Rabbit Review

Overall Rating

Quiet
Tame when handled enough
Playful.

Expensive.
Needs a lot of room.
NOT good pets for children.
Time consuming
...did I mention expensive?

Well, everyone has this image that rabbits are cute, fluffy, cheap and gentle animals, they are NOT! If you want a pet to cuddle and hold, don't get a rabbit, they are prey animals and don't enjoy being 'caught'.

Now don't get me wrong I love rabbits and have two at the minute and I love them to pieces but I see no point in being biased the fact is rabbits are not like what the majority of people think.

Rabbits need company of other rabbits - two males (bucks) will most likely fight and will need to get neutered by a good vet (it is pretty cheap). Two females (does) may also fight and are prone to womb cancers so MUST be spayed, again by a good vet. The best way is to buy a friendly male maybe from a rescue which has already been neutered and let him settle in then go out and find him a girlfriend of course she will have to be spayed as well. Some rescues have male and females already bonded and neutered best go to them it is the easiest way!
If you buy babies you will soon be experiencing the teenage tantrums and rabbits from three months on will normally display this. You may find this in the form of spraying urine, grunting, biting, charging and dominance! So now you can see what I mean about not the gentle pets everyone thinks! Neutering males and spaying females will basically stop all this and the rabbits will not suffer from cancers, sexual frustration etc.
If you are new to rabbits get adults (from a rescue) as then you will not need to go through the teenage tantrums!

Now rabbits are not cheap! For a start they need a really good sized enviroment and their cage should be tall enough for them to stand up on their 'tip-toes' and big enough for them to hop, lie down, stretch etc. If they are to be outside, the best home for them is a good quality shed, at least 6ft by 4ft as this means no dogs, foxes can get in, they will be dry and warm in winter! If you don't have room for a shed or really want a hutch, well, get as big a one as you can afford it should be sturdy with good locks, a bed area and a waterproof roof! In winter you will need to insulate the hutch as well so as the rabbits don't freeze. In summer they will have to be kept in the shade and the hutch needs to be cleaned twice a day where they pee and poop (rabbits are clean animals and pee and poop in one area) because the smell will attract flys and if the flys lay eggs on the rabbits then your pets will suffer from flystrike, which can be deadly!!!!! Also a sturdy, waterproof run should be provided and both should be lifted of the floor (rabbits will dig out if left on the lawn!!).

Now for the diet, it is pretty simple, 80% hay, NOT straw, not pre-packaged rabbit mix, HAY! The best hay is timothy hay or oat hay or if they are unavailable meadow hay is alright and the most common! Remember adult rabbits require a low calcium diet so alfalfa hay is only OK for babies (under six months). Rabbit mix should be around 1/4 of a cup for small rabbits, and 1/2 a cup for larger rabbits. This will make up around 10% of their diet. NOTE: Buy a good quality rabbit pellet, avoid the mixes, rabbits will only eat their favourites, causing obesity and a diet lacking in nutrients. Good pellets should be high in fibre, low in protein! Yes, thats right, low in protein, rabbits are herbivores (infact vegans)and therefore in the wild they have evolved to require low protein diets, unlike dogs and cats which eat meat which is packed full of protein!
The rest of the diet should be made up of safe, fresh vegetables! About two cups daily per rabbit, see how this all adds up....Safe veggies include brocoili, carrot (small amounts, very sugary), celery, carrot tops (the nice green leafy bits), cucumber, *spinach and *kale (*-feed no more than twice a week), parsely, corriander, basil, tomato, nasturtuim leaves and flowers, dandilion leaves, white clover and leaves, bok choi and pak choi. NOTE: introduce veggies slowly, in small amounts, one at a time or runny poops will occur.
Fruit can be fed in small amounts, one small bit daily, either one small slice of apple/pear, one grape, one strawberry, 2-3 blueberries.
Avoid all pet store treats - they are full of sugar and often have milk-remember rabbits are vegans, they cannot digest lactose (found in milk) and chocolate is very harmful to them, not only because of the milk content.....
Fresh water daily is vital, and those vitamins and minerals that can be bought at petshops in liquid form are not needed if the rabbits are fed the proper diet!

Toys are important as rabbits do have a fun, 'puppyish' character and toys are VITAL to keep them so you should provide one toy for each of these activities-chewing, flipping/tossing and nudging. Safe toys include untreated willow/wicker baskets, wooden chews, untreated apple tree branch (NOT cherry), willow balls, parrot rope toys, sturdy plastic balls and cardboard loo/kitchen roll tubes.

Rabbits need three hours, yes three hours daily outside of their cage and should be groomed once or twice a week to get rid of hair which they shed (more often for long haird breeds), vaccinated once a year against VHD and Myxomatosis (twice a year for those in 'High Risk' areas) and should be spayed/ neutered once they are of age. They need to be throughly cleaned out once or twice a week (more often for the 'wet corner').

Rabbits can live for 8-15 years so can you provide care for them that long? If bought for a child (under 12), do NOT expect them to be responsible for them, they are only children and have not yet learnt to look after themselves let alone rabbits (same applies with all pets).

I hope I have helped in some way but that is only the beginning...rabbits make excellent pets if taken care of properly and more and more people are choosing rabbits as pets because of their great little characters but all too many are forgotten at the back of the garden in a very small hutch!

Members' Comments onTopaz's Review

• Helen of Troy on 12th Sep 2006

  What an excellent review tucked away amongst others!! Surprised this was not given expert status as it is so informative. I have had a rabbit for just over four years (a house rabbit) and you have certainly taught me a thing or two!! I never knew rabbits should not be given chocolate, I have been giving mine the occasional plain chocolate digestive as a treat! Now I will stop! I did know never to give a rabbit lettuce though, that is also very bad for them. Better to give them fresh grass, very important for a House Rabbit. My rabbit needs a bit of special care as she is blind in one eye but copes remarkably well.