Deciding to buy a rabbit

If you bought a puppy or a kitten, would you keep it in a cage? The answer to this should of course be no, and there is no reason for your rabbit to be kept in a cage either. Don’t buy a rabbit and put it in a hutch somewhere at the bottom of the garden, where it will be forgotten most of the time, and perhaps taken out occasionally for a run. Allow your rabbit to become part of your family as any pet should be. If you are unable to do this, then you should not be buying one – a puppy or kitten would probably suit you better. Even the best intentioned people neglect rabbit once the novelty of a new animal wears off, so please view buying a rabbit with the animal’s welfare in mind. Like any other pet, a rabbit is for life; not to be handed on once it becomes an inconvenience. Rabbits can be the most endearing little animals and become part of your family, but they can’t do it if you don’t give them the opportunity.

Understanding your rabbit

If you have decided that a rabbit is what you want, there are a few things you need to know. Firstly, don’t apply what you know about cats and dogs to your new rabbit. Rabbits are “prey” animals, which is quite different from “predatory” cats and dogs. Almost everything that moves can be a predator to your rabbit, including you. This means that your rabbit will instinctively be timid and easily frightened, and discipline is out of the question – your rabbit will simply not understand, and only become frightened and withdraw. Even a territorial rabbit that bites will not understand discipline, but if you treat your rabbit as being an animal that has been abused, and treat it accordingly. This is particularly relevant if your rabbit has come to you as an adult animal.

Your rabbit will also make a better pet if it is desexed – both male and female rabbit will be less territorial and more settled.

Living with a house rabbit

Rabbits are timid, gentle, curious, and affectionate if given the opportunity. When your rabbit licks you, feel privileged. It is an open display of trust and affection. They adapt easily to living in your home and are suited to quiet households, and contrary to popular belief, are better pets of adults than children.

Teaching your rabbit to use a litter tray

Like cats, rabbits can be easily trained to use a litter tray. They will almost certainly use a tray that has the smell of droppings or urine in it already. Choose a place away from their food and water bowls, preferably in a corner. If however, your rabbit chooses its own location, then you will probably have to put the litter tray there. An argument with your rabbit over location probably won’t achieve anything, except an agitated rabbit and soiled floor coverings. I have found commercial recycled paper litter to be the most effective because it is more absorbent. Don’t use “clumping” litter – although I have never had a rabbit that eats litter, it has been known to happen with disastrous results. Clumping litter swells in size and “clumps” once ingested, causing terrible complications/death.

Does (female rabbits) are the homemakers of the bunny world and therefore the ones most likely to dig, so if she chooses to dig the litter out of her tray, try placing a rectangular cake rack on top of the litter, making sure it is at least level with, or mainly covered by, the litter, so that it is not obvious to your rabbit. You don’t want to make it obvious or it may put her off using the tray. The cake rack is just to make it more difficult to dig and should eventually put her off. When the need to dig from her litter tray subsides, the cake rack can be removed. A doe instinctively needs to create a home (burrow) for her offspring and when she comes into season, digging (even in her litter tray) will be foremost on her mind. Desexing will subdue her need to dig so frequently.

Handling your rabbit

Contrary to public perception, rabbits do not make good pets for children, particularly young children, because they naturally want to hold and hug their rabbit, but this is instinctively threatening to the rabbit. This however, does not mean that children can’t learn to live with rabbits (as opposed to rabbits learning to live with children), but it does mean the child must be taught that the animal is not a cuddly toy and must be treated differently from a cat of dog. Always remember that because your rabbit is a prey animal, it will not like being held. This does not mean you cannot love and pat your rabbit; on the contrary most really enjoy affection because it helps them feel secure, but instead of picking your rabbit up, go down to your rabbit’s level, on the ground or floor, and make a fuss of it there where it can enjoy the attention without felling threatened. You need to understand that this is an instinctive feeling for the rabbit and has nothing to do with you personally. It’s part of being a prey animal and having an instinctive need to survive – being held is like being “captured”.

On the occasions when you do pick your rabbit up, never ever pick it up by the ears (magicians have a lot to answer for!) Always use both hands, and always use one hand to hold the bulk of the animal’s weight (the bottom) so that the backbone is supported (this is very important.) I have found rabbits are always calmer when held with all 4 feet resting on my chest. Something solid under their feet gives them some security.

Rabbits need to chew

One of the drawbacks of having a house rabbit is that they need to chew and sometimes this can be your furniture, however you can minimise this and often it will not be a problem at all. Rabbits’ teeth continue to grow throughout their life, so they have to chew; never ever growl at your rabbit for chewing, not even the furniture. It’s like growling at your dog for wagging its tail. Just hold your temper and remove your rabbit from the precious piece of furniture he is chewing. If your rabbit has an interesting life as part of the family and if you always have chewable toys, or a piece of untreated, unpainted wood available that belong just to your rabbit, chewing the legs of the sofa should not be a problem (not as often anyway.) A piece of firewood is ideal. A cardboard box is good chewable material too.

Teeth

Your rabbit’s teeth must be checked regularly; make a point of doing this at least annually when your rabbit has its calici virus vaccination. Remember, their teeth continue to grow throughout their life, which is why having a piece of wood available to chew is so important, and if their teeth are not well aligned their ‘bite’ is not even, and their teeth can grow to the extent where they are unable to eat and if this goes unnoticed, they will quite literally starve. If you have more than one rabbit, don’t make the mistake of believing all is well, just because the food has been eaten. One greedy rabbit is quite capable of eating for two. Make a point of regularly observing that both rabbits are eating the food you give them.





Safety and those teeth!

Electric cords which are unable to be kept behind furniture, can also present an obvious problem for your rabbit if chewed, but protection is available from an electrical store, in the form of hard plastic sleeving (manufactured by Clipsal) which can be placed around the cord. This sleeving comes in approximately 3-4m lengths (around $25) and can be easily cut with a hacksaw. It is in two parts which snap shut, protecting the cord which lies in the centre. This is an excellent idea for anyone who owns a cord chewing dog, or who has young children with a liking for scissors.

Feeling Secure

Your rabbit will need his own basket which should ideally be the plastic tub type (your rabbit will eat his way through a cane basket in no time!) Place the basket under something which will give your rabbit the feeling of protection – remember, your rabbit is a prey animal and needs to feel secure. A coffee table is ideal. Another good idea in addition to a basket, is to give your rabbit a cardboard box large enough for him to sit inside – cut out 2 entry points, on different sides – a prey animal feels more secure with a second, emergency exit. I gave my rabbit a cardboard box, but he never went near it until I put in a second entry/exit point. Now it’s his favourite place.

• Some rabbits are afraid to hop on polished floors because as prey animals, the slippery surface makes them feel insecure, because they are unable to get good traction, and therefore a quick escape.

• I’ve found most rabbits don’t bother hopping onto furniture, but prefer being at ground level and often under things – it feels safer for them.

• Make sure the toilet seat is down. I know of at least one owner who came home to find her rabbit wet, and the only source of water in the house was the toilet bowl.

There are very few true experts on rabbit behaviour. I have yet to find even one. So, when your rabbit does something which is out of the ordinary, it may take a while to understand, if ever. For example, one of my rabbits sleeps on the bed every night and if I acknowledge his presence by talking to him or patting him during the night, he will wee on the bed. He won’t do this once the alarm goes off, and won’t do it once it is daylight. If I don’t acknowledge him during the night he remains well behaved and only does wee in his litter tray. I believe it is some form of territorial marking, but I may never fully understand this odd behavioural need. It took a lot of washing before I worked out how to stop it.

Toys

Just like cats and dogs, rabbits like toys:

• A pine cone or two

• Plastic containers which are small enough for them to pick up with their teeth (margarine tubs or babies’ bath toys)

• A small untreated cane bowl to chew

• An old phone book to chew

• A pile of newspapers to shred

• Small cardboard boxes to toss around

• Cardboard rolls from papers towels

• A towel to scrunch up

When I light the fire, I bring out a small cane tub which contains about half a dozen pine cones. One of my rabbits enjoys tipping it over, scattering the pine cones, then chasing them around the room. It’s a ritual we have most nights during winter, before he settles down to sleep in front of the fire.

Protection from predators

If you have a house rabbit, it is also nice for them to have time in the garden, but always remember that your neighbour’s cat or dog can kill your rabbit. Even if a cat has a gently disposition, it can still terrorise your rabbit just by its presence, so supervise your rabbit’s time outside in the garden, if it is impossible to protect your backyard against the intrusion of cats (which is usually the case.) Your back yard also needs to be “rabbit proof” to keep your rabbit from getting out. It only takes a few centimetres of soil to be dug out for your rabbit to escape. Her are three ways to do this:

a) Buying garden edging immediately below the fence (as a continuation of the fence)

b) Placing a line of bricks or pavers flush with the ground along the fence line

c) Laying a strip of wire netting on the ground adjacent to the fence and attaching it to the base of the fence

Bunnies can also eat a hole in a brush fence, so you may need to run 30cm, of netting across the bottom if you have this type of fence.

I have a small, high-fenced, courtyard-style back yard to my home unit and my rabbits have access to it through a “pet door” (rabbits will happily learn to use a pet door) and the area is small enough for me to see that they are safe from inside the house. Even so, cats still remain a danger, so I am never far away when my rabbits are outside. If you have a larger back yard, with a little thought, it is possible to section off a portion and give your rabbit access to it through a pet door and/or “cat park” tunnel, if access is not directly available. These are designed for cats, but there is no reason why they can’t be used for your rabbit. Proper “cat parks” on a larger scale can provide a range of options, designed specifically to suit your home and will keep your rabbit safe.

If you install a pet door, it needs to “look different” when it is locked, from when it is unlocked, or your rabbit may become confused and frightened. Once again, this is a prey animal reaction. When I lock my pet door, I place something in front so my rabbits know it is off-limits.

You can have a rabbit and a garden

It is possible to have a rabbit and a garden, however there are a few restrictions. My garden consists of lots of hanging baskets, and plants which my rabbits either won’t or can’t eat – anything that grows without greenery at the bottom, i.e. climbing roses, palms, camellias, any standard plants like roses, fuchsias, gardenias, etc, are ‘rabbit-safe’ plants.

If your rabbit starts ring-barking your standard roses, just wrap a single layer of wire netting around the lowest 30cm (this will barely be noticeable.) My garden is also full of flowers (Impatiens) at ground (or bunny level) – my rabbits won’t eat them.

Be careful of poisonous plants like azalea, daphne, ivy, elephant ears, oleander – check with your vet (or nursery) if unsure. Also be careful not to lay snail bait, or use poisonous sprays on areas where your rabbit has access.

If at all possible, your female rabbit will be happier if she can have a small area where she can dig. It does not have to be large; just a small patch of dirt or a mound, out of view behind a shrub will keep her happy. It would however be wise to lay some wire netting a few centimetres underneath so she doesn’t dig to China. My female (desexed) rabbit only digs occasionally in a small patch about half a square metre – once her behavioural need was satisfied by digging a small hole, she was happy and gave it away. Now and again she will go back and move the soil around a little. Never growl at your rabbit for digging.

Long haired rabbits

If you have bought a long haired rabbit, you have brought home a high-maintenance animal and will probably end up paying more veterinary bills than you had planned. Rabbits will groom themselves, but unlike cats, they are unable to vomit their fur up. My advice if your have a long haired rabbit, is to cut it, and cut it regularly. Even if you groom your rabbit daily to remove knots, your rabbit will eventually get a bowel or a stomach full of fur and if untreated, can kill your rabbit. It is believed by some that pineapple/pineapple juice may help the problem, so include this in your rabbit’s diet if he has a liking for pineapple.

My long haired rabbit gets trimmed (with scissors) every 3 weeks. This is a job for an adult, not a child. I have found under the chin to be the most difficult area to trim: a) because of the many ‘folds’ of skin and b) because this is the location of the jugular, and you must remember that you are asking a prey animal to make itself vulnerable by exposing its neck. Trimming under the chin can be done by turning your rabbit onto its back and holding it like a baby, then letting its head tilt slowly back, but putting your rabbit in this position takes care and experience. I suggest you ask your vet to either show you how to do this, or else have your vet shave your rabbit under the chin in the surgery. Which ever way you look at it, long haired rabbits are hard work.

What to feed your rabbit

Make sure you wash all fruit and vegetable, and don’t give your rabbit second-grade food if you want it to remain healthy.

Apples Banana
Pears Peas
Celery Celery leaves
Broccoli Spinach
Commercial pellets Apricots
Carrots Silver beet
Lucerne hay Peaches
Sweetcorn Carrot tops
Meadow hay Nectarines
Beans Parsley
Pineapple Pineapple juice

Fresh, clean water should always be available.

My average sized rabbit (3 kg) may have for example:

In the morning
A small handful of carrot tops
A medium sized carrot
1 small piece of banana (about 2cm)

At night
1 dessertspoon of commercial pellets (every night) with a few sultanas and half an almond
Half an apple

Lettuce has been left off the list, because it has little nutritional value. Feed it by all means, but feed it in addition to other food, not “instead of.” I was told by a veterinarian that he had a rabbit brought into his surgery that had been fed only lettuce – she was literally dying of malnutrition. Her well intentioned owners did not know any better.

Cabbage, cauliflower and cauliflower leaves have also been left off the list because they can cause bloat. Vegetables which belong to the turnip family have caused poisoning in other animals so it is risky to feed these to your rabbit.

Baled Lucerne hay is very good for your rabbit and some pet stores sell it in sections. A small handful is enough. Hiding some Lucerne inside a cardboard paper towel roll can keep your rabbit occupied for some time.

Thistles are popular with all rabbits, but because they are considered weeds, only collect these from your own garden unless you are absolutely certain they have not been sprayed with poison.

Treats

I give my rabbits treats every day.

Sultanas
Almonds (high in fat so only give ½ an almond once or twice a day)
A small portion of a piece of dried fruit(apricot, apple, pear, etc)
*Small piece of bread
*Small piece of a dry biscuit, e.g. Jatz
*(only give occasionally)

Your rabbit may not show any interest in sultanas at first, but if you put a couple in with his pellets each day, they will eventually be eaten and it won’t be long before he comes hopping when you rattle the sultana jar.

Veterinary Care

My experience has shown that you may have to do a bit of searching to find a veterinarian who is really familiar with rabbits and their problems. Given the thousands of rabbits living in any city you care to name, one could naturally assume that all veterinarians would know all about rabbits, but through no fault of their own, I have found this not to be the case. I think it stems from the way many owners treat their rabbits – they simply don’t take them to the vet. Many are left in tiny hutches at the bottom of the garden without any interaction with their owners, so when they become sick, no one notices. Consequently a great “cat and dog” vet may not necessarily have much experience with rabbits. I have been to some vets who felt their expertise in rabbits was lacking, but were professional enough to refer me to another surgery, so don’t hesitate to get a second opinion if you feel dissatisfied with the care your rabbit is receiving.

Rabbits succumb quickly to illness and disease, so if your rabbit is off its food but shows no other signs of distress/behavioural change (e.g. continually returning to the litter tray, which may mean a bowel blockage,) watch it carefully, and if by the time the next feed is due and it still does not want to eat, take it to a vet. Don’t wait to “see what happens”.

Fleas

Almost all products on the market are designed for cats and dogs and can be fatal to rabbits, so be careful of any product you use – “less is best,” so minimise the amount used, especially if the rabbit is small, beware of ingestion through grooming/scratching then licking feet (as rabbits tend to do,) follow direction diligently, and check with your veterinarian AND the manufacturer before using anything.

Calici Virus Vaccination

This is needed annually. It would be wise to have your veterinarian give your rabbit a complete check-up when you take it in for vaccination. Also get toenails clipped, and don’t forget those continually growing teeth!

Breeding your rabbit

Don’t. The SPCA and Animal Welfare League have enough to do with unwanted and uncared for animals. Even the best intentioned people neglect rabbits, so don’t add to the chain of misery.

An outside rabbit

If you have decided that you want a rabbit, but there is no way it’s going to live inside the house, you still have an obligation to give your rabbit a good quality of life. This means as large an area as possible for a proper run, and you should let your rabbit out regularly for a wander in the garden. Imprisoning a rabbit in isolation, when its only crime has been to appear so cute and adorable that your child had to have it , is no way to educate your child on how to care for an animal, so make an effort to house your rabbit properly.

Rabbits are social animals and it’s cruel to keep them in isolation, so if you are not prepared to include your rabbit as a member of the family, your should get it a companion; preferably another rabbit. A male and a female, both of which have been desexed, are the best companions. Two males will probably fight, as will two females. Litter mates can sometimes bond without fighting, but is not guaranteed. When you introduce rabbits, do it on neutral ground, i.e. don’t take one rabbit into another ‘s territory.

A word of caution: don’t let anyone except your veterinarian determine what sex your rabbits are, and remember that rabbits can breed from an early age (4 months.) It’s safer to think of your rabbits as being older than you have been told! It is definitely not a fallacy that rabbits breed prolifically! More than one litter of rabbits has been produced by two rabbits supposedly of the same sex, so on your way home with your new rabbits, go via your veterinary surgery just to be safe!

As already mentioned, rabbits, particularly the females, will dig, so make sure the surface of the run is rabbit proof. Wire netting underneath several centimetres of soil should be enough and perhaps incorporate measures illustrated in sketches 1, 2 or 3. Don’t use traditional wire netting (chicken wire) to enclose the run – it’s much too pliable and can be torn apart by a dog or fox (foxes are present in some suburban areas.) Given enough time, your rabbit may also chew through standard chicken wire.

Contrary to public perception (yet again!) rabbits are not hardy, and suffer from both heat and cold. When rabbits are in their natural environment, their homes are nests of dry grass in underground burrows, well away from weather extremes, so it is necessary that you provide equivalent protection from the weather in an unnatural domestic situation.

Your rabbits’ run should be under cover and protected from strong winds and rain/flooding in winter, and shaded from the heat in summer (a plastic bottle filled with water and frozen can be put in the run for your rabbit to lie against on hot days.) Ideally in winter they should be shut in at night.* This can be within their run in a smaller, warmer area which has a thick straw bed, and is either enclosed or can be covered (e.g. with a tarpaulin.) Hutches can be bought from pet shops to serve this purpose, although these are often too small, so buy wisely (your pet shop manager may be able to have a more suitable size made for you.) Don’t buy a metal hutch; these are hot in summer and cold in winter and have the potential to cause your rabbit to suffer quite seriously. Elevating the hutch off the ground to ensure it remains dry is a good idea; a couple of bricks at each corner is sufficient, and inserting a pet door into the hutch will give your rabbit access to it during the day.

*In a natural warren situation, rabbits take turns keeping watch for danger, so, being the only 2 rabbits in their warren, they will be torn between wanting to stay together, but also having an instinctive need for one of them to keep watch, so they will both remain outside at night even if they are cold.

Myxomatosis (carried by mosquitoes/fleas) will kill your rabbit. Immunization is not publicly available so your run will need to be mosquito proof. Natural therapy protection is also available, so check with a naturopath or a vet who practises natural therapies. I am not aware how effective this is. Rosemary, Sage and Pelargonium are believed to repel mosquitoes and can be planted around or close to the run. Again, I do not know how effective this is.

The run and hutch should always be cleaned regularly – a minimum of once a week. A litter tray placed in the toilet area will make daily cleaning easy.

Environmental Enrichment

Your rabbits’ run should not be bare and barren. Incorporate some interest by adding a mound of soil – if you have a doe she will appreciate being able to dig in this – some boxes to climb on, and of course cardboard boxes with 2 entry points. Lay a length of PVC drainage pipe (wide enough for your rabbits to enter without getting stuck) so that it is flush with the ground and allows your rabbits to enter from either end (1m for one rabbit of 1.5m for two rabbits.) Lay the pipe so that it does not allow water to pond. Your rabbits should enjoy lying in this and it may also reduce your doe’s need to dig. Also, if the unthinkable happens and a predator enters the run, this will give your rabbits some form of protection.

Give your rabbits toys and change these around, e.g. some pine cones for a few days, then replace with a pile of newspaper they can shred. It is imperative that you spend time with your rabbits if they are to be kept in an outside run, or they will withdraw from your presence. If you don’t do this, there is no point in even having pet rabbits. Visit regularly with the sultana jar and your rabbits will look forward to seeing you.

Wendy Parsons
Copyright W Parsons 2001
Updated 19/04/02
rabbitby2@hotmail.com
rabbit@picknowl.com.au

A web site you might find interesting http://au.geocities.com/mbunnyau/rabbits.html