Now it’s fashionable to start different unusual animals. Many buy decorative rabbits. The decision to have a rabbit, like any other animal, must be justified and deliberate. It is necessary to consider in advance how to care for and keep this animal at home. And you need to approach this task seriously and responsibly.
Pet - decorative rabbit
The content of decorative rabbits at home is possible. The main thing in this business is to create a suitable atmosphere for the life of the pet. If you decide to purchase a long-haired animal, then it is worth considering that it will take much more time to care for his fur coat, because you will need to comb it regularly. A rabbit with long hanging ears is especially popular, the breed is called the lop-eared sheep. The animals of this breed do not require daily walking, live long, do not spoil furniture, they are quiet and it is pleasant to iron them. The life span of this animal is about 12 years. Keeping it will become even easier if you carry out the castration procedure at an early age.
Care for any pet must be approached responsibly. Also, the decorative rabbit must be looked after with all seriousness. First you need to buy a cage and all the equipment to keep the animal in conditions comfortable for him. Overheating, direct sunlight, being in a stuffy room are harmful to him.
The temperature at which the rabbit feels good is -20 ° C. An excess of ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide in the air, as well as dampness, humidity and drafts, harm the animal.
In addition, these animals lack sweating. Heat transfer occurs through the veins in the ears. In especially hot weather, you can wipe the ears with a damp cloth, so the pet will feel better, and throw a wet towel over the cage. Also, as an additional source of cooling, you can put an ice bottle in a cage. To understand how a pet feels, it is worth remembering yourself in very intense heat or cold. Just as in a person in hot weather, the heart beats very often and even dizzy, it can occur in the body of the animal. The hypersensitivity of rabbits, some rodents leads to the fact that heat can cause them mortal harm.
Decorative crawl - a fragile animal
Since an extraordinary animal was bred for the purpose of taming by humans, the content of a decorative rabbit at home is quite appropriate in the cage. However, you need to handle such a pet very carefully. This is a fearful and rather fragile animal, but it needs to be held tight in its arms. If you let it out of your hands at a certain height, it can even lead to death.
Communication with cats or dogs is also undesirable for him, since quite active games that these animals are used to playing can negatively affect the health of the rabbit. Do not have a pet for a very small child. Children do not know how to handle animals with care, they can grab them by the ears, by the skin, which is a shock for a decorative rabbit and can lead to illness.
A fragile creature has delicate health, so it is important to maintain the right temperature in which it will be contained. A cold can arise from him simply because he spent time in a draft, and heat can even cause death. In the direct sun, our smaller eared brothers cannot be kept either. In connection with such requests of the pet, the owner must equip his pet a suitable home and provide everything necessary.
All devices in the cage - a grain feeder, a tray, a manger for hay, must be well fixed. This type of pet - the animal is noisy, and he will play with all the equipment in the cage. The place for its maintenance should always be dry, as often the rabbit's stomach diseases arise from wet and dirty litter, so it needs to be changed three times a week.
Rabbits are clean creatures, and they won’t go to the dirty tray. Therefore, you need to wash your pet's toilet every day, otherwise it will find a place for a new toilet somewhere nearby. And there will be no smell from the animal if it is properly looked after.
Decorative rabbit. Home care and maintenance
After you have chosen a place, you need to take care of the comfort of the animal. The cage itself can be filled with hay or wood sawdust for three to five centimeters, which are perfect as a litter. It is more expedient to put a feeder ceramic or to hang up so that the rabbit could not turn it over. You need to drink it only with fresh water, so it would be better to purchase an automatic drinker right away so that the water is in constant access.
When the animal is released from the cage, before this it is necessary to close all doors and windows so as not to create drafts. During the walk, the rabbit must be carefully monitored so that it is not accidentally injured. The cage should be cleaned regularly, otherwise it will be impossible to get rid of the strong smell, and the animal itself will also smell unpleasant.
How to keep a decorative rabbit in a cage?
When purchasing a cage, one must take into account that it will be four times larger than the animal itself. In addition, it should fit a tray, a drinking bowl, a feeder and a house for rest. A plastic pallet is needed for the cage, so that the rabbit can easily move around the perimeter of the house.
The size of the enclosure for the pet should be selected taking into account its breed. For example, for dwarf rabbits (weighing about 2 kg), a 4 x 70 cm cage is suitable. For typical decorative pets weighing 5 kg, an aviary with an area of 50 x 100 cm or more is required. If such an animal house is needed only for an overnight stay, you can choose a smaller model - 45 x 80 cm.
To make it comfortable for the rabbit to stand on its hind legs, it is important to take care of the height of the house, which should be at least 60 cm, for lop-eared pets - 50.
Where to place the rabbit habitat?
The house needs to be installed so that it is easy to maintain the temperature up to + 20 ° , therefore it is impossible to put it near the battery or air conditioners. As already mentioned, rabbits are very sensitive to temperature extremes, and hypothermia or overheating will be fatal to animals. It is also necessary to take into account that other pets, a computer, a TV, bright sunlight and drafts bring these animals out of a calm emotional state. The ideal place for the cage is a quiet corner that is isolated from various sources of noise, bright and calm.
Maintaining rabbit cage hygiene
Cell cleaning should be ongoing. A tray is cleaned a couple of times a week. Periodically, the cell must be disinfected with a special tool. Household chemicals for such purposes are used carefully, as these pets have hypersensitivity to various chemicals. Usually use a disinfectant drug - "Delegol". If the rabbit sneezes, he has a runny nose, watery eyes, which means that the wool was not removed on time.
If the rabbit smells?
Since the rabbit is itself a clean animal, there is almost no smell from it. But if he still appeared, then you need to find out the cause of its occurrence. This can be either the animal’s sexually mature age, or stool disturbances or poor hygiene of the animal. Odor from improper defecation or irregular cleaning of the cell can be easily removed. But if puberty is the cause, then you will not be able to get rid of it, since these are secretion products, and this smell can not even be removed with the help of a pet bath. Therefore, if you do not plan to acquire the progeny of rabbits, then the animal can be sterilized. Also, to remove the cell in case of increased odor, you can use a solution of potassium permanganate.
Rodent food
What can feed decorative rabbits? The food of any animal must be balanced and varied so that the pet grows well and is healthy. The diet of such a domestic animal can consist not only of water and special food. It includes hay, feed, tree branches. It is allowed to replace the mixture with a special feed, but if you can choose between the first and second, then feel free to choose the first. The nutrients in the feed are enough for a complete nutrition of the animal. But you can give your pet other goodies. Acceptable foods include:
- hay;
- green grass;
- boiled vermicelli;
- cereals;
- cereals;
- compound feed;
- vitamin mixtures;
- vegetables fruits;
- twigs of trees.
Compound feed and hay
What can be done and what can be fed to domestic decorative rabbits so that they grow faster? For these purposes, again, compound feed is perfect. Usually it consists of granules and different grains. A rabbit can eat grains first, and then everything else. It is important not to remove the granules, as they affect the digestive tract and strengthen the teeth of the animal. In addition to feed, what can feed decorative rabbits? Hay, but it should be a lot, and it is necessary to ensure that its supplies are not depleted. Its presence in the diet is necessary for the formation of good feces, and it also helps to grind teeth.
Rusks and twigs in the rodent's diet
Can a decorative rabbit be fed food intended for humans? Sometimes it’s useful for them to gnaw crackers of white bread, this is necessary so that their teeth grind better. Also, branches of various trees are suitable for this. In the summer, shoots can be given directly with leaves, and in the winter, for a variety of diets, conifers can be given. To provide vitamins and minerals to the body of the animal, the rabbit is given crayon, salt or vitamin stone. In rabbits, teeth grow throughout life.
Therefore, many people are interested in learning how to feed decorative rabbits so that their teeth become shorter, grinding down. For this, food that needs to be chewed is suitable. Then the teeth are rubbed off by rubbing against each other. Such food is needed that, getting into the oral cavity, will not soak. You also need food, in the process of eating which a certain amount of chewing movements will be made, because their condition worsens due to too much load. The ideal option for feeding a decorative rabbit so that the teeth grind evenly are tree branches. Special toys bought at the pet store can also contribute to this.
It’s not worth keeping the condition of the length of the teeth on your own, it’s better to consult a veterinarian, once a couple of months is enough.
The goal of a decorative rabbit establishment is not to feed the animal for slaughter. Therefore, keep in mind that these are very sensitive animals. Because of what, the diet for them should be developed carefully, you need to ensure that there are no products that adversely affect the body of the animal.
Grass, stems
What else can feed decorative rabbits? The list of acceptable products includes juicy stems of mountain ash, apple trees, birch, pears. Since such an animal is a herbivore, it will eat them with great appetite. Can a decorative rabbit be fed grass? Of course, the main thing is that the plucked stems do not grow in the industrial or transport zone. It is possible to make stocks of green fodder and hay only if it is possible to cut grass in rural areas.
What kind of grass can I feed a decorative rabbit? Nettle is useful for them: both dry and fresh. Fresh must be given in crushed form so that the rabbit does not damage its oral mucosa. Dandelions and clover will bring a lot of benefits to the pet. But it is important to remember that if the animal is planned to be transferred to a completely different type of food, then it is necessary to do this gradually. You can mix the juicy mixture with animal feed and gradually increase the proportion of grass, while reducing the amount of dry food. The rabbit can be given grass only from 4 months.
Vegetables for the rabbit. Is it possible and which ones?
How can you feed your home decorative rabbits, if the street is not the season of fresh grass, but you want to pamper your pet? Fresh vegetables, such as carrots, pumpkins, cucumbers, beets, squash, zucchini, will benefit the pet. Such goodies are almost year-round freely available and can be purchased everywhere.
Sunflower seeds for a rabbit
There are also foods that should not be included in the diet of this pet. For example, seeds contain a lot of oils and vitamins. In addition, they have always been among the useful products. So, is it possible to feed a decorative rabbit with seeds? The oil contained in them can negatively affect digestion. Therefore, the introduction of seeds into the diet of an animal on an ongoing basis should not be. But since this variety of pets loves them very much, you can occasionally give it in the form of goodies, but carefully watch the condition of the animal.
Carrots and cabbage
From various fairy tales and cartoons everyone remembers that rabbits eat carrots and cabbage. Is it possible to feed a decorative rabbit with such vegetables? Yes, these animals are really very big lovers of cabbage, but you can not give them in large quantities. Heads of cabbage are usually referred to as succulent feeds, which in large quantities cause digestion problems. It is known that more succulent leaves in cabbage are located near the stump, that is, they can do even more harm to the pet. As well as seeds, it can be given to the animal as a treat, and the upper leaves must be chosen. And then monitor the condition of this sensitive animal.
Little conclusion
Everyone should remember that not all food that suits him can be appropriate for a pet. Animals can not eat sugar, spices and salt, this adversely affects the digestive tract, in addition, renal failure may occur. Rabbits in this regard are no exception. Moreover, their digestive system is even more sensitive than most pets.
Now you know how to feed a decorative rabbit, the list of products is presented in our article. Regarding nutrition, of course, it is better to consult a veterinarian. It is better from the very beginning, if you plan to get a decorative rabbit, carefully develop a diet for him. It will be much cheaper than treating him with a veterinarian with serious problems arising from malnutrition.