So you want a bunny for Christmas?
So lately I've seen a lot of posts in the rabbit world from people who are looking for a bunny to get someone for Christmas, along with a lot of people advertising that they have bunnies "available in time for Christmas". And who could blame them? We bunnies are awesome. However, at the same time I constantly hear stories from people who need to rehome their baby bunnies because they got them without realizing how much work we really are, and how much of a financial obligation keeping us happy and healthy really can be. Unfortunately, some people think bunnies are "starter" pets that you can just keep in a cage and feed once a day, getting us out to play occasionally when the human feels like it, and that is completely not the case. We're more like cats and dogs than people think, and if you are planning on becoming a bunny mom or dad, you really have to understand what type of commitment you are making. It's really sad how many bunnies are in bad situations, are neglected, or end up in shelters because their humans see them as "disposable pets".
Daily Morning Routine:
So the first thing my Mommy does when she gets up is take care of me every morning. On workdays I don't like to get up as early as she does (I know most bunnies are morning buns, but I get mad when Mom wakes me up too early) so she'll take a shower and get ready for work first, but she always gets me set up for the day before she leaves. This involves:
1) Clean the main litter box. Mom completely cleans this one EVERY DAY. NO EXCEPTIONS. Now, some people do let their litter boxes sit and will clean them less often, but we don't like a smelly bunny potty (who would?) so Mom cleans mine completely every day and gives me fresh hay. This is also important because it's a good way to check on my health and make sure I don't have oddly shaped or a lack of poop droppings and no signs of illness in my pee (she looks at the color on the newspaper for this, it's easy to see). Bunnies are MASTERS at hiding illness, so it's good to keep an eye on these things for anything out of the ordinary.
2) Breakfast: Along with fresh hay, I get my morning field greens and 1/4+1/8 a cup of pellets (a weird number I know, but based on my weight and recommendations from the vet Mommy gives me 3/4 of a cup a day and I get half in the morning and half at night, so she uses a 1/4 cup scoop and gives me one and a half scopes in the morning....). I get FRANTIC when it's time for breakfast and will hop around like crazy as soon as I know it's coming. Sometimes she can't even put the bowl down before I start trying to eat the food. I've had access to hay all night, but I'm always SUPER HUNGRY for breakfast!
3) Spot clean additional litter boxes. Sometimes I use these and sometimes I don't, so Mom checks them in the morning and scopes out any potty and adds litter as needed. Usually she needs to spot clean the one she leaves in the other corner of my pen, but she doesn't normally have to clean the kitchen or corner litter boxes downstairs that often.
The Mom goes off to work if it's a weekday, or she goes downstairs and lets me sleep. Like most rabbits, I like a good routine, and since Mommy has a job she tries to keep me on a consistent schedule. Rabbits usually sleep morning and early afternoon, so I'm no exception to this. I usually flop over and have a happy bunny snooze as soon as breakfast is over, and a lot of the time when Mom looks in on me during the day I'm asleep. She tries not to get me out before 3pm on weekends as she doesn't want to disrupt the routine. I don't mind. I'm a bunny, and I like a routine.
Afternoon/Evening
As soon as Mom comes home from work she lets me out to free roam. I can't free roam all the time because I get into too much trouble and there are a lot of dangerous stairs and I slip on, and while Mom bunny proofs, I'm a master at getting into surprising spaces when she least expects it.
2) First thing when I get out, Mom gives me fresh water and adds some more hay to my box then gives me some exercise with clicker training. Unless she gets home really late from work (Mom usually gets home between 4pm and 5pm but sometimes she's late...) we do this every day. Mental stimulation is important!
3) Playtime. I hop around and explore next. Sometimes I'll flop over and take another nap. I'm an English Lop as we like to nap.
4) Treat board time! Around 6pm I get to play with my treat board. Again, mental stimulation and playing with us is the best way to keep us engaged and out of trouble!
5) Around 7pm it's time for another salad. Some people give their bunnies one big salad but Mom likes to break mine up. Since I'm a big boy I get between 2-3 cups total daily, so she breaks it up into three servings. I get lettuces recommended by my vet and it's good to have variety. Normally she gets romaine, red leaf, green leaf, bok choy, and swiss chard. Sometimes she'll had some herbs like cilantro, parsley, or basil to this salad as a special tasty addition.
6) Then I get more free play and explore (and sometimes nap more) until around 8:30 when she gives me 1/8th of my even pellets. We play with these. She'll put them in my treat ball, or hide them, or on my treat board, or in my stackable cups. Again, engagement is important for bunnies! We're forgers, so this is my forging time!
7) Around 10:30 I get my last salad of the day and 1/4 cup of pellets. This gives me about an hour of playtime usually, then Mom takes me back to my pen (ok sometimes I let her know it's bedtime because I'm ready to go, so I hop myself upstairs). I usually get a treat if I go to my pen nicely as a reward before bed.
Then it's bedtime, and it all starts over the next day! Small cages aren't good for bunnies, but a large exercise pen is ok (mine is 4 feet by 4 feet) as long as we get around five hours of free roam and playtime daily. Interaction with Mom is especially important since I'm a single bunny, so she tries her best to get home at a decent hour and tries to keep errands limited to Saturday mornings when I'm still in my pen. In other words, we are CLEARLY a time commitment. We also need toys to entertaining us, otherwise we get bored and get into trouble.
In addition to the expenses of food and litter, bunny parents also have to consider specialized vet care. Yes, you have to take the bunny to the vet. It's really important to get us spayed or neutered for our health and wellness, so that's a cost. Then annual vet visits to ensure we are good, and not to mention the cost of the vet if we get sick. And you can't take us to just any old vet, you need to find a vet that specializes in rabbit, and that is almost ALWAYS more expensive.
So as you can see, bunnies are a COMMITMENT. I don't know if we're more work than a dog or a cat (neither does mom, she's never either of those) but we are definitely WORK. So please, don't get a bunny if you are not committed to us. If you aren't willing to put the work in on a dog or a cat, don't get a bunny. It's different kind of work (no walks like with dogs, and our poop is a LOT neater), but it is work. We are not "starter pets" by any means.
So this Christmas, make sure if you are getting a bunny you are prepared DAILY commitment for the next decade (we live between 8 to 12 years depending on the breed and care). We are amazing pets (if I do say so myself) but we can be high maintenance, and all bunnies deserve the very best of care!
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