How do you care for a pet rabbit?

In this age of cat-and-dog frenzy, it’s nice to have an unusual pet. Although not as unusual as boa constrictors or chimpanzees, rabbits are nice not-so-ordinary pet.

But besides being the only family on the block with a pet rabbit, you’ll enjoy rabbits’ other benefits. Rabbits are very clean animals. They’re gentle, quiet, and big enough to jump around a fenced-in yard. Like dogs and cats, they qualify as cuddly pets, for they love to be petted.

Housing: The toughest part about keeping a rabbit is building a hutch for it to live in. You should make your rabbit hutch out of wood and hardware cloth (like chicken wire). It is possible to keep a rabbit hutch in the house, but you and your nose will be happier with the rabbit hutch if it’s outside.

Build your rabbit hutch flush against the house and on stilts, about two feet above the ground. A good size for a rabbit hutch is four feet long, two feet wide, and three feet high. The sloped roof of the hutch should extend a little beyond the hutch to keep rain off your rabbit. One side of the hutch should have a hinge, so you can clean the hutch easily and get the rabbit out. If you’re going to have several rabbits, partition the hutch off so they can have some privacy.

Rabbits prefer clean cages with a bedding layer of peat moss, straw, hay, or kitty litter. Don’t use sawdust in your rabbit hutch because it will stick to the rabbit’s fur. The bedding layer should be changed twice a week and disinfected occasionally. Rabbits are such clean creatures that many of them will only dirty a corner of the hutch to stay away from the grime.

Handling: Rabbits like affection. Pet them regularly. Lift the rabbit by the nape of the neck with one hand while supporting its bottom with the other. Never, never, never try to lift a rabbit by its ears. Other rabbit pet peeves: noise and confusion.

Food: Rabbits are vegetarians. Feed your rabbit twice a day. You should provide him with a bowl of water, a bowl of food, and a salt spool to lick. You can give your rabbit commercial rabbit food (from the pet supply store) combined with stale carrots, apples (rarely and no cores), dark leaved lettuce, clover, pea pods, and dandelions (a wonderful way to recycle your yard weeds).

Babies: If you’d like your rabbits to reproduce, there are a few things you should know. Female rabbits, or does, are ready to produce they’re first litter when they’re just eight months old. Leave the doe and the buck alone in the hutch for two or three days until the doe starts to growl at her mate; that means she’s had enough of him. Then leave the doe in a hutch of her own for the thirty to thirty-two day pregnancy. She’ll want less affection from you than normal during her pregnancy; give her some space. She’ll also prefer less noise and more food. About a week before she’s due, she’ll make a little nest in her hutch. Don’t touch her at all from this time until two weeks after she’s given birth.

Rabbit litters usually contain at least eight babies. When they’re born they’ll be hairless and won’t be able to open their eyes. Don’t touch them until they have fur and their eyes are open because the mother may either kill them or stop caring for them. Once the babies are three weeks old you can start giving them solid foods, but give them milk until they’re about nine weeks old.

Rabbits can be ideal pets for people who enjoy a furry, affectionate pet without having to take it on walks or deal with cat dander. So if this sounds appealing to you, march on over to the pet store, and start building your hutch.