A Guide to Buying/Adopting a Rabbit

Today we have a guest post from a new friend of ours Jordan Walker he very nicely asked if he could write this post for us and with International Rabbit Day coming up at the end of the month we thought that it would be a great idea.So here is Jordan with a great post!

If you think buying a rabbit is as easy as pie, then think again. There are things that must be considered beforehand to ensure you get the right one for you.

A Guide to Buying/Adopting a Rabbit

Jordan Walker has always been passionate for animals. He loves to share his knowledge and expertise about the animal kingdom through pet-related blogs. He leads the content team of Coops and Cages. In this article, he shares some important things to consider when buying a rabbit.

With their adorable and sweet personality, rabbits make wonderful pets. But before you decide to get one, there are several things you need to know to guarantee you get the right rabbit for you and your family. Here are some:

Expenses

When raising a rabbit, expect additional expenses. Normally, adoption will already cost you about £35($60 in the US). And aside from that, you’ll have to pay for the food, housing, vet bills, and other essential pet supplies.

Rabbit Viral hemorrhagic disease vaccination and Myxomatosis vaccination are also among the primary expenses involved when raising a rabbit. Even though it now comes in one vaccine, which costs around £30, every owner has to prepare for this(only available in the UK).

Shelter

Because rabbits are social animals, they also need a huge shelter within your home where they can freely roam around and play with other animals. You can house them inside large cages or puppy pens. But most of the time, they are kept in custom-cardboard castles, where they can freely roam around.Or that can be housed outside but need to be in a hutch at least 4m x 2m with a large run attached of around 10sq meters.

Entertainment

Whenever they get bored, rabbits easily get into trouble. So, if you don’t give them something to play with, they would end up chewing your possessions. To divert their attention, you can create a place where they can play, such as a cardboard castle that is made out of old phone books, toilet paper rolls, and some other paper products you can find at home.

Nutrition

Just like other pets, rabbits also need vitamins and minerals for proper nutrition. But for these fluffy creatures, fibre is the most vital. In fact, it is considered a staple. If possible, they must always have access to hay all the time, or at least a mix of greens and grass.

Affection

Although rabbits are affectionate animals, they still have unique characteristics and personalities that vary from one another. While most of them don’t want to be hand-held, others don’t really bother at all. If so, its social life has to be improved.

Travelling

When travelling, rabbits get easily stressed out. Hence, it is better that you hire a good pet sitter to watch over your bunny as you go on a vacation. If you insist to bring your rabbits with you, make sure you are aware about the fact that only a few airlines allow these pets to fly in-cabin(only allowed in the US,in the UK pets have to go in the hold).If traveling by car keep journeys to about 3hrs, stop a couple of times to give them a break and have a green salad for them to have a snack during rest stops.

The bottom line is, you have to conduct a thorough research about how to care for bunnies before buying one. By doing such, you can assess whether you are truly capable of raising a rabbit or not and avoid any disappointments in the long run.

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Author: Jordan Walker

Jordan is the lead content curator for Coops And Cages as well as a couple of other pet related blogs. His passion for animals is only matched by his love for 'attempting' to play the guitar. If you would like to catch him, you can reach him via Google+ or Twitter.

Thanks to Jordan for his great post.Remember this is only a helpful guide.Every bunny is different in character,some get stressed easily and some are very chilled out like Speedy is and take to traveling and exploring well and even enjoy it but not all bunnies are like Speedy.