Why is there a picture of a cute rabbit on your website?
Why would you keep a rabbit indoors? Don't they live in the wild?
Are rabbits difficult to keep clean?
I would like to get my small children a rabbit for Easter.
Is this a good idea? What kind of supplies do I need for my
rabbits?Why is there a picture of a cute rabbit on your website?
The cute rabbit is my pet. Yes he really looks like that. He's a special breed called mini-rex. The rest of this page is going to provide information about house rabbits.
House rabbits are like house cats. They are domesticated animals kept indoors. While house rabbits are the same size (there are exceptions) as wild rabbits, house rabbits have been selectively bred through generations for various characteristics, the same as dogs or cats.
Rabbits are technically called "lagomorphs" rather than rodents, but like beaver, they have teeth that grow constantly through their life. They must gnaw their teeth down to avoid dental problems, and thus they like to chew wood, and other objects they find interesting. As such, your home may require "bunny-proofing" by tying up or protecting electrical wires. My rabbits have shown a preference for wicker furniture, and I occasionally get them a non-treated, non-varnished basket for a fun play toy. They have various other untreated wood toys they like to chew on.
Rabbits survive in the wild, but they're a prey animal; they eat plants and predators kill them for food. Domesticated rabbits lose their ability to survive in the wild, and can't be let loose. Technically, house rabbits are a species native to Europe, and the cottontail or hares and other species indigenous to North America are actually different animals. The wild rabbits in Australia are in fact the same species as house rabbits, but those rabbits weren't domesticated to the degree of a typical house rabbit before being let loose on that continent. Rabbits in Australia are an exotic species brought by man, and they didn't have the same overwhelming number of predators as found elsewhere in the world.
Some organizations promote the idea of placing rabbits outdoors in a wooden hutch. There are several reasons this is a bad idea.
First of all, rabbits are social animals, much like cats and dogs. Rabbits group together and will defend their territory against other groups of rabbits, much like wolf packs. Rabbits will kick their back feet against the ground to "thump", warning other rabbits of danger. Rabbit groups have a social hierarchy, with an "alpha" rabbit, and other rabbits who are subservient to varying degrees. Rabbits need social interaction to be happy. Bunny groups who bond together will groom each others' fur, as well as snuggle together in times of danger.
Second, rabbits need exercise. A rabbit confined to a cage will soon become overweight, which is unnatural, and drastically shortens the life of a rabbit. Regular exercise helps with digestion, as rabbits have a complex digestive system where they must consume large amounts of fiber.
Third, in a cage, outdoors, a rabbit is a "sitting duck" for predators. Even if a dog or other predator can't actually reach the rabbit, the extreme fear will raise the heartrate of the rabbit, and the rabbit can actually be scared to death. Any animal kept outdoors, including cats and dogs, are at risk of animal parasites including worms, fleas, and tics.
Fourth, in the wild, a rabbit is able to regulate its body temperature by burrowing into the ground, where it is warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. In a cage, a rabbit can't seek out cooler and warmer areas and it may overheat or freeze to death. Rabbits have thick fur and are not able to adapt well to hot weather. Unlike dogs, they don't have large tongues, but instead are only able to lose heat through their ears, which are woefully inadequate to cool an animal with a normal temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Finally, the rabbit can bond with humans. My rabbits respond to voice commands and know their names. Rabbits can be trained to walk on a leash. Rabbits enjoy being pet and played with the same as other animals. Of course, every pet is different. Some rabbits do not like being held or handled; and the same is true for other animals.
Rabbits are about equally as difficult to keep clean as a cat. Like cats, rabbits constantly groom themselves by licking their fur. Like cats, rabbits "shed" in the summer, and during this time more frequent vacuuming is helpful. Like cats, rabbits like to go to the bathroom in the same place repeatedly, and therefore they are easy to litter train. My opinion is that rabbit feces are less stinky than cat feces due to the lack of meat in the diet of rabbits. Like cats, some rabbits in some situations will engage in territorial bathroom disuse, and this can be resolved by placement of additional litter boxes, or by bonding the rabbits that are having a territorial dispute.
Unlike cats, rabbits cannot use a clay (clumping) litter, as the clay dust collects in their lungs and causes premature death through respiratorial disease. Unlike cats, rabbits are unable to throw-up hairballs, and therefore they must pass any fur they eat, which is part of the reason they must consume so much fiber (hay).
Scientific tests have shown that the aromatic softwood western red cedar contain acids that cause asthma in humans, and liver and lung damage in small animals including, but not limited to mice, guinea pigs, and rabbits. Other studies show that eastern white cedar and varieties of pine also contain substances that are harmful. Pine or cedar shavings should not be used as bedding for animals. Some wood stove pellets, and also some kind of (pine-based) pellets that are hydrated and used for bedding for horses may be heat treated in an attempt to remove the resin (the substances that contain the acid that causes the damage). I haven't seen a scientific analysis of the safety of these pellets when used as small animal bedding, but my understanding of the science involved is that if you smell the pellets and they still smell definitively like the trees they were made from (open a bottle of Pine-sol if you don't know what pine smells like) then the agents that cause the damage aren't completely removed from the wood. As studies emphasize, there's no known safe level of exposure to these chemicals, and in various studies 2-24% of humans exposed to the chemicals developed asthma.
Bedding made from hardwoods like ash and poppler do not contain the active ingredients that cause health problems in humans and other mammals.
My rabbits use a recycled-newspaper-based, compostable, unscented cat litter called Yesterday's News, and my discovery is that the 30lb bags work well, and they're quite economical. With the boxes I use and the size of our rabbits, we change litter boxes about every five days.
I've heard of other newspaper-based litters, and I've never used them, but I assume they work as well as Yesterday's News. I tried the 10lb "rabbit" version of Yesterday's News, and found it to be the same thing as the cat litter, but with slightly longer litter cylinders. This may be by design, or perhaps less damage happens in a 10lb bag versus a 30lb bag. I have tried a rabbit litter made from corn cobs and found that often the rabbits kicked the small pieces out of the boxes. The corn cob based litter was much less absorbent, and it was harder to clean up than the paper-based litter. To me, it's definitely worth the difference in price.
You probably wouldn't think of getting a dog for 4th of July, or a cat for St. Patrick's Day. Getting a rabbit because of a holiday makes equally little sense. Getting any pet as a gift for small children is probably a bad idea. Ultimately, the parents will be taking care of the animal.
Rabbits usually live 5-7 years, (and some as long as 12) so making a rabbit a part of your home is as big of a responsibility as if you got a cat or dog. Some people seem to think that smaller animals are cheaper or easier to care for. In the case of rabbits, veterinary care may be more expensive because relatively fewer veterinarians specialize in rabbit care. Rabbits have very delicate digestive systems and can die due to intestinal blockages caused by improper diets. Prospective rabbit owners should first familiarize themselves with proper rabbit care by reading a book like The House Rabbit Handbook. I've read a series of rabbit care books and The House Rabbit Handbook is definitely the most comprehensive.
There are many worthy rabbits in shelters. Unlike baby bunnies at a pet store, shelters usually have bunnies of all ages so you can get a good sense of the personality of various breeds and individuals. It is essential that rabbits be spayed or neutered: this reduces the incidence of cancer in females and males, improves social behavior, and obviously helps contain the pet population. Good places to start your search include your local chapter of the House Rabbit Society, and general-purpose shelters in your area.
Rabbits need a steady supply of fresh, dry, clean grass. Some people live in areas where they can buy quality grass from local farmers. I buy my grass in 50 pound boxes from Oxbow Hay Company. The price for a 50 pound box and shipping might sound like a lot of money, but if you work out the pet store price for an equivalent amount of grass, it's a bargain, and our bunnies like the Oxbow grass better.
Bunnies have claws. These are useful for traction in the wild, but they make clicking noises and keep the bunnies from getting traction on our hardwood floors. Periodic nail trims are required. We tried using a cheap "bunny" nail trimmer from a pet store. It was a nail trimmer in the style designed for cat claws and didn't work well on bunny nails. Our bunnies cringed in pain when we tried to use that trimmer. It was scissors style and not worth even the $5 or so it cost. We bought a high-quality guillotine-style nail trimmer by a company called Bamboo. It is white plastic with red trim pieces on the handles. They cost $11 plus shipping at The Busy Bunny online store and are worth every penny. Trimming nails is so much easier with a good quality nail trimmer. The Busy Bunny also sells nice toys, including bamboo tubes and other chewable fun things.
I've already mentioned Yesterday's News cat litter being the best stuff we've been able to find. For litter boxes we use a storage container from Ikea. We use the Slugis container in the 21 1/4" by 13 3/4" by 6 1/4" size. Sadly, these seem to be discontinued. A similar sized container is used by restaurants to bus dishes from tables, so perhaps you could find a similar container at a restaurant supply store, or a wholesale club.
