How to Care for Pet Bunny Rabbits

Most bunnies would be much happier living with another bunny. If you only have one bunny then you should consider getting another one.

Bunnies are very social creatures. They like to groom each other and lay around while being lazy together.

This article will teach you how to keep pet bunnies healthy and happy.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Two or More Rabbits
• Cage
• Food
• Water
• Timothy Hay
• Treats
• Fresh Vegetables
• Food/Water Dishes
• Shelter
• Safe Outdoor Play Area
• Bunny Safe Toys
• Litter Pan
• Bunny Safe Nail Clippers

1. Place your bunnies in a proper cage (or rabbit hutch). Unless you have a large backyard where your bunnies can roam free and dig large holes in the ground, it is best to keep your pet bunnies inside of your house in a spacious, multilevel cage.

2. Ensure that your bunny rabbits have food and water available to them at all times.
   
   Give your bunnies alfalfa pellets as a staple food. This should always be available. Mix small amounts of other staple bunny foods that you buy from pet stores. This ensures that your bunny is getting many different nutrients throughout the many food sources that it consumes.
   
   Keep two food dishes and two water dishes in your bunnies cage for your bunnies to choose from, at all times.
   
   Check food and water dishes two times a day to ensure that nothing has compromised the food/water source. Sometimes a bunny will flip over it's water dish or urinate in it. If this happens you need to immediately clean out the dish and fill it up with new/clean food/water.
   
   Feed your bunnies a small amount of rinsed, washed and cleaned : lettuce, celery or broccoli as a treat once every week.
   
   Feed your bunnies lightly blanched, fresh vegetables such as green beans, carrots, etc. at least three times a week.
   
   If the food that you are feeding to your bunnies isn't homegrown then take special precautions to ensure that there are no pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, fertilizers and other harmful chemicals on the fresh foods that you're feeding to your rabbits because these chemicals can kill your bunnies.
   
   Rinse all vegetables thoroughly and then an additional time under warm water in an attempt to remove any harmful chemical residue that may linger on the veggies.

3. Provide your bunnies with a pile of Timothy hay at least once every day. (Every 3 days at the latest.)
   
   Bunnies are very playful creatures and they should always be provided with plenty of bunny-safe toys.

4. Potty train your bunnies by keeping their cage clean and adding a litter pan into each corner of their cage.
   
   Once the bunnies pick one or two litter pans to go potty in, then you can remove the rest of the litter pans. Bunnies tend to go to the bathroom in the corners of their cage. Bunnies are very easy to potty train to the point that they will always use their litter pan once you get them in the habit.
   
   It is possible to bunny proof your house and let your bunnies run free throughout your house all day. However, it would take a lot of extra work to ensure that there isnt anything dangerous to bunnies in your house. Things that are bad for bunnies would include any wires that your bunny might chew on an electrocute themselves and possibly burn down your house or items such as drapes which might somehow hang a bunny to death. That is why it is best to keep your bunnies in a cage.
   
   Get your bunnies a large multi-leveled cage with perches for your bunnies to sit on and lounge. Consider giving your bunnies a whole room to live in, if you have the extra space and are positive that the room is bunny safe.
   
   It's much easier to bunny proof one room versus trying to change around your entire house for your bunnies.

5. Add some form of shelter into the cage for your bunnies.
   
   Some people get creative and use a cardboard box with holes cut out of it as a bunny house. You can also find all kinds of bunny shelters at your local pet store. Make sure that whatever shelter you choose for your bunny isn't going to fall over or slide over onto your bunny and squish it. Choose a heavy duty shelter that can be secured into place so that it won't hurt your bunnies.
   
   Make sure that there isn't anything inside of the bunny cage that will hurt your bunnies. This includes tiny spaces where a bunny might get stuck, things that may fall on and squish your bunny, poisonous or unsafe toys, etc.

6. Look after you bunnies and make sure that they are healthy. Monitor your bunnies hygiene. Check their teeth for changes at least once a month. Make regular appointments with a vet if necessary. Carefully and gently trim, clip and/or file your bunnies nails if they get too long. Be careful while trimming your bunnies nails and keep some styptic powder on hand in case you clip into the quick of your bunnies nails. Take every precaution to ensure that you don't cut into the quick of the nails. Research this subject more before you try to cut your bunnies nails for yourself.
   
   Keep your bunnies fur clean by keeping the bunnies cage clean. Bunnies don't need to take baths as they are constantly cleaning themselves and you run the risk of your bunny getting sick if the bunnies fur gets wet.

7. Take your bunnies outside to spend some outdoor time in a safe play area at least once or twice a week.
   
   Bunnies need to get out of their cage to stretch their legs. They will hop and frolic around and you can clearly see how happy they are when they are allowed to run free in a yard.
   
   Bunnies appreciate open grass areas where they can jump and run freely.
   
   Don't take your bunnies outside if the weather is too hot or too cold! Bunnies don't sweat so they can't handle the heat of summer. They will need to be provided with a fan or air conditioning unit to keep them cool.
   
   Bunnies will freeze to death in the cold winter months unless they have been allowed to dig a big hole where they can cuddle up together in an attempt to keep warm.
   
   Never leave your bunnies alone unsupervised! Bad things can happen to bunnies and your bunny rabbits can easily get into trouble!
   
   Remember that bunny rabbits will eat all of the plants in your garden if left unsupervised for even a moment. Some plants are highly toxic to bunnies so bunnies should never be around these plants especially not alone. Call your emergency vet if you think that your rabbit may have eaten a poisonous plant.
   
   Bunnies will dig holes in your yard and can actually dig their way out of your yard completely (if the hole that your bunnies have been digging goes unnoticed for long enough).
   
   It's best to always supervise your bunnies while they are outdoors having play time.
   
   Make sure that your bunnies can't escape from your yard because then they will run away where they might get trapped and mistreated or hit by a car.

8. Clean your bunnies litter pans every 2 or 3 days (more or less depending on how many bunnies you have.)
   
   Clean your entire bunny cage every 2 - 4 weeks (more or less depending on how dirty your bunnies cage is.)
   
   Check on your bunnies daily to ensure that both food and both water dishes are all full.

Tips & Warnings

• Either keep all male or all female bunnies to keep your bunnies from breeding.
• Separate male and female bunnies to keep them from breeding.
• Consider getting your bunnies spayed and /or neutered to keep the males and females from breeding. Always learn the risks and benefits of spaying and neutering your pets. It's not an easy decision, deciding whether or not your pet will ever get to experience having offspring can be very stressful. That's why you can always keep a group of female bunnies and then they will get along beautifully and you don't have to make them have such a drastic surgery.

Resources

• Bunny Rabbit Information
• How to Breed Pet Bunnies

[vallain]

on 8/23/2009 We raised rabbit in 4-H. It's a great project for kids.

[Susanh]

on 8/22/2009 We had bunnies all my childhood years and I loved it! Very detailed article on how to properly care for a pet bunny rabbit. 5*****