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There are many resources that can help you learn how to care for pet rabbits. You should consult many different ones and learn as much information as you can. Some places to look are:

  • Online articles
  • Online forums (discussion boards, listserves, etc.)
  • Your local library
  • A local rabbit-savvy vet
  • Local animal shelters and organizations

Refer to the Related Links and Questions below for some places to start. As you do your research, understand that taking care of a rabbit means meeting its needs. The PDSA has identified five basic welfare needs common to all pets:

  • Habitat: A suitable place to live
  • Society: Does your pet need company?
  • Diet: Healthy feeding and nutrition
  • Behaviour: The ability to express normal behaviour
  • Health: First-aid and vet care

One person's tips: Start with letting it settle in to its new home, as it will be very scared and will not feel comfortable in its new surroundings. Check on it every hour or so just to make sure that it is OK. After a couple of days, your new rabbit should of settled into its new home. Try to pick it up, if it starts to growl or runs into a corner do not force it and leave it alone as it is still quite scared. After a week or so and your rabbit is still not comfortable get a handful of food and take it slowly up to its mouth, if it starts to nibble at the food it means it is getting used to you.

And if you go on vacation, don't expect your relatives or friends to watch him without making sure they understand the commitment and will be responsible.

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12y ago
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11y ago

There's a lot to know about taking care of rabbits. This article is an outline only: if you have a pet rabbit, you should do more research on each topic mentioned. There are lots of books and websites that can help you. See the related links/questions for more info.

HousingRabbits usually have a hutch or run, but a normal, cage-like run is NOT big enough to exercise in! If it does live in a small space, your rabbit should have the freedom and space every day to properly run around and explore, in the house, garden, garage or large pen. Make sure it cannot escape and supervise it if in the garden. Be warned: if you let your rabbit our in the house it WILL chew things; including deadly wires. Rabbits can easily be litter trained and they will need toys, places to explore and also places to hide in, for privacy and warmth. Hutches should have sawdust or shredded paper in, and cosy hay, not straw, is good to snuggle down in. A bunny needs a cage (or hutch) to keep it safe from predators. Rabbit cages must be cleaned weekly. FoodRabbits should eat a diet of mostly hay. Lots and lots of hay (not straw) is REALLY important for digestion, dental health, and mental health reasons. They should also have high-quality commercial rabbit pellet food, and fresh greens. Rabbits need this diet for a number of reasons; many different health problems can result from a bad diet. An occasional treat to put variety in their diet, like fresh fruit or a sugary veg (like carrot), dandelion flowers, willow or apple twigs, is appreciated. Avoid feeding rabbits light-coloured lettuce, beans, tomato leaves, dead grass. Water should be fresh and accessible at all times. A rabbit should have access to as much water as it can drink, and as much hay as it can eat. Timothy and other grass hays are best for adults; alfalfa is good for babies and nursing moms, and sometimes for underweight rabbits who ned to put on some weight or sick rabbits who are recovering. HealthThere are many rabbit diseases you should ask your vet about.You should learn about all the common injuries and illnesses, how to prevent them, and how to treat them. (Almost always, treatment involves going to the vet, but in some cases you can and should take first aid steps at home first.) You should learn how to do health screenings at home and perform grooming tasks. Rabbits also need regular screenings by special "rabbit-savvy" vets. Rabbits are delicate, sensitive animals, and very different from cats, dogs, and humans so "common logic" often doesn't apply to them. It is widely recommended that rabbits are neutered/spayed for various behavioral and health reasons. CompanyRabbits are really sociable. It is a good idea to get two (two females is the best option), but human company is just as good, and they will love a good cuddle and stroke. You may find pretty soon you have a new best friend!

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To take care of a rabbit first get it a hutch or cage. It needs a food and water bowl. You feed your rabbit pellets, meadow hay, carrot, pear, watermelon, strawberries, apple, peas and so on. You don't feed your rabbit the things it leaves in its bowl, lettuce or chocolate. Their water must be fresh and clean. It needs a place to sleep and that is where you put some hay or straw. Your rabbit will need a carry box. In the hutch/cage you may want to put a small log of wood or something for their teeth that grow all the time. You may want to buy a brush for your rabbit. Don't forget to pick it up carefully, not laying it on its back and get him/her some toys to play with or yesterdays newspaper would be f un for your rabbit to chew and rip you just have to clean it up at the end.

Think twice about getting a rabbit for a child, or if you are not prepared to spend up to 10 or so years caring for it.

Try not to keep it outside as there are many hazards to its safety.

Give it a large enough cage to stretch out in, and jump around. Also allow it playtime outside the cage each day.

"Bunny-proof" your home before allowing it outside the cage, as they like to chew and can easily electrocute themselves on cords, or poison themselves on plants.

Rabbits are easily littertrained, avoid using wood shavings for litter. Aspen wood shavings are perfectly fine, but cedar and pine wood shavings have been implicated as toxic.

Timothy hay is a must and is more nutritious than alfalfa. Feed fruits and veggies sparingly.

Spay/neuter them as soon as possible.

You give them lots of love and good nutrition.

You should just give all the love and care you can.

About breeding: My rabbit had babies and she did everything herself! She breastfed them for a while, and then they began to eat and drink and urinate and defecate. You don't have to worry about a thing. Just make sure they can get to the water and food okay and that they are not struggling or hurting themselves by doing so.

Before allowing your rabbits to breed, consider that there are many rabbits right now in animal shelters all over the world. Instead of bringing new bunnies into the world, give those rabbits a chance at a good life: the people who would take your babies can instead adopt a shelter rabbit.

to make a long story short, there are a few points you must care for:

1) food: as often as possible, get your bunnies some fresh green herb, and dont consider that shop-grains are enough.

2) water: change bottle at least once a day, especially in the winter when the bottle may freeze.

3) clearning: remove the old litter as soon as there is a clear smell or at least once a week. make sure the litter is always dry. wet litter = infections

3) grooming: all domestic bunnies need to be groomed regularly (cutting the very fine tip of the nails, all ten nails). Long hair bunnies also need almost daily combing with a smooth-end comb or brush that does not hurt their soft skin.

make sure Ur rabbit always has water and food in its hutch and make sure u hold Ur rabbit properly(1 hand under front legs and 1 hand under bottom)

all you need is a big cage, some cedar at the bottom, and a water and food dish. About once a day take the rabbit out for some exercise and clean the cage once or twice a week, depending on how much you feed it.

I have a rabbit, and many people think they are easy to look after, but it takes a lot!

HOUSING:

Rabbits usually have a hutch or run, but a normal, cage-like run is NOT big enough to exercise in! If it does live in a small space, your rabbit should have the freedom and space eevry day to properly run around and explore, in the house, garden, garage or large pen. Make sure it cannot escape and supervise it if in the garden. Be warned: if you let your rabbit our in the house it WILL chew things; including deadly wires. Rabbits can easily be litter trained and they will need toys, places to explore and also places to hide in, for privacy and warmth. Hutches should have sawdust or shredded paper in, and cosy hay, not straw, is good to snuggle down in.

FOOD:

For their food rabbits should have commercial rabbit food, leaves and vegetables, but should eat mostly hay and grass. It is very important they don't only eat commercial food and treats, as they will become overweight and their teeth will grow too long. Lots and lots of hay (not straw) and grass is REALLY important. An occasional treat to put variety in their diet, like commercial treats, brown bread, weetabix, vegetables, apple, willow and dandelions will be very much appreciated! Avoid feeding rabbits lettuce, beans, tomato leaves and dead grass. Water should be fresh and accessable at all times in a commercial "drip" bottle.

HEALTH AND COMPANY:

There are many rabbit diseases you should ask your vet about. For serious ones your rabbit can get vaccinations, but they are still open to flystrike and mites, which you can tell by dandruff around the neck and ear area of your rabbit. I would strongly recommend neutering your rabbit: not only will you get no unwelcome surprises, but your pet will be more good tempered, will not pee to mark territory and has a lower risk of cancer.

Lastly, rabbits are really sociable. It is a good idea to get two (two females is the best option), but human company is just as good, and they will love a good cuddle and stroke.

You may find pretty soon you have a new best friend! I hope this helped and that you buy and enjoy a rabbit!

First you should really consider buying a rabbit. Make sure to feed the rabbit daily, clean it's cage weekly, and bring it out of its cage whenever you have time. Don't put your hand in the bunny's cage, because a rabbit's cage is a safe zone to it, and the rabbit wouldn't feel safe with hands sweeping in. Remember to clip the rabbit's nails to keep them healthy and to brush the rabbit during its shedding to avoid diseases caused by hairs. Good luck! :)

You play with a lot, Clean its cage, feed it 2 times a day, let it run around outside, bathe it like twice a year, give it rabbit toys, give it one treat a day, and you can read more at myhouserabbit.com! (See below for the link).

be sure to give your pet bunny treats and plenty of exercise. they love bananas, but they can get somewhat messy. although my bunny cleans his self. they need plenty of water, especially in the winter. and the most important thing is LOVE!

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Taking care of a rabbit is not easy. You need to know that rabbits tend to have a relatively long life span, so it won't be a piece of cake rearing a pet rabbit. There are many things you need to consider when you are assigned to care for a pet rabbit.

  • Feeding them. Not only your generic carrot supply, but also fresh grass hay ad its derivatives.
  • Entertaining them. Rabbits like to always "hop" around, so provide them with toys and the like to entertain them.
  • Grooming/cleaning them. Pretty self-explanatory.
  • A comfortable rabbit cage. Same as above.
  • ..and others.

Habitat:

-It needs either a hutch or cage at least thrice its size

-A food bowl, water bottle and 'toilet'

-At least a toy ( or a rabbit companion )

-Clean out its cage twice a week

-Bedding (wood chips ) and substance soak-up (cat litter soaks up rabbit pee eg.)

Note: Metal barred flooring in the cage makes your rabbit uncomfortable.

Food:

-It needs Timothy hay everyday( at least a handful )

-Half a bowlful of grain food (the packets of colourful stuff and many seeds)

-A full bottle of water a day

-Vegetables (Spinach, broccoli stems eg.)

Note: Cabbage will harm your rabbit. Carrot slices must be used as treats.

Grooming:

-A good brushing everyday (use a wire brush)

-A bath a month or not at all (Rabbits are not supposed to bathe)

Exercise:

-Bring it to your garden or any leafy areas to play

Plenty of straw, lots of water, dried food and space to run around. Simple as that :)

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16y ago

Handle him gently. The more respect and love you show him, the more you will be rewarded with his love.

Whenever you need to pick up the bunny, make sure you support his back legs, one hand under the chest and one across the butt, lift him straight to your chest, this will make him feel safe and secure.

However, the best way to earn your bunnies trust is to spend time on the floor with him. If you spend a lot of time on his level, even just sitting on the floor reading etc he will be interested and come to check you out. A few small slices of carrot as a treat won't do any harm here either ;)

You can develop incredibly strong bonds with bunnies this way.

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11y ago

to take care of a bunny really all it needs is water food and to run around and play but remember do not have a bunny as an outside pet all ways let it run around in side
"How to Care for a Rabbit" ~ see related link below .

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13y ago

Your new rabbit needs a cage of it's own, clean water, and a good all around rabbit pellet. It needs a nice quiet place to live. If you have a house bunny you will have to first potty train it before you let it have full run of the house. Check your cage to find out which corner your bunny uses as it's potty corner place a cat litter box or something similar with sand in it in that corner. (WARNING using cat litter may be very tempting but some types of cat litter are toxic to bunnies if eaten) Once you are sure that your bunny is using it's litter box you can start letting it out of it's cage for short intervals. Watch your bunny and observe it going back to it's cage to go potty. You can lengthen it's time out of the cage as you begin to trust it using the potty in the cage where it should. Another thing that you should protect your bunny from is electrical cords. Bunnies tend to chew on electric cords. They should be picked up out of harms way. You CAN use hot sauce to cover the cords, there is also a product called bitters that will deter rabbits from chewing on cords. If you are keeping your rabbit outside it must be kept in the shade. Under a cool tree is perfect. It must also be protected from the rain, wind and snow.

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13y ago

Assuming you have waited to purchase your bunny until it is 6 to 8 weeks old, all your bunny needs is a good rabbit pellet, plenty of cool clean water and a clean cage. (a good rub behind the ears every once in awhile wouldn't hurt either) Rabbits should be fed once a day and their water bowl rinsed and filled with clean water. Treats for a young bunny should be very limited so you avoid diarrhea - Cheerios, dry bread (the heals if your kids don't eat them) and an occasional small piece of carrot. As the rabbit grows you can introduce a piece of celery, piece of apple or slice of orange (rind on). An adult rabbit (9 months and up) can have pieces of fresh alfalfa, carrot tops, pieces of grapefruit, etc., NO LETTUCE OR CABBAGE.

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13y ago

Put the runt in a shoebox or other small box. Next, put some soft bedding like the rabbits fur, towel, or cloth. Don't put tissue or cotton or any kind of paper, it can wrap around the legs and cause the rabbit to struggle.Then, feed it goat milk from an eyedropper. Make sure it doesn't get into the newborns nose or it will suprisenily drown!( I tried to feed a baby, homeless rat some milk but it got into his nose and it died...). Afterthat, when its eyes and ears are open, you can feed it solid food. It needs to be 18 days old to eat solid food. Finally give it to the vet and give it a check up.

I am assuming that you do not have a mama for your baby rabbit although you do not say it is an orphan. (If it has a Mom you need to leave it with it's Mom she will care for it.) Go to Petco or some other well stocked pet store (Walmart also carries) get a kitten nursing bottle and kitten milk replacer. Mix according to instructions. Feed baby a few drops every 2 hours until it starts to get the idea and wants to take more. Use a warm cotton ball to stimulate (wash) the babies genitalia so it will go to the bathroom (both #1 & #2) every time you feed it. This is what the mom does until the baby is old enough to remember it has to go. (10 days or so) When the baby is taking more than a few drops you can go to feeding only 4 times a day and then only twice a day (after 10 days old). Keep it in a warm, dark, cozy place. (a shoe box is fine, I know a girl that raised 3 in her purse, of course the purse had to be thrown away when she was done!!) You can also feed the baby canned goat's milk in a bottle.

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Lvl 1
3y ago

Go to Lennon the bunny!

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