Rabbit is a wonderful pet with their gentle behavior and their fluffiness. You might get tempted to let your beloved pet rabbit live in your in your house instead let them stay outside your house in the enclosure. You can let them stay in your house, but you need some tips to make their companionship with you in your house comfortable as if let alone without preparation might lead an unpleasant experience and might made you hate your rabbit due to its unrestrained behavior.
But before you start preparing the necessity to let you pet live in your home, you should know that by nature that rabbit is a nervous creature. If it is your first time owning a rabbit, you might need an extra care before they can be comfortable with you. If you need some help to make your rabbit pet feel comfortable with for your first time, it’s recommended for you to read this article.
As you now committed to pet your rabbit in your house you have to now these 6 tips on how to pet your rabbit in your house
1. Prepare The Essential for Rabbit to Live Indoor
You should prepare a big cage, one or few of litter box, a good amount of healthy food and fresh water, Some toy and food dish and water dish (or Water bottle).
Even if your rabbit lives in your house, you still need to prepare a cage for your rabbit as a place to retreat. Rabbit really like exploring, but eventually, they need to have a safe haven for rest for sleep or calm their self should they feel annoyed or feel unsafe.
You can give the rabbit a large roomy like enclosure cage or dog pen, just make sure the rabbit feel their cage is the most comfortable place for them.
In their designated cage, you also need to find a right some bedding that suit your rabbit preference. Its recommended to give them shredded paper, straw, and hay as their bedding, it’s not recommended to give them shaved wood since it can accidentally be inhaled. Should you have to give them shaved wood, it’s not recommended to give them cedar, pine or any scented wood.
This item is quite essential and you might need few of them should your house is really large. (two litter box is the minimum recommendation, one in her cage, one in place the rabbit like to roam) These litter box will help to keep your house much clean by keeping their litter in the designated place so it easy to take care of their litter since rabbit urine is quite unpleasant and smelly. But please be patient when potty train your rabbit.
The type of litter can need to follow your rabbit preference. Try to experiment it with different kinds of material. the usual accepted type is silica cat litter, shredded paper, wood shavings that aren’t pine or cedar, straw, and hay. Also, make sure the litter box it doesn’t clump and it isn’t made of clay. These things can harm your rabbit if should your rabbit bite and swallows them or breaths it in.
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Prepare a Good Amount food for Your Rabbit Pet
You need to prepare a good amount of food and treat for your beloved pet. Ideally, your rabbit’s diet is fresh green hay. You can supplement it with a small amount food pellets, fresh fruit, and vegetables. The usual vegetables include broccoli, bok choy, carrot tops, beet tops, cilantro, collards, Brussel sprouts, kale, cabbage, and other greens. Please avoid giving the rabbit food with bright colors, nuts, seeds, and fruit in them. These are usually high in sugar and carbohydrates.
Despite common perception, carrot can be very harmful to the rabbit should eat it too much. Make carrots as small treats for them and don’t feed carrots to rabbits daily. Weekly is usually fine.
Should You have some leisure time, you can try gardening to plant vegetables for rabbit food, you can read this “How to Gardening With Your Rabbit” article to help should you want to start some happy and gardening for your rabbit.
The recommended food dish for your rabbit the food dish that is made of a heavy material, such as ceramic or food dish that harder to be flipped over since most rabbits like to tip their food dish over.
Naturally, rabbit eats from a water dish, but since they likely flip over their water dish, especially if the water dish is not the heavy one an easily flipped over one. You can instead let your rabbit drink from the water bottle. but should the rabbit seems annoyed with it, please consider to give a heavy ceramic water dish.
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Give Your Rabbit Toy to Play
Give them a variety of toys for him, such as a chewing toy or a tunnel with spaces to go. You can make some yourself, such as a cardboard box with rabbit-sized holes. Make sure you get toys that have different purposes. Different rabbits enjoy different toys.
One of a good homemade chew toy is a twig of untreated Applewood tree. but make sure the twig is clean and untreated before you give it to him. Should you choose another tree type, please make sure that it isn’t poisonous and leave it to dry for at least six months before you give it to him. Untreated Applewood twig is still recommended since it can be given as it and don’t need the treatment above. Just make sure it’s clean and untreated.
2. Give Your Rabbit Your Time
Spend time and play with them, your rabbit needs your attention and your care, especially if it is your only pet. If you have a rabbit as your only pet, it will likely to get depressed and lonely should you neglect them. It’s recommended to spend a minimum of three hours for them. you can play with them by petting them and giving them some toys like cardboard tubes and rolling toys.
Should you don’t have time to spend enough with them, please consider getting another rabbit. Please keep in mind to house them separately until you properly introduced them and properly introduce them to each other so they can be bonded. Rabbit don’t really like to share space unless they are specially bonded.
3. Don’t Cuddle Your Rabbit Too Much
Rabbit can be really cute like a fluff ball, but please refrain to cuddle them too much as they naturally don’t enjoy being hug and cuddle too much. Especially if you are the one who leans and tries to pick them up. Rabbit is a preyed animal, so they tend to be scared when approached because it might remind them of being hunted by a hawk or another predator.
But of course, there is some exception so you need to observe your rabbit behavior and their personality, Judge their personality and find that they are comfortable with your approach. For the information, mostly the rabbits only like to be cuddle for a short period of time, but there exist a few other that enjoyed being cuddle for a longer period of time and might even nip you should you stop cuddle them.
4. Be Cautious With Kids
Especially the rambunctious kids one, they can scare your rabbit immensely as the rabbit will feel being threatened by their predator with kids yelling and screaming. Never let them chase them then try to pick them up as the rabbit will likely to get stressed and struggle violently upon being picked up. Make sure to educate them, and keep watch of them. If you feel you want to pet a rabbit for your kids but can’t control them, then the kids should not be allowed to own the rabbit.
5. Know How to Handle Your Rabbit Properly
Rabbit likely struggle violently when get scared and try to escape from whatever frightful situation they feel. Worstly, They can even break their own back in the process, often suffering a fatal paralysis, should they get pick up incorrectly.
Know and teach everyone in your home how to handle the rabbit. This is really important should you have children, especially the young ones. Make sure that everyone knows rabbits don’t like being picked up and teach them how to pick up a rabbit correctly.
To pick up the rabbit up properly, scoop the rabbit up using one arm along the side of the body with the opposite hand under the rear end. As you lift the rabbit up, bring and lay the rabbit into the side of your body to give it further support.
6. Proof Your House
Rabbit really like to chew your wires and cable and scratch many wooden types of furniture. So before to let them in, make sure that your house is proofed so they can damage your wire and cable and ensure there no harm should they chew any electrical cord and damage your furniture. This article will help you further give your tips on how to proof your house.
7. Watch Your Pet Health
As an owner, you need to keep watch your pet health. Always have Vet fund should your pet get sick and need medical attention. Read this “12 Symptoms That Your Rabbit is Sick” article should you need to know the symptom.
There are 7 Tips on how to pet your rabbit in your house. I hope you will find insight on how to take care of your beloved pet rabbit.