HAVING A PET RABBIT
By Terri Estes
Domestic rabbits are the third most popular furry pet in the United States. They are inexpensive and don’t require a lot of maintenance. They are, however, herbivores and do require a special diet. Rabbits cannot live on carrots alone. Their diet should consist of grass hay, such as timothy hay, and orchard grass. Hay helps with digestion and also helps keep their teeth filed down. They should also be offered a variety of vegetables, especially leafy green vegetables such as romaine lettuce, celery tops and carrot tops. There are some commercial rabbit pellet feeds that you can use, but it should be in addition to fresh vegetables.
Rabbits do best as indoor pets and can be trained to use a litter box. They are very social creatures and like to spend time with their human families. Their enclosures should be big enough that they can hop around and exercise. Ideally their enclosure should be in a room where you and your family spend a lot of time so they can become part of the family.
A rabbit is also referred to as a bunny. It is unclear where the word bunny came from, but one theory is that it came from the Scottish term “bun” which was an old English word referring to a squirrel or a rabbit. A male rabbit is called a buck, and a female is a doe. Baby rabbits are called kits, and there are not many things on earth cuter than a little baby bunny!
There are hundreds of breeds of rabbits. They range in size from the pygmy rabbit, that weighs .8 lbs., to the Flemish Giant rabbit that averages about 15 lbs. In fact, a Flemish Giant rabbit named Darrius holds the world record as the largest rabbit ever recorded. Darrius weighs in at a whopping 50 lbs.! Now that is a whole lot of bunny!
So, if you are looking for a cute, cuddly pet to keep you company, but you don’t have the time to walk and exercise a dog, perhaps a rabbit would be perfect for you. But be warned, rabbits are not like guinea pigs or hamsters who are happy to stay in their cage and only live a couple of years. Domestic rabbits are very social, curious animals and they can live a long time. Depending on the breed, they can live up to 15 years.
