Nowadays, people more and more often choose rabbits as their favorites: both small and meat breeds. However, those who decide to have this amazing animal need to carefully study how to ensure proper care and maintenance of the rabbit.

How to properly care for and keep rabbits

Basic rules for caring for rabbits:

  • It is necessary to provide from 0.5 to 1 m² of free space for each individual.
  • Compliance with the temperature regime. Animals feel comfortable at temperatures from -20 ° C to 20 ° C. In the place of detention, the appearance of drafts, dampness should be excluded, and high humidity should be avoided. Ideally, keep it at 50%.
  • Males and females should be kept in different places. Rabbits up to 3 months old should also be kept separately from adults.

    Male rabbit

  • To prevent diseases, the home should be cleaned daily and the litter should be changed as it gets dirty. At the slightest sign of illness, the rabbit should be isolated. Therefore, you need to take care of a spare place in advance in case of illness, as well as vaccinate for additional protection.
  • If the place of stay of rabbits is in a country house in a village or a private house, it is advisable to provide an open-air cage on the street for walking pets. It is advisable for apartment residents to arrange mandatory walks in the fresh air during the warm season.

To understand in detail what is needed for care, it is worth considering some additional points.

What you need to keep a rabbit

Rabbit cage

How to care for rabbits at home and what to feed

To accommodate animals, you can purchase a rectangular cage in a specialized store or make it yourself, which requires wooden boards, plywood sheets and metal mesh. As a rule, 40 × 70 × 60 cm is considered the optimal size, however, you can choose absolutely any parameters that are convenient for the owner. But, equipping a home, one should not forget about the first rule presented above. The rods must be strong so that the animal cannot break them. For bedding, sawdust, hay, straw, etc. are suitable. The necessary materials can be purchased at a pet store or prepared yourself.

You also need to equip the home with simple or semi-automatic feeders and drinking bowls. All structures should be selected taking into account the fact that animals love to gnaw on objects around them, therefore they should not have sharp and protruding elements. This will help prevent cuts and injuries.

People planning to engage in rabbit breeding should make a queen cell in which the rabbit who is preparing to have offspring will fit. To do this, you need to prepare a closed wooden box and make a hole in it about 15 cm in size. The lid of the box should open and close freely.

Selection of rabbits

Selection of rabbits

It is recommended to buy only young animals. It is worth paying attention to the appearance so as not to buy a sick animal. The nose of a healthy mammal should be dry, the coat should be clean and shiny, and the ears should be free of parasites, scabs and defects. It is worth remembering that fallen ears are only a sign of the sheep breed. In other cases, this indicates major health problems. In addition, it is recommended to check the condition of the eyes.

Feeding and caring for rabbits

The selection of the diet for the eared ones depends on the season. In the summer season, animals can be fed with various root crops, previously washed and peeled, both raw and boiled. Also, vegetables and fruits such as cabbage, apples, pears are suitable for feeding rabbits.

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Care must be taken to prepare dry herbs: alfalfa, plantain, clover, dandelions, etc., since they make up 2/3 of the diet of one adult rabbit. You can harvest herbs for the winter at your summer cottage in a barn.

Rabbits love lettuce leaves, as well as fruit trees and bushes. Dry food and compound feed fortified with vitamins and minerals can be purchased at pet stores. Chalk and a small amount of salt should be added to the feed mixture daily.

Note! In winter, the diet of eared pets should consist mostly of dry and nutritious food.

Particular attention should be paid to the nutrition of babies due to the fact that they have poor digestion. Boiled potatoes, pumpkin and zucchini are perfect for this. In no case should babies be offered dry food.

Rabbit feeding

It is worthwhile to approach feeding responsibly and monitor the quality of the products used, since spoiled food can cause health problems for pets. Therefore, it is again important to keep cleanliness, as feces and excess moisture can provoke the appearance of mold.

Is it possible to take a rabbit by the ears

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The main question that novice rabbit breeders ask before buying animals is whether it is possible to raise a rabbit by the ears? This absolutely should not be done. Why? Because their ears are an extremely vulnerable spot. Attempting to grab a rabbit by the ears will cause severe pain and rupture of ligaments or breathing problems. If a cartilage fracture occurs, a splint should be applied as soon as possible. To speed up the recovery process and quickly grow tissue together, special preparations are used.

Important! Taking out the animal, you should take the rabbit under the sternum with one hand, and the hind legs with the other to restrict its movement. You do not need to grab the pet by the withers or hold it upside down, because such handling can lead to rupture of muscles and ligaments.

These rules need to be given special attention if the rabbit is chosen as a pet for a child. Children, without knowing it, in a fit of affection or in the process of playing, can seriously harm the creature. Therefore, before handing the animal into the hands of a child, it is necessary to carry out appropriate instructions and be sure to ensure careful handling.

However, having won the trust of the pet, the owners will definitely want to know where the animals love to be stroked. Rabbits are pleased when they are easily stroked behind the ears or muzzle from nose to forehead.

Castration

Castration

The neutering of animals is carried out for several reasons:

  • If there is no need for breeding, males are castrated in order to reduce their aggressiveness, as well as increase the quality of fur and longevity.
  • When growing meat breeds, as this helps to improve the taste and quality of rabbit meat, as well as fatten the animal faster.
  • Diseases.

You should also distinguish between sterilization and castration procedures. In the first case, the procedure does not affect sexual function, while castration completely excludes them.

How to castrate rabbits

There are two ways to castrate rabbits: in a specialized institution or at home. The optimal age is considered to be from 4 to 25 months.

A few days before the operation, rabbits are soldered with acidophilus to prevent dysbiosis after surgery. Food should not be given to the animal 12 hours before the procedure, but it is important to ensure free access to drink.

Do-it-yourself rabbit castration

Do-it-yourself rabbit castration

Before the procedure, you need to cut your nails and wash your hands well with soap and grease your fingertips with iodine.For manipulations, you need to purchase a scalpel and sharp scissors, as well as silk or nylon thread No. 10 for suturing. It is recommended to sterilize all instruments and disinfect the table on which castration will be performed.

Further, based on the weight of the animal, you need to calculate the dosage of anesthesia and administer it intravenously. After falling asleep, the rabbit should be laid on its side or back and its legs should be securely fixed. Then you should shave the groin area, treat the scrotum with iodine and pull it down towards you.

Having made a small incision, you need to remove the testes and tighten the cord with a thread. After that, with sharp tools, you need to remove the testes, cutting them off slightly above the waist. Upon completion, the wound is treated with iodine or streptocide.

Note! If you have the slightest doubt, you should contact your veterinarian, and be sure to learn how to properly care for rabbits after the procedure.

Rabbit haircut

There are a large number of rabbit breeds that differ in their coat types. As a rule, it is enough just to comb out the decorative rabbit several times a week and daily during the molting period. Regular brushing helps prevent mats. Problems can arise with long-haired rabbits. If proper care was not provided for their fur, then the animals will have to be trimmed. This is called rabbit grooming. Rabbits must be cut very carefully, as there is a risk of injuring the animal's skin.

Important! If it is difficult for the owner of the animal to cope with the long hair of the rabbit or he does not know how to cut it, you can send the eared one to a specialized grooming center. The cost of such a procedure in the salon varies from 1000 to 2000 rubles. *

If you follow all the rules and recommendations on how to take care of rabbits, pets will live a long and happy life, as well as acquire healthy offspring.

Prices are for October 2018