Caring for your bunny |
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Behaviour of rabbits Rabbits are social animals and it is ideal to have more than one rabbit. Rabbits live 8- 10 years. Two males can only live together in harmony for 2-4 months. Thereafter the social ranking contest normally starts. Two females can live together perfectly if they grow up together. Fighting between rabbits are common in the beginning. Integration can take a while so one has to be patient. Rabbits are fast learners. They can be potty trained although some rabbits prefer to urinate and defecate in corners. Remember to keep electrical cords out of their reach, as they are excellent chewers! Imagine what can happen! |
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Handling of a rabbit Forget the magician's stunt of pulling a rabbit out of the hat by its ears. It is extremely cruel!! You should pat them gently. Put your hand under the chest holding each foreleg separately between thumb and two fingers and with the other hand support the rump. Then cradle the bunny against your body. Remember, that they are delicate and fragile animals (poor backs) . |
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Grooming your rabbit Rabbits groom their coats regularly with the help of their tongues. During shedding season, you should brush your bunny to remove old and loose hair. However, the angora rabbits should be groomed daily with a special brush fitted with metal bristles. During the warm African summers you also need to give them a haircut regularly. Check the teeth regularly because the animal can have malocclusion of the teeth. This is a condition where the teeth do not meet each other and grow so long that the rabbit can no longer eat. If this happens, you should take your rabbit to a vet. Some books recommend that you can cut the claws yourself and other recommend that the vet should do it. If you feel at all uncomfortable about doing it yourself, please take your bunny to the vet. Regularly cut the hair of an angora rabbit around the sex organs so that the faeces do not get caught or stuck in it. Use a cotton pad with a little baby oil and wipe the rabbit’s skin folds to remove any deposits on it or you can just use a cloth with luke warm water. Never bath a rabbit. |
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Caging |
Rabbits should live in groups under conditions close to
nature. Do not keep them in confined spaces. It is important that they have
enough space to move around. The area of a room-compartmented cage for 1-2 dwarf
rabbits should be 90x50 cm. We raise our bunnies in galvanized wired mesh cages.
They love chewing the grass and their droppings can also fall through the wire
mesh. Every week or so we push our cage (on little wheels) to another spot in
the garden. Always give your bunny protection against the elements of nature: a good nesting box in case of rain and some shading against the harsh African sun.
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Feeding Rabbits’ staple diet is normal rabbit pellets that you can buy from your local supermarket. You can also give your rabbits grass, grain (koring) and seeds. Fresh carrots, apples and pears (in moderate amounts). Rabbits do not tolerate milk. Never feed them soiled or mouldy food. Never give your pet frozen foods. Remove any fresh food left after 2 hours of feeding the rabbits or at least by the next day. As dwarf rabbits' digestive system is less hardy than a normal size rabbit, never give them lettuce to eat and try and avoid giving them cabbage as well. They will get enteritis and could possibly die. As they love to chew straw, this should be included in their diet as well. |
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Breeding A female becomes sexually mature at around 6 months but should not mate before they are fully-grown and develop (at least 8 months). A male reaches puberty at 3-4 months but will only became sexually active at around 7 months. Mating can occur at any time. Rabbits can produce a litter every 30 days but this doesn't happen that often in the case of dwarf rabbits. The pregnancy lasts about one month. An average litter consists of 2-4 babies. Bigger size rabbits can have 6-12 babies in a litter. Near birth the mother will pluck soft fur from her coat to make a snug nest for the new babies. You should by now line the nesting box with straw or dried grass (not sawdust because it contains phenolic chemicals). Sawdust can cause anything from eye and nose irritation to respiratory disease, even liver damage. Once the babies are born, do not touch the nesting box. Rabbits are usually born during the night. Each baby is born with a placenta which the mother eats after birth. After being licked clean she starts nursing. On the surface it may appear that they are not good mothers, but they do feed their offspring once a day, maybe twice although we seldom notice it. 5-8 Days . Newborn dwarf bunnies are naked, blind and deaf. 5 days after birth short hairs start growing on the bare skin. You can now make out what the colour will be. 9-11 Days. The rabbits open their eyes. They are able to see and hear. 14 Days. The bunnies have developed thick fluffy coats. The bravest one is ready to crawl out of the litter box. His mother may give a warning thump with her hind legs to rush him back inside the warm nest. 3 Weeks. The excursions out of the nest are more often and more adventurous and they are very curious. 4 Weeks. The little ones are ready to nibble their first foods. 6 Weeks. Nearly ready to part from mum although some may still want to suckle from the mom. TIPS: If the mother dies or has no milk and if no nursing mother is available to raise them, you can buy lactose -reduced milk or you can buy puppy milk from the vet. Mix one-half water with one-half milk. Feed the little ones about four times a day with a dropper or disposable syringe (without the needle). After each feeding massage the tummy gently. Put a hot warm bottle into the litter den. Beware that the highest cause of death among newborn rabbits is from hand rearing.
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Treatment of mild illnesses Rabbits are in general, healthy robust creatures who seldom pay visits to veterinarians, but occasionally they do fall ill. Mild Diarrhoea. The faeces are soft and mushy and the rabbit's fur around the anus is soiled. The animal shows no other symptoms. Carefully clean the cage with warm water. Remove the leftover food. Give the bunny only fresh straw and dry food for the next day or two. We find that 5ml of Pectrolite given with a little bit of water in a syringe also helps clear up the diarrhoea. If the diarrhoea doesn't clear up within 2 days take it to the vet. Heat stroke. If the rabbit has no access to a shady spot on a hot day it will suffer from heat stroke. It will lie impassively in its corner. The breathing will be shallow and its body will quiver. The nostrils will be wide. Take the rabbit immediately to a cool room and cover its head and body with a damp compress to quickly bring down its body temperature. Once its condition improves, give it some water. Colds or snuffles. A common ailment of rabbits is the "snuffles" and the animal looks indeed rather as if it has a bothersome snuffly respiratory infection similar to human colds. The acute form shows a cloudy white or yellowish nasal discharge together with a fever. The milder form exhibits sneezing and eye discharge, the usual cause is a bacterium called Pasterulla multicoda, a normally harmless resident of a rabbits' nose and throat which is common when an animal’s resistance is lowered for example due to stress. Eyes. The eyes can become watery or with a white or yellowish discharge. Wash the eye with warm saline or human eyewash.
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