Caring for your rabbits

Introduction

Rabbits deserve their reputation as great pets - they are friendly, inquisitive, content to play with their owners and can happily be held and stroked. With the correct diet, care and handling you and your rabbit will have a long and happy time together. This section will introduce all the important things you need to know in order to enjoy the experience of being a rabbit owner to the full.

Companionship

Rabbits are social animals, and it's better to have more than one. Ideally, they should be of similar sizes, to stop bullying. Rabbits from the same litter get on well, but should always be neutered. Un-related females generally tolerate each other given enough space, but may still fight. Un-related males will almost certainly fight and can inflict nasty injuries.

The best pairing is a neutered male with a neutered female. However, not all rabbits will be friendly to each other so it is a good idea to ask a vet about how to introduce them correctly.

Never keep rabbits with guinea pigs or chinchillas. They have very different food and housing needs and may fight.

Housing

The Hutch and Run

Whether your rabbits live indoors or outside, a hutch with a run permanently attached is the perfect home. The hutch itself is really only the rabbits bedroom. They should have access to a run at all times so they can choose to be inside or outside as they wish.

The hutch should be high enough for your rabbits to stand on their back legs, stretch out fully, and with enough floor area to allow a minimum of three to four hops in any direction. You'll need to get a bigger hutch the more rabbits you have. There should be separate eating and toilet areas. If you have more than one rabbit, there should also be somewhere for them to be alone from each other – after all we all need our own space sometimes!

Line the floor with newspaper and cover the lining with bedding material such as straw or dust-free wood chippings. This helps to absorb urine and keep the hutch comfortable.

Rabbits are clean animals by nature, so make a separate litter area, deep-sided and lined with newspaper and hay, which you should change regularly.

The hutch should always be dry, well-ventilated and kept cool. Heat can be fatal to rabbits. Indoors, avoid sites next to radiators. Outside, avoid south-facing walls and direct sunlight. In the colder winter months, add extra bedding to an outdoor hutch and move it into a garage.

Cleaning

Rabbits leave scent markings which extreme cleaning can remove. This may cause them stress, but hygiene is important. Spot clean soiled areas when needed, but change all bedding and clean thoroughly every two or three days – always leaving a small corner untouched so it smells familiar. It's also important to consider the surroundings when your rabbit is out of the hutch.

House Rabbits

Rabbits love to chew and gnaw, so when they're living indoors, the house needs to be rabbit-proofed. Wires are an easy target, so metal ducting may be useful to cover them up. Also, be aware of wooden and laminate floors which can easily cause your rabbits to slip, injuring the lower back.

Outdoor Rabbits

For outdoor rabbits, it's important to rat-proof the area where they're living. Fear of predators – like dogs, foxes and birds of prey – can cause stress, so try to minimise it. If a neighbour has a noisy dog, for example, house your rabbit as far away as possible. Ideally cover the hutch at night so that the rabbit cannot see outside should any predators enter the garden. You should also make sure the garden is free of plants that are poisonous to rabbits.

Interaction

Exercise and Play

Rabbits like to play, so make sure they have plenty of toys. Play is very good for them because it helps to keep them physically active and mentally stimulated, whic helps to prevent behavioural problems like fur plucking, which can arise if they get bored.

You can provide a variety of toys from pet shops or use safe household objects. Small boxes to stand on, large pieces of plastic pipe (ensuring your pets can't get stuck) as activity tunnels (these can be also be bought from pet shops), toilet roll tubes stuffed with Excel Herbage and willow balls with Excel Nature Snacks in them are all good.

In the garden a large, secure, covered run makes an ideal play and exercise area, and it's simple to make an indoor version if required.

Foraging is natural behaviour for rabbits, so let them go searching for food hidden in plenty of hay – Excel Nature Snacks are perfect for them to find.

Safe Handling

Rabbits need time to get used to their surroundings, so don't try to pick your new rabbit up for the first few days.

Instead, talk to your pets softly and try gentle stroking so you get to know each other. After a while, your rabbits should feel confident and comfortable enough in your company to let themselves be handled. It takes two hands to pick your rabbits up properly, one taking the majority of the weight under the bottom. Rabbits are happy to be held, but can get jumpy if they don't feel secure, so keep them close to your body and, especially for the first few times, not too far off the floor, in case they try to jump. It's good to have a non-slip surface to handle them on, a towel or carpet for example. Never pick your rabbits up by the ears or the scruff of the neck – it is extremely stressful and can be painful.

Grooming

Some breeds of rabbit, particularly the long-haired varieties, need brushing daily to remove loose and matted hair. This is important to reduce the risk of hairballs and flystrike. It also keeps your rabbits in good condition, and helps to improve the relationship between you. There are many different combs and brushes available – always ask which ones are suitable for your rabbits.

Be careful to be gentle when brushing long haired rabbits, as their skin can tear very easily if you pull on their fur too hard.

Neutering

Vets and rabbit experts recommend neutering for all pet rabbits. In females, it prevents unwanted pregnancy and eliminates cancer of the uterus, but it makes both sexes calmer and less aggressive. Ideally, neutering should take place before the age of six months. Females (does) can be neutered from 14 weeks, males (bucks) as soon as the testicles have descended. Bucks can remain fertile for four weeks after the procedure, so they should be kept separate from un-neutered does during that time.

Feeding

Rabbits need to keep their digestive systems busy with a mix of two kinds of fibre moving through the gut at all times (these types of fibre are called digestible fibre and indigestible fibre, and at Burgess Excel we collectively call them 'Beneficial Fibre')

Rabbits can't get enough nutrition from fibre when it passes through their gut the first time, so they pass it through a second time, by eating their poo!

Indigestible Fibre

Indigestible fibre is moved through their digestive system and excreted as separate, round, hard droppings. This type of fibre keeps the digestive system moving and their appetite stimulated.

Digestible Fibre

Digestible fibre is moved up into an organ called the caecum – which is like a giant appendix.

Good bacteria in the caecum ferment the fibre, making it easy to digest. This emerges in the form of clumps of sticky droppings – we call these droppings caecotrophs. Rabbits then re-eat the caecotrophs and their systems extract the essential nutrition when the digestible fibre passes through for the second time.

If rabbits don't get the right amounts of both digestible and indigestible fibre, it can rapidly lead to serious health problems.

Sticking to The Excel Feeding Plan will ensure your bunnies get the right amounts of fibre in their diet. The Excel Feeding Plan was developed in conjunction with one of the world's leading small-animal vets, to provide a perfect daily balance of fibre and nutrition.

Find out more about the Excel Feeding Plan

The Problems with Feeding Muesli

Muesli-style foods are a real problem because rabbits can become fussy eaters, eating sweet foods as an easy way to get a sugary fix. As a result, they can pick out the unhealthy bits in muesli-style foods and leave the rest. We call this selective feeding. It can lead to an imbalanced diet, that's lacking in calcium, phosphorus and vitamin D as well as a diet that's low in fibre, which can have very serious consequences.

The unhealthy ingredients in muesli-style foods are high in sugar and starch; these are difficult for rabbits to digest and can lead to health problems and obesity. Obese rabbits often can't reach the caecotrophs around their bottom that contain so many of the important nutrients nutrients, which can again lead to problems.

Poisonous Plants

There are also several plants that are poisonous to your rabbits, so make sure you don't feed them to your pets and that there are none growing in your garden.

Some common plants that are harmful to rabbits: autumn crocus, begonia, black nightshade, busy lizzie, buttercup, carnation, chrysanthemum, clematis, cowslip, geranium, hemlock, laburnum, laurel, poison ivy, poppy and yucca.

Fresh Greens

Good: apples (pipless), asparagus, basil, cauliflower leaves, celery, chicory, dill, fennel, green pepper, kale, mint, oregano, parsley, red leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, savoy cabbage, spinach, turnip, watercress, dandelion leaves.

Bad: Apple pips, avocado, carrot, cucumber, iceberg lettuce, potato and potato tops, rhubarb (leaves and stalks), tomato leaves, locust pods and beans.

Health

There are many different health problems that rabbits face, but most can be avoided – either by regular vaccination or by good diet and a healthy lifestyle.

Health Checks

You can help to maintain your pets' good health by learning to do some simple health checks every week. These will help you to spot any problems early so you can get treatment in good time – and this regular handling will strengthen the bond between you.

A vital part of the health check is getting to know your rabbits. Like people, they're all different, so if you become familiar with the way yours move, react and feed, you will find it easier to spot when something is wrong.

Make sure your pets are relaxed, comfortable and willing to be handled when you carry out these checks - an Excel Nature Snack may help and if your rabbits are unwell, always contact your vet.

Ears	Gently look inside to see if they're free from mites and fleas, which can carry diseases.
Eyes	They should be clear, shiny, not swollen and free from discharge. Dampness or dull or swollen eyes can be symptoms of illness which may lead to blindness.
Teeth	Check to see there is no excessive drooling. Be careful, rabbits may bite if they're not comfortable with their mouths being examined.
Bottom	Make sure it's clean and not sticky or wet, which can be a sign of poor diet or malnutrition. Any droppings attached to the fur should be washed off.
Feet	Make sure the feet haven't been injured and check that their claws haven't overgrown.
Fur	see that there are no bald patches, no signs of mites or fleas and no signs of injury.

Infectious diseases

There are two main vaccinations and some simple preventative measures to keep your pets free from infectious diseases. You should ask your vet for more details and always keep up to date with vaccinations. Here's a brief guide to the four main infectious diseases. But if you are in any doubt whatsoever, it is vital that you consult your vet as soon as possible.

Myxomatosis – this disease spreads via blood-sucking insects, like fleas. Even house rabbits are not immune, because the disease can be spread by mosquitoes.

Symptoms	Swellings around the head, face, ears, lips and anus.
Effects	Blindness, swelling around the face, disorientation, death.
Symptoms	Rabbits must be vaccinated. See your vet for more details.

Viral Haemorrhagic Disease (VHD) – a very serious condition which causes internal bleeding and shut down of internal organs. This disease kills – and there is no cure.

Symptoms	depression, collapse, difficulty in breathing, convulsions, high body temperature, lethargy, bleeding from the nose.
Effects	death.
Action	rabbits must be vaccinated. See your vet for more details.

Encephalitozoon cuniculi (E. cuniculi) – a microscopic parasite which affects many internal organs like the kidneys and brain.

Symptoms	As the parasite acts internally, symptoms are manifestations of the internal organs being attacked. Increasing thirst and weight loss, convulsions, tremors, hind limb weakness, coma, loss of balance, urinary incontinence.
Effects	Seizures, kidney disease, hind limb weakness, loss of vision and balance.
Action	There are preventative treatments available. See your vet for more details.

Flystrike – a disease which occurs when flies lay their eggs around the rabbit's anus.

Symptoms	droppings stuck around the bottom (that attract flies), diarrhoea can also be a precursor, wounds around the bottom.
Effects	The eggs hatch into maggots which mature and burrow under the skin making the rabbit extremely ill. Can be fatal. Pets most at risk at are those suffering from obesity, dental disease, diarrhoea, arthritis and skin wounds and those living in dirty hutches. The majority of cases are due to flies being attracted to droppings or diarrhoea stuck to the rabbits bottom caused by poor diet.
Action	There are preventative treatments available. See your vet for more details. However, a good diet of Excel Herbage and Tasty Nuggets taken according to The Excel Feeding Plan, can help to prevent obesity, dental disease and diarrhoea and guard against fly strike. Good hygiene is also vital.

Problems caused by poor diet

There are two major problem areas which can be avoided with a good diet, plenty of exercise and regular health checks.

Dental problems –Problems like these generally develop because rabbits aren't eating enough hay, which is a fibre-rich food that helps to wear down the teeth.

Symptoms	Excessive drooling and loss of appetite.
Effects	A rabbit's teeth will continue to grow around 10-12cm a year all its life. Vets say that three-quarters of the rabbits they see have problems with their teeth - the most common problem being overgrown molars and spurs which can cause extreme pain.
Action	Check your pets' teeth on a weekly basis but you must visit the vet for a dental check every six month as you will be unable to check their back teeth.

Obesity - Rabbits kept as pets are much less active than those which live in the wild, so being overweight is always a risk.

Symptoms	Sticky droppings (caecotrophs) that haven't been eaten, dirty bottoms, 'bed sores' on hind legs
Effects	Obesity puts pressure on the heart and joints, can create 'bed sores' on the hind legs and may shorten your rabbit's life. Some obese animals find it hard to clean themselves, which can lead to flystrike. If they can't reach their bottoms they can't re-ingest caecotrophs – the sticky droppings they need to eat as an essential aid to survival.
Action	Prevention is better than cure, so ask your vet about your rabbits' ideal weight. Weigh them regularly to make sure they fall into their target weight. All rabbits, but especially those which spend most of their time in hutches, should have as much exercise as possible.

If your rabbits do become overweight, see your vet for advice. A calorie-controlled food, such as Excel LightTasty Nuggets, may be suggested. Never withhold food from your rabbits - they must have some fibre in their digestive systems at all times or else they are at risk of chronic constipation which can be fatal.