Rabbits as Pets Australia

Rabbits are small rodent like mammals called Lagamorphs are found either natively or introduced on all continents and many small islands around the world. Children often refer to them affectionately as "bunnies". The lagamorph family includes all rabbits including cotton tails, and the closely related hare.

Hares are very similar to rabbits in appearance, but one main difference means rabbits can domesticated and kept as pets, whilst hares cannot. Rabbits are born blind, furless and helpless and rely completely on their parents for all aspect of their wellbeing, whereas hares are born with their eyes open, with fur, and are able to care for themselves to a degree shortly after birth. This self sufficiency of hares prevents them being domesticated.

Rabbits are many things to many people. Pet, pest, food source.... at Mypets we are only interested in dealing with the first variety!

Male and female rabbits
As with deer, the male rabbit is referred to as a buck whilst the female is called a doe(Editor - no they don't grow antlers :)) A baby rabbit is called a kit, multiple babies are called kittens.

Rabbit Size and weight
The different breeds /types of rabbits vary widely in both size and weight, from under a kilogram for some species when fully grown, to over four kilograms for the larger species.

Rabbit Incisors
Rabbits have four incisors in their top jaw and a two on the bottom that continuously grow so it's important your bunny has lots of hard vegetables as well as sticks to gnaw on or these teeth will quickly grow to overlapping, preventing your rabbit from being able to eat. Rodents have two such pairs, top and bottom thus giving rabbits their own separate mammal type.

When buying a rabbit, make sure their teeth are correctly aligned, as otherwise no amount of gnawing will allow them to be kept in check and your bunny will either require constant teeth trimming or it will starve.

Rabbit Appearance Movement
Rabbits have long dropping ears, large powerful hind legs and short fluffy tails. They move by hopping on their proportionally long, and powerful hindlegs, but can also crawl both forward and backwards through their tunnels.  Young rabbits actually walk, rather than hop.

Rabbits hind feet are thickly padded with fur which aids as a shock absorber when hopping. Their four toes are webbed to ensure they do not spread when hopping, this concentrates the power of the foot when hopping and also helps prevent the toes being caught on undergrowth and hindering their movement. Rabbit front paws come with 5 digits. Speed of hopping depends greatly on the breed and size but expect your rabbit to be able to travel much faster than you at up to 55klms and hour(35mph)

Most species are powerful diggers, and will dog networks of burrows referred to as rabbit warrens, where they spend most of their time when not feeding.

Domesticated Rabbits
Of all the rabbit species, only the European rabbits has been domesticated. Though greatly different in appearance, dwarf lops, angoras etc are all members of this species.
Well cared for rabbits make friendly and playful pets. They are both social and communicative, displaying a wide range of emotions from happiness, to excitement, to grumpiness, fear and anger.

Rabbits may be kept either indoors or out, though rabbits kept indoors are typically healthier and more social than rabbits kept outdoors. Indoor rabbits are more sheltered from disease, extreme weather and predators. Rabbits kept indoors however, will quickly require modification to your home because rabbits chew - everything.

Rabbits chew Cables.
In the wild, tree roots block warren tunnels and are removed through chewing. They also provide a much needed means to keep continually growing teeth in check. Cables, look like tree roots, so phone, computer and power cables need to be kept inside rabbit proof insulation.

Rabbits Chew Furniture
Especially wooden chair legs, so if yours are precious, you'll want to keep these separate from where your rabbit can get to in your house.
Rabbits kept outside must be able to escape the hot sun, and also be insulated from cold day or evening temperatures in a hut. Your bunny will prefer temperatures that you prefer, and will not endure temperatures above 32degress c(90f) for long.

Rabbit Food and Diet and Behaviour.
Rabbits do best hay, leafy green vegetables and a small amount of rabbit pellets(from your pet shop). Rabbits are most active at dusk and dawn, so they will be up and active with you at the start and end of your day, making them much more attractive as pets than rodents which are nocturnal. Your bunny will not keep you awake all night chewing and hopping, but if you like to sleep in... you'll not want a bunny in the bedroom.

Rabbits are prey animals, unlike dogs, they do not enjoy games such as "chase" as instead of reminding them of the reward of food at the end of the chase, it reminds them of the possibility of being eaten. Although wonderful hoppers, rabbit spines are not flexible and are as a result, quite delicate so they often dislike being handled and the most tame and social of bunnies may bite when handled. For these reasons though often desired by the youngest members of the family, bunnies are better suited to children at least 10 years of older, but more often than not are best suited to adults as pets.