basic tips on caring for your pet rabbit

The most important part of a rabbit’s diet is hay, preferably good quality grass or oaten hay. This should be provided in unlimited quantities. Rabbit also need a variety of salad greens, averaging about two cups, each day. Include endive, bok choy, choy sum, celery (cut stalks to avoid troubles with the string), cos lettuce and herbs - parsleys, mint, basil, coriander, etc. Treat foods, such as carrot, apple and sultanas should be limited to a teaspoon per day, or your rabbit may develop disease including gut problems, and dental disease. Pellets (developed to rapidly fatten meat rabbits) can make rabbits unhealthily overweight, so limit these to a maximum of quarter of a cup a day. If you do not feed pellets, unlimited hay and varied salads, will provide for essential fats in your bunny’s diet.

Increasingly, rabbits are being kept indoors as House Rabbits. This increases the companionship value for both human and rabbit, as well as the longevity and safety of the rabbit. If your rabbit is indoors, you will find hours of enjoyment and pleasure in interacting with these amazing animals. Rabbits can and do safely live with other house pets, such as dogs, cats and birds, but electrical cords (aka tree roots) need to be protected from your naturally-burrowing friend. Rabbits litter train very easily (if desexed), as they are naturally very clean animals. They can be house-trained no matter what age, or what life experience they have.

If your rabbit is outside, ensure s/he is in a draught-proof home, with plenty of space for play, hay for warmth, and preferably a companion. A secure place to hide and mosquito-proofing are a must in an outside rabbit home. Care should be taken in warm weather to keep rabbits cool and prevent heat stress which can be fatal.

The average lifespan for a rabbit kept outdoors is on average little more than twelve months. Rabbits kept as house rabbits can live to their teenage years. This may be due to a number of factors, but the two most likely are the rapid detection of indoor rabbits’ health problems, and the house rabbits' relatively safety from predators, shocks, fright, and stress, which can kill these gentle animals.

Like dogs and cats, rabbits require an annual vaccination and health check, and should be desexed at about six months of age, 4 months for males. Regular nail clipping and checking for overgrown or malacluded teeth is also recommended. Owners need to be alert and prepared for the signs of the ‘silent killer’of rabbits, Gastrointestinal Stasis (where the gut stops moving), and be able to offer supportive care for their rabbit until veterinary treatment can be found. Intensive nursing at home by the owner is very often needed.

Many vets are not familiar with common rabbit diseases and problems, so a vet with extensive rabbit experience, or willingness to consult with a rabbit-experienced vet, is a must for the rabbit lover.

Rabbits love to play and you will find a wealth of toys make a happy bunny. Chew toys, like grass mats, telephone books and hay-stuffed cardboard rolls are a favourite. Toss toys, such as cardboard rolls or hard plastic baby toys are great fun. Cardboard boxes with two entry points, and tunnels to play in remind bunnies of burrows. Many rabbits also enjoy free-ranging supervised runs outside in an enclosed garden. Wild springs in the air, 90° turns and runs, and shakes of the head, known as binkies, indicate a happy rabbit, as does the "Bunny Flop/Roll".

Rabbits naturally live in groups, so it is kinder for your bunny to have another rabbit for company. A partner ensures play, recreation and companionship for times when you are not at home. A partner may die of grief following the death of their ‘spouse’, so watch your bereaved rabbit carefully - you may need to get him/her another lover.

Rabbits are prey animals, the bottom of the food chain. They are alert to loud or sudden noises, and to creatures that are large, quick or erratic in their movements. The best way to befriend your rabbit is to get down to his/her level (floor/ground) and interact the lagomorph way - gentle petting over eyes, ears and face, as demonstrated by observing bonded pairs. Rabbits do not generally like to be held, but when this is necessary, speak gently and quietly, support the rabbit’s back end and place all four feet against your chest.

It is highly recommended that you do not try to breed your rabbit. There are countless dumped rabbits euthanased in shelters across Australia, a sad result of indiscriminate breeding. Rabbits live longer, happier and safer lives if desexed at about six months of age. In particular, rates of uterine cancer for female rabbits over three years have been put as high as 80%.

Contrary to persistent mythology, rabbits do not make good pets for children. A rabbit requires a sensitive, quiet, gentle and alert owner who is knowledgeable about his/her rabbit’s needs and natural fears. By sharing life with rabbits, children can be taught respect, gentleness and fun, but this should always be on the rabbit’s terms and with a responsible adult as primary caretaker.

Free rabbit "care and info." packs available and to discuss anything further about rabbit care, health, behaviour, nail clipping, coat clipping (long coats), referral to a rabbit-savvy vet and/or good quality hay/pellet supplier, please contact:

Angie Fenton

Educator and Bunny Lover From Heaven

Australian Companion Rabbit Society Inc.

PH: 03 9783 5997

M: 0419 500 497

E: angiecare@hotmail.com

Recommended websites:

Australian Companion Rabbit Society Inc.                                                                                               www.rabbit.org.au   

House Rabbit Society USA                                                                                                                         www.rabbit.org 

RabRefs:                                                                          http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rabcare.html#gencare