Data sheet rabbit
Scientific name:
Oryctolagus cuniculus forma domestica
Origin:
North Africa and Iberian Peninsula
Size:
between 20 – 70 cm
age expectation:
6 – 10 years
attitude and behavior
Group vs. individual housing:
at least for two
Lining:
Grass, hay, herbs, forage
Difficulty level:
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After the dog and cat, the rabbit is the third most common pet the Austrians and Germans. The rodent is particularly popular with families with children, because it not only looks very cute with its long ears and soft fur, but is also known for its uncomplicated keeping.
While the rabbit is associated with a good-natured cuddly toy, the mammal is, evolutionarily speaking, a escape animalwhich lives in colonies in the wild, but is very skittish towards other species and is therefore only conditionally suitable as a pet for lively children.
With species-appropriate husbandry and a little sensitivity to the needs of rabbits, the animals can become a real enrichment for family life and feel very comfortable in human company.
acquisition and maintenance
Anyone who has decided to buy a rabbit after careful consideration has several options for finding a new roommate. As well as officially registered breeders and agricultures as well as shelters and pet shops offer the animals.
In pet shops, rabbits can usually be purchased for little money, and a so-called “protection fee” is also common in animal shelters, which serves to maintain the shelter. Anyone who gets their rabbit from a breeder should first carefully check that they are dealing with lawful and legal distributors, i.e. the breeder is officially registered. In the case of rabbits from the farm, there is no official notification of breeding, but you should make sure that the animal is actually healthy.
Who cares?
Irrespective of which form of procurement was chosen, it must be ensured in advance that everything is ready for the new roommates when they move in and that the animals are also suitable for keeping together. It must also be clarified in advance how the rabbits will be cared for when the owners are absent.
Rabbit Breeds:
The type of procurement also depends on whether you have specific wishes regarding the rabbit breed. There are a variety of rabbit breeds, of which the following are the most popular in this country:
- angora rabbit: It is one of the oldest known breeds of rabbits, whose representatives especially catch the eye with their enormously long fur and the pronounced tufts of hair over their ears.
- Blue wieners: The medium to large sized rabbit breed is characterized by blue-grey eyes and fur of the same shade.
- German giants: Known as gentle giants, the giant rabbits have a large yet well-proportioned body. Their ears have a minimum length of 17cm, the body can reach a total length of up to 70cm.
- German ram: The breed got its name from its blunt, convex nose (technical term: Ramsnase). Animals of this species are considered to be calmer than their prick-eared counterparts, but they do not usually behave sluggishly.
- color dwarves: They live up to their name because of their small, stocky body with short ears and wide range of coat colors.
- bunny rabbit: The animals with bright chestnut-brown fur look confusingly similar to their wild relatives, but are the result of breeding.
- ermine rabbit: The white dwarf rabbits with red or blue eyes are very popular pets because of their trusting nature. When breeding, attempts are made to promote those aspects that are typical of a dwarf rabbit, i.e. the small, stocky body with relatively short ears.
- lionhead rabbit: The characteristic feature of this breed of rabbit is the long, tousled mane.
- Mini dwarf rabbit: With the very popular breed of rabbits, extreme caution is required, since it is not uncommon for it to be a torture breed that promotes dwarfism.
- rex rabbit: Due to the protruding, stable, maximum 2 cm long fur, the body contours of this breed are particularly prominent. In addition to the «mole-gray» Castor Rex, the rabbits can be found in the color variants Tricolor Pied Rex, Dalmatian Rex, Yellow Rex, Black Rex, Havana Rex, Blue-grey Rex, and Marten Rex.
- Teddy dwarf rabbit: The fur of the “Fluffy Balls” is up to 10 cm long all over the body.
- dwarf ram: When breeding this breed, a combination of the characteristics of the ram rabbit and the dwarf rabbit is used, which is expressed in the strong, stocky body with the round head, the blunt, convex nose and the hanging ears.
Posture requirements:
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Although keeping rabbits is known to be uncomplicated, the rodents make numerous demands on their owners so that their basic needs are met and the animals are completely satisfied. First of all, the enclosure must provide enough space for the respective number of animals. As original wild animals, rabbits are used to moving around a lot.
The agile flight animals sprint over long distances in the wild and do not get their food from a single source, as they do in their domesticated everyday life. For this reason should not only one square meter of enclosure/pen area per rabbit included, but additionally daily outlet be granted over a larger area. In fact, only a few households offer their rabbits this generous amount of space, since 2 square meters of stable space would have to be made available for 2 rabbits. However, if the rodents cannot keep up with their urge to move, this often not only leads to unbalanced behavior but also to obesity, which in the long term can lead to a stroke and death.
In some households it has become established to let the animals hop around either in the entire apartment or in selected rooms in which no cables or other sources of danger are exposed. For this, however, the animals must first be housebroken, or one is willing to lay out the affected area with wipeable mats/blankets.
The feel-good cookie:
With regard to keeping, a stall in the house or apartment as well as outdoors is possible. Especially with very human-related rabbits, the whole garden can become an enclosure, as long as the animals do not tend to flee. Apart from that, the variant of a rabbit house in the garden is also popular, as it can be easily connected to an outdoor enclosure.
In any case, the accommodation option must be sufficient opportunities to withdraw from wind and weather on the one hand, and from prying eyes and loud noises on the other. It is therefore essential in the garden that there is a shelter nearby that the animals can stay comfortable in for several hours. It must also be ensured that the food and water sources are always accessible and that the drinking bowl does not freeze over in winter, which is why keeping them indoors in the cold season is more comfortable for the rodents.
The right barn design:
The enclosure or the stable itself can be designed very creatively, but should adequate bedding be designed. Although rabbits live in burrows in meadows or in the forest in the wild, domesticated rodents prefer one layer of sawduston the generous hay and straw was distributed. In addition, there is material in the stall that rabbits can use during the day.
How important the physical and cognitive load for rabbits and what potential there is in flight animals is also shown by their performance in the rabbit sport rabbithop, in which rabbits have to overcome hurdles of different heights and depths. The training is becoming increasingly popular not only in Germany, because it keeps the team of keeper and rabbit busy and proves that rabbits can also learn “tricks”.
Moving habitat:
Small bridges and obstacles, for example, as well as houses and possibly a small basin with sand are suitable to enable varied movement in the stable.
Rabbits also appreciate varied courses that challenge them cognitively, at least when they run free on a regular basis. Different materials with which you can keep your teeth and chewing muscles active and prevent boredom include woods of different thicknesses and different types of bark.
Cleaning the rabbit hutch:
How much attention the rabbit and the cage need depends on the number of animals and the chosen bedding. Although rabbits are considered «easy» pets and «kid-friendly», it is important to remember that before you get them, they are fed daily have to be, that change water regularly is and also the litter at least once a weekbut more common in most animals, renewed heard.
Some owners manage to get their rabbits housebroken, i.e. to get them used to doing their business in the sandbox.
However, not all rabbits can be trained to do this and even when housebreaking ensures that the bedding remains free of feces, it is not uncommon for rabbits to spill water, tip over the food bowl or spread sand around the cage. In addition, the rabbit toilet has to be cleaned regularly and if you provide the animals with activities such as cardboard or wood, this often means that the litter has to be changed.
(Not) a cuddly toy:
Rabbits are therefore only conditionally easy-care pets because daily care essential is, but that doesn’t mean that they also need regular pats.
Whether and how much touch and human affection the animals allow is very individual and also depends on the history of the rabbit. As a rule, however, they only tolerate being picked up, carried around and cuddled with them. However, some rabbits also respond by trying to bite.
gender differences:
Determining the sex of rabbits is more difficult than with other animal species, but experts can do this the day after birth.
In addition to experienced breeders and shelter workers, veterinarians are a reliable resource for information. It takes one skilful palpation of the genitalswhich is why only competent persons should be entrusted with this, so that the rabbits are not injured and…