Care Advice for your Rabbit

For your Rabbit:

Rabbits are the third largest pet in the UK after cats and dogs and they are the worst treated.  That lovely little fluffy bundle you bring home from the pet shop will grow 3 to 4 times its size in the matter of months.  It will develop its own personality, go through hormonal changes, even become aggressive, territorial and more likely to bite and scratch you.  We all think that these are great little pets for our children but they are not.  Your child will not clean out the hutch or remember to re-fill the water bottle daily.  If you purchase a rabbit you the 'adult' will be responsible for its health and well-being!

This page will help you to decide on what your pet needs before you even bring him/her/them home.

The Hutch:

All rabbits must be able to lie down, stand up and move freely in their home. Don't be talked into 'you can get away with a smaller hutch whilst its a baby' line.  The bigger the better even as a baby!  The RSPCA have set some guidelines for the minimum size of a hutch for a rabbit these are - 5ft long x 2ft high x 2ft depth. Your hutch should also have fox proof wire and bolts.  Foxes are clever and will open a hutch very easily if it has a small piece of wood you turn to lock it they will open it! There are some really good suppliers of hutches and some really bad ones.  You can find on my products page a list of good suppliers.

Exercise:

Your rabbit will require exercise daily, even if it is raining!  Most rabbits like the rain and as long as you have a covered area where it can keep dry you should put your rabbit out in its run daily, unless the weather is very severe.  An exercise run should be a minimum of 6ft long x 4ft wide x 2ft high, with a covered area to keep out the elements and it should also have a top to keep out predators (these include birds, cats and foxes).  

Bedding:

Most people use newspaper with shavings on top and straw.  This is not a great combination.  Rabbits can eat newspaper, which is covered in ink and can make them unwell, they don't particularly like wood shavings to walk or sleep on, shavings can also be a cause of mites.  Straw more often or not can cause injuries to your rabbits eyes and can also carry fleas which spread disease.

I have found particularly for my rabbits a bedding called 'Medibed' it is a medicated straw, which is softer than most types of barley straw, it is also medicated and will help in keeping some smells and fly's away.  Most rabbits don't eat this bedding but it isnt harmful if they do.  Very reasonably priced and easy to dispose of in your compost heap.  I have listed a supplier of Medibed in the Weston-super-Mare area on my products page.

Feeding:

All rabbits require Hay daily, some good pellet food and minimal vegetables.  Experts suggest that your should feed your rabbit 80% hay and 20% pellet.  Not all rabbits like pellet food and unless you have had them from a baby and they have only ever had pellet food, you are not likely to be able to change their diet from a muesli.  Remember when buying a muesli check the sugar content as this can be very high and then you have a rabbit with bad teeth!  Rabbits are grazing creatures and will eat all day and night.  Hay before bed is great for them and it helps in keeping their teeth worn and their tummies in good condition.  Some green vegetables are OK i.e. kale, broccoli, carrot tops, but not too much and definitely NO LETTUCE! 

Health and Well-being:

A unhappy rabbit is usually an aggressive rabbit.  They are social creatures and prefer to be in pairs or a small social group.  If kept in a pair the best comibination is usually boy/girl  or girl/girl.  You will find most boy/boy combinations will fight for dominance You should never keep a rabbit and a guinea pig in the same hutch, it can work but more often than not the rabbit will kill the guinea pig.  When purchasing or adopting a rabbit there are things to consider:

Firstly, they will need a friend and if you decide to have a boy/girl combination it would be wise to have the boy 'buck' castrated as soon as possible.  It is said to have beneficial health aspects for female rabbits 'doe' to be spayed and I can say it does help to socialise them.  Does tend to be more aggressive than bucks and this is mostly down to hormonal changes.

Secondly, they will need vaccinations such as Myxomatosis and VHD.  It would also be wise to worm your rabbit yearly.  Myxomatosis is deadly and is spread through flea and other biting insects.  It is a myth to say domestic rabbits do not get myxomatosis - they do and die a very horrific death. VHD is equally horrific and is air borne which spreads at an alarming rate.  There are certain things to look out for at the start of Myxomatosis, sneezing and a runny nose,  swelling of genitals and sticky discharge from eyes and nose. VHD is a little harder to spot but if your rabbit is not his/her usual self and not eating, drinking or being social their is usually something wrong and it could be as easy a being a little lonely and fed up.

Thirdly, you must keep your pets hutch clean.  If you do not then you will encourage fly's and other biting insects, fleas and even mice and this can cause disease.  One of the diseases caused by flys is 'Flystrike' and is horrible for your rabbit, a fly will lay its eggs on the middle to back end of your rabbits back and also around its bottom (especially if dirty and smelly).  The eggs hatch and you have lots of maggots eating their way through the flesh of your rabbit killing it slowly.   You can buy products which help to deter flys from your rabbit.  Rearguard can be bought from your Vet - it is expensive but worth every penny.  There are other products on the market which can also help and can be bought over the counter or from good pet mail-order shops. So check your pet every day even in the winter to make sure their bottoms are clean and their hutch is free of wet and dirty bedding. 

I recommend a daily program of fresh water, fresh food, check bedding and remove wet and dirty.  After breakfast check rabbit for clean bottom and wipe if not (baby wipes are great), time for a cuddle and brush or even a little chat.  Open or put out for exercise and put lots of hay in covered area of run with some extra toys, tunnels and box or plant pot to play with. 

Lastly, rabbits can suffer from cold and also heat.  Never put a hutch in direct sunlight in the summer and equally in the winter don't leave it open to the elements.  You can purchase excellent covers for hutches from Scratch and Newton or other suppliers which will keep them both warm and cool.  These can be a little expensive but worth it.  Also in the height of summer a frozen water bottle or a freezer pack wrapped up in a corner of a run or hutch is great for your rabbit to keep cool.  You can also buy cooler fans that attach to the run or hutch.  Equally in winter you will find that the water bottle will freeze - there are great new inventions for water bottles and can be purchased from good suppliers.  Snugglesafe have developed a great thermos water bottle which attach's to runs or hutches.  This is being launched in November 2007. You can even purchase a hot water bottle for the cooler months!