Basic Rabbit Care
Hello rabbit owner.
You’ve chosen a wonderful animal for a pet. Over the years I’ve been told that rabbits have no personality, but Id surely beg to differ. When I owned my small rabbitry of about 30 adults, each rabbit was quite distinct from all the rest in its demeanor.
My rabbits over the years have been very different. Our present rabbit is a character. She loves attention and I catch her watching me trying to make eye contact. Until we’ve made eye contact she doesn’t seem to think I notice her. So she’ll stand there staring at me across the room and if I turn my head and look directly at her she knows she’s got me. She’ll throw her paws up on the cage door and start ‘begging’ for whatever it is she’s trying to get.
I used to have a male rabbit years ago that learned to ring this bell that was in his cage when he wanted something. I made the mistake of stopping by the barn every time Id hear the bell ringing, so he figured out somehow that ‘ringing = getting what I want”. Sometimes I could sneak past barn if I was very quiet...but if I made any noise at all he’d start ringing that bell until I went and petted him or did whatever it was he was trying to get. Our rabbit has learned to do a similar thing. She will start throwing stuff around her cage if we leave the room for too long (she’s in our living room). She’s is going on 3 years old and is generally a good rabbit. She did get behind the tv and chew up a few wires, so she's on probation now after having been allowed to run the house for the most part for over 2 years.
I guess that brings us to the topic of the site....caring for your rabbit. Let's talk about where your rabbit is going to be, what their food will consist of and the basic overall care will be.
Shelter I guess the first thing is to decide where you’re going to keep your rabbit. Shelter is very critical if you are planning to keep your rabbit outdoors. I know some folks think that out in a barn isn’t a good idea, but I’d have to disagree as long as you are sure to keep the environment as hospitable for your rabbit as possible.
In the summer if it gets pretty hot, get a fan aimed on your bunny. They’ll love you for it. Something else that we used to do was to freeze some 2 liter soda bottles and toss them in the rabbits cages. They’ll lie up against them for the most part. Of course, one of our male dwarf rabbits a few years ago decided that the bottle was just as good as a doe....so be sure to watch out for ‘sticky’ bottles during nightly clean-ups.
Food The next thing I’d like to cover is food. Now, you might get tempted to buy some extravagant type of food, but trust me, leave that for treats and get your rabbit some decent quality pellets for every day meals. Buy a few treats at your pet store, but the pellets are a good, well-rounded food source for your pet. If you really want to give your rabbit some extra’s, get a small $3 bail Timothy Hay at the pet store or Wal-Mart...they really love the stuff. Another treat that is cheap and is a must is a box of breakfast oats. Nothing fancy...just regular old unflavored oats that you’ll find in your cereal section. Give your rabbit some of these and you’ll have a friend for life. Rabbits are pretty finicky about food. I’ve had some who loved treats while some didn’t. Our rabbit, for instance, will throw just about every treat she is given out of her bowl to get to the green pellets instead. The only thing she does like is the oats. So her diet pretty much consists of water, green pellets and oats...anything more and she seems to get irritable. Get your rabbit on a regular diet of pellets and water, with a bit of oats and Timothy hay each day and keep them on that diet. Rabbits can really get out of sorts with any diet change and its not a good situation for them or you if they get sick. Rabbits are also seemingly creatures of habit. I’ve noticed over the years that once they get into a routine, they can get a bit grumpy if their patterns disturbed. This would include their cage. They will typically get everything in their cage arranged how they want it and can get very short if anything is tampered with. our rabbit will literally growl at us if we move her tennis ball or her stick. She’s actually growled and clawed me a time or two for moving her stuff. She's very gentile and loves attention for the most part, but like a human, she just doesn’t her ‘stuff’ messed with. Give your pet rabbit some privacy of sorts, let them put things where they want them to be in their cage and don’t rearrange them. For some reason it seems to be a lot of comfort for the rabbit. Give your rabbit the same respect you’d give your dog, your cat and believe it or not, your family. Rabbits are just as moody and temperamental as any human, possibly moreso because you can’t just explain to them why you moved their stuff around in their cage after they got it just the way they wanted it.
Cage cleaning. Personally, I build my own cages. It doesn't end up being any cheaper, for the most part, but I get what *I* know I’m going to need. Tractors Supply has a great selection of cage wire if you want to go that route. Anyway, keeping the cage clean is pretty important. After you’ve had your rabbit for some time you’ll start to notice that they are grumpier when they have to sit and sniff their own urine and droppings for too long, so keep in a habit of cleaning it up at least every third day (for a single rabbit). Its best if you can find or build a cage (as we do) that has ½ inch mesh (nothing larger) for the flooring. This allows support for the rabbits feet and also lets droppings fall through so you can get a tray for easy cleanup.
Running the house. The main thing with house rabbits is to be sure that they cannot get to anything poisonous and especially that there are NO electrical wires anywhere that they can get to. Rabbits will bite through wires given enough time and opportunity. We’ve had to start keeping a close eye on our rabbit when she runs the house because she bit through wires to the dvd player and cell chargers.