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Every Easter a recurring pet fad rears its floppy ears: the rabbit. Previous pet blogger Aimee Amodio covered many details one needs to consider when getting a rabbit. Today’s blog is instead for those just curious as to whether or not their lifestyles can fit a pet rabbit at this time. I’ll cover the basics of what rabbit care will entail.
As always, the first idea to consider is for whom is the rabbit intended? Rabbits live for 5-10 years, depending on their breed and their indoor/outdoor situation. Make sure the rabbit’s intended caretaker can commit to that length of time. Also, what is the age of the recipient?
Rabbits are not great pets for small children. As cute as they are and as much as one might want to, it’s not a good idea to cuddle a rabbit as the animals don’t tend to enjoy it. It also takes a while for a rabbit to feel secure around and bonded with its owners, thus requiring a level of patience with the pet that many small children might not possess.
Is there a veterinarian in your area that can treat a rabbit? Unlike with cats and dogs, one cannot assume that all vets have enough knowledge in rabbits to give them proper medical care. First identify a reliable vet that can look after your rabbit before bringing one home.
Where will the rabbit live? If you want your rabbit to stay outside then you have two important considerations: your climate and the security of your yard. If you live in an area with colder seasons, then you’ll want to make sure there is extra hay in your rabbit’s hutch so it can stay warm in frosty weather.
Purchasing a heat lamp isn’t a bad additional idea, but check with the staff at the pet store before doing so to ensure that you can safely leave the lamp on outside for long periods of time. If you’re leaving the rabbit outside most of the time you might want to consider having a room within the house where you can keep the rabbit during cold winter nights.
Next, is your yard safe from predator animals? If it isn’t, can you place the hutch in a safe place, such as inside a shed? If you can’t guarantee that your rabbit will be safe within its hutch in your yard, then you’ll want to keep the rabbit inside.
Both house rabbits and outdoor rabbits need exercise time spent outside their cages. Be sure that you can set a couple hours aside each day to supervise your rabbit in a bunny-proofed area so it gets enough exercise.
That’s right: bunny-proofed. Rabbits love to chew. You must make sure that their cages are free of anything toxic they might ingest or sharp on which they can cut themselves when chewing (something that happened to my cousin’s childhood rabbit).
Any rooms to which the rabbits have access must also be cleared of chewable materials. In this vein, make sure that rabbits have safe wooden blocks for chewing in their hutches.
Rabbits should also be spayed or neutered. This will help with litter box training and aggression, but it’s vital if you will have more than one rabbit in a hutch together. If you want to have multiple rabbits, it’s best to get ones that already have bonded because the bonding process is slow. If you’re getting two unfamiliar rabbits, try for a male and female. Two males especially will fight, but females might also.
For more details on rabbit care, go here.
Related Articles:
How to Find a Vet for Your Exotic Pet
What to Consider When Getting a Bird
*(This image by tm_lv is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)
