Anyone ever keep Rabbits before?

[MikeWinLDS]

How hard is it to take care of them?

Is there a list of stuff I need? I should get grass for them to play on?

[Fiskars the Whiskers]

I used to have four rabbits. They're not hard to take care of and they were really fun, nice little pets. It was almost ten years ago, but they weren't even hard for a young person to take care of by themself. I think I had newspaper under their hutch and every couple of days I would get new stuff and throw the little poops away.

They ate things like grass, kitchen veggie scraps, alfalfa, nuts (they were wild about cashews, but they're expensive so it was a treat for them). Grass might be nice, but we didn't have any grass and I still think they enjoyed themselves. We were building our deck at the time and we'd let them run around on it while we worked and they didn't bother us or try and jump off. They just hopped around and wiggled their tails, so getting out of the hutch is probably important for bunny happiness.

[Elle]

I had a rabbit before. Actually, a few. I have three cats, so they catch a lot of the fluffy little fellows. We kept one rabbit for quite a while. Word of warning: DON'T LET CATS NEAR THE RABBIT! heh... whoops. Anyway, it ate Pet Grass, which you can find at a pet store, usually. We also got grass from outside, just ripped it out, and put it in the cage. I think you can get rodent chew sticks or something at a pet store, too. I forget what they're called. That's all I know...

-Elle

[Beersnob]

I use to raise rabbits for 4-H. I use to raise them for the meat pen, show, etc..

Rabbit Pellets are the best thing to feed them. If you, or your neighbor fertilize, or chemically treat your lawn..you may not have many rabbits in the near future. Generally the cages were big enough for 2 to 3 rabbits (adult), but they do not generally like to be together if they are the same sex. They are almost as easy to breed as Guppies! Grass, lettuce, and other greens may be bad because of the digestive track problems (yes they'll get the runs and there is nothing worse than a dehydrated rabbit).

The cages have a tray for the feces deposits, which will fertilize your garden really well. The water bottles seemed to work best. I am assumming that you are keeping them outside. Not knowing your winters that may be a challenge. Here in MI it wasn't too bad. We had to give them fresh water in large bowls 3 to 4 times per day. Sometimes we even started a kerosene heater.

I raised Californians. New Zealands, Lops, and most dwarf species are friendly. Every once in awhile you'll get a mean doe. I would avoid getting any Dutch Rabbits. Mean is a nice TERM for them. They really do bite the hands that feed them.


If you got any questions let me know.


Thanks,

Scott

[Elspeth]

We raised meat rabbits when I was a teenager. We handled and tamed them but didn't name them, discovering early on that any animal that gets a name is moved from "dinner" to "um, maybe for breeding??"

They are easy to care for, but they do have their own needs. Grass is great IF you and your near neighbors don't fertilize -- purchase an "excersise pen" or "puppy pen" and let them play in that from time to time.

For more info on pet rabbits than you can shake a stick at, check out the House Rabbit Society's pages at http://www.rabbit.org.