Raising Rabbits: Key Care Tips for Your Child’s New Furry Friend

When considering getting your child a pet, one of the most popular choices people consider are rabbits. Although they are common, sometimes their care is overlooked. Here are just a few things to consider when getting rabbits..

1. They’re expensive – the rabbit itself usually won’t be expensive, but vet bills can rack up into the thousands, don’t expect to be paying any less than a cat or dog, a lot can happen with rabbits such as fly strike, diarrhoea and overgrown teeth, they’ll also need their vaccinations against myxomatosis, RHD 1 & 2 and a booster each year. You can insure your rabbit which is very recommended. It’s highly recommended that you should consider neutering your rabbits too, for more on this you can read my post here on Why you should neuter your rabbits! On top of vet bills there is also money to be spent on their environment, if you are wanting an outdoor bunny then your going to be needing the biggest enclosure your money can get and for giant breeds they may be needing a shed. You’ll be spending a lot of money on their constant supply of good quality hay as well as substrates, toys, pellets etc.

2. High maintenance – rabbits can make a lot of mess in a short amount of time, so if living in a cage or hutch they’ll need a full clean every other day, depending how messy they are, rabbits that are litter trained will need their tray cleaning daily, you will need to be fully committed to keep on top of the mess, especially in the summer where fly strike risk is high. Another thing to consider is cutting their nails, this can be tougher than it sounds as a lot of high strung rabbits will refuse to let you hold them to cute their nails, but it is very important to keep an eye on their length as they can very easily curl and create pain for the rabbit.

3. Complex diet – rabbits should have a bland diet that is high in fibre. If your getting baby rabbits under 16 weeks, then they’ll need slowly introducing to vegetables\fruits. Herbs like parsley are great to start with and slowly build them up over time. But the rule to follow for a baby rabbit is 80% hay 20% good quality pellets. For an adult rabbit over 16 weeks should be 80% hay 15% fruit/veg 5% pellets. Introducing grass should also be taken slowly because it will be too rich for them to start with, they’ll need starting with 2 minutes on the grass the first day and slowly built the time up over 10 days, after that they can have unlimited amounts.

4. Long lives – on top of all the responsibilities that come with having rabbits, they have a long life that usually ranges between 8-12 years, which is a good thing, but when it comes to children they may soon get bored of the rabbit, or they may simply grow up and move out of home, which can leave the rabbit to feel lonely, ignored and eventually this can lead to unwanted behaviour from the rabbit such as biting, growling and thumping. Rabbits are one of the most abandoned animals and in shelters up to around 40% of them get euthanised due to not finding a suitable home. Often, these rabbits were bought for children, who soon got bored. So it is so important to do research first to prevent this from ever happening.

5. Doesn’t like being held – Its quite rare to ever find a rabbit that likes being held. Their prey instincts are hardwired into them. They have very strong hind legs and very fragile bones which can easily break when being dropped. Not only are they very fragile but a rabbit can cause some very painful scratches and have a very strong bite on them. The best way to bond with your rabbits is to let them come to you, once they’re comfortable, treat them as through they’re a large dog, you can’t pick up a really large dog but they enjoy being petted.

6. Needs a lot of company – as I mentioned before, rabbits get lonely and if the child gets bored of the rabbit and the novelty has worn off, then you’ll have a very unhappy bunny. Rabbits ideally have another rabbit to live with, the best way of doing this is to get an already bonded pair and neuter them both, which can prevent hormonal related fighting in the future. If you are newly introducing rabbits then why not visit my my other page How to introduce rabbits to each other which has a lot of info on mixing.

there are so many factors to consider when getting rabbits and what I’ve mentioned are just a few, but hopefully this has given you some more insight and helped you make your decision!

why not check out my other posts on here such as..

– Why you should neuter your rabbits

–Top #7 Hutches For Outside Rabbits!

– Keeping Your Rabbits Warm In The Winter!

– Fly strike In Rabbits | What Is It And How to Prevent It