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Looking
after your rabbit Rabbits
can live for anywhere between 5 and 12 years, so buying a rabbit is not
a decision to be taken lightly.
You must be prepared to feed and water your rabbit daily ,change its
bedding weekly or more if needed and pay out for vet’s bills if your
rabbit becomes unwell.
Your rabbit will provide you with lots of fun
,companionship and entertainment for years to come but you must be
prepared to put in a little bit of work to ensure your rabbit is happy
and healthy . Rabbits are best kept in pairs ie a male and a
female together. 2 females can be kept together can be competitive and 2
males( if they are not neutered ) will be aggressive towards each other.
One on its own would become bored and lonely. If you do keep a male and female together ,it is
a good idea to have one or both of them neutered to avoid unwanted
pregnancies. If you buy your rabbits separately it is a good
idea to introduce them to each other on neutral ground, away from the
hutch and run to avoid them becoming territorial. Housing
You will need a hutch with a waterproof roof and
somewhere your rabbit can shelter from the wind, sun and rain. An
outdoor run or enclosure is a good idea too as it gives the rabbit the
chance to munch on grass and get some exercise. You should line the hutch with sawdust or shavings
and newspaper underneath stops the hutch getting very wet. You may find
that your rabbit will enjoy shredding this too!! A ceramic food bowl is best as anything lighter and your rabbit will enjoy tipping it over! A plastic water bottle can be bought for a few pounds-this is the best way to ensure a constant supply of water to your rabbit. Diet A rabbit’s diet is mainly grass and hay. You can
also give pellets or mixes which are complete in nutrients and vitamins.
Pellets are nutritionally better because rabbits will pick and choose
what they like from a mix, losing valuable nutrients. Whatever you feed your rabbit, it is important that
you make any changes to the diet very gradually or you risk your rabbit
getting diarrhoea . The amount you should give is really guesswork but
as a general rule feed twice a day until your rabbit is 5 months old
,then once a day thereafter. Use your rabbit as a guide –if it is getting a
bit plump you should reduce the amount you give but if it’s bowl is
empty every time you go to feed it ,then you probably need to give a bit
more. Other elements of the diet : Hay-for roughage and fibre-also keeps the teeth and boredom in check. Green food-cabbage, greens, broccoli, kale, carrots
and fresh herbs-give only one of these at a time ! DO NOT GIVE LETTUCE, CUCUMBER OR TOMATOES TO YOUR
RABBIT Fresh water should always be available. In winter
check that it hasn’t frozen over. Caecotrophs ……………………..
a sticky subject !!! Rabbits give out 2 types of droppings. 1 is round and dry –these are your rabbit’s poo The rabbit will eat this and extract all the goodness from the grass. If your rabbit does not do this – then something is wrong . Health
Most basic health checks you can do yourself quite
easily. A good guide to a healthy rabbit is that the eyes are bright and
colourful with no discharge. The nose should have a regular twitch and
not be runny. The rear end should not be dirty. If it is ,this could
mean that the diet is too rich and the rabbit is producing too many
caecotrophs. The solution to this problem is simply to give more hay and
less pellets. Alternatively your rabbit could be overweight meaning it
is unable to clean itself. Nails need to be trimmed every 2 months or so
depending how much time your rabbits spend outside wandering around and
digging. A good guide is to make sure that they don’t stick out over
the fur. They should be trimmed to half a centimetre from
the fleshy part. This is easy to see on light coloured nails. Darker
coloured rabbits have darker nails so it is not so easy to see. Should
you nip too far and make it bleed apply a little pressure with cotton
wool to stop the bleeding. And don’t worry –it will always look
worse than it really is ! You can buy nail trimmers from any good pet
shop, but if you don’t feel confident doing it, your vet will do it
for a small charge. Teeth should be checked regularly for even wear,
and should be nice and sharp. The top teeth should overlap the bottom
ones slightly. If you think the teeth look too long, give plenty of hay
as it is the abrasive content of the diet and should help. If this
doesn’t solve the problem, take your rabbit to the vet to have them
burred down. Grooming is not necessary unless you have an angora
rabbit. Think very carefully before buying this breed as its fur can
grow up to 5” long and needs up to 40 minutes grooming a day. Giving
your rabbit a good brush when it is shedding fur will help to avoid
matting and provide a bonding opportunity for you and your rabbit. There is no need to bath your rabbit it will groom itself. As long as the hutch and run are clean you shouldn’t have any major problems. Common Illnesses
Snuffles- runny eyes,sneezing, wheezing and /or a runny nose-anything similar to a cold in humans should lead to a visit to the vet. Flystrike- this is potentially lethal. The main cause of this is a dirty hutch which means that the fur gets matted with droppings. Then flies lay eggs in the droppings which turn into larvae after 24 hours. These then burrow into the rabbit’s skin which is painful and unpleasant and usually leads to your rabbit being put down. The best way to avoid this unpleasant illness is to
provide a good balanced diet and fresh water and practice good hygiene
in and around the hutch and run. Myxomatosis- This disease (also known as myxi) was introduced deliberately in Australia then later France as a virus to control the number of wild rabbits . The disease is spread by insects or contact with another carrier ,so it can travel long distances undetected. 4 out of 5 wild rabbits will catch the disease and domestic rabbits are at risk too. The only form of defence is vaccination to protect against this disease which is incurable. Once your rabbit catches it ,the kindest thing to do is to have it put down. Prevention is possible to a certain extent by
keeping the hutch as clean as possible making it unattractive to
insects. VHD (viral haemorrhage disease) – This is another disease introduced to control the numbers of wild rabbits. It arrived in Britain in 1992 and is as devastating as myxi. Vaccinating your rabbit yearly is the best weapon and it is a very rapid disease – once your rabbit has it,it will likely be dead by the next day. Getting to know your rabbitIf your
rabbit is very timid, it may not like to be picked up. The best way to
solve this is when you go to the hutch, offer some carrot or a dandelion
leaf and stroke its head while it nibbles. This should be repeated often
and eventually the rabbit will associate you with food and start to
allow you to come closer and eventually pick it up. The best way to pick up your rabbit is to put one
hand at the back of its neck, and slowly bring it round to the front.
Put your other hand underneath the rabbit’s rear end to support its
weight. PlaytimeRabbits love to play. You can give them tubes to
hide in and crawl through as long as they aren’t too small so your
rabbit gets stuck. A cardboard box is also a favourite for hiding in or
chewing up ! You can also give an apple tree branch for him or her to nibble and climb on. Make sure you only use apple though as other fruits such as cherry and plum are poisonous to rabbits. |
Rabbits
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