Care advice
Many rabbits nowadays are kept indoors, as ‘house-rabbits’. They can be easily trained to use a litter tray, but you may need to ‘rabbit-proof’ your house, as they love to chew on wires and cables! If your rabbit lives outdoors, you must have a hutch that’s high enough for them to stand up on their back legs.
All rabbits, whether they live indoors or out, should have access to an outdoor run in the garden where they can run freely, and eat grass and plants. Remember, begonias and geraniums can be harmful to rabbits, so don’t plant them in your flower beds!
Rabbits are very social animals and it’s much better for their welfare to have another rabbit as a companion. Ideally they should be from the same litter, but neutering will always help them to get on better.
Most people don’t realise that, because they are herbivores, rabbits have a very different digestive system to cats and dogs. It’s vitally important that their diet contains high levels of fibre, and we advise that all rabbits should have unlimited access to good quality hay and grass. To supplement this and to provide a complete balanced diet, we recommend also feeding a small amount of a pelleted food, such as the Burgess Supa Excel range.
We don’t recommend any of the muesli-style foods, for two main reasons. Firstly, they tend to be overall lower in their fibre content, and contain more sugars and starches, which can lead to health problems and obesity. Secondly, rabbits that are fed muesli-style diets will usually ‘selectively feed’, picking out the unhealthy sweet components, and leaving the parts that contain the fibre, calcium, phosphorous and vitamin D.
Rabbits can be fed fresh greens to give them additional nutrients and variety, but you need to be very careful about what you give (lettuce isn’t good for them), and how much. Bring your rabbit along for a Healthy Hopper check up and we can discuss how best to provide them with a complete and balanced diet.
There are many different health problems that rabbits can face. To protect against infectious diseases, we advise that rabbits are vaccinated yearly against viral haemorrhagic disease, and every six months against myxomatosis. We also recommend treating them twice a year with a product to prevent and treat Encephalitozoon cuniculi (a common parasite that can cause a variety of health problems).
Flystrike is unfortunately still a common problem in rabbits during the summer months. It occurs when flies lay their eggs around the rabbit’s bottom. Within twenty-four hours the eggs hatch into maggots which eat into the skin and soft tissues, causing extensive damage and making the rabbit extremely ill. Simple good hygiene is usually sufficient to guard against flystrike, although we can provide products which you apply to your rabbit’s fur, that prevent disease.
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