Every rabbit’s owner ensures to take care of their rabbit while adopting them. Still, sometimes they can make common mistakes as a beginner that could harm a rabbit’s healthy life because they are sensitive animals that require special care. So, in this article, we will discuss 29 things you must never do to your rabbit.
These are 29 things that you should never do to your rabbit:
- Giving human food snacks and treats to your rabbit
- Trancing your rabbit
- Scaring your rabbit by chasing after them
- Bathing your rabbit
- Giving too many treats to your rabbit
- Giving rotten food to your rabbit
- Providing a small cage for your rabbit
- Letting your rabbit live on the wire bottom enclosure’s flooring
- Keeping your rabbit outside
- Providing damp stale, dusty hay to your rabbit
- Feeding too much alfalfa hay to your rabbit
- Serving mixed rations to your rabbit
- Disturbing your rabbit while they are eating
- Not giving attention and toys to your rabbit.
- Forcing your rabbit to cuddle
- Not allowing your rabbit free-roaming time ( keeping them locked up )
- Avoiding sudden changes in rabbit behavior
- Grabbing your rabbit by their scruff
- Providing the wrong litter box
- Not cleaning your rabbit’s house.
- Roughhousing
- Not neutering or spaying your rabbit
- Punishing your rabbit by hitting them
- Feeding more pellets than hay
- Rubbing your rabbit’s belly
- Picking your rabbit by its chest or armpits
- Adopting a rabbit without any research
- Not providing hideouts
- Placing your rabbit’s hutch or cage in direct sunlight
This article will briefly examine what you should avoid while taking care of your rabbits to prevent health issues or life-threatening problems. So, let’s get into it.
Contents
- 1 Giving human food snacks and treats to your rabbit
- 2 Trancing your rabbit
- 3 Scaring your rabbit by chasing after them
- 4 Bathing your rabbit
- 5 Giving too many treats to your rabbit
- 6 Giving rotten food to your rabbit
- 7 Providing a small cage for your rabbit
- 8 Letting your rabbit live on the wire bottom enclosure’s flooring
- 9 Keeping your rabbit outside
- 10 Providing damp stale, dusty hay
- 11 Feeding too much alfalfa hay
- 12 Serving mixed rations to your rabbit
- 13 Disturbing your rabbit while they are eating
- 14 Not giving attention and toys to your rabbit.
- 15 Forcing your rabbit to cuddle
- 16 Not allowing your rabbit free-roaming time ( keeping them locked up )
- 17 Avoiding sudden changes in rabbit behavior
- 18 Grabbing your rabbit by their scruff
- 19 Providing the wrong litter box
- 20 Not cleaning your rabbit’s house.
- 21 Roughhousing
- 22 Not neutering or spaying your rabbit.
- 23 Punishing your rabbit by hitting them
- 24 Feeding more pellets than hay
- 25 Rubbing your rabbit’s belly
- 26 Picking your rabbit by its chest or armpits
- 27 Adopting a rabbit without any research
- 28 Not proving hideouts
- 29 Placing your rabbit’s hutch or cage in direct sunlight
- 30 Conclusion:
Giving human food snacks and treats to your rabbit
Rabbits’ digestive systems are very sensitive. They can’t digest human food snacks and too many treats.
It may seem as if your rabbit is yearning to eat cookies, crackers, or any other snack, but giving your food to them can cause severe stomach pain and even serious health problems.
Human snacks are too fatty for rabbits, which causes them to gain weight.
In contrast, fruits should be given as occasional treats, not frequently, because it is high in sugar and starch, which could cause health problems.
Rabbits love to eat. They can eat it frequently every time you offer them, but they don’t know whether eating the given food is safe for their health.
So, it would be best to avoid offering your rabbit human food snacks and other specific fruits as a treat.
Various foods can mess up rabbits’ digestion, which can also be unhealthy.
In addition, a few food items can even be poisonous to them.
Here are some food items that you should never serve to your rabbit:
- Bread
- Avocados
- Iceberg lettuce
- Cereals
- Cookies
- Crackers
- Silverbeet
- Pasta
- Yogurt drops
- Potatoes
- Chocolates
- Meat
- Cauliflower
- Walnuts
- Peanut butter
- Rhubarb
- Oatmeals
Also read: Why Is My Rabbit Not Eating?
Trancing your rabbit
Trancing involves forcing your rabbit to lie flat on its back, putting them in a trance.
It takes benefit of the rabbit’s propensity to act dead and remain immobile when in that dangerous position.
In addition, being placed on its back is a very vulnerable position for a rabbit.
Some owners mistake it that trancing their rabbit is the act of cradling, and their rabbit enjoys it too. However, this is not true.
Rabbits like being cuddled, carrying them on your lap, petting on their head, but trancing them is not the same.
Long-term induction of a trance can cause even healthy rabbits to pass away.
Therefore, you should not act on trancing your rabbit unless it is required for medical examination.
Also read: Why Is My Rabbit So Quiet?
Scaring your rabbit by chasing after them
Do not try to chase after your rabbit because this act can scare them off.
Although it may seem enjoyable and fun to chase after your rabbit from your point of view, it can be traumatic for your rabbit.
When you try to chase after them, their heart rates increase enormously, and they become frightened.
Chasing around the rabbits not only affects their health, but also they will start disliking you and may see you as a predator.
Therefore, it is essential not to do anything that could frighten your rabbit; otherwise, your pet won’t be able to trust you, and rebuilding the same trust could be challenging.
Also read: Why Is My Rabbit Making Weird Noises?
Bathing your rabbit
Giving a bath to your rabbit is a big no because it is unnecessary.
Rabbits are very clean and hygienic animals. They can groom themselves and do not require bathing like other pet animals.
In addition, rabbits’ saliva contains a unique cleaning agent that keeps them odor-free at all times.
Rabbits should never be submerged in water because it increases their risk of hypothermia and stresses them out.
However, if a naughty rabbit makes a mess and requires to be cleaned, only spot-clean them, dry bath, or submerge them in a few inches of water at most.
If your rabbit is more dirty than usual or unable to clean itself properly, it can indicate that they are suffering from an underlying health problem and require a visit to the vet.
However, sometimes, it may be required to make your rabbit wet when they have some severe condition due to which they can’t groom themselves.
Therefore, you should only bathe your rabbit in exceptional circumstances. Otherwise, you must avoid bathing your rabbit.
Also read: How To Clean Rabbit Urine Stains?
Giving too many treats to your rabbit
You should avoid giving fruits as treats frequently to your rabbit because it is high in sugar and calories that can cause weight gain and other health issues.
Rabbits have a sensitive GI stasis, so they shouldn’t be given too many treats daily.
In addition, just 1-2 tablespoons of treats in a day should be the maximum amount you can serve your rabbit.
You should serve natural fruits as a treat once or twice a week.
Furthermore, to add a little variety, you can even add dried fruits in small quantities as an occasional treat once a week.
Also read: Can Rabbits Eat Mango?
Giving rotten food to your rabbit
Do not serve vegetables, fruits, hay, and pellets that are going rotten, wilting, or getting musty.
Giving rotten food to your rabbit can cause stomach pain and even severe health issues.
Even though your rabbit might not have a sensitive palate, it’s still essential to give them as fresh of a supply of pellets as possible.
All the food served to the rabbit should be fresh to consume all the active vitamins and minerals required in their diet.
In addition, after 90 days, if rabbit pellets have passed since the milling date, they should be thrown away.
Also read: Why Do Rabbits Flip their Food Bowl?
Providing a small cage for your rabbit
Small cages are like a prison for rabbits. They cannot exercise, stand, or do any of their activities in the small cage, which makes them depressed.
On the other hand, lack of exercise can result in health issues like muscle weakness and obesity.
Rabbits are social and curious creatures who require to explore their surroundings.
In addition, they are highly active in the wild and love to jump and run.
If your rabbit can’t move freely and is kept in a small cage, it is cruel and may lead to several health issues.
Therefore, your rabbit’s house must contain plenty of space so they can move around comfortably. For that, you can buy a dog pen for your rabbit.
Your rabbit can run and explore whenever they like in a playpen.
Providing a pen is essential for outdoor rabbits’ safety and excellent for training indoor rabbits.
Instead of a small cage, provide a dog playpen for your rabbit.
We recommend buying a dog pen that you can easily find on amazon.
Also read: Do Rabbits Need Hideout?
Letting your rabbit live on the wire bottom enclosure’s flooring
Letting your rabbit live on wire bottom flooring is harsh and cruel for rabbits.
Unfortunately, you may have seen the practice of providing wired cages for rabbits or seen rabbits kept in wire bottom flooring houses in your nearby pet shops, which is terrible for their paws.
Since rabbits’ paws don’t have any padding, they are much more likely to develop sore hawks when not on proper flooring. And sore hawks are extremely painful.
In addition, sore hocks on rabbits’ feet occur due to improper flooring, causing blistering that could be infectious.
Therefore, ensure that your rabbit has proper flooring that is soft and comfortable, like carpet, rug, or mat.
Also read: Is Pine Bedding Safe For Rabbits?
Keeping your rabbit outside
Keeping your rabbit outside is very dangerous as they can encounter their predators.
Rabbits are prey animals, and there is a possibility of predators like dogs, cats, or foxes outside whose presence can make them terrified because domestic rabbits aren’t very good at defending themselves from them.
Also, letting your rabbit stay outside in hot or cold weather is cruel. Extreme heat or wet weather, such as rain, are not things rabbits can handle very well.
Similarly, keeping your rabbit outside makes less interaction which causes loneliness and even depression for your rabbit.
Therefore, it’s best to keep your rabbit safe and happy inside your home as an indoor pet by giving love and affection.
Also read: Should I Cover My Rabbit’s Cage At Night?
Providing damp stale, dusty hay
Providing clean, fresh hay to your rabbit is essential as a staple food, which is dust-free and smells nice.
Damp, moldy, dusty hay can cause health problems and even life-threatening problems for rabbits if they consume it.
Green fresh hay is a critical component, as it contains high fiber and low calories, which is required in a rabbit’s diet.
You can provide additional hay types to your rabbit, like grass haze and timothy, that keep the rabbit’s digestive system healthy.
We recommend buying the best quality Oxbow Animal Health Western Timothy Hay which is 100% all-natural, has no additives or binders and is high in fiber for good dental and digestive health for rabbits.
A rabbit’s diet should contain at least 85% hay, 10% pellets, and 5% fruits and vegetables.
Also read: Why Is My Rabbit Only Eating Hay?
Feeding too much alfalfa hay
Alfalfa hay contains a lot of protein and calcium, which can make adult rabbits gain a lot of weight and cause other health problems if fed in large amounts.
If your rabbit is a baby (3 weeks to 7 months old), alfalfa hay is the best food for them because it will support their growth and weight gain while preserving their digestive system’s health.
Alfalfa hay should be given as an occasional treat, not as a staple food to adult rabbits.
A rabbit may not consume enough grass hay if they overeat alfalfa hay, resulting in nutritional issues and overgrown teeth.
Rabbits older than seven months should be fed Timothy Hay or Orchard Grass, grass hays containing high fiber and low calcium and protein.
Also read: Can Rabbits Eat Tomato?
Serving mixed rations to your rabbit
Do not serve mixed rations to your rabbit as it can cause tooth and health problems.
All those delicious fruit pieces and seeds look great and taste even better, but they are the most harmful things you feed your rabbit.
In addition, the rabbit takes all the high sugar, low fiber portions and discards the rest.
It would be best if you served high-quality pellets to your rabbits in small quantities, preventing them from selecting and closing their delicious favorites.
We recommend you buy a premium quality Oxbow® pellet for your rabbit that you can easily have from amazon.
Fruit and seed muesli mixtures change how your rabbit chews, making them more susceptible to dental disease.
In addition, excessive weight gain and obesity can result from it.
The movement of the rabbit’s gut contents through their stomach can be slowed down by the high sugar treats, which are processed in the gut at the incorrect pH and encourage the growth of potentially harmful bacteria.
In addition, it boils down to a mixture of muesli, which is not appropriate for rabbits.
Also read: Can Rabbits Eat Grapes?
Disturbing your rabbit while they are eating
You must never disturb your rabbit when they are eating or drinking.
For a rabbit, eating is an essential part of their life. So it was the one thing they had been waiting for all day.
They have mentally yearned for it, begged for it, and can do anything for it to have their meal.
Therefore, it’s rude to interrupt your rabbit when they are eating by cuddling them or forcing them to do other things.
Additionally, disturbing them while they are eating might interfere with their routine and feeding schedule, which you have probably worked hard to instill in them.
Therefore, please do not mess with your rabbit when they are eating their meal.
Otherwise, they will be irritated, grumpy, and not appreciate it.
Also read: Are Rabbits Aggressive?
Not giving attention and toys to your rabbit.
Rabbits are social animals. They love to interact with other rabbits and their owners.
Not giving attention and ignoring your rabbit can cause loneliness, depression, and other health issues.
Many owners believe that rabbits can spend most of their time alone because they are caged animals.
However, rabbits need daily interaction to develop their social skills because they are highly social animals.
In the wild, rabbits live in pairs and travel in large groups for food searching and to alert each other if they sense the presence of predators.
Rabbits can survive for up to 12 years and require a lot of care and attention that you can provide to them.
Therefore, if you have a single rabbit, you should pay attention to them regularly.
Otherwise, your rabbit can become lonely, which causes depression, boredom, and stress.
However, if you can’t interact with your rabbit, you should adopt another rabbit to pair with your current rabbit, but it is essential to become social with them to have a loveable bond.
Another thing you can do to prevent boredom and stress in your rabbit is to provide toys.
Giving them a variety of toys and attention will be beneficial for their happy, healthy life span.
There is no need to spend enough money on your rabbit’s toys. They can also become happy with tissue boxes, cardboard pieces, or toilet paper tubes.
Forcing your rabbit to cuddle
Most people practice force-cuddling their rabbits, which can irritate rabbits, and they may act aggressively toward you.
Although rabbits are cute and look like stuffed animals and as human instincts, we like to grab cute animals to cuddle like other pets, puppies, teddies, or babies.
However, rabbits also require some space. When we try to force a rabbit to cuddle, we sometimes overload them and end up causing them away.
So, it is essential to let your rabbit comes towards to on its own if you want them to come near you.
When they want to cuddle, they approach you by themselves, nuzzle you, put their head under your hand because they want to be petted, or climb up on you and lick your face.
Therefore, do not forcefully cuddle your rabbit until they approach you for petting and cuddling.
Not allowing your rabbit free-roaming time ( keeping them locked up )
Allowing your rabbit to roam freely inside your house is a great way to integrate them into your family and daily life.
Keeping your rabbit locked up for the whole day in a cage or not allowing them to roam freely in a room or the entire house is cruel.
In addition, being in a cage for a whole day is like a prison to them, which may cause depression and even health issues because of a lack of exercise.
Therefore, you should not lock your rabbit in any cage, hutch, or small isolated space. Instead, you must schedule time for your rabbit to roam freely.
Caging rabbits is not acceptable. However, if you decide to keep them in pen or perhaps a small area of your home, that is acceptable only if they are allowed to roam and explore freely throughout the entire house during the daytime.
Rabbits require exercise regularly. Giving excess to roam freely in the house or room makes them healthy physically and mentally.
Therefore, the only way for rabbits to develop a trusting relationship with you is by allowing them to interact with you, not keeping them locked, and allowing free-roaming.
Also read: Can Rabbits Roam Freely In The House?
Avoiding sudden changes in rabbit behavior
Rabbit’s sudden behavior changes can cause severe underlying health issues; if you ignore this, life-threatening problems can occur.
Rabbits are prey animals, and they are excellent at hiding their emotions.
So, owners must be aware of even the smallest changes in their routines.
The rabbit’s changing behavior indicates that your rabbit may be suffering from severe underlying health problems that require immediate medication.
If your rabbit is not eating its food and is not active enough, as usual, sitting or lying in the corner of the house for the whole day, it may indicate that your rabbit is having a health problem.
Therefore, observing your rabbit’s actions and activities is essential to identify whether they are healthy and happy.
If your rabbit has slow movement, difficulty breathing, hiding away, showing aggression, or is not eating according to its regular diet, it indicates that they are having some health problems.
Also read: Rabbits Won’t Eat Critical Care.
Grabbing your rabbit by their scruff
Previously, most farmers and breeders practiced grabbing a rabbit by their scruff when it tried to run away from them.
At that time, grabbing a rabbit by its scruff was much easier than planning how to hold it, even without considering the lack of physical support.
Rabbits are very sensitive creatures, and it is not natural for them to be picked by their scruff.
In addition, the thin rabbit skin isn’t strong enough to support its delicate spines.
Grabbing your rabbit from its scruff is a painful and cruel practice. It is essential to hold your rabbit gently without giving it pain.
The strategic way to hold a rabbit is to pick them up and support them on its headquarters while keeping them in its midsection and petting them up against you.
Also read: My Rabbits Are Scared Off Me.
Providing the wrong litter box
Most rabbit owners make a mistake by providing the wrong litter box according to their rabbit.
While choosing a litter box for a rabbit, it is essential to focus on its size; it should be more significant than your rabbit’s size.
For the rabbit’s litter box, simple plastic cat pans work best. In addition, unless your rabbit is small enough, we advise sticking with the large, giant, or medium litter boxes for most rabbits.
However, if your rabbit can grow into the litter box, it is a good idea. The size of the rabbit will determine what size pan you should purchase.
Also, fragrance-free, paper-based litter is best for rabbits.
In addition, this is the best absorbent and odor-controlling material that is also secure for a rabbit’s respiratory and digestive systems.
Similarly, shredded paper, wood pellets, aspen shavings, and soft paper-based bedding materials are safe options for your rabbit.
It is essential to avoid cedar, pine, and cat litter for your rabbit as these are toxic and causes severe health issues and even life-threatening problems.
Instead, buy Carefresh pet bedding, easily available on Amazon, which can be used as rabbit litter. It is dust-free, highly absorbent, and made up of softwood pulp.
If you prefer paper-based litter, the same company does sell Carefresh white pet bedding.
Also read: Why Is My Rabbit Lying In Its Litter Box?
Not cleaning your rabbit’s house.
Rabbits are very hygienic and clean animals. They require their surroundings and home to be cleaned and odor-free.
A house full of droppings and urine attracts flys and can make your rabbit stressed or depressed.
It is essential to check your rabbit’s bedding and environment regularly.
In addition, you should remove all the soiled items, especially in the hot summer.
Dirty bedding attracts flys, which could lay eggs on your rabbit’s fur and body.
This condition is known as a fry strike, which is very dangerous and even causes life-threatening situations.
Therefore, cleaning your rabbit’s house and even deep cleaning it once in a while is vital.
Also, regularly check your rabbit’s water bottles or food bowls.
Also read: Can Rabbit Mites Live In Carpets?
Roughhousing
Rabbits are sensitive animals. And because of that, it is unacceptable for children to take care of them.
Kids are very impulsive and unpredictable. They can accidentally or intentionally scare off your rabbit.
Rabbits prefer to stay on the ground, even though most kids love picking them and playing with their pets forcefully.
In addition, being picked and cuddled forcefully could result in aggression, and your rabbit can bite or scratch the child.
Also, in some cases, veterinarians frequently see rabbits with broken limbs and spines after being kicked or dropped accidentally by the kids when they try to pick them up.
Therefore, it is essential to introduce the rabbit to the kid calmly and peacefully. Then, carefully allow the rabbit to approach them slowly on its own.
Don’t let children or others scare your rabbit. Otherwise, they can cause stress and anxiety for your rabbit.
Not neutering or spaying your rabbit.
Neutering or spaying is beneficial for a rabbit’s healthy life span. In addition, it reduces the risks of urinary diseases and cancer.
Unwanted hormone-induced behaviors in spayed or neutered rabbits, such as mounting, territorial marking with urine, and aggression, are much less likely to occur.
Some people choose not to fix their rabbit because they believe it to be “unnatural” or just because they don’t want to spend the money.
However, it is crucial for their health, as 80% of female rabbits who have not been spayed will have reproductive cancer at age six.
Likewise, in male rabbits, not neutering them can cause territorial behaviors that bring a lot of biting, grunting, and scratching.
Also, another important reason to spay and neuter your rabbit is that they should not mate.
Although if you have a single rabbit, it is essential to spay them to prevent health issues and aggression, especially in female rabbits because they are much more aggressive than males.
Neutering or spaying rabbits is beneficial because it helps to improve the training for the litter box as rabbits become much calmer, and it becomes easier to bond with them.
Therefore, spaying and neutering your rabbits at 4 to 6 months is essential.
However, some vet suggests neutering and spaying the rabbits between six and eight months to reach their sexual maturity age for the surgery.
Also read: Should I Neuter Or Spay My Rabbit?
Punishing your rabbit by hitting them
Punishing your rabbit by hitting them is very cruel; by doing this, they may become scared of you and see you as a predator.
Rabbits are sensitive animals. They don’t understand physical corrections. So if you try to hit or push them, they can get seriously hurt emotionally and physically as they are delicate creatures.
Although rabbits can make a mess by chewing electric cables, which could also be dangerous, punishing them is not the solution.
Instead, it would be best if you disciplined them. Slapping, shouting, or hitting will only make your rabbit frightened and makes them aggressive, anti-social, and timid.
You can stop them by saying no because rabbits are clever animals; they can quickly catch simple instructions.
Or you can spray water on your rabbit whenever they misbehave to make them understand they have done something wrong.
However, do not spray water frequently and directly on the body and face of your rabbit, as it could cause irritation and worse behavior.
Similarly, if these tips don’t work well, you can put your rabbit in its enclosure without its basic needs, like bedding or toys, for ten minutes or in a house corner where they remain isolated.
Also read: How To Train a Rabbit?
Feeding more pellets than hay
Feeding more pellets than hay could upset your rabbit’s stomach because their staple diet is hay.
A rabbit’s diet should contain at least 85% hay, 10% pellets, and 5% fruits or green veggies.
Providing too many pellets to rabbits can cause obesity. In addition, for a small rabbit, 1/8 of a cup per day is more than sufficient.
Hay is a constant source of fiber for rabbits, who depend on it to keep their guts healthy and help wear down their teeth.
Pellets are considered supplements for rabbits to fulfill the required vitamins in their diet, and hay is the primary food containing high fiber and all beneficial nutrients.
Provide high-quality fresh grass hay to rabbits like timothy, orchardgrass, and oats hay of Oxbow are the healthiest and safest, which you can easily find on amazon.
Also read: Do Rabbits Need Hay Rack?
Rubbing your rabbit’s belly
Rabbits are different than other pets like dogs and cats. For example, they don’t like rubbing their belly or stomach.
When a rabbit shows its undersides or belly, it indicates that they are entirely relaxed and trust you.
However, it is inappropriate to rub them on their stomach to show your love to them, as doing so could make them defensive.
A rabbit’s stomach is the most delicate part of its body because it covers its most important organs.
Therefore, you must not rub their belly as they can become aggressive.
If you want to pet them, touching their head, nose, and cheeks are the safest areas, whereas a rabbit’s feet, tail, rear ends, and belly seem off-limits.
Picking your rabbit by its chest or armpits
Avoid picking up your rabbit by its chest or armpits. Because their backbones are delicate, and rabbits’ hind legs should never be left hanging.
In addition, severe spinal injuries can occur if a rabbit is lifted simply by cupping its chest or hooking your hands beneath its front paws.
Rabbits should always have one hand supporting their back and hindquarters while being held gently but firmly.
You can hold your rabbit’s entire foot against your body, which will help them to feel safe and secure with you.
Adopting a rabbit without any research
It is vital to do research about rabbits before adopting them.
Some people adopt rabbits for their children or themselves because they look cute as a pet, without any idea how to care for them.
Rabbits are not meant to play like toys; they are living beings that require proper care for their healthy life span.
In addition, it takes much time and effort to care for a rabbit as a pet because they need a special diet, lots of exercise, and daily health checks.
Here are some things that you should know before adopting a rabbit:
- It is essential to search for a rabbit-savvy veterinarian near you, not for dogs and cats vet.
- Since most rabbits dislike being picked up and held, they are inappropriate for young children.
- Carrots are bad for rabbits; avoid giving them.
- Rabbits require a lot of space for stretching and exercises like jumping, running, and hopping.
- Any area your rabbit has access to must be “rabbit-proofed” because most rabbits enjoy chewing and digging.
- Owning rabbits requires spaying and neutering, which is necessary for both mental and physical health for their healthy life span.
- Each rabbit has a unique personality and a variety of quirks; it’s up to you to get to know them and discover what they are.
- Never release a domestic rabbit; doing so will result in the death of your pet.
- Many rabbits enjoy living with other rabbits, but proper bonding is necessary to prevent fights and anxious or fearful rabbits.
Also read: How To Choose A Second Rabbit?
Not proving hideouts
Rabbits require hideouts in their surrounding where they can feel safe, secure, and comfortable.
Whether your rabbit is housed in an enclosure or an exercise pen or has access to free roaming in a rabbit-proofed house, it will still need a few places to hide.
Your rabbit will become scared, stressed, and anxious if there is nowhere to hide.
Hideouts will give your rabbit a sense of security and self-assurance. In addition, they might even save their life.
Dogs and cats can be harmful to rabbits because they are prey animals. And hideouts could be the life savers.
Make sure your rabbit won’t have to go far to find a place to hide if they become frightened or afraid.
Also, remember that your rabbit’s hiding places are safe places to rest. So, it is essential not to disturb them.
Also read: Do Rabbits Need Hideout?
Placing your rabbit’s hutch or cage in direct sunlight
Temperatures between 60 and 65 degrees F (Fahrenheit) are what rabbits prefer, and if it is over 80 degrees Fahrenheit, it’s dangerous for domestic rabbits.
Even in the winter, keep rabbits’ cages out of direct sunlight and never leave them outside without an excellent shelter.
Rabbits do not have sweat glands. They can only release heat through their least furry thin long ears.
Make sure to build a pen to provide shade for your rabbit during the hottest parts of the day, dampen its ears when it’s hot outside, and give it plenty of fresh, cold water.
Also, sunlight heat can be amplified by glass windows. If your house doesn’t have air conditioning, put your pet’s pen in the room with the lowest humidity and use a fan to move air around them.
Conclusion:
There can be various things that you must never do to your rabbit.
The primary thing before adopting a rabbit is to research how to take care of them and provide a healthy life.
Keeping the rabbit cage in direct sunlight, feeding them more pellets than hay, and providing the wrong litter are some things you must never do to your rabbit.
Similarly, you must avoid roughhousing, grabbing them by their scruff, ignoring their sudden behavioral changes, or punishing them by hitting them.
It is essential to provide their staple diet, let them exercise, and take them to rabbit-vet for regular health checkups; take proper care of them for their healthy life span.