What are some good rabbit care tips?

Question

How do you carry them the right way?Can you give them a bath?How
would be a good way to clean a small cage?

Answer 1

This will help you learn everything there is to know about rabbit care.
Food what is good what is bad
There is such a thing as rabbit food that is horrible for your rabbit. To be sure that your rabbit is getting a good diet try looking at the bag of feed for these things protein,Fiber and fat percentages. There should be at least 18% Fiber. 2.5 or less in fat and 16-18% in protein, and only feed about a half a cup or so of this feed. I suggest Purina brand feed, but most other brands are also ok. If your Rabbit is under 5 months old, food should be given all the time. Hay is also important for your Rabbit and you should give it hay at all times. Some good types of hay to feed is mixed grass hay and Timothy. Greens should also be a large part of the rabbits diet but please if your rabbit is under 4 months only feed a small piece example it should be smaller than the palm of your hand, but once your rabbit is over 4 months give it a large handful of greens once a day. some good greens to feed your rabbit are, carrots,dandelion greens,kale,collard greens(my rabbits favorite), escarole,romaine lettuse, parsley, mustard greens, but never feed light lettuce such as iceberg lettuce. So remember that you should feed your rabbit only once a day (pellet feed and greens) but give hay all the time.
Water
Water must be available at all times and can be given in either a water bottle or a water bowl. I suggest that you use a bottle since the rabbit can't spill it or get it dirty. In the winter months if your rabbit is outside you will want to replace the frozen water at least twice a day. It might be helpful to use a water bowl, since bottles are hard to defrost quickly and offen crack when they become frozen.
Caging
There are some important things to remember when getting your rabbit a cage . One factor should be if you are going to keep your rabbit inside or outside. I always say it is better outside than inside but there isn't really one that is better for the rabbit than the other. The outside cage should have a roof and should have a house or wooden part of the cage in the back and a wire or open part in front. This should be 4 times the size of your rabbit (front) and 2 times or more for the back. If you are keeping your rabbit inside the house the best type of cage should be at least 4 times the size of the rabbit. That is without the food bowls. so you might want to figure about 5-6 times the size of rabbit. But if you cannot find a indoor cage that big use a small one but let your rabbit out for exercise more often.
Exercise
Exercise is another important part of a rabbits life. If your rabbits is outside you may want to set up a ''run'' or a fenced in area bigger than that your rabbits cage for him to run around in. You can make this a permanent fence or a collapsable one. About once a week or more you can let your rabbit run around in this ''run''. Not only is this healthy for the rabbit it is also a so source of entertainment. If your rabbit is inside you might want to put up some type of a run also since indoor rabbits need more exercise since their cages are smaller.
Grooming
Rabbits shed there coat about twice a year, Sometimes when a rabbit washes he swallows some of this loose shedded hair, and they become hairballs which in rabbits can sometimes be deadly, since they very often become stuck in the digestive track, a way to prevent this is to feed your rabbit plenty of extra hay, and keep your rabbit brushed, to get rid of the loose fur. A papaya enzyme pill can also be given to your rabbit during this time to break up the fur. Or try feeding your rabbit some pineapples, the acid in the pineapple juice breaks up and the fur in your rabbit stomach.
Weather care
if your rabbit is in the house much of this will not apply but please read this anyway. When the temperatures outside reach the 80's your rabbit may have trouble keeping cool. The first thing to do is be sure your rabbits cage is out of direct sunlight. You can also freeze drinking water bottles and put it in your rabbits cage, the rabbit will lay next to it and keep cool. Rabbits who become over heated can very easily die, if you rabbit seem to be wet around the mouth and is painting uncontroably, you can put your water on your rabbit, especially on it's ears this will cool the body temp and hopefully save your rabbit. REMEMBER never move your rabbit indoors when it is hot, or move it outside when it is cold, the sudden shock can kill your rabbit very easily. In the winter just add some straw or extra woodchips to keep your rabbit warm and be sure to change the frozen water offten, rabbits deal with the cold very well, but not the heat.
Other information
Some other information that might be helpful to you is, Rabbits can also have any pear or apple leftovers you may have, but not to many since the greens are better for the rabbit but still ess important than the pellets, which are a must. Rabbits do not requirer any vacinations like a dog or a cat and normally live very healthy lives. (as long as you give him good care) and vet bills are usually very small. Rabbits can live 7-10 years on average although 15 has been recorded. Rabbits nails need to be cut about once every month or two. use can use a cat nail clipper and cut just the tip of the nail. (where it is white)

Answer 2

Never hold them by the ears. You can grasp their scruff (loose skin on the back of the neck) gently, slip a hand under the ****/hind legs area and lift them that way. Be careful that they get a lot of support, otherwise they might kick and those claws hurt! Don't give them baths, they don't need it and it can make them ill if they get too cold. It's stressful and unneeded. If your rabbit is dirty, take it to a vet! They should always be able to keep themselves clean. When cleaning the cage - about once a week should do it - take out all of the old substrate (newspaper, wood shavings, hay etc) if its dirty, scrape any residue off, and replace it with clean. Every 2 months or so give the cage a wash with soap and water, and be very careful to wash all the soap off and let the cage dry completely before you put bunny back in, or you might get a sick bunny. Speaking of cages, how big is the one you want to get? They should be tall enough for the rabbit to stand on its hind legs comfortably, and for them to move around without difficulty. There should be an open space where they can look out (it should be the biggest area) and a dark enclosed area where they can sleep.

Answer 3

the two rabbits I have don't like to be picked up. But sometimes you just have to carry them. The veterinarian I take them to said that you need to have the rabbit facing you. You take your right hand and you place it under their front legs, and you make sure your left hand is supporting their hind legs. Then you swiftly pick them up and hold them close to your stomach. He said that some people like to carry rabbits high on their chest, but some flighty rabbits can panic and will jump down and injure themselves. The most important thing, though, is to always support their hind legs--just in case they kick and if there's nothing to kick against, they can easily break their backs.

Rabbits don't need you to give them baths--they are clean and like to groom themselves. If your bunny has a poopy area, that's a different story.

I like to put newspaper as lining on the floor of the cage. That way, I just take out the newspaper and any mess each day. The paper would be changed daily, so the cage would be fresh and clean for the bunnies often. I'd give the cage a thorough cleaning with vinegar once a week. If at all possible, get the biggest cage you can--bunnies need room to move. For my own housebunnies, I made a neat cage with NIC wire storage panels and this cage sits on a scrap of vinyl flooring. It's really easy to sweep up messes and wipes down clean with just paper towels and water.

Hope that helps.

Answer 4

Carrying:
Put one hand under their chest and the other on their rump. Lift them up and stick their head in the armpit of the arm holding their rump to give them a place to hide. Don't pick them up by the back of the neck. Picking them up by the back of the neck doesn't hurt them but it does stretch their hide which is not good if you want to show them.

Baths:
Don't give them a bath it takes the oils out of their fur and if done wrong can give them pneumonia. Use a rag soaked in white vinegar to get stains out. Then rinse with a rag soaked in water. Then dry.

Cage Cleaning:
If the cage has a wire floor then just clean out the pan underneath it or scoop out underneath the cage. If the cage had a wood floor and you use bedding such as straw or woodchips a short handled garden hoe works great.

Answer 5

To properly pick up and carry a rabbit:
Never pick up by the ears. Do not pick up by the scruff of the neck. Do not grab the hindlegs. Do not grab from behind or above.
If the rabbit is in a cage, make your presence known by talking or tapping on the cage. Get bunny's attention before attempting to grab them. When your presence has been made known, turn bunny around backward. Scoop one hand under the chest, just back of the front legs, lift up. With the other hand, scoop under the rump. Pull bunny out slowly and securely backward through the cage door. If bunny is not comfortable with this and jumps away, that means you have not made him feel secure/safe and do not have a good hold of him. Try again.
When outside of the cage, avoid coming down on bunny from above, this will put them in the instict of running away as if a predator (like a hawk) is swooping down to attack. Approach from the front and proceed to pick up as stated before. Carry bunny securely against your chest, feet flat on you will make the feel secure. Have on hand under the rump for support and one over the back/nape of neck. Grabbing the scruff of the neck without supporting the rest of the weight of the rabbit can cause the rabbit to kick and fight, leading to a broken back. ONLY grab the scruff in case of emergency (as if to get a better hold/grip to prevent further injury)
Also remember, that while you are carrying or holding a rabbit, he needs to feel comfortable and secure in your arms because rabbits can have a tendancy to fear heights, and being up in your arms can be scary.

Rabbits do not need to be bathed. Most rabbits do not even like getting wet. Rabbits are self groomers, like cats, and will bathe themselves. Rabbits are actually pretty clean animals and unless are in a cage that allows them to become soiled, they will stay pretty clean.

Cleaning the cage, depends on what type of cage. Rabbits are territorial and if you need to clean inside their cage, it is usually best to take them out. They can feel threatened by you being inside their domain, or "rearranging their stuff".

Be sure to check out my website for tons more information on rabbits from pets, care, housing, feeding/nutrition and so on.

Answer 6

to pick them up... put one hand under their bum and one hand on their back.. mine likes to be close to my body (facing towards me) when I pick her up.

You only need to give them a bath once a year (and make sure you don't get any water in their ears).

You can clean a small cage once a week, just empty everything out and add new shavings... its easy.

Answer 7

i have a rabbit myself, well, you just need to carry them from their bottom and hold their chest sort of, but not too tight....(i dont think i explained it right...) anyway, they clean themselves.