Bunnies make great pets — but opt for chocolate this Easter
Rebecca Faye, from Halifax, grew up with bunnies on and off as a kid and thinks that having them as pets is a pretty big responsibility.
“They need grooming and nail trimming. They should be spayed and neutered just like cats or dogs to prevent health problems. Most people think they are a beginner pet but they really need a lot of care and time,” she says.
People should, according to Faye, consider their time and money constraints before bringing a bunny into their home. Do you have the time to brush them? Trim their nails? Spend time with them, and give them exercise? Do you have the money to provide hay, fruits and vegetables? Do you have the finances for vet bills for spaying and neutering, checkups or for toys and housing?
These are some of the questions potential bunny owners should be asking, she says.
“They are amazing pets and so entertaining and loving when properly cared for,” she adds. “Their little love nibbles are the best or the stomping of their feet when mad. Seeing a bunny ‘binky’ — they repeatedly jump in the air and twist, and zoom around quickly when they are happy — is so rewarding as a bunny owner.”
NOT AN EASTER GIFT
From dietary requirements to proper handling and socialization methods, having a bunny as a pet is not all about how adorable they would look in family photos.
With the season of Easter around the corner, many families may be considering getting a bunny as a pet, especially for their young children.
Tammy MacDonald-Flatt, president of 10,000 Carrots Rabbit Rescue Association in Lower Sackville, says that while children are great helpers for taking care of pets, rabbits require an adult to be primary caregivers.
“Rabbits are prey animals and hide their sickness and pain, so having someone who will notice if the rabbit’s behaviour changes is very important,” she explains.
There’s a lot to consider before deciding to get a rabbit as a pet.
“Rabbits live 10 to 14-plus years, so they are not a shortterm commitment,” she explains.
Jeremy is one of the rabbits up for adoption at 10,000 Carrots Rabbit Rescue. Her own journey with rabbits started back in 2010, when some boys brought a little bunny into the vet clinic she was working in. Her efforts to find a rescue shelter that would be able to take on the rabbit proved futile.
“Rabbits have always fallen through the cracks of the government programs mandated for the rescue and protection of domesticated animals.”
Eventually, MacDonaldFlatt started helping individual rabbits herself — one at a time, paying with her own money to spay or neuter, provide medical assistance and give them a warm roof over their heads until they found their forever homes.
Eleven years and more than 1,100 rabbits later, she’s running the 10,000 Carrots Rabbit Rescue Association with the help of 10 to 14 volunteers.
BUNNIES AS PETS? “Rabbits are great pets,” says MacDonald-Flatt. “They are smart and funny and like to play with toys and can even learn to fetch.”
They also need an unlimited supply of Timothy hay in order to be healthy.
“So if someone is allergic to hay in your family, a rabbit may not be the best fit,” says MacDonald-Flatt.
Rabbits eat two balls, about the size of their body, every single day to be healthy. This amounts to about 85 to 90 per cent of their diet.
“We also feed up to onequarter cup of good-quality rabbit pellets with no nuts, seeds or extras in it. Dark green, leafy veggies round out their diet — the darker green and dryer, the better for them.”
According to MacDonaldFlatt, other veggies, like carrots, and fruit, like apples and bananas, should not be given regularly.
“A small piece of one of these very occasionally should be fine, but to a rabbit, these are like a candy bar or cupcake,” she says.
BUNNY PROOFING
Ashley Travis, development and communications coordinator at the PEI Humane Society, has grown to love these gentle creatures since she started working at the society.
“They’re really sweet, quiet, and fun pets and they offer a lot for someone who may not have the space for a dog or cat in their lives,” she says.
The consistent source of Timothy hay ensures proper gut health and good teeth in rabbits.
“Rabbits like to chew on things,” says Travis, adding that it’s important that you “bunny-proof” the area where you plan on allowing your bunny to roam freely by keeping electrical cables, chargers and cords out of reach.
Rabbits are also known to have really diverse personalities, and Travis thinks they’re very similar to cats in that way.
“With proper training, you can teach a rabbit to use a litter box and they can roam freely around your home as cats do,” she adds.
Rabbits are also great learners, MacDonald-Flatt says.
“They are clean animals and like to keep their mess in one area. The important thing here is to use recycled paper or wood pellet litter. Clumping cat litter can kill your rabbit,” she warns.
Living inside their owner’s home is important for rabbits, according to MacDonaldFlatt.
“They are really social and thrive when interacting with their families,” she says.
While rabbits are known to be allowed to roam free if “They’re really sweet, quiet, and fun pets and they offer a lot for someone who may not have the space for a dog or cat in their lives,” says Ashley Travis with the PEI Humane Society. litter trained properly, most people opt for cages.
Natasha Whalen, who is from Nova Scotia, and has experience raising bunnies, says that the cages that are available in pet stores are completely inadequate for them.
“They are way too small,” she says.
MacDonald-Flatt suggests an x-pen — something that’s about four feet by four feet — instead.
“Something that is at least four feet high, as this gives the bunny enough room to stretch out and run around a little bit during the time they are in the pen,” she says. “We also suggest that there be a bunny-proofed, supervised space for the bunny to run every day. Rabbits have very strong back legs and they need to exercise to be healthy.”
Rabbits also like to dig, so MacDonald-Flatt recommends putting mats down in your rabbit’s pen.
“This is more comfortable for them and when they dig at the mats, your floor is better protected,” she says.
Contrary to popular belief, rabbits do not like to be picked up and held, she cautions.
“They are prey animals and like to have their feet on the floor.”
However, if their owner were to sit or lay down on the floor with them, they would come over to see what you were doing and maybe even crawl on your lap or back, she explains.
“Once you earn your rabbit’s trust, they will be very social with you.”
Because rabbits are considered exotic pets when it comes to veterinary medicine, not all animal hospitals have a veterinarian who might be comfortable seeing rabbits as clients.
So it might be worth your while to seek out rabbit-savvy vets who would understand their unique needs, she advises.
GIVE A RESCUE BUNNY A LOVING HOME
MacDonald-Flatt follows a “rescue, educate and advocate” approach with 10,000 Carrots Rabbit Rescue.
“A couple of years ago, we started going out into the community and teaching people of all ages the differences between domesticated rabbits and snowshoe hares, which are native to Nova Scotia,” she says.
The association has also been working on trying to get the laws changed around the protection of domesticated rabbits.
“Rabbits are not only kept as pets, but are also farmed for their meat and fur, so they fall in a real grey area of the law,” she explains. “We believe that rabbits need to be part of the family and the decision to get them should be a wellthought-out choice. As such, we close for adoptions for about two weeks at Christmas and Easter every year.”
Applications are still processed and the rabbits currently in care are taken care of, she points out.
“But (we) feel that bringing a rabbit into a new home needs to be a quiet and calm time for them to be able to feel safe and learn the new smells, sounds and faces of their new home and family,” she says.
The Make Mine Chocolate campaign, which advocates that people “don’t buy rabbits at Easter — get chocolate instead,” is something they support and advertise every Easter.
The PEI Humane Society was established in 1974 and is the only animal shelter on the Island.
The society currently has several rabbits up for adoption and Travis recommends checking the website’s Tiny Paws page to read their profiles.
A strong proponent of the “Adopt, Don’t Shop” philosophy, MacDonald-Flatt talks of how there are so many rabbits in shelters and rescues that desperately need homes.
“There is no need for breeders to make more rabbits.”