Beware the Easter Bunny

In memory of Luigi, Luna, Leo and Daffodil.

Easter is the time of year when animal shelters and rabbit foster homes brace themselves for the post-holiday deluge of abandonment.  Too many people bring baby rabbits home as Easter gifts for children.  Then the rabbits grow up and do what rabbits do: become feisty, stubborn, aloof.

I’ve had four pet rabbits: one in childhood and three in recent years.  Last spring, I lost my last rabbit Luigi to an abscess behind his eye.

Luigi

Luigi was a great pet but only because we let him train us.  His story before he came to our family is a case study in what often happens to rabbits.

We adopted Luigi (then named Dexter) from the Oregon Humane Society.  Only six months old, he had already been rejected.  Parents had bought him from a breeder for their child.  He must have been a cute little bugger.  Then he grew bigger and moodier, especially without neutering.  The family kept him in a pen outside, found him unfriendly, and concluded he was not a good pet.

Luckily, his owners brought him to the shelter rather than turning him loose in a local park to be mauled by dogs or eaten by a hawk.  I’ve got nothing against birds of prey feeding on wild rabbits and other cute creatures, but I wonder about people who turn domestic animals loose thinking they’re doing them a favor.

We brought Luigi home to what must have seemed like a palace.  He treated it like that for the next six years.

If you do decide you want to make a long-term commitment to a pet rabbit (as many as 10-12 years), here are some tips:

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Consider adopting one from a shelter or rabbit foster organization. The rabbits come already spayed or neutered and need good homes.  If not adopted, many will be euthanised.

If you do bring home a rabbit that has not been spayed or neutered, please take on that responsibility yourself.  It not only prevents more unwanted rabbits from entering the world, it also mellows bad habits, especially in males, and helps prevent health problems in females.

Learn rabbit communication. With some exceptions, most rabbits don’t want to be lap or pocket pets. They’re cute but they’re not very cuddly.  Imagine what it’s like to be a prey animal.  Hands are like eagle talons or wolf jaws.  In the wild, being lifted off the ground would mean certain death.

Leo sat on the couch but wouldn’t stay in laps.

Rather than picking my rabbits up, I got down on their level. For years with Luigi, that meant stretching out on the floor and rubbing the top of his head with my nose.  In his first year, with us he didn’t like hands (think claws) at all. Gradually, he accepted them.  In his final year, Luigi sometimes hopped on the couch for his evening slice of apple, forgot where he was and sat for a few minutes for a head scratch.

Sometimes, my rabbits did not want to be touched.  They just wanted to hang out nearby, listening to our voices and enjoying our presence.  Luigi and Luna used to stretch out beside me whenever I practiced my mandolin.  We learned to appreciate these non-tactile forms of rabbit interaction.

Give rabbits their space. Whether you give them a cage or the run of the house, let rabbits claim hiding areas and runs.  Behind that furry cuteness is a stubborn creature of habit.  We had free range rabbits.  They claimed the space under our bed and sofa as their dens and protested by thumping whenever we moved furniture.

Protect electrical wires. Because rabbits see electrical wires as roots blocking escape, they chew through them.  You can’t stop them from doing this.  We sheathed our wires in aquarium tubing or hung them out of reach.

If you need to keep a rabbit caged, make sure you provide sufficient space.   Like all animals, they need regular exercise.

Luigi and Luna

The stubborn tendencies of rabbits makes house-training easy as long as everyone agrees on the appropriate corner.  Set a litter box in the corner you choose from the very beginning and a rabbit will make it his or her own.

Feed them unlimited timothy hay and supplement with timothy hay pellets.   Alfalfa is good for younger rabbits to promote growth but beyond sixth months or so, alfalfa can overload a rabbit’s digestive system and bring on deadly digestive trouble.  Don’t give into begging and indulge them in too many treats.

I have not blended rabbits and small children, but I’ve heard the relationships can work when parents take responsibility for helping children see the world from a rabbit’s viewpoint.  That means tempering expectations of having a cuddly pet.  Rabbits can be playful, silly, and friendly.  But they do not tolerate rough handling or even cuddling because of their fears about being dinner.

Rabbits can get along with other animals, even big dogs.  We brought our second standard poodle, Django, home as a puppy and let Luigi and Luna train him.  They didn’t always agree on which end to sniff but otherwise became pretty good pals.  Still, we never left them alone in the same room together when we left the house.

Luigi and Django agreeing for one moment on which end is used for greetings.

The House Rabbit Society is a great source for information about adopting and caring for rabbits.  They have links to many state and regional organizations, such as Rabbit Advocates in Oregon.

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For practical information on caring for and learning to appreciate a pet rabbit, I urge you to find a copy of this excellent book.  To know what you’re in for, get it before you bring home a rabbit.

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