Rabbits Articles

Article / Updated 04-28-2016

If you let your rabbit run in a large area of the house, you may want her to come when you call her name. It will allow you to find her if she's hiding and you're concerned for her welfare. Rabbits can be trained to come when you call them, provided that you always give them a good reward when they do what you ask. The best way to get a rabbit to come when you call her is to find out what her favorite treat is. Whether it's a piece of tomato or a chunk of melon, use this as your lure. These easy steps will get your rabbit to come when called: 1. Get down on the floor close to your rabbit. 2. Offer the treat. 3. "[Say your rabbit's name], come!" Your rabbit will see or smell the treat and will come toward you to get it. She doesn't know that you called her because she hasn't figured out this part yet, but if you repeat this routine over and over, she'll start to associate hearing you call her name and "Come!" with getting her favorite treat. 4. After your bunny consistently comes to you from this close distance, start to work from farther away. Instead of being so close, squat several feet away from your pet. Offer out the food and call your rabbit's name and "Come!" Some rabbits catch on more quickly than others, but within a few weeks, your rabbit should come to you just about every time that you call her. You may even be able to get her to come to you from another room. Making like Van Halen: Jumping Another fun behavior that you can drill is jumping up on a piece of upholstered furniture on command. (Non-upholstered furniture can be too slippery!) Of course, that's if you want your rabbit on the couch. If you'd rather have bunny keep all four paws on the floor, you may want to skip this one. To train your bunny to jump up onto the couch on command, follow these steps: 1. Hold the treat on the couch when your rabbit is having her free time in the house and is hopping around on the floor. 2. When she approaches the couch, make sure she sees the treat. You can do this by holding it in a spot where she can reach the treat just standing on her hind legs with her front paws on the couch cushions. 3. "[Say your rabbit's name], hop up!" Or if you prefer, just pat the top of the couch with your other hand as a signal. 4. Even though she's on her hind legs at the edge of the couch and hasn't jumped up on the couch, give her the treat so that she associates a treat with the couch. 5. When Fluffy responds to you without fail, hold the treat farther back onto the couch. That way, your rabbit has to really reach to get the morsel. 6. Repeat steps 1–5. Eventually, she'll jump up on the couch to get it, provided it's not too high for her. If it is, you may want to skip this trick or provide a small stool for your rabbit to hop up on to make her way to the couch. Make sure that you have given the command just before your rabbit makes her attempt to get the morsel. You want her to associate hearing her name and "Hop up!" or a hand patting the couch with the action of coming on the couch and getting the treat. 7. When your rabbit finally jumps up on the couch, gently praise her, and scratch her on her favorite spot while letting her dine on her reward. Eventually, you may eliminate the treat because the command or a pat on the cushion should be enough to get your rabbit to join you on the couch. Your rabbit can jump down alone. Helping her might be more detrimental! Working on the abs: Sitting up Another good trick (and one that will impress visitors) is sitting up on command. This trick is pretty easy because rabbits naturally sit up on their hind legs all the time. 1. Start when your rabbit has all four feet on the floor. 2. Put your hand above her head with the treat in your fingers. 3. "[Say your rabbit's name], sit up!" 4. When your rabbit rises up on her hind legs to get the treat, give her the treat and some verbal praise. 5. After she rises up consistently in response to your command, start eliminating the treats. Wean her away from the treat gradually — one time, she gets the treat, the next time, she doesn't. Pretty soon, all you'll have to do is say her name and "Sit up," and your bunny will rise up in that adorable position. Depending on how trainable your rabbit is, it can take anywhere from just a few training sessions to a couple of weeks before she's trained to sit up on command. Cozying up in his cage: Go in Your rabbit can be trained go into his cage or into his travel carrier on command. If you want to train your rabbit to go into his travel carrier, make sure he's already comfortable with being inside it. This can be a handy trick for your bunny because it will spare you the trouble of pursuing him when you want to put him away for the night or in his carrier for a trip to the vet. (You should train for this behavior at times when you don't need to have your rabbit in his cage for a trip or bedtime. This allows for more flexibility in the training process.) 1. Get a piece of your rabbit's favorite treat. 2. Put your bunny close to the opening of his cage or travel carrier. 3. Say "Go in!" as you lure him into the opening with the treat in your hand. Make sure your rabbit sees you put the treat inside, so he knows it's in there. 4. After he's inside the cage or carrier, give him the treat. After your rabbit gets the idea, you can place the treat in the carrier and then say, "Go in!" If he doesn't go in and retrieve the treat after you give the command, don't put him inside or give him a treat anyway. He needs to associate getting the treat with actually going into the cage or carrier.

Article / Updated 04-28-2016

Rabbits make wonderful indoor companions, and the following tips can help you create a successful and enjoyable living arrangement for you and your furry friend. First tip: If you let your lapine roam free, be prepared to find droppings in odd places before your bunny is litter-box trained. Spay or neuter to help prevent problems with health and behavior. Careful rabbit-proofing minimizes damage to both home and rabbit. Have patience when litter box training. A proper diet is key to good health. Daily exercise makes for a healthy and happy bunny. Frequent grooming keeps down excess fluff in the house. Knowing your rabbit’s normal behavior can help detect illness. Regular cleaning is good for both your home and your bunny. Use playtime as a way to build a trusting relationship.

Article / Updated 04-28-2016

Some everyday things you don’t think twice about are dangerous to your rabbit. And some things toxic to you are especially bad for your bunny. Your hopping pet can do damage to household items as well. To keep everybun (sorry!) happy and healthy, keep your rabbit away from these things: Antifreeze Balconies Carpet edges Cleaning fluids Electrical cords Heating elements Paint fumes Stairways Telephone wires Toxic plants

Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-28-2016

Rabbits can make wonderful pets whether you keep them indoors or in an outdoor pen with a shelter. Bunnies are lively, engaging, and endearing, and you can often tell how they’re feeling from their body language. Of course you want them feeling well health-wise, so you need to keep your bunny out of harm’s way and to pay attention to warning signs — keep emergency contact numbers handy, just in case.

Article / Updated 04-28-2016

Just like other pets (and people, too) rabbits can require emergency treatment. An illness or injury may mean that your rabbit needs immediate help, even before you take him to a veterinarian. Suddenly seeing that your bunny is sick or injured can be scary. Thinking straight in these kinds of situations is often difficult. Before taking any other action: Stay calm. Keep critical information near the phone: Know the address and phone number for the vet clinic; and the phone numbers for the following: • 24-hour emergency pet hospital • ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center • Your pet sitter • Animal Control One way to keep calm is to prepare for an emergency. Read through this article to figure out how to handle the most common rabbit emergencies. If you ever find that your rabbit needs emergency care, you may be surprised at how well your memory serves you. Blood in urine Red blood in the urine is a serious sign of disease. Causes include uterine disease (in females), bladder stones, bladder cancer, and trauma to the bladder. Blood that appears at the end of urination and as a separate puddle is most likely caused by a uterine problem. Excess blood loss can be a life-threatening condition. Bloody urine should be reported to your veterinarian immediately, particularly if it is associated with Straining to urinate Frequent urination Weakness Depression Normal rabbit urine can range in color from yellow to rusty orange due to pigments produced in the bladder and from the plants the rabbit eats. However, blood in the urine is distinctly red. If you are in doubt about your rabbit's urine color, take a sample to your veterinarian for evaluation. Diarrhea True diarrhea in the rabbit is characterized by stool that is Profuse Watery Sometimes bloody stool in the absence of normal stool This condition is most often caused by a serious disruption of the flora normally in your rabbit's gastrointestinal (GI) tract. In addition, the pet will become dehydrated and go into shock. If your rabbit has diarrhea, don't attempt to treat it yourself. Take your bunny to a veterinarian as soon as possible. A serious disease of the gastrointestinal tract — not a change in diet — causes diarrhea. Rabbits can also develop soft, pudding-like stools often mixed with normal hard, round droppings. This is not true diarrhea and, although it does represent a disease of the gastrointestinal tract that should be addressed, it's not a dire emergency. This condition is most often related to diet. Excessive salivation Dental disease is the most common cause of excessive salivation. If the rabbit is drooling because of dental disease, it means he's in pain and the condition should be attended to as soon as possible. Signs of excessive salivation include Not eating well Quickly losing weight Constantly wet fur around the mouth and neck Excessive salivation can also be caused by certain types of poisons and if this condition is accompanied by generalized weakness you need to seek veterinary attention immediately. Head tilting to side If your rabbit is holding her head to the side, she may be suffering from an inner ear infection, trauma to the head, or a problem in the brain due to infection, parasitic disease, or other disease. A veterinarian should see your rabbit right away. The problem may be treatable, depending on the cause. Heatstroke Rabbits are susceptible to heatstroke and can tolerate cold weather better than hot. A hot and humid day can be all it takes to send a rabbit into heat exhaustion. Signs of heatstroke include labored breathing, extreme lethargy, and an elevated body temperature. If your rabbit has been exposed to high temperatures and you suspect she's suffering from heatstroke, do the following to help her cool down: 1. Get her out of the heat and into an air conditioned or shady area. 2. Wrap her ears in a cool, wet towel. 3. Rush her to a veterinarian immediately. Labored breathing A variety of serious problems can cause labored breathing (visible difficulty moving air in and out of the lungs) in rabbits. Anything from pneumonia to shock to heatstroke can cause labored breathing. Labored breathing in a rabbit is a serious emergency. Rush your pet to a veterinarian as soon as possible. If it's hot outside, run the car air conditioner first because hot air is difficult for the rabbit to breath and will cause further difficulties. No stool If a rabbit doesn't produce any stool for 24 hours, particularly if any of the following signs accompany it, he's in need of immediate medical attention. The most common cause is a complete or partial obstruction to the GI tract or a complete shutdown of the GI tract caused by a chronic GI motility problem. Bloated abdomen (may feel tight or like it's filled with fluid, like a water balloon) Constant tooth grinding Dull appearance to the eyes Hunched posture Loss of appetite Reluctance to move Weakness This is a dire emergency and medical attention should be sought immediately. These conditions are fatal within 48 hours if left untreated. If an obstruction is present, emergency surgery needs to be performed. Pain If your rabbit is in pain, he should be rushed to a vet immediately so the cause of the pain can be determined. The following are signs of pain in a rabbit: Depression Excessive salivation Frequent grinding of the teeth (Occasional tooth grinding can be normal.) Inability to sleep Loss of appetite Rapid or labored breathing Reluctance to move Sitting in a hunched posture all the time (particularly with dull, half-closed eyes) Unexplained aggression Unusual body posture Sudden weakness Any number of problems, all serious, can cause sudden weakness. Heatstroke, blood loss, shock, overwhelming infection, neurological disorder, intestinal obstruction, poisoning, trauma to the spine or legs, and metabolic diseases are just a few of the conditions that result in weakness. If your rabbit can't stand up, don't try to force him. Instead, to make him comfortable, place him on a towel or blanket and take him to the veterinarian immediately.

Article / Updated 04-28-2016

You need to be familiar with your rabbit’s normal condition and behavior so that you notice when something is wrong. Bleeding is fairly obvious, but raspy breathing may be harder to detect and just as dangerous. Contact your veterinarian as soon as you see any of the symptoms in the following table. Handle an injured rabbit gently so that you don’t hurt your pet further, and be sure to use a pet carrier when transporting your bunny to the vet. Symptom(s) Possible Cause Bleeding Injury (Apply pressure to stop the bleeding) Blood in urine Uterine disease in intact female rabbits. Inability to stand; staggering Severe illness Paralysis Injury to the spine Rapid breathing, raspy breathing, heavy coughing Illness or infection Refusal to eat Serious illness or mild colic Severe pain indicated by refusal to eat, teeth grinding, and limping Injury or illness Straining to defecate or urinate Intestinal or urinary blockage Swelling on body part that’s hot to the touch Injury Teary, closed, red, or cloudy eye Eye injury or infection Temperature significantly above or below 101–103ºF Chill or fever Tilted head Injury, bacterial infection

Article / Updated 04-28-2016

Although your rabbit may make some sounds when communicating, bunnies do most of their “talking” with their body language. The following list can help you interpret what your rabbit is saying: Hopping, leaping, and racing: “Whoopee! I’m happy!” Binky-ing (a high jump, with vigorous twists): “I am incredibly happy!” Kicking: If being held the wrong way, “Let go!” or, if playing, “What fun!” Circling: “I’m in the mood for love.” Flattening: “I don’t want you to see me.” A scared rabbit will lower herself to the ground as if to hide. Stretching out (on side or back): “Ah, life is good. . . .” Ear shaking: “I don’t like that.” Frequent ear shaking can be a sign of a medical problem and should be assessed by a veterinarian. Head butting: “Hey!” A persistent rabbit will head-butt you when she wants something — petting, food, whatever. Stomping: “Warning” or, maybe, “I’m annoyed.” Biting: “I don’t like what you’re doing.” A gentle nip is a rabbit’s way of saying “I’ve had enough.” You’ll be able to tell the difference between a nip and a bite. Sitting up tall: “I’m curious,” or “Is there trouble afoot?” Licking: “I love you.”

Article / Updated 04-28-2016

For outdoor rabbits, their hutch is their home, the place where they spend most of their time. Rabbits depend on their hutches to provide them with security and comfort, a place that they can call their own. Your job as a rabbit mom or dad is to provide your pet with a good outdoor hutch that's properly situated in your yard and kept suitably clean and in good repair. The hutch must protect your rabbit from the weather and from predators and provide enough room to move around. A hutch is essentially a cage, often made of a wood frame and enclosed in wire mesh. Hutches usually stand on tall legs, although some are legless and can be placed on top of a table or other surface, or kept on the ground in milder climates. You can buy an outdoor hutch for your rabbit or make one yourself. The choice is yours. Whichever route you take, be sure to provide your rabbit with the largest possible hutch that you can afford. Knowing what to look for when buying Luckily for rabbit owners, commercially made rabbit hutches are readily available in pet supply stores, feed stores, catalogs, and on the Internet. They range in price from under $100 to several hundred. Hutch styles vary considerably, and a design exists for just about every taste. Some look like big wooden boxes, but others resemble log cabins. Some have attached exercise runs (a great idea) while others have nest boxes built in. The hutch you ultimately choose depends a great deal on what you can afford, what you have room for, and what you think your rabbit can enjoy the most. Aside from these considerations, you also need to ruminate on several other points. Protection from weather: The hutch you buy has to protect your rabbit from heat, cold, and dampness. So the hutch needs a waterproof covering and a well-crafted nest box, if one comes as part of the design. It also needs good ventilation that can prevent hot air from becoming trapped inside the hutch where it can kill the rabbit. Protection from chewing: To keep your rabbit from gnawing away at the wood portions of your hutch, purchase or make one that has wire over the exposed wood sections. Flooring: While an outdoor hutch requires a metal mesh floor to allow the rabbit's droppings to fall through, you'll also need a portion of the floor to be a solid material. Rabbits who stand exclusively on wire day in and day out develop sore hocks and possible infections as a result. Make sure at least a third of the hutch floor is solid material, preferably not metal, which is poorly insulated from heat or cold. A wood floor safely treated to keep out moisture or covered with a no-wax flooring is preferable. Overall quality: Just like with any other product, quality varies in outdoor rabbit hutches. When shopping for a hutch, look for quality workmanship and materials. If you're able to examine the hutch in person before buying it, check to make sure it's sturdy, and that the wire and wood are n't flimsy and poorly finished. Understanding why size matters The size of the hutch you buy depends on several factors, the least of which is cost. The bigger the hutch, the pricier it will be. However, keep in mind that your outdoor rabbit can spend most of his time inside this hutch, so the bigger the hutch, the better for your rabbit. In terms of a minimum size, you should use the following equation: 1 pound of rabbit = 1 square foot of space A typical rabbit weighs around 6 pounds, and therefore needs about 6 square feet of hutch space (2 by 3 feet). Also, keep in mind that if you're buying a hutch for a baby rabbit, you should estimate how large your pet can grow up to be and do the math according to his full-grown size. Of course, this is the absolute minimum. Your rabbit is much happier with even more space to call his own, and here's why: Rabbits who don't have enough space to move around often become bored. The less room a rabbit has for his living quarters, the less a rabbit exercises in general, the greater his chance is for obesity. Small spaces are quickly fouled with urine and feces, which creates an unhealthy environment for the rabbit. In addition to room for your rabbit, your outdoor hutch also needs to be large enough to accommodate all the accessories that your rabbit needs to live comfortably. If you intend to house more than one rabbit, you obviously need a bigger hutch. Double the one pound of rabbit per one square foot, using the combined weight of your rabbits. Make sure that your nest box is big enough to hold more than one rabbit, too. You should provide at least two hide areas; one can be larger and heated, but another can function as an escape if needed. Looking at design In addition to size, you need to consider rabbit hutch design when determining your purchase. This is not just for aesthetic reasons but also for practical reasons, too. Consider the following: Height: Rabbit hutches come in different heights, from short dwellings that lie close to the ground, to tall cages that require little bending when cleaning them or placing a rabbit in the cage or taking one out. Hutches low to the ground can be unhealthy for rabbits in the wintertime because cold air and dampness settles closer to the ground in climates with cold winters. In climates with mild winters, cages near the ground or on the ground are fine. (Rabbits prefer to be on the ground and the effect of having them elevated in a hutch is unknown. It may be stressful for them, but it's hard to evaluate.) Ease of cleaning: You'll have to thoroughly clean your rabbit's hutch on a weekly basis. Some hutches are easier to clean as a result of their design. Look for a hutch design that allows easy access with more than one opening. The positioning of the doors should permit you to reach all parts of the hutch. Rabbit security: Hutches with secure hiding places that allow rabbits to hide from predators and feel like they're unreachable within the hutch are best for your bunny's well being. Opt for one of these hutches if it's within your price range. If not, give your rabbit several nest boxes to use for hiding places.

Article / Updated 04-28-2016

One of the most interesting aspects of a rabbit's body is his digestive system. Unlike a cat or dog, rabbits can eat a wide variety of plant material. They can process and extract nutrients from many plants that are indigestible to less adaptable herbivores or omnivores. This ability helps make rabbits highly successful in a variety of environments around the world. Understanding how your rabbit's digestive system functions is important so that you can feed him in a way that's most efficient for his body. Munching on fiber Rabbits are herbivores, meaning that they dine only on plant material. A rabbit has an esophagus, stomach, and intestinal tract like other mammals. However, because they often dine on plants that are high in fiber, they have developed a strategy for dealing with this called hind gut fermentation. This is where the indigestible materials break down into manageable chemicals. Many other herbivore friends, including horses, guinea pigs, and chinchillas, also have this specialization of the digestive system. Rabbits have a large stomach for their body size to enable them to eat large amounts of plant material quickly. They are crepuscular, meaning they eat primarily at dawn and at dusk. They don't need to eat small amounts all day long. They graze primarily in the a.m. and p.m. with little else during the rest of the day, depending on what's available, the weather, and so on. Rabbits can do nicely eating a large meal twice a day. The digestive process begins in the rabbit's mouth. The rabbit's prehensile lips grab the plant material first and then the front teeth called incisors — four upper and two lower — neatly slice off pieces of plant matter. The food is then passed to the molars (the back teeth), where it's chewed into small particles and finally swallowed. All of the rabbit's teeth grow continuously throughout its life. If he is on a good diet and receives additional materials to munch on throughout the day, he is less likely to pick something else, such as your couch legs, your bed legs, or your legs. Dining on delicacies Taking a purely scientific look at the digestive system of a rabbit reveals a fascinating process. These animals have a particularly efficient way of dealing with the indigestible parts of their plant diet. Rabbits have a very large blind sac called a cecum that is located where the small intestine and the large intestine join together. This would be in the same place as our appendix, but in the rabbit this organ is very large and contains a wonderfully diverse population of healthy bacteria, yeast, and other organisms working to help the rabbit digest his food. When the food in the small intestine reaches the cecum and large intestine, the gastrointestinal tract knows which materials to divert into the cecum for further breakdown. The materials that were already digested in the small intestine and that don't need to make this little side trip to the cecum pass directly into the large intestine as waste. This leaves the body as the little round droppings you see in your rabbit's litter box. What is happening in the cecum? The multitude of microorganisms are breaking down the indigestible fiber and turning it into digestible nutrients. In order for the rabbit to use these nutrients he must take this material and move it through the digestive tract one more time. So, at certain times of the day (which coincides with several hours after a rabbit eats a big meal) the material from the cecum is packaged up into small round moist pellets called cecotropes. The rabbit gets a signal in his brain about when these little delicacies are ready to be passed out of the body; he eats them the minute they emerge. Your rabbit will often look like he is grooming his hind end, but actually he is taking in these nutrient-rich cecotropes. The various types of fiber in a rabbit's diet is not only there to be used for nutrition, but is they are vital to keeping the rabbit's gastrointestinal tract in excellent working order. The indigestible fiber is particularly important in making the intestines move along smoothly. You could think of it as sort of "tickling" the lining and keeping things moving smoothly. A diet that is low in appropriate types of fiber and too high in rich carbohydrates can lead to a sluggish intestine and cecum and subsequent serious disease. Normally you don't see any cecotropes in your rabbit's cage; at the most, you'll see a rare one here or there. Cecotropes are soft, green to brown, mucous coated, and have a stronger smell than the waste pellets. If you see a number of them in your rabbit's cage, it may indicate a diet too rich in protein or another, more serious condition. Please consult your vet.

Article / Updated 04-28-2016

Your pet rabbit can get hurt or feel sick, just like you do. So that you’re prepared for an emergency — your bunny may eat something he shouldn’t or injure a paw — write down emergency contact numbers right away when you bring your bunny home. You need to have numbers for these helpers handy: Veterinarian 24-Hour emergency pet hospital Animal Control ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center 888-4ANI-HELP (888-426-4435) Pet sitter