A Guide To Looking After A Pet Rabbit

By U Learn It | February 24, 2010

With a gentle nature and a trusting personality a rabbit makes a great choice as a pet.Many rabbits love human interaction and enjoy being held and stroked.If you decide to own a pet rabbit you need to play your part in ensuring it is happy and healthy. Therefore, rabbit care care should be an important consideration.A rabbit is generally an easy pet to care for, but before you adopt one you need to bear several things in mind.

Every rabbit needs a hutch, a place of its own to snuggle down to sleep and run around and play.You don’t need to spend a vast amount of money on your hutch, but you do need to buy one big enough for a full size rabbit to be able to stand up in (on its back legs). Ideally, your hutch should offer enough space for the rabbit to make at least four jumps in any direction.Plan out your hutch in zones, so there are separate areas in which the rabbit can play, sleep eat and go to the toilet.If you have more than one rabbit in the same hutch you will need to increase this space.As UK nights can be very cold please make sure you provide your rabbit with a quality bedding.On the base of the hutch you should line it with newspaper and importantly you should use dust free straw.Look at the space in your garden and decide where the best location is for the hutch with your rabbit in mind, not you. It is not fair to place a rabbit in an area of prolonged, direct sunlight.Cover the hutch at night with a breathable fabric so the rabbit is not confronted with any night time predators such as foxes and cats.Of course rabbits don’t want to be couped up in a hutch all day. Your rabbit would really appreciate a safe place to run and play and a rabbit run can provide this environment.

Rabbits have a simple but quite nutritionally specific diet. They need two types of fibre – digestible and indigestible.Rabbits digest their food twice, which is why this is important.Foods like supermarket brand museli can be high in sugar and starch, both of which are not healthy ingredients. Try and avoid buying this food.Try and buy a specialist vet approved rabbit food.These specialist products are affordable and generally available from a specialist pet centre, vet or online specialist retail outlet.Your rabbit will love you if you also feed it treats like banana, apple and celery.

Following a few simple guidelines and understanding how to care for a rabbit before you actually adopt one will ensure you are a well prepared and competent owner.