Introduction:
Our sales policy may be updated and is subject to change without prior notice.
It is the customer’s responsibility to read, understand, and agree to our sales policy as this is a contract between us. Let us know if anything here needs clarification. We welcome your questions and feedback.
How to adopt a bunny from Foothills Rabbitry:
1. Learn about rabbits in general to see if a rabbit is the pet for you.
Besides our website, there are many good sources of information to explore and learn about rabbits. Consider that your bunny may live 6-8 years or more, and that it may need to be spayed or neutered when it reaches maturity at 4-6 months.
2. Read about the different breeds and decide which one you prefer.
Many customers prefer to have a indoor pet rabbit or two. Our experience has led us to the Holland Lop for that purpose. They are more popular because they are calm, docile, small, cute and they potty train well.
3. Next, check our website’s home page and see the bunnies or litters that are available now or in the near future, and decide if there is a match between what you want and what we have available. Bunnies first appear in a group shot with their siblings usually sometime after their eyes open. At about 4-5 weeks, we can determine their sex and take their individual photos, indicating their sex with a blue or pink dot on the photo. Then, we name them and schedule them to post on their 6th week birthday on our Available Bunnies page for Reserving / Adopting”.
4. Make your reservation.
You’ll want to set a reminder to visit our website and reserve your bunny at noon the day it turns 6 weeks old. The Reservation Fee is the Adoption Fee. The difference is simply when it is submitted. They are one and the same. The reservation/adoption fee is a one time fee of $175. As the bunnies are reserved, they will disappear from the “Available Bunnies” page on FoothillsRabbitry.com. The option for “Cash on Pickup or delivery” is not to be used to reserve a bunny and is only to be used for in person transactions.
5. Confirmation
After your reservation is made, you will hear from us soon via email or text, and we will give you directions to our rabbitry. Then you will use our Calendly app to schedule bunny pickup.
6. Prepare for your bunny’s arrival.
Your bunny will need a habitat, food and water dishes, and a litter pan to start out. Rabbit feed, Timothy hay, and litter for the litter pan are also needed, but we’ll give you a starter kit of a week’s worth of those things, so you have a little more time to research and acquire those items. Rabbits don’t need bedding, but they do need litter. We recommend and use pine pellets (also called horse bedding) in the litter pan. It is good for odor control and absorbs well, and it’s safe to put in your garden compared to paper based litter. Unlike your cat or dog’s droppings, rabbit manure is a wonderful cold fertilizer that can be used in your garden, on shrubs, flowers, potted plants, etc. So the rabbits turn all the feed and hay you give them into a valuable plant food.
7. Come and pick up your bunny on or close to its adoption day.
For long trips or if there is only the driver, please bring a pet carrier or a box suitable for the trip home. If there is someone to hold the bunny, an old towel on the lap should be good protection in the event of a bunny not being able to “hold it” until you get home.
8. Introduce your bunny to its new home, but not to new food yet.
Use the starter kit feed and hay that we give you for the first 3 days, then mix our feed with your new feed (half and half) until ours is gone, then keep feeding your bunny your feed. This is important for avoiding additional stress of changing bunny’s diet which can cause digestion problems that may make your bunny sick.
9. No Health Guarantees
To the best of our knowledge, our bunnies are healthy at the time of sale. We make no health guarantees. After your bunny or bunnies leave our care, we are not held liable for any physical harm, illness, accidents, or genetic issues of any kind. Please understand that these are live animals and there is always a risk when adopting live animals, even when both of their parents are healthy, and with no known genetic issues.
FAQ:
How much is the adoption fee for your bunnies?
Adoption fees for Foothills Rabbitry bunnies are $175 per bunny.
Could I reserve a bunny before the reservation date?
We offered an early reservation opportunity the latter half of 2022, but found that it confused a lot of people, including us. So to keep things simple and efficient, we will strictly adhere to the reservation date posted on our home page for reserving bunnies. There may be rare exceptions to this policy, such as when there is a lack of available upcoming bunnies to go with a customer who wanted a pair and could only get one from a previous litter. So we reserve the right to make exceptions to our policy in these rare circumstances. Production can slow during years with hot, dry summers. The males go temporarily sterile and it can last for 3 months. Thank you for understanding how nature affects rabbits.
Could I come and see the bunnies before I commit to reserving one?
Yes! We would love to have you! Please schedule a time with us through our bunny therapy sessions.
I need a bunny for my son/daughter on his/her birthday. Can you help me?
I choose to use the phrase “adopt a bunny” not because it makes animals seem more human that way, but rather, because it differentiates bunny acquisition from product acquisition. Bunnies are live animals and are not products that can be placed in boxes on shelves until you need them. What an excellent opportunity to teach your child that life doesn’t happen on their timetable…that things like birth and even death are not in our control, and so we have to work around them. And also that living things are just that–alive! They are not stuffed animals that are ready any time you need them. They have physical needs. This is a golden opportunity for teaching your children that living beings are different from products. If you are unable to bring home a bunny on your child’s birthday, use this as a teachable moment and build character in your child.
What is the timeline for raising bunnies at Foothills Rabbitry?
The timeline for raising bunnies here at Foothills Rabbitry is 31 days of gestation after breeding, followed by 6 weeks with their mother until weaning. At 2 weeks of age, their eyes are open, their fur has come in, and it is a good time to take their first photos. We post a photo of the whole litter on our home page around that time. By 4 to 6 weeks of age, we can usually sex them and know if they are male or female. We take individual photos of them around that time. We schedule them to post to our website as “reservable bunnies” on their 6th week birthday at noon. That is their Reservation Day. Then at 8 weeks, providing the bunnies pass our inspection they can be picked up and taken home with you. That is their Adoption Day.
What if I can’t pick up my bunny on Adoption Day?
Bunnies picked up later than 7 days after Adoption Day will be charged a nightly boarding fee of $5 per night starting a week after adoption day. If you fail to pick up your bunny by 30 days past the adoption date, and do not notify us within 24 hours of a new pickup date, the bunny will be placed back up for adoption and you will not be refunded.
Do you offer rabbit boarding?
Yes, and no. We offer rabbit boarding to our customers exclusively, and only on a space available basis. Rabbit lodging is $20 per night, or $125 per week.
Do you deliver bunnies?
Not at this time. The trip to the rabbitry is well worth taking.
Right to Refusal:
If I want a bunny and have the money, you have to sell me one, right?
Although there is no formal application process, we take the welfare of the bunnies we offer for adoption seriously. We reserve the right to refuse a sale for any reason we feel is necessary. We also reserve the right to revoke an agreement of sale at any time at our discretion and without the need to provide justification or reasons for revocation. We may cancel any sale at any time until the rabbit is picked up, no longer in our care, and is officially sold. In cases where the bunny has already been reserved, we will issue a full refund of the reservation/adoption fee.
Return / Exchange Policy
What if I get home and my bunny is the wrong sex?
We do our best to sex the bunnies accurately and are hardly ever wrong. Ask us to do a final check when you come to pick up your bunny if we forget. If your bunny turns out to be the wrong sex, by all means, contact us and we can work something out.
Can I keep a young bunny in an outdoor hutch by itself?
Proper housing is needed for your bunny. Although the larger breeds may can live outdoors at a younger age, we strongly recommend you keep any dwarf breed of rabbit, i.e., Holland Lop, Netherland Dwarf, indoors until they are at least 4-6 months old, and if you decide to transition them to an outdoor hutch, do it during a mild time of the year. Remember, the #1 reason keeping a bunny outdoors is frowned upon is the potential for neglect. They are easier to forget when they are outdoors. You have to enjoy going out to visit them and take care of them at least 2 or 3 times a day.
So if you do it, choose a location that is pleasant for the bunny, and easy for you to visit often. We find it’s great to have both indoor and outdoor accommodations for rabbits so they can enjoy the best of both worlds and you have options for different seasons of the year.
What if I can no longer care for my bunny and need to return it?
Unfortunately, this happens. Circumstances change and we understand. If you can no longer take care of your bunny, please do not let it loose, nor take it to an animal shelter. We will accept any bunny you can’t keep as long as you bring to us the things you used to take care of the bunny such as the cage, food, toys, etc.
