Vaccinations

Rabbits are vaccinated against:

• Myxomatosis
• Viral Hemorrhagic Disease

These are administered through a yearly injection.

Myxomatosis is a virus that causes the appearance of lumps and also puffiness around the eye area. Progression can then cause conjunctivitis and blindness. Usually the rabbits become anorexic due to their inability to see or smell their food.

Viral Hemorrhagic Disease is a virus that can cause a wide range of symptoms and death can often occur within 12 to 36 hours.

Neutering

We recommend neutering from 4-6 months of age.

There are several reasons to get your rabbit neutered:

• 80% of female rabbits can develop uterine cancer before the age of 4 years. They can also have more of a risk of uterine infection
• Female rabbits can become hormonally aggressive and territorial which in turn can lead to fighting with other rabbits or aggression towards their owners
• Male unneutered rabbits if housed together can start to fight when they sexually mature.

In only FOUR years one pair of unneutered rabbits can produce 3,745,584 offspring!

Housing

Rabbits are very social animals, so one of the first things to consider is ideally you need to house more than one rabbit.

Rabbits need a lot of space so keeping them in a hutch is not enough. The minimum area that a pair of average sized rabbits should have is 10ft x 6ft x 3ft high (3m x 2m x1m).

They will need a large garden in which to run/play and graze as they would in the wild. It is very important for rabbits to display their natural behaviours.

Housing

Rabbits should have access to unlimited hay or grass. Not only does this provide nutrients it also helps to keep their teeth healthier. 80% of a rabbit’s diet should be hay or grass.

Greens, vegetables and herbs can also be added to their diet and should make up 15% of their diet.

Rabbit pellets should be 5% of their feed. We do not recommend the diets that look like coloured muesli as these can encourage selective feeding.