Ever thought about keeping a rabbit for a pet or are you already considering it? Here’s a few tips about how to create the perfect home for your new friend.

We’ll start with providing the right type of housing for your new pet. You can use a hutch or a small shed, which can be placed inside or outside depending on your preference. If placed outside you should ensure that you provide a solid roof to provide some protection from the weather and in particular for the hutch style housing ensure that is secure and cannot be overturned on a windy/stormy day. It is also a good idea to provide some sort of absorbent bedding as the flooring in these enclosures should normally be solid/water-tight, straw and some types of wood shavings are the most common types used. Don’t forget you will need to change the bedding regularly and clean your pets home out at least once a week.

As for feeding your rabbit, there are many types of rabbit pellets that are available and these will provide the best basis for your new pets diet. This is basically because the pellets have been specifically formulated to provide an ideal mix of everything your rabbit needs to stay healthy. You should also provide your rabbit with some vegies to compliment the pellets, these can include some lettuce, carrot, spinach, parsley and many others. Be careful though because some vegies like cabbage & cauliflower should not be fed to rabbits, so make sure you check with your vet or do a quick internet search first. It also important to provide fresh water for your pet, the best way to do this is to use a water bottle that clips on the wire of the enclosure this way you don’t have to worry about it being tipped over or becoming dirty. You could also supply your rabbits with some wood sticks or toys for chewing, this way your pet will have something to keep it occupied and will keep its teeth in good condition.

Just a few other quick pointers, rabbits are affected by temperature extremes, ie. Heat stress in summer. So particularly if your rabbit will be an outdoors pet it is important to ensure that on those really hot days you provide some shade if your hutch isn’t already shaded and maybe some other cooling aid to help your pet beat the heat. Similarly in winter you should ensure that your rabbits enclosure is safe from wind /rain also providing some extra bedding material can help your pet keep warm. Also be sure to give your rabbit some attention as like many other animals they get lonely so if you can’t provide the companionship then maybe look at getting two so they can keep each other company, just be sure to either desex/neuter them or get two of the same sex so you don’t end up with babies.