Tips for taking care of a pet rabbit including feeding, housing, and handling.
If you are looking for a pet that is friendly, gentle and fun, a rabbit is a good choice. Some things should be prepared for your pet before you bring him home, such as his cage or hutch as it is called.
Your Rabbit's New Home
A rabbit's hutch should be roomy and allow him plenty of space to move around. For an average size rabbit, a cage which is about four feet long,two feet high, and two feet wide makes a comfortable home for your rabbit. The bottom of the cage should be about half wire and half solid.
Rabbits are very clean and will use the wire side for a bathroom and the solid side for sleeping. The waste falls down through the wire where it can be raked up and disposed of easily. Put some hay in the bedding area to make a comfortable little nest for the rabbit.If your cage has an all wire bottom you can put a nest box inside for the rabbit to sleep in. Fill the box with hay and it will work well also.
Bedding
The best bedding to use in the rabbits hutch is hay. It makes a nice warm bed. Shavings will fall down through the wire and leave the rabbit without a nest to sleep in. Shredded paper can be used as long as you change it every day or two as it can become wet easily and make the rabbit ill.
A Diet For Your New Pet
The most important part of your rabbits diet will be his rabbit pellets. You can buy the pellets at your local pet store. The pellet should be 14% protein or higher. You should feed the rabbit twice a day. Give him a small amount in the morning and another meal at night. You want him to have food available at all times but you don't want to leave the food sitting around to become stale as he will not eat it. It is better to offer fresh food twice a day than to give him all the food at once and have half of it wasted.
Rabbits also love to eat hay. You should offer him hay everyday for nibbling throughout the day.
Rabbits also love fresh vegetables. They love grass and weeds, carrots, and green beans. They also enjoy eating apples. Cabbage is not a good choice because it is very gassy and may make your rabbit feel sick and uncomfortable.
Rabbits love to chew. They do this to keep their teeth from growing too long. Apple tree branches are a good thing to give the rabbit to chew on.
Fresh clean water should be available for your rabbit at all times.
Keeping Your Rabbit Clean and Healthy
Your rabbits hutch should be cleaned once a week. You will need to supply clean bedding and scrape the waste from under the cage and dispose of it.
You could put the rabbits manure on your garden.
Keeping Your New Pet Happy
Rabbits love to be pet and played with. If you want your rabbit to be gentle you should take him out of the cage each day and handle him. At first he may kick and scratch a little bit but in time he will not be afraid of being picked up and handled. When you pick him up you will want to hold him firmly by the loose skin on the back of his neck and put a hand under his belly to make him feel more secure. Hold him firmly so he knows he will not fall.
Rabbits are very intelligent and can be trained to do such things as walking on a leash. They can also be trained to use a litter box. Many people keep rabbits inside their houses once they are litter trained.
Whether you decide to keep your rabbit in the house or in a hutch in your yard a rabbit is a very good pet.
