Rabbits are becoming more and more popular as household pets. They are active and quite social animals which are fun to watch. They can be fantastic pets and enjoy spending time around their owners. Being animals that in the wild, other animals prey on, they instinctively become timid and scared (and become bug-eyed) when loud noises and commotion occurs. This means they do not do well with very active, young children as they need to be handled gently and in a calm environment. They have fantastic eye sight which consists of front vision and side vision.

Depending on the type of rabbit, their life expectance ranges from five to fifteen years. Not a big fan of being held, but if so like to have all four feet on something solid. As they have quite a bit of power in their hind legs, they need to be held gently but firmly so as to eliminate them jumping from your height to the ground and risking damage to themselves including their nails breaking off as a result.

Daily exercise and the ability to play is necessary and when confined in a hutch need adequate room to move and have adequate height to enable the bunny to stand and stretch on their hind quarters.

A rabbit can be trained to use a litter tray and like with cat litter trays should be cleaned regularly to reduce the risk of disease.

Rabbits are not as low maintenance as people believe and it does take time and effort to care for a rabbit properly.  As with dogs and cats, rabbits should have a yearly vet check and changes to their behaviour should not be ignored. Rabbits should have a yearly booster shot after being vaccinated against ‘rabbit calici virus disease’ at a young age. Vet care for rabbits can be expensive and a vet should be chosen who has experience in small animal care.

Rabbits love to chew and should be provided with the necessary things to do so. This also means that any area your bunny is restricted to, must be vigorously rabbit proofed and checked.

A rabbit’s diet consists of hay, vegetable and pellets. Hay and vegetables being the primary food as pellets can be high in calories and cause obesity if over fed on these. Tummy upsets are a common occurrence in bunnies that do not have an appropriate diet. Fibre intake is essential to their digestive system and some vegetables can cause diarrhoea so research should be done in this area. Any changes to the diet should be made gradually with more of the right food replacing the wrong. Vegetables should be washed thoroughly and attention made to any potential pesticides. Small amounts of some fruits can be fed as a treat.

Health care for your rabbit also includes periodic nail trimming. Rabbits have long nails that need to be monitored as they can easily scratch. Another common problem for rabbits are hairballs which can get stuck in the intestinal tract if not passed. Rabbits are unable to vomit, so early detection and a vet trip is normally the solution. Regular brushing and again, correct diet can assist in the prevention of this. Grooming also enables early detection of problems, and regular handling in the correct way helps develop a rabbit's confidence and friendliness.

In or out of the house, fresh water needs to be provided to your rabbit 24 hours a day.

Rabbits do not like the heat and prefer the cooler weather (that is similar to being underground). A popular name for pet rabbits is Thumper which comes from their ability to ‘thump’ their back feet on the ground. This is remarkably loud and their hind legs can be quite powerful. This is useful for them in the wild to alert danger and as a pet, tells you that they are annoyed. When happy, they have the ability to do a hop and jump in one, sometimes over and over; hoppy happy…..