Choosing Good Furniture and Making Your Rabbit Happy
When you're mentally prepared to bring your rabbit home, the first expense you should be ready for is around $100 to $150 USD (depending on the price of items). This budget is for preparing your rabbit's supplies and new home.
The author recommends buying everything you need all at once. It's wise to research online and read reviews to avoid wasting money on unnecessary items. Purchasing everything in one go will actually save you more money in the long run.
There aren't many things you need to prepare for raising a rabbit. Broadly, they include the following categories:
Comfortable and Spacious Dedicated Rabbit Cage: The Home for Your Bunny
The very first essential item you need to purchase is a spacious cage dedicated for your rabbit. The cage size should be at least six times larger than your rabbit's body size. You can find specialized rabbit cages at pet stores. When buying the cage, it's best to consider the adult size your rabbit will grow into. If you are new to raising rabbits and cannot estimate their adult size, start by purchasing a cage that is six times bigger than a young rabbit's body size. However, if that cage becomes too small later on, be sure to upgrade to a larger one!
Living in a cage that is too small can be very distressing for your rabbit. The purpose of buying a cage is not just to confine your rabbit, but to create a dedicated space for them and to protect them. Curious rabbits love to jump high and run fast, but if you're not careful, they can get injured, such as catching their legs while jumping or accidentally eating something harmful.
To keep them safe, it's fine to let your rabbit roam freely and exercise when someone is home. However, when no one is around, it's best to have a dedicated room prepared for your rabbit. Train them to use a litter box and become accustomed to their eating area inside this room. This setup encourages good habits and ensures excellent care for your rabbit's well-being.
Protecting Your Rabbit's Feet with Wide Foot Mats
Typical cages often have narrow footrests, which can be problematic. Some people use dog cages instead of rabbit cages because dog cages are more affordable. However, dogs have a layer of soft pads on their feet, while rabbits do not.
Narrow and hard foot mats can injure a rabbit's foot pads, leading to redness, swelling, or even sores over time. To protect your rabbit's feet, it is important to buy an extra foot mat to place inside the cage, ensuring their feet remain safe and comfortable.
You can find suitable plastic mats at most general merchandise stores or wholesale retailers. The most common options include raised, non-slip mats, which are worth considering to improve your rabbit's living environment.
Hydration Equipment for Pet Rabbits
Rabbits need to drink water! It's important to provide them with clean drinking water (boiled and cooled water). Avoid giving them untreated water, as unclean water can cause diarrhea in rabbits, whose digestive systems are naturally delicate.
Pet stores offer water bottles specifically designed for rodents and rabbits, but some rabbits are natural heavy drinkers, consuming so much that you might suspect the bottle is leaking. In such cases, you can try using larger bottles meant for dogs or water dispensers that fit regular plastic bottles.
As for the drinking water itself, it's best to replace it every two days. Keeping the water fresh helps maintain your rabbit's health.
Choosing a Large and Safe Pet Food Bowl
When selecting a food bowl for your pet, it's important to pick one that is both large and stable to prevent tipping. The base should be sturdy enough to keep the bowl in place, and ceramic bowls tend to be more ideal in this regard.
Some rabbits have very distinct personalities and can be quite mischievous when it comes to eating. They may even throw the bowl around to get their food. Because of this, the bowl needs to have a certain weight to ensure it won't easily tip over.
Training Potty for Rabbits: Helping Your Bunny Use the Bathroom
A special potty designed for polite training: it is used to teach rabbits where to go to the bathroom. However, newborn rabbits may not immediately use a designated spot for their bathroom needs. It takes some time and patient training.
The most important factor in this training process is the owner's patience. With consistent effort and understanding, your bunny will learn to use the potty properly.
Healthy and Tasty Special Feed for Rabbits
Rabbits should primarily be fed a diet based on hay, supplemented with special feed. This ensures they receive the necessary nutrients while maintaining good digestive health.
For young rabbits, it is important to choose feed specifically formulated for their growth stage. This helps support their development and provides the right balance of nutrients.
Clean and Odor-Removing Bedding for Rabbit Cages
Items used to make bedding or absorb urine and remove odors for rabbits are commonly found in the form of woodchips, which is an inexpensive and fragrant wood shavings that effectively deodorize. This type of wood shavings is quite popular.
However, veterinarians explain that most cheap wood shavings on the market are made from pine and fir. While the scent can mask urine odors, it harms the rabbit's liver and, over time, shortens their lifespan. Additionally, the small fragments of wood shavings can be inhaled by rabbits, which is bad for their respiratory tract.
If you must use wood shavings, it's best to avoid direct contact between the rabbit's body and the wood shavings. For example, place the wood shavings inside a litter box or on the bottom tray under a mat.
Another type of wood shavings is made from white poplar. This wood does not harm rabbits but is very rare and more expensive, making it harder to obtain.
A good alternative is "wood pellet sand," also known as "cat litter wood pellets." These are granular and break apart into powder when wet. This type of wood pellet sand is economical and highly absorbent. However, rabbits should still not directly contact it, as they might ingest it.
Some people wonder why not just use cat litter, which is cheap and highly absorbent. It's not that cat litter can't be used, but you must be 100% sure that no rabbit fur touches the cat litter. This is hard to guarantee since rabbits may run around and tip over their litter box, or their tails might brush against it.
Cat litter is made specifically for cats, not rabbits. If it contacts a rabbit's body and the rabbit licks it off, even a small amount can turn into a highly corrosive substance in the rabbit's intestines, damaging their internal organs. Usually, once symptoms appear, it is often fatal. Therefore, it's best to avoid using cat litter for rabbits altogether.
