Things you should know to get started right with your pet rabbit.
Congratulations on your new rabbit! Getting a new rabbit can be an exciting occasion. In order to take proper care of your rabbit here is some information that may be useful to new and experienced rabbit owners. Read the following information and enjoy many happy years with your rabbit. Wishing you the best of luck and many years of cuddles.
Food and feeding
Provide clean, fresh water at all times.
Provide good quality hay at all times. Timothy hay works best as Alfalfa hay can cause excess weight gain. Alfalfa hay is good for older rabbits or young ones that are still growing.
Rabbits don’t need salt licks. All prepared rabbit feeds have salt in them. Salt licks also ruin wire cages by rusting them. Do yourself a favor and do not worry about buying them.
For rabbits that are under 6 months old provide all the pellets that they can eat in a day. Once they get to 6 months cut back on their pellets to keep them on the skinny side. If they are still hungry they will nibble hay so don’t worry bout them as long as they aren’t skin and bones.
Slowly acclimate your rabbit to any new pelleted foods that you provide them with over the course of at least 4 days. How you do this is you put 75% of the old pellets (the ones your rabbit is use to) with 25% of the new pellets on the first day. The second day do a mixture of 50% old and 50% new food. The third day provide 75% new food and 25% old. On the fourth day you should be able to feed the new food without problems. Rabbits have very sensitive stomachs and can get sick and die if suddenly exposed to foods they aren’t use to right away. If at anytime during this process of switching foods you notice loose droppings in your rabbit then make sure they have plenty of hay, and slow the transition of foods by one day. For instance, if you are on day two and are feeding a 50%-50% mix, and on that day your rabbit develops loose droppings, then feed them all the hay they can eat, and feed them the 50%-50% the next day until all their droppings are normal. Some rabbits you may have to extend this period longer depending on how sensitive they are.
Feed in moderation. If you feed greens to your rabbit then give them a very small amount at first. If you notice that they have loose droppings, give them more fresh hay and no greens until they dry up.
Don’t feed ANY GREENS till they are 6 months old.
If you think your rabbit is growing to slow or is to skinny give him a teaspoon of rolled oats on his food every day or two. If he still doesn't gain weight it is possible that he got intestinal worms. It's rarely fatal but is a common problem among rabbits, just like with dogs or cats. I de-worm my entire rabbitry twice a year as a preventative measure and each litter gets de-wormed before I sell the bunnies to their new owners. For directions on how to de-worm your rabbits contact me or a knowledgeable veteranarian or breeder.
Housing your rabbit
Protect your rabbit from other animals. Make sure your cage is designed so raccoons and other animals can’t get in it if it’s outside. Bear in mind that rabbits can easily die from being scared to death if an animal is trying to get into their cage as well. For this reason, as well as many others, I have my rabbits in a protective barn to keep all critters away from all the cages. If anything should however get in the barn I do have very strong cages but there is a possibility that rabbits could die if a raccoon or dog got in the barn and the rabbit panicked. If you ever think your rabbit has been badly scared put it in a cool, quiet, stress free, dark spot with hay, it's favorite treat, food and water to recover and if it starts exibiting signs of shock take it to a vet immediately. Shock is often fatal and can set in then next day some times so keep a close eye on your rabbit for abnormal behavior.
Protect them from the weather. Make sure your rabbit has a section of their environment that is cozy and warm in the winter and shaded and cool in the summer. Make sure your rabbit is able to get out of direct sun and rain.
Rabbits can overheat and die from heatstroke really easily in the summer months. Put your rabbit hutch in the shade, preferably close to the ground where it is cooler.
Freeze bottles of water and put them in the cage on really hot days for your rabbit to lie next to. Make sure there is always water available to drink. NEVER let your rabbit run out of water on hot days. If you think your rabbit may be suffering from heat exhaustion or heat stroke bring them in out of the sun and rub their ears with a cool wet cloth. Take them to a rabbit savvy vet ASAP.
In the winter it gets really cold and if your rabbit has been outside all the time it will grow a very think protective winter coat to keep it warm. This coat can't however totally protect it from drafts. Most rabbits withstand cold very well. Provide a place that is draft free, snow and rain free, and with lots of hay to burrow in to keep warm and solid surfaces to sit on to warm their feet up. If you have water bottles you will have to thaw them out everyday and put lukewarm water in them for the rabbits to drink. They will not eat if they are thirsty. Make sure then can get all the water they want before it freezes at least once a day perferably twice a day. Make sure this time is the same each day so that your rabbit is better able to handle the periods at night when the bottles turn to ice and isn't overly thirsty the next day. Also please don't think that your rabbit will be able to eat ice or snow to get all the water it needs. It needs water in it's liquid form and could die of dehydration very quickly if provided with just ice and snow.
General rabbit care
Rabbits require just as much time for socialization as dogs and cats if you want them to be lovable and friendly. Do not forget this. Be sure to spend plenty of time with your rabbit daily otherwise it will get skittish, nervous and possibly aggressive. Rabbits need companionship. They don’t necessarily need to have another rabbit. Just spending quality time with you daily can be enough.
Provide a big enough area for your rabbit that they won’t get depressed from being cooped up. It is recommended that for rabbits you get a cage that is at least 4 times as long as the rabbit can hop at one time. Allow more room for rabbits that aren’t full grown yet.
Provide toys for your rabbits. Some great ideas are sticks off of fruit trees, used toilet paper tubes stuffed with hay and possibly some treats like raisins, a box of pine shavings or shredded newspaper to dig in, and an old favorite, a telephone book to tear apart. Never underestimate hay. :)
If you let your rabbit run around indoors please be sure to bunny-proof it. Don’t put your rabbit anywhere near any electrical cords that could be chewed on or near doorways that could be opened really fast crushing your rabbit. Always supervise your bunny when it is playing outside it’s cage. It just takes a couple seconds for something to go drastically wrong.
Protect your rabbit from drafts. Rabbits can get sick very easily if they have a draft pouring on them all the time that they can’t get out of. Provide plenty of ventilation, but make sure your rabbit can have somewhere warm in the winter and cool in the summer that is draft free to hide in.
Trim your rabbit’s nails every month or two depending on how fast they grow. Avoid cutting the quick (the red area of the nail). If you do don’t panic. It will bleed quite a bit but dip it in cornstarch or flour to stop the bleeding. In dark nails you can sometimes see the quick by using a flashlight. If you are nervous about cutting their nails then take them to a breeder or a veterinarian to have them show you how to do it. It’s quite easy once you get the hang of it.
If you use shavings for your rabbit DO NOT USE CEDAR. It has caused numerous upper respiratory infections in rabbits before and is extremely irritating to their lungs. Use either pine, aspen or crushed corn cobs. Some people swear by aspen because they believe pine can cause problems as well. I’ve never had a problem with pine and it is easy to get so that is what I use.
Have your rabbits spayed and neutered unless they are for breeding and showing purposes. The female rabbits can get cancer and they can get territorial and grumpy if they aren’t spayed. The males usually will spray and can get unruly from pent up frustration.
Do not breed rabbits just to have cute little babies and then sell or giveaway the ones you don’t want. There are numerous things that could go wrong with your rabbit during pregnancy and it could die. Especially if it is over 1 year old. Also there are way to many rabbits in shelters resulting from breeding getting out of hand or not being able to sell the babies. What would you do if the mother killed her first litter, or if the babies were deformed, or if the mother had stuck kits and died. Problems happen with almost every doe at least once in their breeding career. There are many other problems that could happen to. You would need to be prepared to remove the dead and deformed babies in order to protect the rest of the litter. If you want cute baby bunnies and want to see how they grow, visit an experienced breeder or start a hobby with pedigreed rabbits that you get for that purpose, not your beloved pet. It’s also very hard to find homes for extra bunnies. They don’t sell quickly. Some will but most won’t, even if they are free. Do your research. Don't think you are going to be able to make money off of selling cute little bunnies. Rarely do you break even with pedigreed show stock let alone rabbits that are bred for the fun of it.
This is not an exhaustive list of things to know. Get some rabbit books and talk to other rabbit owners if you have any questions. You are always able to contact me with your questions and I will help as well as I can.
Also consider joining a rabbit forum online. I highly recommend Rabbits Only Forum at www.rabbits-forums.com. It is a great forum with friendly people who can help with most any situation. Also lots of great rabbit pictures and stories.
I hope you found this helpful and if I missed anything that you would like me to answer please contact me. I welcome talking with you and seeing how things are going with the rabbits I sell. I would love to receive pictures and stories of how your rabbit is doing. Good luck with your bunny!
Stephanie Blomquist
Honeysuckle Rabbitry
ARBA Breeder of Mini Lop rabbits
Steph@honeysucklerabbitry.com