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RABBIT CARE FOR ADOPTERS PROVIDED BY HOUSE RABBIT SOCIETY
SHOPPING LIST FOR YOUR NEW BUNNY
House Supplies: Cage and/or x-pen Water bottle or crock Food crock - heavy enough so your bunny can ‘t throw it! Hay rack Plastic litter box Edible litter, such as Carefresh or Cat Country (no cedar, pine, or clumping litter!) Pet carrier
Food: Timothy or alfalfa pellets, depending on age Unlimited grass hay: timothy, oat, orchard grass Fresh vegetables
Cleaning Supplies: White vinegar (diluted with water 4:1)
Grooming Supplies: Comb or brush Nail clippers Styptic powder
Electrical Cord Protection: PVC tubing; or Aquarium tubing; or Electrical cord wrap from Radio Shack; or Hooks to fasten wires to wall above where bunny can reach
THE CAGE At least 6 times the length of your stretched out rabbit High enough for her to stand on her hind feet Solid or slatted plastic floor. No wire floors. The cage should contain a litter box, hay rack, pellet bowl, and water container.
exercise When your rabbit is better trained, and when your house (or the part that your rabbit will have access to) has been sufficiently bunny-proofed, your rabbit can be allowed free run of the area. The more room your rabbit has to run around in, the more delightful you will find her as a companion. Give your rabbit as much exercise as you can. Try to let her out of the cage for at least two hours per day.
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Of these, the greatest threat is attack by predators. These occur primarily at night, but can also happen occasionally in the daytime. Hutches or cages do not provide enough protection to make it safe to leave the rabbit outdoors 24 hours a day. With her acute vision, hearing, and smell, a rabbit can sense the presence of a predator such as a raccoon even in your neighbor’s yard. She may panic and injure herself, or she may die of shock. In addition, many raccoons can open hutches.
The second great danger is the heat. Your rabbit should always have a shady area where she can escape the sun, and she should always have fresh water available. Keep her indoors when the temperature gets above 85 degrees.
For safe outdoor exercise during the day, we suggest a pen within your fenced yard: one with a top and bottom as well as sides to keep the rabbit from digging out and unwelcome visitors from climbing or jumping in.
Cleaning
The safest cleaning solution you can use is vinegar diluted 4:1 with water. Put the mixture in a spray bottle for ease of use in cleaning the cage, the litter box, or the floor. Soak the litter box in the vinegar solution to get rid of stains.
Be aware that many other kinds of cleanser or disinfectant will be toxic for your rabbit. However, you can soak plastic items in bleach if they need to be disinfected, as long as you let them air out well before returning the items to your bunny.
Change the litter box two to three times per week. The cleaner you keep the box and rabbit area, the more likely it will be that your bunny will use the box.
Preventing rabbits from chewing on electrical cords is of utmost importance, since rabbits can be badly burned or electrocuted. The consequences of biting into an electric wire are too severe to risk relying on training alone. Instead, you must take action to move the cords safely out of reach. Some ways of doing this follow.
PVC tubing is the strongest material you can use to protect your wires. However, it takes some effort to string the wires through the tubes Unless you buy tubes with wide diameters, you will either need to cut the PVC lengthwise with a hacksaw or cut the end of the wires and re-splice after you’ve threaded them through the PVC. Plastic tubing (similar to that used in fish tanks, or with "swamp coolers") from a hardware or aquarium store can be slit lengthwise with a blade and the wire can be tucked safely inside. Bunnies can chew through this if they really want to, though. A harder, black, pre-slit type of tubing is also available. Decorative wire-concealers that stick to the base of walls come in strips, corners, etc., so they can follow the shape of the wall. This is a more costly and time consuming method than the clear plastic tubing above, but is more permanent and rabbit proof, as well. Of course, wires can be run under or behind furniture or carpets in order to hide them.
Most houseplants are toxic. Putting them on high furniture may not keep a rabbit away. Hang them from the ceiling if you have an active bunny, but watch for falling leaves! If you are unsure which plants may be toxic, you should assume they are unless you know that you, yourself, can eat them RAW safely.
Rabbits chew to exercise their minds, not just their teeth. Providing lots of entertaining alternatives for your bun to chew on is the best deterrent for a destructive critter. Spaying and neutering should also decrease this behavior.
Litter-Training
By nature, rabbits choose one or a few places (usually corners) to deposit their urine and most of their pills. Urine training involves little more than putting a litter box where the rabbit chooses to go. Pill training requires only that you give them a place they know will not be invaded by others. Here are some suggestions to help you train your rabbit to use the litter box.
Spay/Neuter Once your rabbit is spayed or neutered, she will be more likely to use her litter box.
litter OPTIONS Bunnies sometimes nibble on their litter, so it must be digestible. Hay based litters and paper based litters work well. NO clumping litters. They will clump in your bunny’s stomach and kill her! NO wood litters. There are indications that cedar and pine shavings have detrimental effects on the liver.
Cage and litter box Cleaning Keep the litter box clean using white vinegar diluted with water (4:1), and change the litter box anywhere from daily to twice a week. The cleaner you keep the cage and litter box, the more likely it is that your rabbit will use the box!
The cage Use a cage large enough to contain a small litter box (along with bunny's food and water bowls, toys, etc.) and still allow enough room for the rabbit to stretch out. Place the box in the corner of the cage that she pees in. When the rabbit is confined to a cage with a litter box, cage time is learning time.
Pills vs. Urine All rabbits will drop pills around their cage to mark it as their own. This is not failure to be litter-trained. It is very important for your rabbit to identify the cage as her property so that when she leaves the cage for the bigger world of your house, she will distinguish the family's area from her own and avoid marking it. To encourage this, make the rabbit the king of her cage. Try not to force her in or out of it: coax her. Do not do things to her or her cage that she doesn't like while she's in it.
The running space Even if your goal is to let your rabbit have full run of the house, you must start small. Start with a cage and a small running space, and when your rabbit is sufficiently well trained in that space, gradually give her more space. But do so gradually! If you overwhelm her with too much freedom before she's ready, she will forget where her box is and will lose her good habits.
The method Start with a box in the cage, as well as one or more boxes in the rabbit's running space. If she urinates in a corner of the cage not containing the box, move the box to that corner until she gets it right. Don't be concerned if your bunny curls up in her litter box; this is natural. Once she's using the box in the cage, open her door and allow her into her running space. Watch her go in and out on her own. If she heads to a corner where there's no box or lifts up her tail in the characteristic fashion, cry "no" in a single, sharp burst of sound. Gently herd her back to her cage and her litter box or into one of the boxes in her room. Be careful, however. You don't want to make the cage or the litter box seem like punishment. A handful of hay in the box makes it a more welcoming place. After she first uses the box, praise her and give her favorite treat. Once she uses the box in her room a couple of times, you're well on your way, as her habits will be on their way to forming. As she gets better trained in her first room, you can increase her space. Don't hurry this process, and if the area becomes very big, or includes a second floor, be sure to include more litter boxes so as not to confuse her. Remember, as she becomes more confident and uses fewer boxes, you can start to remove some of her early, "training" boxes.
Compromise If your rabbit continually urinates in a spot where there is no litter box, put her box where she will use it, even if it means rearranging her cage or moving a table in the living room. It is much easier to oblige her than to try to work against a determined bunny!
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Suggested Toys
Paper bags and cardboard boxes for crawling inside, scratching, and chewing Cardboard concrete forms for burrowing Cardboard roll from paper towels or toilet paper Untreated wicker baskets or boxes full of sedded paper, junk mail, magazines, straw, or other organic materials for digging Cat toys: Batta balls and other cat toys that roll or can be tossed Parrot toys that can be tossed, or hung from the top of the cage and chewed or hit Baby toys: hard plastic (not teething) toys like rattles and keys, things that can be tossed "Critter Castle" (cardboard box with ramps and windows) to climb in and chew on. Also, kitty condos, tubes, tunnels, and trees Nudge and roll toys like large rubber balls, empty Quaker Oat boxes and small tins "Busy Bunny" toys Toys with ramps and lookouts for climbing and viewing the world Dried out pine cones Jungle gym type toys from Toys R Us A straw whisk broom A hand towel or sheet for bunching and scooting Untreated wood, twigs and logs that have been aged for at least 3 months (apple tree branches can be eaten fresh off the tree. Stay away from cherry, peach, apricot, plum and redwood, which are all poisonous. Untreated sea grass or maize mats |
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FEEDING
In General, an adult rabbit should eat: Unlimited grass hay: orchard grass, timothy hay, oat hay (NOT ALFALFA HAY) 1/8 cup of timothy pellets twice a day. One baby carrot or banana slice in the morning. A small salad of at least three vegetables in the evening. The salad should be about the size of your bunny’s head. Alfalfa hay and pellets should be considered treats unless you have a bunny under six months old or an elderly rabbit having trouble maintaining her weight. |
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VEGETABLES USUALLY TOLERATED, BUT MORE LIKELY TO CAUSE SOME PROBLEMS IN VERY SENSITIVE RABBITS |
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VEGETABLES TO AVOID |
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SAFE HANDLING TECHNIQUES
APPROACHING A RABBIT The safest initial approach with rabbits is to begin by stroking the top of the head. Do not offer your hand for a bunny to sniff the way you would to a dog because rabbits cannot see directly in front of their noses. You might scare them, and they may bite.
LIFTING Rabbits are prey animals and as such are frightened when lifted off the ground. They assume they are going to be eaten! Therefore, we recommend that you learn to interact with your rabbit on her level: with your nose three inches from the ground! Sit on the floor to read the paper in the morning or to watch the evening news; lie down on the ground to read; buy one of those collapsible chairs without legs that will allow you to sit on the floor in comfort. In this manner, you can interact with your bunny without frightening her or restraining her. This is a great way to get to know her personality and have fun with her.
A rabbit’s spine makes up only 6% of her body weight. It is extremely fragile, so great care must be taken when handling your new friend. Can you see the natural “C” curve of her spine? If she straightens out her back and kicks violently, she can break her spine and paralyze herself, so be careful always to keep her spine curved. Bunnies should NOT be lifted by the ears or scruff. Instead, cup her bottom with one hand, resting that arm along the length of her body. Slide your other hand under her chest and scoop her towards your body, resting her feet against you and tucking her head under your chin. Once her feet are settled, you can move the hand from under her chest to over her shoulders, with your index finger on one side of her neck and your thumb on the other. This is a great way to control her because you can keep her from jumping off without hurting her in any way.
giving in If rabbit struggles violently, you might wish to squat down and release the rabbit rather than attempting to contain her. Prevent her from jumping from heights because she might break her back. It’s easier to catch a loose rabbit than to care for a crippled one!
GROOMING
Comb your bunny at least once a week. If she’s got long fur or if she’s shedding, you should comb her daily. Trim her nails ~every six weeks Check and/or clean her anal glands ~every six weeks Bunnies don’t need baths! If your rabbit has a dirty butt, spot clean by dripping water on the area and soaking until you can lift off the feces. See your vet to determine the cause.
health issues
If your bunny skips a meal, try to give her a bit of banana or other treat to see if she’ll eat it. If she doesn’t eat for at least 24 hours, take her to the vet! Sneezing, weepy eyes or nose, and lethargic behavior are other signs of ill health. Consult your vet! If her poops start decreasing in size or lose their shape, consult your vet. Diarrhea should be considered an emergency. |