Please guide : want to have a RABBIT, what should I know before hand?

Question

I am planning to have a rabbit next month, i will buy a small one, i want to know how much they eat, what they eat..., can I grow rabbit food in my garden? How much space do they need to live in? Should I nuterize it? What are the healh hazards that I have to keep an eye on? I have also heard that rabbits are nasty..., how to keep it clean? Can I keep it in a basket, as shown in films? How much time should I spend with it? What else should I know about a rabbit?

Answer 1

You should read up at http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/r... and http://www.rabbit.org/

Answer 2

Okay, lets start from the beginning, I'm bunniee, I've grown up with rabbits, I'm trying to become a breeder, I've read every book, and article I can find about bunnies I'll start with your questions, then I will redirect you to another link, where I have posted al lthe information of rabbits, please check it out, it's definatly something you should look at.

If you buy a bunny that is 2-4 pounds, he should be fed 1/8 cup pellets, and maybe half a handfull of veggies,

5-7 Pounds should be fed 1/4 cup pellets, and a handfull of veggies.

Rabbits ALWAYS need clean water, it can be given from a bottle OR a dish, they can also have lots of Timothy Hay, but avoid lots of alfalfa, Onions, Mushrooms, Choclate, Iceberg lettuce, Chives, Garlic, Easter Lilies, acorns , avocado, these can lead to illiness or death of your hunnybunn.

I don't believe you can grow the pellets in your Garden, but it's something you can research. But however you can grow, Carrots, Lettuce, ect, in your garden, and if your bunny gets to eat from your garden, they should have to help too. Rabbit manure is a pefect Fertilizer, sounds nasty but I hear it works.

Your rabbit should have either an outdoor Hutch with a cubby in it so it can get out of the weather, bunnies need Straw, or sawdust too,{Keeps it cleaner and less smelly in the cubby. You bun can also be litterbox trained, I will email you for more info.

If your bunny is an indoor bunny, No it doesn't live in a basket, it can live in a cage, or a bunny proofed room meaning, perferrably lenolium, or tile flooring, NO electrical cords, door must me kept shut,  droppings/ Urine must be cleaned up regularily. For a caged house, you'll need to purchase a metal wired cage, with a removable potty pan at the bottom, the pan should be filled with sawdust. If you put your bunny in the cage, he'll need to be taken out to play with and be exercised several times a day.

I would only choose to alter my pet, if I was to buy two males, or a male and a female, two females are the only cross that can live together, two males will fight, and a male and a female will give you babies for sure. However, unaltered males tend to smell, and they occasonally spray, so if he's an inside bunny, then yes you may want to alter him. Yet unspayed females, have their days too, and can be mean at times. I've only owned one female bunny so far, and I never experianced ANY meaness, she was semi- litter box trained also.

Your bunny should always have a clean nose, mouth, gentile areas, eyes, and ears. The teeth should be white, and not 'Sharp' or 'dull' looking, your bun will need a stick, to chew on, they come flavored at petstores or you can just find a peice of wood to use.

The droppings should be round, and about the size of your pinky fingernail or smaller, they can vary from a dark green-Black color, urine should be light yellow.

I've never noticed any nastiness with my bunnies, other than the stench of an uncleaned hutch.

To keep that odor out, clean the cage every couple of days, and if you have him in a hutch, clean once a week, if you litter box train him, clean the box every other day. And if you decide not to neuter your male, but want him to be an inside bunny, put HARD plastic or CARDBOARD on the lower insides of the cage.

Also, if your bunny does get messy, you can sponge bathe her, or you can give her a bath in a shallow sink of lukewarm water. Never never never never use any sort of human soap or shampoo, even if it's baby shampoo it's too harsh for the bun, and can irritate her skin.

Buy a special bunny shampoo, and keep on hand.

To dry off your bun simply take a towel, and dry him till most of the water is off, then you can put a blow dryer on low, and cool, and use that. Hold your hand at the bunnies level, with the dryer going above it for 15-20 seconds, to be sure it's not too warm, if it is, lengthen the area between your bunny and the dryer so your don't burn her.

When you first bring home the bunny, leave her untouched for THREE days, this avoids stressing her out too much, and gives her time to settle in. After three days, pet her for 5-15 minutes at a time, then leave her for 30 minutes to an hour, do this for the next day or so, after this, you can take her out and play with her, for at LEAST 15- minutes per day.

Be sure to give her time to run around and exercise too, bunnies need LOTS of exercise.

I have a certain feed scedule I plan to follow, fairly strictly,

create a feed, exercise, and attention scedule, and try not to break it, for the first few days your getting used your hunnybunn, let her come to you, give her treats, and pets, avoid getting her near a cat or dog, untill she is completly comfortable with her living conditions, then under complete and carefull supervision, introduce her to your other animals, if it happens to be a dog, have someone put the dog on a leash, and hold the dog tight, while you hold your bunny gently, LET THE DOG SNIFF HER FIRST, if the dog makes a move sternly go "NO" then remove the dog from the room. and let your bunny get comfortable again.

There are several positions you can hold a bunny in, I tend to favor holding them like a baby, if you lay him on his back, and pet over his eyes and ears, you can get him to fall asleep in your arms. Or you can support his butt with one arm, and put his paws over your shoulder, with your other arm supporting his back, and stroking his ears.

Another way, when showing someone, or having someone else pet her is to have her sit on one arm, and be leaning against yuor chest you can stroke her with the other arm.

To pick up a bunny, you can pick up by grabbing the scruff of the neck, then supporting his legs, or you can pick him up under is front paws, and using your other hand to scoop up, and support his butt.

One of the tricks I use for biting and squirming is a quick flick in the nose, and a sharp"NO!"

it usually works. Also when your rabbit is satisfied, she'll click her teeth together.

Bunnies, can pull a leg muscle, or s***w their legs up, by kicking high, so never scare, or chase your rabbit.

If your rabbit makes a high pitched squeal, he was probably scared almost to death, and should be left alone, for a few minutes.

If you want my feedign scedule, you can email me, and I'll send it to you, I can also send you a cleaning and play/ exercise scedule.

Just let me know.

Good luck with your new hunnybunn! Also if your stuck on names, email me, my favorate thing to do when I'm bored is to think of names. I'll give you a huge list!

-Congrads, and I hope this helped!

-Bunniee

Answer 3

me my self hate rabbits. don't take it to heart. my auntie kind of bread rabbits started of with one because it was cute and then got another. her house ended up with heaps. they make a lot of        mess(all over the floor and in the bed yuck) and eat what ever they can find. they need a fear bit of attention but not like my auntie who put it in a sling and when shopping with the darn thing. so just be careful please

Answer 4

1.Remember it does matter where you get the rabbit. I would suggest getting one from a animal rescue place or a shelter, not only are they generally cheaper but it helps out the rabbit community too!

2. Rabbits eat a lot. They need a endless supply hay. Alfalfa if they are under a year old, timothy if they are over a year old. As to what you feed the rabbit other than that is up to you. Some people just feed pellets and while you can do that its not really good for the rabbit longterm.  Vegetables are good just be sure you have the right kind. I personaly feed my rabbits celery, parsley, and cilantro. They just downright LOVE parsley and cilantro. Be sure to introduce any new foods slowly as a rabbits body cant take change well.

3. You can grow rabbit food, but generally its just a lot easier to buy from a store.

4. Depends on what your looking for. A rabbits cage needs to be a good several times the size of the rabbit. And the rabbit needs to be able to spread the legnth of his body. And remember, rabbits are not like hamsters. They need excercise, so its best if you let them roam. But be prepared!

5. If you let them roam, be sure to bunny proof EVERYTHING! Rabbits will eat through cords and wires and all manner of things so you have to be sure everything is safe not just for your things, but for the rabbit.

6. YES! Having your rabbits altered is a must! There is a massive overpopulation of rabbits so there is no need for more of them. Shelters and rescue places all over the country are PACKED. Not only that but rabbits that have, live longer! And my personal favorite, rabbits that have have less problems with using the potty

7.Rabbits are actually very clean creatures. The problem most people have is they can smell if you do not take proper care of them, or their living area. Clean the cage often and you will have a clean rabbit! Replace the bedding often (specialy if you use newspaper).

8. Yes you can keep them in a basket. Just make sure its rabbit safe. Many pet places sell baskets for just that. If the rabbit gnaws on it, no biggie.

9.Spending time with it is a must! Not only does it socialize your rabbit, it makes the little guy for more fun! The amount of time is all up to you, what I do is hand feed my rabbits veggies like celery and so on and let them sit in my lap while they eat. They love it, and so do I. Its great social time.

10. Just a random fact, while you can pick up a bunny. Its not really good to do so. No matter how calm a rabbit you have, almost all rabbits freak out when you try and pick them up. Its natural. Rabbits have a weak spine and its so easy to break. I have not had to pick up my rabbit in months. With gently nudging I can get the little gal to go wherever I wish if I must move her.

Hope that helps!

Answer 5

i got 2 rabbits and found out they take more work than i thought

go to the website below and it will give you all the info you need

Answer 6

The first turn-off that makes people not want a rabbit, is the fact that they do not like being handled.

Answer 7

You should visit a few websites and read some books to get correct info... Rabbits are alot more work then people think.. They are not a lazy persons animal... If you don't think you can provide it with a happy envioronment ... DON'T GET ONE!!

Answer 8

rabbits are so cute but they are definitely big eaters and big poopers.  They eat veggies and they also sell these pellets you can buy in pet shops for them.  There is wooden mulch you can buy at pet shops for them to absorb their urine and p**p and you can change it every week or so.  You don't need a huge space for them, although ofcourse any animal would like to be in an open area.  You need to make sure that the walls are high or enclosed in a cage because they can jump out and escape if you dont do that. Also buy stuff that isn't plastic because they like to chew on things.  No basket for these little critters, they'll escape!  I would take it out to play so that it can stretch its little legs maybe in a small room or something. If you do it in the backyard be careful because they are quick! and it may be a challenge to catch once loose.  Overall, rabbits aren't that high maintenance as long as you feed them veggies and water and clean their cages often, you should be okay.  Unless it will be around other rabbits you don't have to worry about neutering it.

Answer 9

Guess what? I have a bunny! It is hard word and after this you may not want one. But still,its ur choice.

For feeding : put the veggies in Boiled water for 5 mins to get the germs off. DO NOT always feed your rabbit the same stuff. feed your rabbit only carrots and iceberg lettuce and safe lead free pellets. THE SKIN OF CARROTS IS VERY HEATHY TO BUNNIES.

heres a food schedeue for my bunny

monday .carrot and a half a cup of pellets

tues.iceberg carrots

weds.pellets a whole cup

thurs.2 carrots chopped

fri.veggie salad

sat.pellets a whole cup

sun.veggie salad.

for water make sure it's boiled cold and make sure the rabbit has a good supply.

CAGE. the cage must be a size of 6xs your rabbit witha littering pan.use recyled paper (buy at walmart)for beddin.make sure theres a spill proof bowl,lettering pan,a water bottle and a safe bunny house (optinol 4 the bunny house)clean the cage once a week and teach it to p**p in the littering pan! bunnys like cold! fill a coke free coke a cola bottle with ice and put it ina corner to keep the bunny cold

TOYS all recyled but no plastic or threads.

NUTERIZEING yes. this is a must

CLEANING. give it a bath once a month with bunny shampoo (pet store)and brush it once a week where it feels good.bring it to the vets to clip its nails once a week for a low price

RASING A HAPPY HEATHY BUNNY. no poking it! when the bunny picking it up pick it like a baby.if you have little children a rabbit is not an ideal pet. RABBITS ARE BETTER FOR OLDER CHILDREN. give it as much care as possible. I even have a bunny sitter!

Answer 10

Make sure you dont but artificaI treats that have a ton of sugar.  My rabbit is trained to use a litter box in her cage and has a tray underneath for everything else.  Make sure to always give your rabbit fresh clean water and never put him/her in the sun. Rabbits overheat esily and can die from this.  I read up a lot on rabbits before so please dont doubt me.

Answer 11

There are a few different ways to feed rabbits. Mine get fresh water, daily grass hay, and pellets once a day. With the pellets they get about 1 ounce of pellets per pound of body weight on the rabbit. So if your rabbit weighs 4 pounds it would get 4 ounces of pellets.

You can grow some herbs and veggies in your garden,  but if you're only giving them as a treat you might wind up with too many, and if you're going to go with a mostly veggie diet you probably won't be able to grow enough or a wide enough variety for your rabbit.

The minimum cage size for a small rabbit is about 24 inches by 24 inches. It's a minimum guideline, and there's nothing wrong with offering more space. Despite what some will tell you, wire floors are NOT going to hurt your rabbit.

There are risks and benefits to spaying and neutering, but generally if you find a rabbit savvy vet, the benefits do outweigh the risks.

Rabbits have very sensitive tummies, so digestive problems are common. They can have issues with their teeth, respiratory systems, and theyr back and legs can break.

Rabbits are not nasty, but they have very strong smelling urine. Cleaning their cage every other day should be enough to keep the smell down.  I'm not sure what you mean about a basket, but rabbits need a cage or similar home. They can also be allowed to roam a part of the house, but you need to research how to 'bunny proof' your room first.

These are geared toward breeders, but they have a LOT of great information that pet owners can use, too:

http://www.islandgems.net/

http://www.barbibrownsbunnies.com

And one of my favorite books, "Storey's Guide to Raising Rabbits"