When you love animals, the last thing you want is to have your pets be sick. I recently got a rabbit as a pet and wanted to know more about them. I have never had a rabbit before, so I had a lot of questions. My friend has had rabbits for years, and I thought I would ask her more about how to keep your rabbit healthy.
You can ensure your bunny’s health by providing the right diet, giving them the right companionship, ensuring they get enough exercise, and cleaning their enclosure at least once a week to keep their environment as hygienic and sanitary as possible. Also take your rabbits for regular vet visits.
I usually had dogs and cats, but I have always wanted a rabbit. When we moved to a new bigger home, I thought it was the right time for a few bunny friends. As a new rabbit owner, I wanted to give them the best possible care, so I contacted my friend to get some advice about the overall health of rabbits, and I thought I would share what I found.
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How To Keep Your Rabbit Healthy
Most of us have made mistakes when we are new to having pets. That’s why it’s important to know more about the animal you will keep as a pet before you get them. That way, you will know what you are getting into and what you need to do to keep them happy. Below are things you can do to keep your rabbit healthy.
Give The Right Diet
Most rabbit owners will tell you that the right diet is one of the most important ways to keep your rabbit healthy, as it is with any pet. Rabbits are not the typical carrot-munching animals we see in cartoons; they have a much more varied diet. Here are some of the typical dietary requirements of rabbits:
- Hay: They should have enough fresh hay to keep them munching all day. The minimum hay they need is their body size per rabbit daily.
- Vegetables: They should get 1½ cups of suitable green leafy veggies twice daily. These veggies include; bok choy, carrot tops, romaine lettuce (not iceberg), basil, broccoli, mustard greens, etc.
- Rabbit Pellets: A tablespoon of high-quality rabbit pellets daily if the rabbit is under 3.5 kg; above 3.5 kg, you can give two tablespoons.
Provide Companionship And Socialization
A critical part of keeping a rabbit happy and healthy is to ensure they are socialized. Rabbits live in groups with other rabbits as it offers them comfort and warmth, relaxes them, and helps keep them happy.
It’s very important to keep more than one rabbit. If you can’t, you need to pay extra attention to your rabbit as it may get anxious and stressed if it doesn’t get enough attention. It is vital that you don’t keep other species of animals with rabbits as other animals have different needs, aren’t able to communicate with each other, and diseases are also a problem.
Ensure The Enclosure Is Suitable
Your rabbit needs enough space to hop and play and be a rabbit. Sadly, many pet stores try to convince people to buy small little cages that are colorful and have cute toys in them. It is a bad idea as the small space will make your rabbit unhappy and cause it to get so stressed that it can become sick.
Outside rabbit hutches need an enclosure of at least 4m x 3m x 2m; it gives them enough space to hop, run, play, and socialize. If you keep your rabbits inside your home, the space should be the same size, but you will need to bunny-proof your home. If you don’t bunny-proof your home, your rabbits might get hurt.
Bunny-proofing your home includes moving wires out of reach and covering wood flooring as rabbits love to dig and gnaw on anything they can. Ideally, the rabbits should have their food, water, and sleep area in a safe spot out of the elements or away from their play area (if they are housed inside the home).
Remove any unsafe plants from their enclosure and replace them with bunny-safe plants. You should ensure your rabbits have enough toys such as tubes, cardboard boxes, hay bales, and hay racks to keep them busy.
Ensure Your Rabbit Gets Enough Exercise
It’s important to encourage your rabbit to get enough exercise when you have a rabbit. When rabbits don’t get enough exercise, they may cause the rabbit to become sick. The rabbit can develop a condition called GI Stasis.
This condition causes the rabbit’s digestive system to slow down and eventually stop, so it’s potentially deadly. Your rabbit can also become obese, leading to urinary tract disease. In the long term, it can lead to bladder stones.
Do Regular Check-Ups
A vital part of keeping your rabbits happy and healthy is to know in what condition they are at all times. That means you need to do regular check-ups yourself and have regular vet check-ups. Some of the things you will need to check include;
- The state of their teeth; look for skewed tooth growth and overgrown teeth or dark spots on their teeth that can indicate tooth decay,
- Look for mites, fleas, and skin issues, including their fur condition. If you see fur falling out or skin lesions, it might be mites, fleas, or ringworm,
- Regularly check on the state of their stool and urine; as unpleasant as that is, you can tell a lot by tracking their day-to-day bathroom habits, as any change can be a concern you need to look into.
- You should keep an eye on their appetite; any change in appetite needs to be monitored as it might indicate an underlying issue.
- Their activity; if you see that your rabbit is not as active as it was on previous days, there might be an underlying health issue or a sore foot or an ingrown nail.
Remember you need to take your rabbits to the vet for regular check-ups or when you suspect they might have a medical issue so the vet can give you a proper diagnosis and treatment for your furry family member.
Conclusion
When you have a new pet, you must know more about how to keep them happy and healthy. It’s not easy when you are new to having rabbits, but if you ensure they have the right diet, companionship, enclosure, enough exercise, and regular check-ups, you will have a very happy rabbit.
