times each new colour has to be recognised separately which is a (daft and) long process. It varies!

How does one get a sticky done? I'm just thinking my Giant post could be a useful one for anyone else interested in Giant rabbits. They do deserve special consideration, as they obviously have vastly different housing & feeding needs to smaller breeds, plus the issue of longevity, plus again, the issue of them being sold in pet stores by people who know next to nothing about them. They are a specialist breed and as such, have specialist needs, and should be sold by specialists.

I could also include some info for overseas PF members - for instance our Continental Giants are the breed known outside the UK as Flemish Giant in Europe and the USA. Because we already had a breed called Flemish, they had to be re-named in the UK, to Continental. Plus we have our own British Giant breed (I was lucky enough to own two of these years ago), and it might be nice to include some data on giant Papillons which can come in either Spotted or Plain (self) colours and have a different shape as well.

Oh yes and explain why we have a Flemish Giant (UK) breed here and why it is different to the Flemish overseas!

Would that be helpful?


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## Clare7435 (Dec 17, 2009)

MerlinsMum said:


> You're welcome  I'd have to get out my BRC standards book to look but I think Yellows would have been recognised, except the likelihood was there weren't any til recently, imported over. Sometimes a new breed standard encompasses all possible colours - other times each new colour has to be recognised separately which is a (daft and) long process. It varies!
> 
> How does one get a sticky done? I'm just thinking my Giant post could be a useful one for anyone else interested in Giant rabbits. They do deserve special consideration, as they obviously have vastly different housing & feeding needs to smaller breeds, plus the issue of longevity, plus again, the issue of them being sold in pet stores by people who know next to nothing about them. They are a specialist breed and as such, have specialist needs, and should be sold by specialists.
> 
> ...


I think it's an excelant idea...not sure how a sticky is done though...but I do think it's a good idea for those who are considering bringing a giant into their home. 
There's more to caring for a bigger breed rabbit than even pet shops realise, if they did they wouldn't still be selling them. Not so much specialised food or anything like, but the size of their cage for instance....I wouldnt use a hutch, even a large one for a giant rabbit...I dont think I've even seen one for sale that I consider big enough for them, the people I know with a giant has them either in the house or in a shed adapted for the rabbit.
Food is another thing I think is missunderstood for Giant breeds, many still think Giant rabbit giant portions......I have seen so many stories of sick and dying Giant rabbits that are ill because they are over fed by owners who have bought them as a novely and think ''the bigger the better'' its something to show off and it makes me sick, A giant rabbit is big but not out of proportion and certainly not fat...they should look just like an average rabbit, only bigger in size, still trim and able to run like a rabbit should.
OK...I'm going on a little now, but all of this and more should be available to read for all potential Giant Bunny owners and I think you'd be doing a real favour to the breed by making a sticky out of it.
You know a fair bit about them so I think you'd do a marvelous job
Clare xx


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## plumo72 (Nov 2, 2007)

I've seen them in [email protected] and they're £125. They are huge


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## MerlinsMum (Aug 2, 2009)

plumo72 said:


> I've seen them in [email protected] and they're £125. They are huge


Did it say WHAT kind of Giant it was?
If you read above, there are more than a couple of different Giant breeds....
Even more reason not to buy one if it's not stated which type! £125 is not exactly pocket money for most people - it's quite an investment for many people; how would you be able to find out any particular health issues it could have if the breed is not stated? I'd expect a more detailed description for that much: a birth certificate, details of where it was born, proper description of its colour, breed and type AND a whole specialised ton of information on how to properly care for a Giant compared to other breeds.

I know that rabbit rescues don't like the BRC system for ringing show rabbits - for good reason too! - but sometimes it could be useful - a ring number can be traced to source, and even the letters on the ring can tell you WHICH Giant breed it is. Rings can be removed... but can't be added later, so they do trace a rabbit to source.


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## MerlinsMum (Aug 2, 2009)

Clare7435 said:


> You know a fair bit about them so I think you'd do a marvelous job
> Clare xx


Thanks Clare xx I haven't owned a Giant for aaaaages but I have bred & shown rabbits on and off since the 1970's. The breed info I learned back then - and since - is kind of burned into my brain! What I don't know, I can find the right places to refer to, not least to people much more knowledgeable than I, e.g. Giant Rabbit Rescue. I am sure a lot of their incomers nowadays are ones bought from pet shops at £125+ with no other information....

Before this, it would have been giants bought from private breeders or BYBs...

As sadly is also the case with a whole lot of rabbits in rescue, many many of them are the ones sold by a certain pet shop chain... either directly bought or 'first generation' bred by people who buy from them but just decide to have a fun litter, or who are naive, or negligent. Not to mention those that are mis-sexed. That shop chain has a lot to answer for in that respect! An experienced & knowledgeable rabbit breeder can sex babies at birth to 90% accuracy but this is not the norm... Even so it drives me nuts when older rabbits are mis-sexed, it's not rocket science.


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## Clare7435 (Dec 17, 2009)

[email protected] really pee me off for this, they don't even stockthe right sized housing for these rabbits let alone give all the information required, different breeds have different health issues. I for one would like to know the age of a rabbit I was paying that much for, in fact I'd want a lot moe than that for that much.
Dolly was born on the 15th september last year, she was just over 12 weeks old when I bought her and the rest of the details...errr...yeh ok I've slept since then lol...but I do have it all on paper ...somewhere in this clutterd house.
I very much doubt [email protected] can give all of this, anyway I thought they had already been taken to court over this kind of sale once...
I dont know, I think maybe I'm too highly strung when it comes to pet shops selling animals because people buy the on a whim because they look cute ad fluffy...if they advertised reputable breeders and rescue centres I would have a lot more respect for them.
Clare xx


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## Clare7435 (Dec 17, 2009)

MerlinsMum said:


> Thanks Clare xx I haven't owned a Giant for aaaaages but I have bred & shown rabbits on and off since the 1970's. The breed info I learned back then - and since - is kind of burned into my brain! What I don't know, I can find the right places to refer to, not least to people much more knowledgeable than I, e.g. Giant Rabbit Rescue. I am sure a lot of their incomers nowadays are ones bought from pet shops at £125+ with no other information....
> 
> Before this, it would have been giants bought from private breeders or BYBs...
> 
> As sadly is also the case with a whole lot of rabbits in rescue, many many of them are the ones sold by a certain pet shop chain... either directly bought or 'first generation' bred by people who buy from them but just decide to have a fun litter, or who are naive, or negligent. Not to mention those that are mis-sexed. That shop chain has a lot to answer for in that respect! An experienced & knowledgeable rabbit breeder can sex babies at birth to 90% accuracy but this is not the norm... Even so it drives me nuts when older rabbits are mis-sexed, it's not rocket science.


Exactly what I wanted to say but i get to mad wen i think about it and ramble lol
It is sooo easy to sex a rabbit especially when older so there's no excuse for this kind of thing in pet shops, in fact i know a few who would say it was the sex the customer wanted just to sell another rabbit. A large percentage of kits born through irrisponsable fun breeding die in the first few months because the oners don't know how to care for them, they allow kids to mess about holding the cute little bunny with no respect forthe fact mum doesnt like them being handled and this kind of thing is just the tip of the iceberg...
See...I ramble...but its just so annoying
Clare xx


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## kellyrich (Jan 8, 2009)

MerlinsMum said:


> Dolly is Lovely!
> The Yellow Continental Giants aren't as common as some of the other colour Contis such as agouti or steel, black or white.
> 
> Anyone looking for a Giant rabbit, whether Continental Giant, British Giant, Giant Papillon, or Flemish Giant (UK type) might do well to start by contacting Giant Rabbit Rescue as a starting point.
> ...


Apparently the firsts link in your post shouldnt be used. From a few very good sources i have heard she is avery bad breeder and im not even sure if she is still active anyway but just a warning!

My continental giants were £120 and £90 both from a very good breeder but i would pay 10 times that to have another bun the same as my Stan! 

They are definitely worth it if you have the time and space to look after them! :001_tt1:


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## Clare7435 (Dec 17, 2009)

kellyrich said:


> Apparently the firsts link in your post shouldnt be used. From a few very good sources i have heard she is avery bad breeder and im not even sure if she is still active anyway but just a warning!
> 
> My continental giants were £120 and £90 both from a very good breeder but i would pay 10 times that to have another bun the same as my Stan!
> 
> They are definitely worth it if you have the time and space to look after them! :001_tt1:


I love your stan he is soooo lovely :001_tt1:
I would probably have paid more for Dolly if asked because the breeder was so good at what he did, he's been breeding and showing giants for years and I got top service, I saw all of his rabbits and how well they where cared for....but I do think pet shops take advantage, many people have to travell to find a giant breeder, I did myself so those wo cant have to rely on pet shops.
I totally agree though....very much worth it :smile5::smile5:xx


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## kellyrich (Jan 8, 2009)

Clare7435 said:


> I love your stan he is soooo lovely :001_tt1:
> I would probably have paid more for Dolly if asked because the breeder was so good at what he did, he's been breeding and showing giants for years and I got top service, I saw all of his rabbits and how well they where cared for....but I do think pet shops take advantage, many people have to travell to find a giant breeder, I did myself so those wo cant have to rely on pet shops.
> I totally agree though....very much worth it :smile5::smile5:xx


Thanks Clare, Dolly is lovely too! 

I wonder if we got them from the same breeder, sounds similar! Without mentioning names is he based in Colchester?


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## Callia (Jan 14, 2009)

I must admit the rabbits in the shop do look very nice, they are in lovely condition and extremely beautiful. Two of them are the fawn/sandy colour too. I was just REALLY shocked at the price and cannot imagine many people having the room for such a huge bunny. I really do hope they all find nice homes before they are too big for the shop otherwise I hate to think where they will end up


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