Spring is in the air; the weekends have started to warm up and the flowers are starting to pop out from the frosty ground. It’s time to start waking up your yard from the snowy hibernation, so you head to the local country store, IFA, tractor supply or maybe you find yourself at Ace Hardware. Regardless, the moment you walk in, you see all the Spring babies and you know that one of them is coming home with you. If you’re lucky, then you see a fluffly rabbit and know it’s destiny.
Why a rabbit?
Rabbits can be very friendly, and if they’re socialized when they’re younger there’s a better chance of nose bumps and soft head nudges. Not only are they incredibly cute, but they are also smart and hardy. Rabbits can be litter boxed trained, so they can free roam if you’re going to keep them indoors. They also can roam in a fenced yard after proper introduction.
My sweet rabbit is also going to be the main source of fertilizer for my garden. When I empty out the tray in his hutch, I dump it directly into our compost bin. The rabbit manure breaks down quick and has great nutrients for plants.
Pet Introductions
Rabbits are naturally very curious and there’s a good chance that your other pets will be too. We followed a few simple steps to introduce our rabbit to our dogs and cat:
- If you’re able to keep the rabbit in a protected area in the beginning, that’s best. We used a large wire dog crate and kept our rabbit in the basement near the walk out door.
- Keep the rabbit on a table or raised off the ground, and let your other animals come visit and sniff the bottom of the crate. Animals communicate many things through smell. If you have a bird dog it may take them a few visits to stay calm around the rabbit. If you have a cat, they may circle the crate a few times. Keep watch with all animals and remove them if they won’t break focus when you call.
- When your animals can visit the rabbit calmly, you can bring the crate to the ground. I used a puppy play pen to put around the rabbit hutch for an extra fence and to give the rabbit a bit of space from the other animals since they are now eye level.
- If you plan to house the rabbit outside, you can use the same set up with the puppy plan pen around the rabbit hutch to let the rabbit have a bit of freedom to stretch his hocks while having a barrier for the other animals.
*It took us about a week to get to this point** - As time permits, you can hold your rabbit and let the other animals sniff. This will be stressful for the rabbit, so don’t do it too often. Once the animals are relaxed around each other than you can use your best judgement and determine if they can free roam in the same area. I suggest using the puppy play pen or a similar environment until you’re certain.
Best of luck with your new rabbit! I hope that they quickly become part of the family!!
Fun Size Paradise 