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 Housing: You can find a good quality rabbit cage or hutch at any feed supply store. Checking out local classifieds is another great option because you can purchase a new or used cage for much cheaper than brand new in a store. Just be careful and make sure the cage is intact and has no sharp edges to hurt your rabbit. If you live in San Diego couty, KW Cages makes sturdy and durable cages. KW Cages are great for outdoor and indoor rabbit cages and are customizeable to your specific needs. I get my cages from them and reccomend them 100%. They are a bit pricey, but completely worth it in the long run. If you enjoy online shopping convienence then I reccomend trying WestCoatPetSupply. I would go to Petco or Petsmart as a last resort, they are ususally uneededly expensive for what you get. Rabbits that are planning on living outside, can live in a hutch. They come in wooden and metal versions, and are raised up off the ground.  The bottom of the cage will be a wire mesh, with spaces large enough for rabbit droppings to fall to the ground underneath the cage. If you get a wire bottom cage, make sure your rabbit has some sort of mat to sit on to rest their feet from the wire. Grass mats, towels, hay/straw are all things that your rabbit can safely sit on. If a change in surface isn't offered, a rabbit can get sore feet. If your rabbit is going to be living outside, you MUST place the cage/hutch in a shady cool area. Netherland Dwarves, and any other rabbit, cannot stand high tempratures and will die. They can handle the cold far more than they can handle the heat. When it is hotter than 90F or cooler than 40F It is time to alter your pet's enviroment. When it is hot outside, be sure to have a fan on the cage and something cool such as an icepack for them to lay against. When it is chilly, you can throw a blanket over their cage. The best option is keeping your rabbit inside. It removes the danger of the heat and cold, and makes sure your rabbit will not be ignored (rabbits that live outdoors tend to not get as much attention =( and can become neglected!) Wire bottom cages are available with trays underneath to catch droppings, and these make nice indoor cages. If the bottom tray gets a bit smelly, you can always put some straw into the tray to soak up the urine. There are also plastic bottom cages that are designed for shavings, and your rabbit sits down in the bedding. If your rabbit sits down in the bedding, make sure the bedding is dust free, and talk to a pet supply store owner about the dust content before purchasing. With the solid bottom cages, you have to make sure that the bedding is cleaned often (every 1-2 days) because you don't want your bunny to sit in his/her waste and get sick! Make sure the inside of the cage has no sharp edges and is safe for your bunny. Rabbits also love cages with ramps to run on! Rabbits can be house-trained. I have no personal expierence on litter-training rabbits, but there are many good sites on how to do it. The most rewarding way to keep your bunny is in your house like a cat or dog, I have heard that they are surpizingly bright and take to litterboxes very quickly.
Diet: The main source of caliories and nutrients in your rabbit's diet comes from alfalpha pellets. You can purchase rabbit feed at a reasonable price at any feed supply place, and even at Wal-Mart. I reccomend purchasing in bulk, not so much that the feed sits for more than 3 months, because the nutrients will be lost if the food isn't fresh. When storing the feed, make sure it is in an airtight container. I purchase a 50lb bag of feed for $15 at a feed supply shop aproxamtely every month to feed five rabbits, including nursing does and their babies. Rabbit feed is very inexpensive if you don't buy it at Petco, or any other overpriced pet shop. Feed rabbits that are under six months of age and pregnant and nursing does as much as they want to eat.  Once they are six months old and older, feed 1/3 cup every day. You can add a little bit of black oil sunflower seeds into their food. The extra fats in the seeds bring out a healthy coat. Fresh water needs to be available at ALL TIMES! Water bottles that attach to the sides of the cage I think are the best. You can clean the bottles out with a splash of bleach when algae grows, but just make sure to rinse it out completely. Hay is the one thing besides water that should be offered at ALL times. For the health of your bunny, their diet needs to be a high fiber, low protein diet. Tomothy hay and other grass hays (orchard grass, bermuda) is the best hay to offer because it is very high in fiber and low in protein. The high fiber content helps regulate bunny's digestive system. In additon to the loose timothy hay, I feed them pressed alfalfa or timothy cubes. The cubes help wear down their teeth and give them a challenging way to eat their food. Timothy and alfalfa cubes are available at a petco or petsmart, and most feed supply stores. They are relatively cheap at petsmart, I get about 14 cubes for $2-$3 at petsmart. Some sort of green vegtable should be fed daily. Spinach, kale, parsley, cilantro, mustard greens or any other deep green leafy vegtables are ideal to feed each day. If you have acess to a yard with grass that is untreatded with pesticides, grass and weeds is a simple way to get your daily greens. My rabbits love the twigs and leaves of my citrus fruit trees (orange, tangerine, lemon), just make sure that you wash the leaves before feeding. My rabbits love roses, the stems and leaves. They will eat around any thorns, don’t worry! My rabbits also get chinaberrry tree leaves and avacado tree leaves. These are just a few options to spice up your rabbit’s diet. Rabbits can eat fruit too, just be very careful. A full-grown Netherland Dwarf rabbit can eat the equivalant of a tablespoon of fruit a day. Don't feed them more than that because the sugars (though natural) can upset their stomachs! I bunnies love orange peels, bananas, figs, watermelon rinds, cantaloupe, cantaloupe rinds, strawberries, grapes, tomato, apples and papaya. Dried fruits are great, just be extra careful because they have a higher sugar to water ratio. Any store bought rabbit treats should be fed as treats, just like they are intended to. When your rabbit is young, under 6 months old, be very careful of what you feed them and closely monitor their reaction to different foods. When feeding a new veggie or fruit, check their droppings to make sure they don't catch the runs, indicationg that their stomachs didn't appreciate your treat, though your bunny thought it was delicious! Younger rabbits are more sensitive to different foods and diet changes, so be aware when introducing new foods.
Toys: Rabbits LOVE to play. More bunnies enjoy playing more than others, but all rabbits are curious and playful by nature.  Providing plenty of toys helps keeep your bunny entertained while you are away. Providing lots of entertainment can control bahavior that come from boredom: chewing on fruniture & cage wires, digging on the carpet, & agressive behaviors. (Here is the part when I will suggest Petco) Any petstores are great for bunny toys if you want to splurge and buy your bunny a special treat, and they are guaranteed safe! There are also very cheap and safe ways to make your own rabbit toys, and I bet you have a few of things around the house already! Rabbits love to chew, an untreated (no paint or lauquer) wicker basket or any peice of small untreated wood or a stick from the yard will do the trick. Rabbts love to shred up cardboard with their teeth and nails. A simple flat piece of cardboard can serve as a scratching area to wear down their nails. A fun way to feed hay is to stuff a cardboard toletpaper roll with hay so your bunny has to work to get it out. Rabbits in the wild live in burrows, so a cardboard box with a hole cut in it can serve for hours and hours of lounging and chewing fun. My rabbits enjoy playing with plastic cat balls, they pick them up with their teeth and chase them. I have heard that baby toy keyrings make a great toy because they are made from hard plastic and rattle when tossed. A rabbit toy can be anything, as long as nothing can be swallowed (unless a treat of course) or the chewing wood has paint or any kind of laquer. Use your common sense, and let you bunny tell you know what he/she's favorite thing to do is.
Grooming: Rabbits require very minimal care in the grooming department. They are similar to cats in they lick themselves to bathe. Rabbits molt twice a year. You will be able to tell if your rabbit is in molt when the coat has different patches of fur in different shades. You can also tell because when you pet your bunny lots of hair will dislodge, sometimes in small clumps.  Don't panic, this means your bunny is growing his/her winter or summer coat and shedding most of the old fur away. During this time, brush your rabbit often to rid of the extra hair. If you don't brush enough, the rabbit can get hairballs from grooming themselves. Most hair will pass through the digestive system, but if they consume too much hair you can have a serious problem, because unlike cats rabbits don't cough up hairballs! A trick I use during a molt, or anytime, is I spray my hands with half water and half white vinegar and rub my hands backwards through the coat. The moisture on my hands helps the loose fur to stick to them. The white vinegar will help clean your bunny and also disinfect against bacteria. As long as you keep excess hair from your bunny and make sure they are offered hay (the long fibers in grasses help hair pass through the system) your bunny won't have any problems with hairballs. Rabbits do not need baths. Only give a bath if your rabbit gets soiled with mud, or is smelly from sitting in urine or waste (this should never happen!). If your bunny needs a bath, try wiping them down with a warm damp washcloth and dry completely. If this doesn't do the trick, you can put bunny in a shallow bowl of lukewarm water and wash with mild cat or dog shampoo. Never get water in their ears, because that could cause an ear infection. Always dry your bunny completely before allowing them to be outside again. They can get too chilled, and having wet fur in the heat doesn't allow the rabbit to properly cool. Never get your rabbit wet when they are hot. Nails can be trimmed every month. Similar to people, rabbit's front nails grow faster than their back nails (rabbits dig burrows in the wild so they need to keep sharp forenails for digging). Your rabbit will not be digging like they would in the wild, so trims keep you and your rabbit safe. Rabbits that have nails that are too long, can get them caught and injured on objects. Trimming so the nails are slightly visible past the foot hair is ideal. Trimming also keeps nails dull and reduces scratching on people and your fruniture if bunny lives inside. When trimming, hold your bunny securely on your lap and pull limbs out and trim. Keeping your bunny right side up takes a lot of stress out of the trimming process. Some bunnies hate having their nails trimmed, and some are great about it. Just be paitent, practice makes perfect. The more you do it, the better you will get and the better your bunny will behave. Never trim too far back that the quick is cut. The quick is the part of the nail that contains blood. If your rabbit has clear nails, the quick is very easily seen. If your rabbit has dark nails, it is harder. Cut small amounts off if you can't see the quick. You will get the feel of how far to cut back without drawing blood. If you do cut too far, don't panic! Place your bunny back in the cage and they will clean themselves up. Wait aproxamately 20 mins and then finish the trim. Avoid using sprays and perfumes on your rabbit. The smell is very strong and stressful to them, while pleasant to you. Clean and well cared for rabbits do not smell, and have a pleasant scent on their own that you will learn to love.
Exercise: Proper exercise is VERY VERY VERY important! In the wild, rabbits run around foraging for food. They need this stimulation to ramain healthy and friendly. Belive it or not, the amount of exercise your bunny recieves can greatly improve or disprove their temperment and behavior. A rabbit that is cooped up in their cage all day will be extremely bored and restless. The boredom and lack of physical exercise can lead to agression and distructive behavior.  If you have ever met an agressive rabbit, you know it can be scary just to handle it. I absolutely garantee that any rabbit that displays agression towards people and is not a breeding male/female, is not allowed enough exercise. Not getting proper exercise not only alters the mood of your rabbit, but alters their health. Rabbits can obviously become overweight by not getting enough exercise, the extra weight is very stressful on their light bone structures. Not getting sufficent exercise can also lead to an intestinal halt. Exercise stimulates rabbit's digestive systems. Along with a proper diet with lots of grass hay, plenty of exercise, a stop in the intestine should not occur. Rabbits love to hop around. If your rabbit lives indoors like a cat or dog, they will get plenty of exercise by running around your house. If your rabbit lives in it's cage, then it is essential that your rabbit recieves 2-3 hours a day for exercise. This can be achieved by building a pen in your yard or in your house where your bunny can run and play. If outside, make sure the pen has a top, or you will have to monitor your rabbit as they play so they don't hop out or dig underneath the pen. I built a 14'x5' pen in my yard. I dug it half a foot deep and layed chicken wire out and then filled it back in with the soil. This ensures that my bunnies can still burrow, but can't dig out of their pen. I then ran wire around steel posts that were pounded into the ground. I created a top with the same wire and created hinges so I could get in and out of the rabbit run. It is about 4' high so I can get in and out if I need to. I can put a rabbit in the pen (with a fresh water bottle of course) and let them play for hours and hours unsupervised. If you would like to build a pen, make sure it is in a shady area so your rabbit won't overheat. You can also dampen the soil or grass in the pen to cool your bunny on hot days. Rabbits can also be taken out on a harness to walk. Harnesses with adjustable cords is the best. Don't buy harnesses with mesh or velcro, they almost never fit and can slip off easily. Be aware that rabbits don't walk on a leash like a dog. They like to go where they want to go, not where you necessarily want to. Just follow your bunny around the yard and let them show you where their favorite place to hop is. If you don't have a yard, you can always take your bunny to the park or an open grass playing feild. Just be aware of other people walking dogs. Some dogs like to kill rabbits! Always be on alert when walking your bunny. With proper exercise, you will find your rabbit will be much more calm, healthier and more open to you.
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Last updated: September 1/26/09 |