I can still remember when I received my very first bunny. My dad brought her home for me as an Easter present. I named her Dixie. She was a cute little Dutch miniature rabbit and lived in the house until we got a mate for her the following Easter. I have since learned a lot more about rabbits and thought I’d share these 7 facts on bunny rabbits with you.
This is why they are always gnawing on things. If they don’t continue to eat their hard food or have something to wear their teeth down on, they eventually won’t be able to open their mouth. When rabbits are sick it’s very important to take them to a vet right away. If they don’t begin eating within 24 hours, their teeth become too long and they can’t open their mouth wide enough to eat.
Dixie was a champ at using the litter box. She eventually had to have her own box to do her thing in because she kept chasing the cats out when they tried to use it. They are creatures of habit. We kept Dixie in a cage with a litter box and once she began to use it regularly, we opened the cage door and she would come back to use the box. Eventually we took the cage away all together and left the box in the corner of the room.
Apparently rabbits are even fast at feeding! I couldn’t believe that it only took 5 minutes a day for a doe to feed her kits. No wonder I never see the mama in the box with her babies.
I’ve heard people talk about letting their domestic rabbits loose so they can mingle with the little wild ones running around. Unfortunately domestic and wild rabbits have different number of chromosomes so they can’t breed with one another.
They have a blind spot right in front of their face. If you reach towards a rabbit’s face very slowly, you might be able to touch him on the forehead before he realizes what you are going to do. I have two rabbits that love to be scratched in this area, but the other freaks out and hops away when I touch him between the eyes.
A rabbit that weighs around 4 pounds will consume as much water as a 20 pound dog. That’s a lot of water! No wonder I feel like I’m always filling up the water bottle more than I think I should be.
A female rabbit can have her first litter between the ages of 3 and 4 months. Most responsible breeders tend to prevent this from happening though. A doe is able to get pregnant again shortly after giving birth. This is just one of the reasons the buck should be kept out of the pen once the doe becomes pregnant. Removing the male also reduces stress on the female rabbit.
These 7 facts on bunny rabbits are interesting even if you aren’t thinking about raising rabbits or don’t already have one of your very own. I love my rabbits and they always keep me very entertained. What fun facts have you heard about rabbits?
Top Photo Credit: alwateen