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Living With a House Rabbit

September 8, 2017 by alice 7 Comments

Since introducing Billie Jean to my blog, I’ve had a number of questions on what having a house bunny is really like – so I wanted to put a post together to cover off how we care for Billie. Please bear in mind, this is just the advice we’ve been given by our vet – I’m not a rabbit expert and advice may vary depending on who you speak to.

Housing
Whilst many people choose to have a hutch or cage indoors/outdoors for their rabbit, Billie is 100% cage free – meaning he is free to roam our home as he pleases. Whilst we sleep, we leave him in the kitchen/living room but let him roam around more freely during the day. Whilst he has no cage, rabbits do like to have a place to feel safe – Billie will often lie under the table or sofa so we recently bought a little playpen which has some hay in for him, and he’ll often go in there if he wants some time to himself.

Litter Training

One of the reasons rabbits make such good pets is that they are able to be litter trained – just like cats – so as a result are incredibly clean pets to have. As we adopted Billie, he already came litter trained – however because he wasn’t desexed he did have the tendency to mark his territory which resulted in bad litter box habits. We soon resolved this by taking him to the vet for the op, and after about 6-8 weeks his hormones calmed down and he uses his littler box 99% of the time.


Food

What to feed a rabbit seems to be something that a lot of pepole do differently – which can be frustrating when you first get a new pet. However we’ve taken the advice of our vet and only feed Bill hay and vegetables and the occasional treat. We we got him originally he had been eating a diet of grains which are very high in sugar and can result in all sorts of long term health problems.

Fresh hay should make up the bulk of a rabbit’s diet and is something we have readily available at all times. Hay is important for rabbits because it provides essential fibre needed for good digestive health and it helps to wear down rabbit’s teeth (which continuously grow

Aside from the hay, I give Billie a mixed selection of leafy greens every evening – things like spinach, kale, bok choy etc. I don’t personally give iceberg lettuce as it has no nutritional value.

Temperament
Rabbits are super gentle animals – Billie is the epitome. He loves to be stroked and played with, however he isn’t the biggest fan of being picked up. This is common among rabbits and a reason why they don’t actually make the best pets for young children. Rabbits are delicate – their backs are very fragile and can break easily so they needed to be handled with care. We don’t pick up Billie that much, and I’m the only one that he’ll allow to do it.
You can follow Billie on Instagram here to keep up with regular doses of cuteness!

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Filed Under: bunny, house bunny, how to, Lifestyle, pets, rabbit, Uncategorized

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Comments

  1. Hannah Whalley says

    September 8, 2017 at 12:59 pm

    Love this post, everything you've mentioned is 100% accurate and Billie is so so cute! I have a new bunny named Bobby and he's both indoor and outdoor. I'd love for him to be an indoor bunny though but I'm so worried about him chewing cables and furniture, so I have to watch him. Do you have any problems with this or know how to get around it? Thanks! 🙂 xxx

    Reply
    • Alice Aram says

      September 9, 2017 at 1:44 am

      Thanks! Billie didn't chew cables for ages so we didn't have a problem, but he has started too. Sadly he has expensive taste and has chosen two apple chargers so far. We tend to just put them out of reach where we can and unplug things that aren't non essential. He doesn't chew furniture at all (thank god!). Long may that continue! x

      Reply
  2. Lucy Alice says

    September 8, 2017 at 2:40 pm

    What a little cutie!

    Lucy | Forever September

    Reply
  3. Georgia Megan says

    September 9, 2017 at 1:45 pm

    Wow Billie is suuuuch a cutie! I've never heard of a free roaming house rabbit before, but now it's safe to say I'm absolutely in love with the idea! Will definitely consider swapping my visions of a cat in the future with a cute lil bunny rabbit! So adorable! x

    Georgia Megan

    Reply
  4. Sara Fleming says

    September 11, 2017 at 12:01 pm

    Such a cutie!

    Sara – Flemingo

    Reply
  5. Curiouser and Curiouser says

    September 11, 2017 at 1:16 pm

    Awww Billie is such a cutie! I used to have a sandy coloured lop eared when I was growing up – rabbits make such lovely pets x

    http://www.curiouser-and-curiouser.co.uk

    Reply
  6. Meghan says

    October 16, 2017 at 12:27 pm

    The cuteness!!!!! So sweet. 🙂

    Reply

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