With a gentle nature and a trusting personality a rabbit makes a great choice as a pet.You will find that a rabbit will often be happy to sit on your lap and be stroked and petted.Rabbit care is important and by looking after your rabbit you are doing your bit to ensure it leads a long and happy life.Caring for a rabbit is relatively straight forward and is made easier by following the guidelines below.

Before you adopt a rabbit make sure you can provide it with a hutch, bedding, adequate amounts of food and enough safe, open space for it to be able to run around.Dont worry about the style of the hutch – your rabbit doesn’t need a designer home! Just enough space to run around and stand on its back legs.Make sure your rabbit hutch has enough room to allow the rabbit to make at least four hops in one direction.Just like us, a rabbit likes to have a distinct area for certain activities, so make sure you allocate a space for sleep, a space for the toilet and a space in which to play.If you have more than one rabbit in the same hutch you will need to increase this space.Bedding is important. Rabbits like to snuggle down at night and need to be kept warm.When lining your hutch use newspaper which should then be covered with dust free straw.The location of the hutch is really important and you should make sure it is not placed in an area of direct sunlight, or open to draughts.Cover the hutch at night with a breathable fabric so the rabbit is not confronted with any night time predators such as foxes and cats.If your budget will allow you should buy a rabbit run. This provides a protected area in which the rabbit can run around and play.

Did you know that your rabbit needs two types of fibre in its diet? One type which can be digested and one which cannot.Rabbits digest their food twice, which is why this is important.Foods like supermarket brand museli can be high in sugar and starch, both of which are not healthy ingredients. Try and avoid buying this food.Search out a specialist rabbit food which contains the two essential fibres and you are giving your rabbit the best chance of a long and happy life.These specialist products are affordable and generally available from a specialist pet centre, vet or online specialist retail outlet.Your rabbit will love you if you also feed it treats like banana, apple and celery.

Caring for a rabbit really isn’t difficult, but caring responsibly is sure to lead to a healthier and happier life for your pet, so by providing it with a good sized hutch, quality pet food and a health care plan you are doing your very best to be a responsible pet owner.