12 Tips for a Healthy Pet Rabbit

RABBIT-PROOF YOUR HOME BEFORE YOU ADOPT

Rabbits love to chew just about everything they can get their faces on, so your priority is to guard against Peter Cottontail nomming anything that might destroy (a) Peter Cottontail, (b) your belongings and (c) your security deposit. Any electrical wiring should be kept out of reach and/or covered with cable wrap or plastic tubing. Also, make sure your rabbit won’t be within reach of any house plants or items you don’t want destroyed, like books or that sweet collection of rare LPs you’ve been cultivating from the used-record shop down the block. Your rabbit may even chew on your baseboards and wallpaper, but you can buy plastic panels to guard against this. (House Rabbit Society)

ADOPT YOUR RABBIT FROM A SHELTER

Even conscientious pet owners who adopt their cats and dogs from shelters may purchase simpler pets, like gerbils or goldfish, from pet stores. But rabbits should not come under this umbrella. They are the third most surrendered animals, after dogs and cats, which means there are plenty of rabbits in animal shelters who need loving homes. Wouldn’t you rather adopt one of them than support a mass-breeding facility (a “bunny mill,” if you will)? (Humane Society of the United States)

LEARN TO HANDLE YOUR RABBIT SAFELY

Rabbits are relatively fragile, with powerful muscles but delicate bones. It’s important to handle them properly to avoid injury. First, remember that rabbits in nature are prey, so they don’t love to be approached or picked up in the first place, especially when still getting to know you. Take it slow. Lift the rabbit with one hand under its front legs and the other hand supporting its butt. It is a good idea to pet and brush your rabbit to help remove shedding fur. If you handle your rabbit properly from the day you adopt it, it will soon learn to trust you and enjoy these petting sessions. (Petfinder)

GET TO THE VET

A rabbit needs health care just like any dog, cat or other pet. As soon as possible after adopting your rabbit, make an appointment with a vet for a checkup to receive any necessary vaccinations and to schedule spay or neuter surgery. Getting your rabbit fixed doesn’t just prevent pregnancy, but also eliminates spraying (in males) and uncomfortable estrous (in females). It can also prevent health problems down the road. So, as always, spay and neuter your pets — even your rabbits. (PetMD)

GIVE YOUR RABBIT AN ADEQUATE CAGE

Leaving your rabbit exposed to the elements in an outdoor hutch is a straight-up bad idea, but even with an indoor rabbit, you will need to decide how much time outside of its cage you want your rabbit to have. If you plan to keep it in its cage for large portions of the day, you’ll need a larger cage so your rabbit is comfortable. But these are social animals, and the more time they have to roam your home freely, the better. You’ll still want to have a cage for your rabbit’s litter box, its food and its water, and just to provide it with a safe space of its own. Don’t use a wire cage; these can hurt a rabbit’s feet, which aren’t padded like a cat’s or a dog’s. (Petfinder)

LET YOUR RABBIT EXERCISE

Even if you plan to keep your rabbit it in its (roomy, spacious, comfortable, vast) cage for much of the day, it must have some time out of the cage each day, not just to socialize with you and your family, but to get some much-needed exercise. Letting your rabbit roam freely will keep it healthy and happy. And trust us, there’s nothing more adorable than a rabbit hopping into the living room to say hi when you’re watching TV or reading. Rabbits also love to play tug-of-war! Get a rope toy or something for your rabbit to latch its big chompers onto. It may not have as much jaw strength as a mastiff (so go easy), but playing tug with a rabbit can be just as fun. (Petco)

LITTER TRAIN YOUR RABBIT

You didn’t think we’d recommend giving your rabbits run of the house if they weren’t litter trainable, did you? Like cats, rabbits are naturally quite clean, so most will take to using a litter box naturally. If you adopted your rabbit from a shelter, there’s a good chance it already knows what to do. Once you bring your rabbit home, present it with its new, newspaper-lined cage. It will choose a corner of the cage to be its “bathroom.” Once it does, you know where to put the litter box. Line it with newspaper, use newspaper-pellet litter and clean it daily. Thankfully, rabbit poops are hard, round, small and easy to clean. Definitely don’t use typical clay cat litter; that can be harmful to rabbits. (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals)

FEED YOUR RABBIT A HEALTHY AND VARIED DIET

Hay is for horses, but it’s also for rabbits. The majority of your rabbit’s diet should consist of hay — delicious and plentiful hay. Unlike with some other pets, for which “free feeding” is a bad idea, a rabbit should have access to hay at all times, so don’t be shy when doling it out. Fresh vegetables as an occasional addition to hay in your rabbit’s diet are good, too. There’s a reason meat lovers sneer at lettuce and salads as “rabbit food,” after all. Most greens are good choices, but avoid iceberg or other light-leaf lettuces, potatoes, beans or corn. And despite what Bugs Bunny does, tread lightly with carrots. They’re very starchy, and therefore not particularly healthy for rabbits. Finally, be sure that clean water is always available. Use a bowl, a sipper bottle or both. (Petfinder)

INDULGE YOUR RABBIT'S SWEET TOOTH THE RIGHT WAY

Rabbits have a very strong sweet tooth. They typically adore fruit. But it doesn’t take too much fruit to deliver a sugar overload to a rabbit, so use it as a treat rather than a consistent part of your rabbit’s diet. A slice of apple or a berry here and there can go a long way. Bananas, grapes and dried fruits are extremely sugary, and should be given extra-sparingly, if at all. Don’t fall into the trap of getting your rabbit addicted to fruit to the point where it won’t eat anything else. That’s no joke; it happens. (Humane Society of the United States)

GIVE YOUR RABBIT SOMETHING TO CHEW ON

Rabbits love to chew. They gotta chew! Even if they’re not chowing down on hay or fresh lettuce, they’re working those jaws, using those teeth, nomming on something. It’s important for you, as a rabbit owner, to provide things for your rabbit to chew, otherwise your rabbit will chew things like your walls, baseboards, plants and wires. This can be a nuisance to you at best and deadly to your pet at worst. You don’t need to drop a lot of dough on expensive chew toys; your rabbit will be perfectly happy chewing paper-towel rolls, old magazines and phone books. (Oh, that must be why they keep delivering the Yellow Pages in this day and age!) (Petfinder)