Life With A House Rabbit

By Angela DeRiso

A Rabbit Rescued At The Right Time

I took Lily in during August of 2015, after I found her running loose in the subdivision I lived in. Just by her coloring alone, you can tell she wasn't a wild rabbit. A white body with dark gray Siamese points does not make for good camouflage. It's likely she was bought as a gift for Easter, then dumped when someone got tired of caring for her. It's an awful recurring story every year for rabbits everywhere.

She lived in my bathroom a few months until I built a two level enclosure with NIC cubes and zip ties. Originally, I was only suppose to foster her, but I couldn't help but fall in love. It wasn't just that I had worried over her safety out in the wild, but that the time she turned up in my life was so meaningful. My Grandmother had passed about a week earlier, and I had actually been discussing pet rabbits with her not so long before. I guess those coincidences were significant enough for me that I couldn't let her go.

The Daily Routine

As soon as I'm up in the morning, Lily is waiting for her bowl of greens. I usually offer 3-4 types and rotate each week. I open the door to her rabbit-condo to allow her to run freely in my bedroom. She then begins her house rabbit duties of digging in the sheets, performing numerous binkies, running crazy-fast laps around the room, and sniffing out any trouble she can get into. She loves the cat tunnel I recently bought her, and cardboard boxes are always a hit for chewing and getting herself in. Usually she decides on her own when to go back home, or she can be bribed with treats.

The middle of the day is spent sleeping, or lightly napping, with the occasional trip to munch on hay or get a drink of water. Activity resumes at dusk when Lily awaits another foray out of her condo. This time is when most of the crazy-fast laps happen. I can be laying in bed reading a book, while she is zooming around the room at warp speed. I don't know how she does it to be honest. I wish I could move that fast.

The nightly outings conclude with her request for treats. This is when she sits at the end of the bed and just stares at me. As soon as I swing my legs down from the bed, she's running circles around my feet. I make papaya chips for Lily with my food dehydrator, and she loves these to the point of being frantic. I have to be quick with delivering the treats to her or I get nipped on my feet.

A quick nod must be given to rabbits' thieving abilities. One has to be aware of the height at which they store treats and or important documents. Lily has not only made off with an entire bag of treats, but also one of my credit card bills. This is why she's now blocked from going under the bed. She was extremely disapproving when I enacted this new rule.

Sassy & Demanding

More than anything, I've found that Lily has a very strong sense of how things should be. She will protest if she's not let out at a certain time, or if she hears a sound she doesn't like. She's not above kicking her back legs at me when I catch her doing something she's not supposed to, like chewing on pillows, or tearing up carpet. Also, if I dare to stop petting her she nips me until I start again. She never bites hard enough to draw blood, but enough to startle me.

Lily only allows one tool for grooming, and that is an eyebrow brush from a makeup kit. I've tried flea combs, and rubber brushes. Both were met with protest. The rubber brush was seized and attacked repeatedly. While small, the eyebrow brush does work and she enjoys it enough to assume loaf position while it's in use. Mind you, this is when she allows grooming, because sometimes she just isn't in the mood. I have also been able to pull out tufts of loose fur with my hands, but that's only allowed for a few minutes before she runs off.

When giving Lily treats such as banana or some other rabbit-safe fruit, I have to watch my fingers. She usually yanks it away. The papaya chips bring about the highest chances of foot nips if I'm not quick enough. Lily will actually sit on my bed while I'm at my computer working on something and just stare at me. I have to say that there's something disconcerting about that face and those forward facing ears just holding that position for so long. It's like she's plotting. However, if I go over and give her a few minutes of petting, she understands I haven't forgotten about her.

She's A Brat, But Too Cute Not To Love

With all the nips, chewing, thieving, and demands, you'd think I'd lose my temper with Lily. I don't though, because I know she's just doing what rabbits do. Even if it comes off as bratty. I also end up laughing a lot with her silly antics rather than be mad. Seeing Lily change from a scared ball of fur to an indoor rabbit that flops down for a long nap during the day is huge. She knows she's safe now. The binkies alone are proof of that. I'm glad she came into my life when she did, and I think she's probably grateful in her own way too. I think she's too feisty to admit it, though.

As of this writing, Lily has been with me for about two and a half years. At the time of her rescue, my vet estimated her to be under a year old, making her approximately three and a half years old today.

If you would like to share your life with a house rabbit, please adopt from a rescue near you.

For a full range of rabbit topics including care, diet, housing, and health, visit The House Rabbit Society

Back to School Bunnies?

It’s that time of year again - back to school time! But should a rabbit be heading into the classroom? The truth of the matter is that having rabbits in the classroom rarely, if ever, works out to the advantage of the rabbit, the teacher, or the children.

Adorable bunny ready for school!  Okay, not really.  Let's make sure all pet rabbits are home schooled!

There are many factors that make having rabbits in the classroom something to avoid. Below you can read some of the main points in TBHRR’s reasoning not to adopt bunnies into this situation:  

• Rabbits live a decade or more. This means that not only will the teacher be responsible for this new pet for quite a while, but rules regarding classroom pets may change in this time as well as the teacher’s own career path or desire for a classroom pet. 

Rabbits can live as long as some breeds of dog!  Nikolai here is almost 14.

• Rabbits require a constant supply of hay, as it makes up 80-85% of their diet. This presents a problem not only of keeping supplies on hand, but also many children are allergic to hay. In the same vein, the children could be allergic to the rabbit itself. Allergies are one of the most common reasons we see for rabbits being abandoned at shelters. 

• Rabbits are crepuscular and therefore will not be active during the day when the children are in school. They will mainly want to nap and have quiet time, only wanting to come out to play and interact during dawn and dusk.  

• Rabbits are prey animals and as such, don’t enjoy large groups, loud noises, or children running.

• Rabbits also do not enjoy being picked up. They have extremely strong back legs and can kick with such force that they can break their own back if not properly handled. For this reason, we do not let children under the age of 16 pick up rabbits.

• Rabbits can and will bite and scratch. Since their way of communicating is very subtle, and they are not very vocal, most children do not realize that the rabbit is getting upset and can get injured before they realize anything is wrong.  All of us in rescue have been bitten or scratched by frightened rabbits - it hurts!

• Rabbits require a large space. We recommend at least 16 square feet, which is the size of a standard puppy exercise pen. The cages typically marketed for them in pet stores are horribly cruel. They do not have room to play or keep themselves clean. They also lead to them becoming aggressive and they become foul-smelling quickly. The sort of space a rabbit requires is hard to accommodate in a classroom setting. 

Bunnies need large habitats, not tiny pet store "starter cages".  Not many classrooms could provide this.

• Rabbits are very sensitive to stress. If they are being moved around in a car daily or on the weekends, they can stop eating and go into gastrointestinal stasis. Rabbits require consistency in their life and should never be sent home with different children.

• Rabbits need to see an exotics vet that is rabbit savvy. If the rabbit were to go into stasis or fall ill in some other way, they usually pass away fairly quickly. These vets are quite pricey and if the rabbit is ill, vet visits are an emergency. Everything from an ear infection to a day of not having a bowl movement can be deadly in a rabbit. 

Think bunnies are cheap pets?  Think again.  This was my latest unexpected vet bill.  Bunny stopped eating...cost me almost $400.  In addition to emergency care, they need yearly checkups by a rabbit-savvy vet to make sure they are healthy.

• Rabbits require a variety of rabbit-safe fresh vegetables daily, which can be hard to provide at school. Their GI tract is very delicate, so if a child were to mistakenly give the rabbit the wrong vegetable or slip them something inappropriate, it could be fatal to the rabbit.

• Rabbits do enjoy being part of a family and receiving attention. They cannot usually get this in a classroom since they are most active at dawn and dusk. They also require at least 3 hours of time outside of the cage each day to play and have some more mental stimulation. Without this they can go ‘kennel crazy’, and start to be aggressive or withdrawn.

• Rabbits are not low-maintenance or low-cost pets. They require specialized food, a large space, toys, games, and ways to enjoy their natural behaviors such as chewing, digging, and running. They also need a yearly checkup at the vet,  regular nail trims, and to be groomed at least once a week.

If the goal of a classroom rabbit would be to teach the children about them, TBHRR would be happy to come in with a few bunnies and do a presentation about house rabbits and adoption. 

In conclusion, if you are still thinking of having a rabbit in the classroom...