Basic Bunny Care

Before I go and tell you a bunch of helpful fact for rabbit habitats I think I should tell you how I know most of this knowledge.

So when I was 4 years old I got my first bunny. Actually I got my first three bunnies. They were litter mates that we adopted from a local shelter. Throughout their lives, and after their lives, I received more rabbits. I have owned a grad total of 7 rabbits. Right now I just have one, his name is TidBit and he is a Netherlands Dwarf cross mix.

Alright lets get this post on the move! So in this post I am going to cover just one topic: What kind of habitat is right for your bunny.

When you have first figured out what kind of rabbit you are going to get the first thing that must cross your mind is cages, and how big they must be. The rule of thumb is that there must be one square foot of room for each pound on your rabbit. However, this does not mean your two pound Netherlands Dwarf can live in a two square foot cage. There are two rule that you must combine in order to get the correct size of cage. The second rule is that there must be enough space for your rabbit to hope three times in a straight line, and the rabbit must be able to stand high on his toes and his ears must not touch the top of the cage. Bare in mind that these two rules combined are for the SMALLEST you should put your rabbit in. There is no such thing as too big of a cage. One other thing is, there are many different kinds of cages available for rabbits now-a-days. I highly suggest the kind that have a plastic bottom and wire cage. The kind that your rabbit is forced to sit on a wire floor can cause problems to your rabbit, such as bone issues and sores on the feet.

I used to keep my rabbits in a large out door rabbit hutch that was built for rabbits. However, I found that they live a lot longer in the house. And so I am only discussing indoor rabbit housing at this moment. Although I may post a post about outdoor hutches at some point.

Okay on-wards we go! Once you have right size cage for your bunny you have to fill it with wonderful things! I have always used white pine wood shavings and have never had a problem with them. Some people say that they are dangerous for rabbits to live one because of their fumes, but this doesn't seem to be the case. I always fill the tray of my cage with about 2 inches of pine shavings. After that there are some necessary thing that need to be put in the cage. The first is a hide house. I always use a store bought wooden one. This is because my little fella likes to chew on his house, and I hate the idea of him eating plastic. For small rabbits a great toy for their cage is a tunnel of some sort. There is a product called "Chubes" which are like giant toilet paper tubes. These are great because once again your bunny isn't eating plastic. Also, fresh sticks from untreated apple (Or any fruit) trees make great toys.

Now on to feeding supplies:
I use a pottery dish that is about 2 inches deep and 3 inches around. It works very well because for the most part TidBit cannot knock it over. For water I use a small rabbit water bottle that you can get from all pet stores. One thing to note about these kinds of water bottles is that they MUST be changed every year (Or even twice a year) because they have a horrible habit of growing an awful green slime in areas that can't be cleaned. And now on to hay racks. I use a plastic hay rack that holds about three days worth of hay. It works well for rabbits who don't like to chew very much, but I don't recommend using it with a rabbit who is a big chewer. For some strange reason TidBit is just not a fan of hay in general, so I don't worry about him chewing too much. He stays away from the hay rack most of the time.

And now the last point I wish to cover is where to put your rabbit's cage:
This is one thing that most people don't even think of when they get a new rabbit. Here are some do's and don't's
Don't:                                         Why?'s
Put your rabbit in the kitchen-   The fumes and gasses from the stove can be very harmful. And also it is too busy of a spot.
Put your rabbit by the door-   Drafts are the most dangerous thing to a rabbit. They can get a cold and die within a few days, before you even notice.
Put your rabbit by the TV-   noises like that scare the poor little guy. If rabbits are stressed they aren't going to be very nice to their humans.

Do's
Put your rabbit in a quiet room that people do go into often enough so the rabbit wont be lonely, but not so much that the rabbit is stressed.
Although I don't really recommend putting a rabbit in a bed room, I have mine in my bedroom (Which is more like a zoo) and he is very happy. It was the only room in my house that he was able to spend most of his time running freely around the room, and not stuck in his cage all the time.

Please, if you have ANY questions about housing your rabbit, visit the 'contact us' page and send us an email.  I would be more than happy to answer your questions.


-Moira-