Adopting rescue rabbits in Cornwall: Probus, pairs and costs

The live line under the short answer counts the rabbit listings we hold today within about 25 miles of Truro, which reaches Falmouth, Newquay and Hayle, and every one on our Truro rabbits page links to the rescue that cares for it. A listing is often a pair, so there are usually more rabbits than listings. You apply to the rescue, not to us.

Rabbits are social animals, and the welfare charities agree they should not live alone. RWAF, the Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund, puts it simply: "Every rabbit needs a friend." It adds that two rabbits who weren't already a bonded pair can't just be put together and expected to like each other: pairing up can be a long process. PDSA says that however much attention we give a rabbit, we can't replace the company of another neutered rabbit, and that rabbits shouldn't live with guinea pigs.

Marias says the same on its own care page: rabbits really do need another rabbit as well as human company, and they groom each other far more than we can. That is why its pairs go together. Its single rabbits are a mix: when we checked, one listing said a female needed a male companion, while another said a female who came in traumatised after a fight with another female would be better as an only rabbit. The shelter knows each rabbit, so ask.

If you already have a rabbit on its own, a single rescue rabbit can become its partner. Marias offers to bond rabbits at the shelter for a fee of £15 a week, so the introductions happen there rather than in your home.

Have the space ready first. RWAF says the minimum of 3m x 2m x 1m is for up to two rabbits, and that one rabbit needs that much room to run, jump and play just as two do. Having it in place matters most for a pair, it says, so that lack of space doesn't make them fight.

Marias sets out its process on its own adoption page. It is stricter about housing than most rescues, so allow time to get your set-up right before you apply.

1. Download its rabbit information sheet and adoption application form from its adoption page, and read the sheet: it says most of the answers to your questions are there.
2. Look at its rabbits and tell it which ones you are interested in. An enquiry does not reserve a rabbit for you.
3. Email the completed form with photos of your housing. It wants to see the size, design, bedding, ramps and contents, and it says telling it what you intend to provide is not enough: it must see your existing set-up.
4. Wait for its reply, which can take several days. It may suggest changes to your housing before it rehomes to you, which it says is only for the animal's welfare.
5. Book a collection appointment and pay the donation before or on the day. You sign a contract: no breeding, register with a vet and take the rabbit when it is unwell, and bring it back to Marias if you can no longer keep it rather than rehoming it yourself.

Rescues ask a donation or fee, not a sale price. Marias Animal Shelter asks a minimum adoption donation of £90 per rabbit, so a bonded pair means a donation for each, and its rabbits are vaccinated and neutered unless there is a specific reason. NAWT Cornwall charges £65 for a rabbit, with 4 weeks' free Petplan insurance. Nationally, Blue Cross rabbit fees start from £60, or £90 for a pair.

The fee goes towards vet work the rabbit has already had. After that, the vaccinations are yours to keep up every year; PDSA says costs vary between practices, so ask your vet. Add hay, greens, bedding and the cost of a run big enough for two before you decide.

We don't list any animals for sale. Every rabbit on our pages is with a rescue and goes to a new home for an adoption donation or fee, often as a bonded pair, after the rescue has seen your set-up.

A rabbit bought on its own will need a neutered companion, its vaccinations and a home big enough for two. RWAF asks owners not to give rabbits away as "free to good home", because of what has happened to rabbits given away that way, and not to let a rabbit go to a solitary life shut in a hutch.

The housing photos and the questions on the form are about these needs, so it helps to have them sorted before you apply.

• Space. RWAF recommends a single enclosed area of at least 3m x 2m by 1m high for a pair of average size rabbits, sleeping quarters included. PDSA gives the same 3 x 2 x 1m minimum and adds "the bigger, the better".
• Food. RWAF says grass and hay "should make up the majority of what they eat and must always be available", with fresh greens daily and only a small portion of pellets. PDSA says carrots are an occasional treat, not part of the main diet, because of their sugar.
• Vaccinations. PDSA says pet rabbits in the UK should be vaccinated against myxomatosis, RVHD-1 and RVHD-2, from around five weeks old with a yearly booster, and that house rabbits need them too because the diseases spread through insects, wild rabbits and even on clothes and shoes.
• Heat and cables. Marias warns that rabbits can die of heatstroke, so think twice about a conservatory, and that an outdoor home needs shade in summer and a dry, draught-free bed. House rabbits chew electrical cables, so hide them away.
• Time. PDSA says domestic rabbits can live 7 to 10 years. They need daily feeding, cleaning and attention, and regular vet checks.

A few more places to look, none of them a rabbit we list near Truro.

• Blue Cross rehomes rabbits from its centres elsewhere in the UK, from £60 or £90 for a pair; search its own site.
• NAWT Cornwall lists any rabbits it has on the Trust's small animals page, so check it from time to time as well as ours.
• Looking for a cat or a dog as well? NAWT Cornwall rehomes both: see our guides to cat rescues and dog rescues in Cornwall.