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| Basic Rabbit Care |
Basic Rabbit Care
A rabbit can be a wonderful pet if given the chance to interact with
you and your family. There's a lot to learn about these intriguing
creatures if you are a first-time rabbit owner. This will get you
started.
Many people get a pet rabbit on an impulse. Like any pet, it is best
to learn rabbit care information and prepare for it before you bring
it home. Pet rabbit lifespan is an average of 6 to 8 years, although
some live to 10 or even 15 years occasionally. Rabbits that are
kept in controlled environments and have been spayed or neutered
can live 8 to 12 years on average. There are a lot of things that
factor into a rabbit's lifespan, like environment, genetics, care
received, breeding and more.
Rabbit care involves three main considerations. Food, water,
shelter. You will also need to give your bunny toys and attention.
Cleaning is very important and must be done regularly.
Please do not buy a pet rabbit from a fair or hardware store for
Easter. These rabbits are usually not healthy. When buying a
rabbit you must not purchase one on impulse. Do YOUR homework
as a parent and go to a breeder where you can see where the
rabbit came from. The breeder should have clean, healthy, easy to
handle rabbits. The breeder should also be knowledgeable. Ask
the breeder questions on how to care for your new rabbit. The
breeder should provide you and your child a care sheet/booklet
and give you some food to mix with the food of your choice to
transition the bunny without causing problems with the bunny's
digestive system. You don't want to purchase a rabbit that is sick
and/or not properly cared for or you will end up with a dead rabbit.
Remember rabbits can hide disease and a breeder that invests in
rabbits is not going to buy sick rabbits that will infect the herd and
loose their investment.
Housing
All rabbits need their OWN rabbit cage or space. You will find
information on rabbit housing on the rabbit cage page of this web
site. Housing should be your first consideration aside from the type
of rabbit you would like to have. Big rabbits need more space to
live in than dwarf rabbits. Rabbits are very susceptible to heat
stroke. In fact, hot weather is far more dangerous to them than cold
weather. They should be placed in a shady area so they are not in
the direct sun during the warmest parts of the day. Every so often
your rabbit's cage does need to be sanitized. More information on
cleaning cages is located on the cleaning page. You may want to
get a litter box that either goes in the corner of the cage or a cat
box that sits in the room (s) where the bunny comes out to play.
See the litter box training page for more information.
Feeding
Hay is the staple of your rabbits diet. Feed a handful of orchard
grass mix hay daily. Never feed alfalfa hay as it is too rich. You
can buy a bale of hay or get smaller bags if you don't have the
space to store a bale. Keep the bale clean and dry. Do not feed
round cattle bales of hay. Choose a rabbit alfalfa pellet with 16
percent protein of less. Keep it dry and never feed your rabbit
moldy feed moldy food to your rabbit. Rabbits are herbivores with a
very unique digestive system. This makes it very important to feed
them the proper types of foods so they thrive. It doesn't take much
to disrupt a rabbit's digestive system, so pay close attention to what
you feed your pet. Feeding pet rabbits properly will help keep them
healthy. Rabbits are herbivores, which means they only eat plants.
In the wild, rabbits will eat shoots, leaves, bark and roots of various
plants they find. Domestic rabbits can't forage for themselves, so
they depend upon people to feed them what they need. Plants that
your bunny can eat and plants that are poison can be found on
the plant page.
Grooming:
Rabbits need their nails trimmed on a regular basis. See the nail
clipping page on how to clip your rabbits nails. Dry shampoo made
for cats and small animals is also something you may want to keep
on hand. Water bathing a rabbit is not recommended. A slicker
brush will be needed during a molt which happens twice a year.
See the grooming page for more information on rabbit grooming.
Toys
A rabbit toy will ensure that your rabbit does not get bored when
left in their hutch. Although people often feel that rabbits are not an
animal that enjoy toys, you will be surprised. Rabbits are very
intelligent active pets that need plenty to do and love having items
to play with and enjoy. There are toys you can make yourself from
household items or you can buy toys from a store for you bun. See
the toys page for more ideas.
More Information
I will expand on the information presented here on other pages of
this web site. I will provide links to other sources of information. I
encourage you to purchase a book on Dwarf Holland Lops or read
books at your local library.
.
A rabbit can be a wonderful pet if given the chance to interact with
you and your family. There's a lot to learn about these intriguing
creatures if you are a first-time rabbit owner. This will get you
started.
Many people get a pet rabbit on an impulse. Like any pet, it is best
to learn rabbit care information and prepare for it before you bring
it home. Pet rabbit lifespan is an average of 6 to 8 years, although
some live to 10 or even 15 years occasionally. Rabbits that are
kept in controlled environments and have been spayed or neutered
can live 8 to 12 years on average. There are a lot of things that
factor into a rabbit's lifespan, like environment, genetics, care
received, breeding and more.
Rabbit care involves three main considerations. Food, water,
shelter. You will also need to give your bunny toys and attention.
Cleaning is very important and must be done regularly.
Please do not buy a pet rabbit from a fair or hardware store for
Easter. These rabbits are usually not healthy. When buying a
rabbit you must not purchase one on impulse. Do YOUR homework
as a parent and go to a breeder where you can see where the
rabbit came from. The breeder should have clean, healthy, easy to
handle rabbits. The breeder should also be knowledgeable. Ask
the breeder questions on how to care for your new rabbit. The
breeder should provide you and your child a care sheet/booklet
and give you some food to mix with the food of your choice to
transition the bunny without causing problems with the bunny's
digestive system. You don't want to purchase a rabbit that is sick
and/or not properly cared for or you will end up with a dead rabbit.
Remember rabbits can hide disease and a breeder that invests in
rabbits is not going to buy sick rabbits that will infect the herd and
loose their investment.
Housing
All rabbits need their OWN rabbit cage or space. You will find
information on rabbit housing on the rabbit cage page of this web
site. Housing should be your first consideration aside from the type
of rabbit you would like to have. Big rabbits need more space to
live in than dwarf rabbits. Rabbits are very susceptible to heat
stroke. In fact, hot weather is far more dangerous to them than cold
weather. They should be placed in a shady area so they are not in
the direct sun during the warmest parts of the day. Every so often
your rabbit's cage does need to be sanitized. More information on
cleaning cages is located on the cleaning page. You may want to
get a litter box that either goes in the corner of the cage or a cat
box that sits in the room (s) where the bunny comes out to play.
See the litter box training page for more information.
Feeding
Hay is the staple of your rabbits diet. Feed a handful of orchard
grass mix hay daily. Never feed alfalfa hay as it is too rich. You
can buy a bale of hay or get smaller bags if you don't have the
space to store a bale. Keep the bale clean and dry. Do not feed
round cattle bales of hay. Choose a rabbit alfalfa pellet with 16
percent protein of less. Keep it dry and never feed your rabbit
moldy feed moldy food to your rabbit. Rabbits are herbivores with a
very unique digestive system. This makes it very important to feed
them the proper types of foods so they thrive. It doesn't take much
to disrupt a rabbit's digestive system, so pay close attention to what
you feed your pet. Feeding pet rabbits properly will help keep them
healthy. Rabbits are herbivores, which means they only eat plants.
In the wild, rabbits will eat shoots, leaves, bark and roots of various
plants they find. Domestic rabbits can't forage for themselves, so
they depend upon people to feed them what they need. Plants that
your bunny can eat and plants that are poison can be found on
the plant page.
Grooming:
Rabbits need their nails trimmed on a regular basis. See the nail
clipping page on how to clip your rabbits nails. Dry shampoo made
for cats and small animals is also something you may want to keep
on hand. Water bathing a rabbit is not recommended. A slicker
brush will be needed during a molt which happens twice a year.
See the grooming page for more information on rabbit grooming.
Toys
A rabbit toy will ensure that your rabbit does not get bored when
left in their hutch. Although people often feel that rabbits are not an
animal that enjoy toys, you will be surprised. Rabbits are very
intelligent active pets that need plenty to do and love having items
to play with and enjoy. There are toys you can make yourself from
household items or you can buy toys from a store for you bun. See
the toys page for more ideas.
More Information
I will expand on the information presented here on other pages of
this web site. I will provide links to other sources of information. I
encourage you to purchase a book on Dwarf Holland Lops or read
books at your local library.
.
© 2006-2011 Bunny Trail Farm.
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