(light music) - Hi, I'm Karen Kalunian, and today we're gonna talk about small animal adoption.

♪ Hey!

♪ (upbeat music) - Here we are at the Potter League with some of our furry friends and Kara Montalbano.

And she's gonna talk a little bit about adopting a bunny rabbit as maybe opposed to Guinea pigs, or any other small animals that they have here.

You might come in thinking you want a rabbit and you might say, "Well, maybe you're better suited for a Guinea pig."

Just depending on the different criteria of their situation and living at home.

So if I came in and I wanted to adopt this bunny rabbit, what would be the first thing that we would talk about?

- Sure.

So, some of the questions we ask, and a lot of people, we actually encourage them.

Sometimes they are apartment dwellers.

And rabbits are great apartment pets versus a cat or a dog or other ones.

But the cool thing about rabbits is they're super smart.

So they can learn, they can be litter box trained.

So as long as you have the space that they can either free roam for a little while or set up a decent size setup for them, they're great pets.

Period.

- Look at that little one.

- I know.

- Likes to be held.

- They're adorable.

- Not every bunny rabbit likes to be held, though.

And I think that's important for people to know, especially if they have children.

- Yep.

These guys were actually bottle fed, so they're used to being held.

They're super friendly and they're bouncing all over the place.

But rabbits, they're really cool pets.

I mean, they can learn tricks.

They can do a lot of stuff that people don't realize.

Like I said, litter box trained, which is super helpful for cleanliness.

And they love playing games, they love enrichment, and they love people.

A lot of people tend to think they're great pets for kids.

And that's fine.

I think they're great pets for kids.

But also with the understanding that they live 10 years.

They're not a Guinea pig who has a shorter lifespan.

So, as long as people understand their commitment and there is work involved in keeping them happy and healthy and their quality of life up to standard.

- As opposed to a Guinea pig, where they're a little bit more self-contained.

And so that's a little bit of a different.

- [Kara] They require less space.

I mean, Guinea pigs still require, they shouldn't have a small cage or anything like that, but rabbits do live longer.

They do require a little more space.

But they're very sweet.

- [Karen] They are very sweet.

And oh so soft.

- [Kara] They're so soft.

- [Karen] Well, if you're looking to adopt a rabbit or any other small animal, you can come in and see Kara and all of her little furry friends here.

What are the names of these three?

- Oh God.

- [Karen] I had to test you, right?

(Karen laughs) The Three Musketeers we'll call them.

- There you go.

Chase is over there.

- Chase is chasing.

That's why, right?

Well thanks, Kara, for your time.

And come in and see these little sweethearts at the Potter League.

- Thank you.

- [Karen] To watch more videos like this, visit ripbs.org/animaltalk.