In addition to feeding your pet rabbit hay and commercially available rabbit food, many bunnies enjoy vegetables as well. There are many veggies that are fine to feed them, but it is also important to know what not to feed them. In fact, never let your pet rabbit eat a houseplant leaf as many can be poisonous. My House Rabbit offers the following: "A varied assortment of vegetables should be a part of your rabbit’s daily diet. When choosing vegetables look for something fresh and free of pesticides. Always wash your vegetables thoroughly before feeding them to your rabbit. Feed new vegetables in small quantities until you can judge if your rabbit reacts well to them. Do not feed rabbits the leaves from houseplants as many are poisonous to rabbits. For a full list of poisonous plants, visit the Sacramento House Rabbit Society’s page on the subject. Your rabbit may enjoy some of the following vegetables .............." Read the list of safe veggies at What to Feed Your Pet Rabbit bit.ly/BuyRabbitHutch
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Most people seem to understand just how a dog would like to play. They may want to play tug of war, or fetch, or even just to chew on a toy. Cats love to roll around around and grab toys with their paws, or pounce on a toy being waved or dragged near them. But when you think about it, do you know how to play with your pet rabbit? What types of play will involve their natural tendencies? What would your bunny like to do for fun if she could do anything that she wanted (that was safe and within reason, of course). Would your pet rabbit play with toys, or fetch, or tug? My House Rabbit takes a look at how to play with your bunny: "Rabbits enjoy games that cater to their natural tendencies. A game of bunny bowling will appeal to their mischievous side, as they delight in knocking things over. Set up toy bowling pins and watch as your rabbit nose-bonks them all down. On a similar note, rabbits love to steal important papers (or apples you’re eating) out of your hand and run away with them, most likely binkying along the way. Admittedly, this is not exactly a game… or at least not one in which you’re a willing participant. But your bunny will certainly be amused. You can also play a game of “fetch” with your bunny… except you’re the retriever and your rabbit is the one doing the throwing. Some bunnies like picking up toys with their teeth and tossing them with a flick of their head. Toys for birds are great for this activity because they can easily grip them. You can also go a less expensive route and provide cardboard tubes from paper towel or toilet paper rolls. Stuff those tubes with hay to spike their interest further." Read the entire article: Playing With Your Pet Bunny Free Shipping On Rabbit Food & Supplies at BuyRabbitHutch.com bit.ly/BuyRabbitHutch Your home can be an incredibly interesting and fun place for your bunny to play and explore. It can also be very dangerous! Using a little bit of common sense and a good plan, your can make your home a good bit safer for your pet bunny. The House Rabbit Society offers the following advice for rabbit proofing your home: "What does rabbit proofing involve? Rabbit Proofing one’s home involves three things: 1) Preventing destruction of your property; 2) Protecting your companion rabbit(s) from harm; and 3) Providing safe and fun chewing alternatives for your rabbit. Why is rabbit proofing your home so important?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......" Read the entire article here: Rabbit Proofing Your Home Free Shipping on Rabbit Food & Supplies at BuyRabbitHutch.com bit.ly/BuyRabbitHutch Just like people, pet rabbits need a healthy diet to provide the proper nutrients for a healthy life. Most of what a rabbit eats should be grassy hay, but there are nutritional benefits to providing some of the right type of fruits and veggies to your pet bunny. Think of this more as a treat, as they provide additional textures and tastes as well as more moisture in her diet. The House Rabbit Society suggests the following: "Rabbits in the wild all over the world successfully consume a wide variety of plant material. Various types of dry and fresh grasses and plants with leaves comprise the largest portion of the wild rabbit diet. Rabbits will also eat bark on trees, tender twigs and sprouts, fruits, seeds and other nutritious foods in much small amounts. This is important to know when we decide what is a healthy diet for our house rabbits.The majority of the house rabbit diet should be composed of grass hay (any variety). Grass hay is rich in Vitamin A and D as well as calcium, protein and other nutrients. Eating hay promotes healthy teeth and gastrointestinal tract and should be available to your rabbit at all times. Varying the type of grass hay or mixing hays is a great idea (such as timothy, orchard, oat hay, brome, etc). Avoid the use of alfalfa hay as the primary source of hay due to the fact it is very high in calories and protein, far more than the average house rabbit needs. Alfalfa is not a grass, but rather a legume (in the pea and bean family). Fresh foods are also an important part of your rabbit’s diet and they provide additional nutrients as well as different textures and tastes, which are enriching for your friend as well. Fresh foods also provide more moisture in the diet, which is good for kidney and bladder function. The bulk of fresh foods should be made up of leafy greens (about 75% of the fresh part of the diet). Any leafy green that is safe for a human or a horse to eat is safe for a rabbit to consume..........." Read the entire article here: Suggested Vegetables and Fruits for a Rabbit Diet Free Shipping on Rabbit Food & Supplies at BuyRabbitHutch.com bit.ly/BuyRabbitHutch As you have probably noticed by now, your pet rabbit certainly enjoys the times that she gets to play, and especially to play with you and your family members. Bunnies are very social and love to interact and explore. In addition to providing healthy toys for your pet to play with when they are inside their home, it is very healthy to provide supervised outdoor playtime. PetHelpful.com offers some great advice on rabbits toys and outdoor play: "Benefits of Supervised Outdoor Playtime Rabbits love to chew and dig, it is part of their rabbitish nature and not something that can be trained away indoors. Having a time to chew and dig outdoors will help an indoor rabbit to be more calm and peaceful. Some tips for outdoor enrichment for rabbits:
Read the entire article at How to Entertain and Play with a Pet Rabbit Free Shipping on Rabbit Food & Supplies at BuyRabbitHutch.com bit.ly/BuyRabbitHutch If you would like to create a larger, more flexible living area for your pet rabbit than the sizes typically found with a rabbit hutch or rabbit cage, then consider using portable exercise pens made for puppies and dogs. These pens are wire panels that link together in different configurations to form an exercise area for a small dog or puppy, but are perfect for your bunny. This layout offers plenty of living space to run, play, hop, eat, rest and to be a bunny! The Rabbit Haven provides the following: "Portable wire exercise pens are the most versatile, the easiest to clean, and the best way to give your rabbit what they need. Space, toys and a clean environment of their own while living inside with you! For those who want a quick housing solution without spending a lot of time and money, the wire pen arrangement (X-pens also called puppy corrals) gives you the best housing for your money and helps the rabbit feel at home in their own space. Exercise pens allow for the bunny to see what is going on around them. This gives a feeling of knowing what's happening and of being included in the household activities. Exercise pens are made up of eight heavy-gauge wire "panels", all connected together, so that they can be stretched out and shaped into a square, rectangle, octagon, or whatever shape you want. Each panel is 24" wide. The total space when panels are made into a square is 4' x 4', or 16 square feet (for a bonded pair, we recommend two pens and a space not less than 4' x 6'). When purchasing the pens, you can choose from these heights: 24", 30", 36", 42". We recommend a 30" height, 36" for jumpers. One of the eight panels acts as a swinging door when opened, and the pen is secured shut with large dog leash clips that come with the panels. Note: the wire slats of the pen must be close enough together so that a tiny rabbit cannot walk through! When not in use, the panels fold up like an accordion and can be easily stored in a closet. They can also be easily transported by car to another location. For a larger space, many people choose a corner of a room, using the two corner walls as walls of the pen. This makes an even bigger space for the rabbit, since you have all eight panels to complete just two sides of the pen." Read the full article: Sweet Home for Bunny: X-Pens and Other Housing Options Free Shipping on Rabbit Food & Supplies at BuyRabbitHutch.com bit.ly/BuyRabbitHutch Although not absolutely necessary, for most, it is preferable to train your pet rabbit to use a litterbox. It will make clean ups much easier, which in turn may help keep down the odors. It is also less expensive to change the litter in the box more often and the remaining litter will probably last a bit longer. Your bunny's home will definitely be more agreeable to be close to, and your pet rabbit will likely "take care of business" in the area of the litter pan. Once litter trained, you will be happy that and your bunny took the time to train! In addition to the actual training, you will need to decide on a type of rabbit litter to use. The House Rabbit Society suggests the following about rabbit litters: "What types of litter should I use? It depends on what’s available in your area and what your rabbit’s habits are. Keep in mind the following as you choose your litter: most rabbits spend lots of time in their litter boxes rabbits will always nibble some of the litter rabbit urine has a very strong odor. House Rabbit Society recommends organic litters, made from alfalfa, oat, citrus or paper. (Some brands to look for: Care Fresh (Natural only), Cat Country, Critter Country, Yesterday’s News, and Papurr) For a complete listing of litter types, see the litter boxes and liver disease article. Stay away from litters made from softwoods, like pine or cedar shavings or chips, as these products are thought to cause liver damage in rabbits who use them. CatWorks litter has been linked to zinc poisoning. Swheat Scoop Litter should be avoided, because rabbits will often ingest it. Because it is comprised of wheat, it is very high in carbohydrates and can cause obesity, excessive cecal production, diarrhea, bacterial imbalance, and other health issues. Another approach is to place a handful of hay in each box, or to simply use hay as litter. It is helpful to put several layers of newspaper under the hay, to absorb urine so that your rabbit is not standing in the urine. Most newspapers today are using soy-based ink, which is safe for your rabbit, but check with your local newspaper to make sure first. Obviously, you need to change the hay fairly frequently (daily), since your rabbit will be eating it. This method often helps to encourage good litter habits as well as to encourage hay consumption, since rabbits often eat at or near the same time as they use the litter box." Read the entire article: Litter Training Free Shipping on Rabbit Food & Supplies at BuyRabbitHutch.com bit.ly/BuyRabbitHutch Pet rabbits make wonderful additions to your family, as long as you understand that bunnies are different as pets than dogs or cats. There is a right way and a wrong way to interact with a pet rabbit, and keep in mind that they are very social animals that really want to spend time with their pet parents and family. Small children are not the best to mix with pet rabbits, and most pet rabbits do not like to be scooped up, cuddled or held. Instinctively, rabbits are prey animals so this behavior is just a natural reaction to escape. The best way to play and interact with your pet rabbit is explained by Indianahrs.org: "It’s important to remember that rabbits are prey animals. Prey animals interact with their environment very differently than predators like cats and dogs. In general, rabbits do not like to be picked up. The act of bending over them and grabbing them by their ribs to pick them up is very similar to being picked up by a hawk – scary!! The best way to interact with your rabbit is on the floor. Sit in the room while bunny is out to play and she will soon come investigate you. She will like to be petted sitting next to you, but not necessarily while being carried in your arms! If you choose a cage or pen with a sideopening door and put it on the floor or provide a ramp to a taller cage, you can let bunny in and out for playtime without ever picking her up! If you are going to pick up your rabbit, make sure you do it correctly. The best way is to place one hand under her rib cage and the other under her bottom, scooping her back legs so she can’t kick. This method will protect her fragile backbone while protecting you from those strong kicking back legs and sharp nails. It is also important to wear an appropriate shirt when handling a rabbit to avoid being scratched by nails as bunny tries to get away! Or just encourage or herd bunny into a pet carrier or box and move him that way. Keep in mind your rabbit will likely be easier to interact with and handle once spayed or neutered. Spaying and neutering reduces hormone-driven behaviors like lunging, mounting, spraying, and boxing. Spaying also protects female bunnies from uterine cancer, which can be quite common in older unspayed rabbits." Read the entire article: What Is It Like to Have a Pet Rabbit? Free Shipping on Rabbit Food & Supplies at BuyRabbitHutch.com Traditionally, many people think of a dog or cat as the family pet, but rabbits make great family pets too. Like any other pet, it is important to understand the commitment of time and money necessary to care properly for a new pet bunny. There are many great groups where you can adopt a pet rabbit, and we have a link to an adoption finder on our website. Once yu decide that adopting a pet rabbit is a good choice for your family, you need to learn more about rabbits as family pets.
Love That Pet offers the following on rabbit care" "In addition to the many coat patterns, there are also several sizes to choose from. For example, dwarf lops and mini lops are very popular, and they are small: The mini doesn’t get bigger than 1.6kg (3.5lb), and the dwarf only gets to 2.5kg (5lb). These are the rabbits whose ears are very long and droop down to the ground. Many people, when they think of pet rabbits, are thinking of lops. By contrast, the Flemish giant is well-named. Often topping 6kg (14lbs), this rabbit is larger than most pet cats and many kinds of dog (up to and including some spaniels). Unlike the lops, Flemish giants have ears that stand upright. A little bigger than a dwarf lop and much smaller than a Flemish giant, the “rex” weighs in at approximately 3kg (6.5lb) and is noted for its curly fur. All breeds are suitable as pets, but young children must always be supervised when they are visiting with Bunny Buddy. It is very easy to injure a rabbit by handling her awkwardly, and it is even easier to scare her. It’s rough being at the bottom of the food chain! If she is scared or hurt, she will bite or scratch to defend herself." Read the entire article: Rabbit Care Guide Free Shipping on Rabbit Food & Supplies at BuyRabbitHutch.com bit./ly/BuyRabbitHutch |
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