Rescue Rabbits
- Bunny Housing: Rabbits are social animals. The location of a rabbit’s housing area within your home (which can take the form of a puppy pen, bunny condo, large cage, or just an area with the food, litter boxes, and cardboard castles if the bunny is free reign) is an extremely important consideration. You’ll have to make sure the rabbit has a place to relax by himself but is not completely secluded from the family. Rabbits need social interaction, plenty of exercise, and a lot of enrichment activities.
- Bunny Proofing: If the bunny will have free reign in the house/apartment/room, you will absolutely need to bunny proof the area. Even if you keep the bunny in a cage, condo, or puppy pen, you still will need to safeguard your home when you let the rabbit out for supervised exercise. Rabbits are very curious and persistent creatures. They will find a way to get into your computer cables, wires, molding, couch piping, slightly frayed rug, etc. They will eat your most important documents.
- Enrichment: Rabbits will get into trouble if they’re bored. They’ll make their own fun chewing your possessions if you don’t provide alternate forms of entertainment. A great diversion for rabbits is a cardboard castle filled with empty toilet paper rolls, old phone books, and other paper products you find around the house.
- Litter Box Training: Most rabbit rescues will start the process of litter training the bunnies they take in. So a rescue bunny should have the basics down, but sometimes rabbits forget their good habits once they move into their new home. This is natural because the drastic change in environment can be very stressful. Litter training can be frustrating at times, but the key is persistence and consistent reinforcement of good habits.
- Nutrition: It’s important to have a good understanding of a rabbit’s nutritional needs throughout his/her life. Proper nutrition (and in the correct amounts) is vital for a rabbit’s well-being. The staple of a rabbit’s diet is fiber. Rabbits must have access to unlimited grass hays at all times. It is very important to ensure that hay allergies will not pose a problem for anyone in the household.
- Bonding with a Bunny: Rabbits can be quite affectionate animals, but personalities definitely vary from individual to individual. Most rabbits don’t particularly like being held/picked up, and some bunnies are more aloof than others. Give them time to adjust and get to know you.
- Traveling: Rabbits get very stressed out when traveling or when placed in unfamiliar environments, so it’s best to have a good pet sitter on hand to watch the bunny if you go on vacation.
- Children and Rabbits: Rabbits live 10+ years. Adopting a rabbit is a long-term commitment. Rabbits are NOT low-maintenance pets. So adopting a bunny should be a family decision. When kids turn 18 and go to college or look for work, it’s important that the rabbit still has a safe, loving home.
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