Top Tips for Rabbit Care

Whether you're unmarried or have kids, a pet can make an important addition to your home. Kids delight in the idea of pets because they are so lovable and pleasing. It's the adults that fully grasp the work involved in correctly caring for a pet. Even though they are small and confined to a cage, rabbits need appropriate care and attention and feeding in the same way a cat or dog. Proper care entails routine checkups with the vet, clearing out the cage or hutch and new food and water every day. Once you make the choice to get a rabbit you need to learn how to care for it properly.

There are various species of bunnies you can purchase for a pet. The most preferred bunnies that make good pets are the cottontails, the dwarf rabbits and the lop eared type. Both cottontails and dwarfs will flourish indoors. A cottontail is a trifle heartier and will live out-of-doors provided there is no harsh conditions. Lop ear rabbits and cottontail rabbits will grow to a decent size. Lop ears have floppy ears, where cottontails have pointy ears. Your good care of your rabbit will vary depending on which kind of rabbit you make your mind up to get.

In the same way as your dog or cat, your rabbit needs check-ups and vaccinations to stay healthy. Ensure that you wash right before you hold your rabbit, since you can transmit diseases to it via your hands. Bunnies can get worms, a parasite. Your veterinarian can easily treat this small problem. If you have queries about tending for your rabbit, make sure you speak to your vet.

A well-balanced diet plan for rabbits consists of rabbit food - or pellets, vegetables and hay. Most rabbits love to chew on carrots or lettuce. Daily fresh food and water is essential to the tending of your rabbit. This way you can observe if they are feeding properly. It's necessary to monitor what your rabbit eats, as they will binge and could risk getting over weight. Make sure you check the labels of the rabbit pellets. You don't want any food that has nuts. This is typically not good for your rabbit's the digestive system. It's okay to feed your rabbit fruit occasionally. They really love it.

There are recommended rabbit cages and hutches for in house use and outdoor use. The layout of most rabbit cages permits the rabbit waste to fall through the floor. This way your rabbit will remain cleaner and healthier as they are not residing in their feces. Your rabbit should have sufficient living space in it's hutch to spread out with it's bedding. As mentioned above, rabbits have to have clean water every day. If you have a yard, it's great for your rabbit. Your pet can survey and get much needed exercise.

Maintaining rabbit cages is not a difficult job. It should be done at least once weekly, or whenever the cage starts to stink. To remain healthy, your rabbit needs a clean habitat. Being diligent in keeping your rabbit hutch will help your rabbit thrive. Surprisingly, your rabbit can live up to 10 years.

There's no question rabbits are delightful pets. A rabbit requires only standard care to remain healthy for years. Children love to play with their bunnies and even bring them to class for show-and-tell. Pets truly finish the family circle and provide tons of happiness and joy to all.

Rabbits As Pets - What You Don't Know About Rabbits

It takes a hard person to not think of rabbits as cute and cuddly. If you have rabbits as pets, you already know that rabbits are very sweet and love to be petted. Rabbits are great pets for the right family, but not every family is the right family. Here are some interesting things to learn about rabbits as pets.

Rabbits are crepuscular. That means theyre most active at dawn and dusk. If you happen to leave the cage open, you will hear your pet scampering around while you are just waking up. Theres a common belief that rabbits hibernate, so you may be surprised to know that your rabbit doesn't hibernate.

As you may know, rabbits are great jumpers. They can sometimes jump over three feet in the air. If theyre really strong in the back legs, maybe higher. They can easily jump out of your harms if they are startled. You should take precautions when you are holding your rabbit so that it cannot jump and fall and break something. That is one reason why rabbits do not make great pets for children. Children like to hold and carry around their pets - this is not safe for rabbits. When holding a rabbit, you should be on the floor so it cannot injure itself if it hops out of your arms.

Rabbits can do some things humans do. For instance, rabbits snore. Not all rabbits, but some rabbits do snore, just like people, cats and dogs. Rabbits can gag, but cant regurgitate food - they cannot vomit. Be careful that your bunny doesnt eat anything she shouldnt because she wont be able to get it out. If she does, call your vet or the poison control line to find out what to do. Many people think of rabbits as eating lettuce and carrots. They can eat these but the best food for rabbits is hay - preferably Timothy hay. Timothy hay is the main diet for rabbits. The next thing you should give a rabbit is pellets. You can find both in pet stores. If you do give you rabbit vegetables like carrots or lettuce, only give them one type at a time. Rabbits digestive systems are delicate and can't take much shock.

Many people allow their rabbits to roam free in the house. Because rabbits will chew anything they can find, you should have your rabbit housed when you are not around to keep an eye on her. Rabbits will come to greet you when you come in just like a dog. A good thing about rabbits is that they can be litter box trained. This gives them the opportunity to have more freedom. If you give your rabbit lots of chew toys they may stay away from your electric cords and other things that could be dangerous to them and frustrating to you.

Wherever you live, you probably see wild rabbits around your yard or in your neighborhood occasionally. Wild rabbits live in burrows, and a group of them is called a herd. And yes, wild rabbits do breed well, like bunnies. Rabbits have a lot of babies because their survival rate is low. If baby rabbits are abandoned, only about 10% survive.

Rabbits For Sale - If You Want To Buy a Pet Rabbit, Where Do You Go?

If you want to buy a pet rabbit, where do you go? While not as common as pet dogs, pet rabbits for sale can be found at all sorts of places. You can own a cute little bunny of your own just by visiting a few pet haunts, consulting friends and even surfing online. Here are some of the places you can find your desired pet.

Rabbits for Sale at Local Breeders

If you want to own a bunny from when it is still a little one, you have to go to the local breeders. You can buy a rabbit that has just been born. It is also actually a cost-effective decision to buy from a local breeder because you can take your pick of rabbit and bring it home. There is no need to pay for shipping fees. Shipping fees can be very costly depending on where you are.

Rabbits for Sale at Pet Shops

One obvious place to look for a rabbit is at pet shops. If you have several local pet shops in your area, you should first scout for prices. The prices could go up if you buy from a pet shop rather than directly from a local breeder. Still, the price could still depend on the particular seller. Some shops may be more expensive than most because of their location.

Neighborhood Rabbits for Sale

If you have a neighbor whose pet rabbit has just given birth, you can go over and ask if you can buy one of the little rabbits. Of course, the neighbor could always refuse you. With luck, however, you could get your own pet rabbit for free, especially if you have a close relationship with that neighbor. Some neighbors, though not close, still prefer giving away some of the baby rabbits especially if there are plenty of them to go around, anyway.

Online Rabbits for Sale

In this modern age where the all sorts of products and services are being offered over the World Wide Web, you can also buy pets online. This means that you can definitely buy a pet rabbit online. There are even websites that sell only rabbits and rabbit accessories. You get to pick from a more varied selection. Of course, you do have to pay for shipment that could balloon further if you are buying from outside the country. What you could probably do is find an online seller that is headquartered near your home. This is a combination of cost-efficiency and convenience.

Choosing From the Best Names for Rabbits

When you bring home a pet rabbit or two, you want to give your new bunny a name that will be easy for it to learn to recognize as its name. Some of the most popular names for rabbits are:

- Flopsy, because of its big ears

- Hoppy, or some word that has "hop" in it, because that is what rabbits do

- Cottontail, because of the size and shape of its tail

- Velvet or other words to describe the feel of the rabbit's fur

- Brownie, which has to do with the color of the fur.

Although you might have a beautiful and unusual name chosen before the rabbit even arrives, it is important to note that rabbits have their own personalities just as dogs and cats do. If you wish to wait a few days to get to know the rabbit, you may be able to discern some personality trait that will lead you to choose a name that suits the way the rabbit behaves. A rabbit that runs around and is often hard to catch could easily be called Racer. One that is very shy and tries to hide away could be called Shy Bunny, hidey or Hideaway.

You certainly will want to train your rabbit and one of the first things you do need to train it is to come when you call its name. The name should be one that is easy for you to say. Start this training by finding out whish food the rabbit likes best and use this food to get it to come to you. Each time you hold out the food, say the rabbit's name. You will have to do this many times before the rabbit will respond to your command without the food. Once the rabbit knows its name you can start using other commands in combination with the name. This is why you should choose a name that does not rhyme with any of the command words.

Choosing a name for your rabbit is one of the fun and exciting parts of obtaining a new pet. Sometimes it is hard to come up with a name that is not commonly used for other pets. You might want to choose one that will make you laugh. You do have to like the name because if you're not particularly fond of the name, the rabbit will pick up on the tone of your voice every time you say it. It should also be something that will not embarrass you when you use it in front of others.

There is nothing wrong with looking at a list of baby names. There are tons of these lists available in books and online. You can choose a name for either a boy or a girl rabbit or one that is generic in that it will suit either gender. You can even ask others to help you name the rabbit and hold a sort of competition to see who comes up with the best name. 

Is a Rabbit Hutch Good for your Rabbit?

Is a rabbit hutch good for your rabbit?
It's a fact of life that many pet owners keep their rabbits in outdoor rabbit hutches, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Reasons for these outdoor living arrangements vary, from allergies to odors to convenience. Many owners who might prefer to keep their rabbits indoors as an integral part of the family feel an outdoor rabbit is better than no rabbit at all. Others disagree.

At the extreme, there are those who feel only an indoor rabbit qualifies as a family pet; an outdoor rabbit is nothing more than livestock. On the Internet Pet Discussion Forums you'll find posters who refer to rabbit hutches as "pet prisons." Why such harsh views of outdoor living in rabbit hutches?

The reasons are many and you may already be aware of them if you've searched for guidance on selecting a rabbit hutch. All the caveats you read - the need for predator-proofing, weatherproofing, exercise needs, and social isolation - are disadvantages serious enough to warrant the opinion of some that rabbits should not live outdoors under any circumstances. Let's examine some of these issues to see if they are "fact or fiction."

Serious owners know they have to go beyond the safety features offered in commercially available rabbit hutches to fully protect their rabbits. They extend the posts of two story wooden hutches and set them in concrete to ensure they are 100% tip proof. Entranceways are securely locked and some owners even trench around the perimeter of the hutch and add wire or wood to keep predators from being able to dig under the fence. But try as they might, no pet owner has ever been able to protect their pets from this result of a visit from a predator: fear.

Again, check the forums and you'll find posts from bewildered owners who found their precious pets in the early morning hours, dead with nothing visibly wrong with them. Predators can literally scare some rabbits to death, even if they can't penetrate the added security of the rabbit hutch.

Despite the best attempts to weatherproof a rabbit hutch, temperature extremes of both heat and cold pose serious problems with potentially devastating consequences. Some owners invest the time and effort to adequately insulate the hutch from moisture and wind initially, and then neglect the ongoing maintenance needed to keep the hutch safe. Others fail to check on their rabbits during periods of extreme hear or extreme cold. And no one has yet figured out how to "insect proof" a hutch and warm weather insects pose health problems to all rabbits.

Finally, there are the issues of size and social isolation. Owners get the advice of "the bigger the hutch the better", and then go out and buy the biggest hutch they can afford, even though it might be too small. Rabbits crave contact and if you have no intention of bringing them indoors to interact with the family or spending significant time with them outdoors, consider another option. Provide your rabbit with a playmate -- another rabbit. Not all rabbits get along so you'll have to allow your adult rabbit to interact with a potential partner before moving them in together. Living outdoors may not be the ideal environment for a rabbit, but with a companion rabbit they'll be much happier.

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