Fuzzy Bunnies are Nice!

Near the end of 1995 I was at one of my spinning meetings when somehow I found an angora rabbit in my arms. Oh my goodness. What a fluffball! She was so soft! I think I petted her for nearly an hour. I was in love.

I came home from the meeting knowing that I had to have an angora rabbit. But how to convince Pete, my animal-phobic husband? I love cats, but a cat had always been out of the question since he’s scared to death of them. I’m fond of dogs, but he’s petrified of them. Surely he wouldn’t be afraid of a cute little bunny though? Anyway, it would be in a cage most of the time. A large cage, so it would have plenty of room, of course. And I would let it out for an hour or two each night to run around and play, but he wouldn’t have to be in the same room. So he wouldn’t have to interact with it at all. So what could he possibly be afraid of?

I managed to convince him that the rabbit probably wouldn’t attack him. It probably wouldn’t be like the rabbit in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. He did think the bunnies he occasionally saw in the back yard were cute. He just wanted to keep a respectful distance.

I read three books about rabbit care, learned that the cages the pet stores sold were much too small, and ordered the largest cage available from an animal supply company. We started preparing for our new arrival. Pete moved all of his model rocket kits and supplies from the basement into the second bedroom, and I moved all of my yarn, fiber, sewing machine, etc. into the basement, where a rabbit would have much more room to run around. I bought some cheap indoor-outdoor carpeting to cover the basement floor so it would be warmer and more comfortable to lie on for both me and a rabbit and easier for a rabbit to run on. I bought an air cleaner since we couldn’t open the basement windows. I bought a baby gate to block off the stairs so a rabbit wouldn’t run up them.

Frida right before shearing.

In 1996 Frida (named after Frida Kahlo, my favorite painter) came to live with us. Frida is a German angora hybrid. She has a little bit of French angora in her. If she was 100% German, she would be white (all German angoras are white), but her coloring is called “chinchilla.” Because she’s mostly German, though, she needs to be sheared every three months. The other angora breeds molt, but Germans don’t. So every three months she gets a bad haircut and is transformed from a giant fluffball into a little bunny. Well, not that little. Just a lot smaller than she was. About a third of her former volume.

After shearing, inspecting all the wool that came off her.

In the evenings she comes out of her cage to get some exercise and be a professional fuzz therapist. The best way for a human being to interact with a rabbit is to lie on the floor. So I get down to her level. Sometimes she hops on my back, which is an odd sensation. Even odder is when I’m lying on my side and she hops on top of me. Usually she just comes up to me and demands to be petted though. She comes over, and if I don’t just start petting her immediately, she just noses her way under my arm and pushes her head forward until her head is under my hand. She makes it pretty obvious that I will pet her!

She’s also very affectionate in return. She’ll wash my hands for me and groom my face as well. I have to be sure to remove my glasses before I let her groom my face or she’ll remove them for me (obviously they’re foreign objects that shouldn’t be there!). I have to close my eyes tight lest she wash my eyeballs. It’s a rabbit thing.

So, does Pete avoid her like she’s some scary monster? Hardly. He adores her.

Frida is such a beautiful rabbit, and so good natured. She’s so incredibly mellow. And she is amazingly soft.

Frida gets a companion

In the fall of 1999, my friend Delia asked if I’d be willing to take another bunny. Well, I wasn’t really sure where I’d put another bunny. I was pretty happy with my one-bunny household. But she knew of a bunny that needed a home, and she couldn’t take him because she already had three of her own. She said “he’s a really tiny bunny...,” hoping that would persuade me. Hmmm... I started mentally rearranging furniture, imagining where I could put another cage. If I put that there, and got rid of that... She said we could go visit Ferdinand. Ferdinand? Well, I’d have to change his name if I took him (the name Ferdinand immediately made me think of Ferdinand and Isabella and Christopher Columbus and the whole Native American genocide thing. That wouldn’t do), but ok, I agreed to go visit the little guy, knowing as I did that unless he bit me or peed on me while I was there, yeah, I’d take him.

Rudy is a Holland Lop.

Well, he was pretty cute. And sweet. And soft. And little! Delia was right -- he was a tiny bunny! Much smaller than Frida! And...desperately in need of being neutered. The poor little guy just had way too many hormones. But we’ve got a clinic with some really good rabbit vets here, so that wouldn’t be a problem. I agreed that I would take him. I needed to physically deal with the furniture I had mentally dealt with, but I came back about a week later to bring Rudy home.

I wasn’t sure what Frida would think. Would she be happy to have another rabbit in her household, or would she be angry? She had been an only rabbit for nearly four years, and I was bringing a stranger to live with her. This was a drastic change. I really hoped she wouldn’t be unhappy.

I decided the best way to introduce them to each other would be to set Rudy in his cage on the floor and let Frida check him out. That way they could see each other up close and smell each other, but they would have the cage walls between them so neither one could attack the other should the idea occur to one of them. I was shocked when Frida, who had always been perfectly litterbox-trained, suddenly decided it was a really good idea to pee all over the floor. In fact, she pretty much decided she had no use for the litterbox at all anymore. The floor would do nicely. This was not going so well.

I had Rudy neutered as soon as possible. I was reluctant to release him with Frida before his incision was completely healed, so I waited, hoping his hormones would start to settle down a bit too. Finally I let them both out together, ready to grab one of them if I had to. They never did actually fight, but they both decided, “Litterbox? Feh! We’ll use the floor!” And Rudy decided Frida was one very attractive rabbit. He still had a whole lot of hormones. Frida was not in the mood (she had been spayed years earlier, not because there was any risk of pregnancy to an only rabbit, but because unspayed female rabbits are nearly guaranteed to die of cancer before they reach two years of age. Spayed, they can live to 10 or 12 years). Rudy was also a little confused about which end was which. He was in love. Either end would do.

Eventually he mellowed. He still has hormones, but before, he had more than he knew what to do with. Now he has a reasonable amount. After he settled down, Frida decided he was alright. They both decided it was ok to use litterboxes again, thankfully. Usually, anyway. Rudy adores Frida. Frida likes Rudy. They spend time grooming each other, even washing each other’s eyeballs. It’s a rabbit thing.

They’re Individuals

They have completely different personalities. Anyone who thinks rabbits don’t have personalities has never interacted with them or given them any opportunity to develop a personality (if a human being grows up in a closet with no human interaction, how much personality will he or she have?). They have different likes and dislikes, different habits. They’re definitely individuals.

Frida’s a chewer. She loves to chew things. I do not wear shoes with laces around her because she’ll bite right through them. I have a barrier blockading off the corner of the room where my computer is so she can’t get at all the cords. I find myself saying things like “No, don’t eat my shoe.” I give her things to chew like blocks of wood that I don’t mind her destroying, and she goes at them with gusto, but that doesn’t stop her from also going after everything else. She definitely cannot be out of her cage unsupervised. Unsupervised, she would eat the house and all the furniture in it. Rudy, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to bother.

Frida loves Cheerios. We don’t give her more than just a few, but as soon as she smells them, she goes wild! We’ve read about other rabbits who love Cheerios, and apparently some rabbit owners have caught their rabbits in the Cheerio box, gorging themselves like there’s no tomorrow. I can easily believe Frida would stuff herself, given the opportunity. Rudy, on the other hand, if given a Cheerio, doesn’t even recognize it as food. If I give him his breakfast and put a few Cheerios in with the pellets, he’ll eat all the pellets and leave the Cheerios. I might as well be putting small stones in his bowl as far as he can tell. UPDATE: a week after I wrote this, Rudy decided to make a liar out of me! For years he wouldn't touch a Cheerio, and then one day he found one on the floor and snarfed it up to my amazement! Now he loves Cheerios! It just goes to show you, there’s no figuring rabbits...

Like many rabbits, Frida will trance if held on her back. I can hold her on her back for a good 20 minutes and she’ll enter a deep trance. This is very useful when I need to shear her or trim her toenails. Rudy does not trance. If I try to hold him on his back, he wiggles out of my hands and is halfway across the room before I can blink. To trim his toenails, I have to hold him upright on my lap, snug against my body. I’m very glad I don’t have to shear him. He likes to be held, but not on his back.

Frida apparently sleeps with her eyes open as I have never seen her sleep with them closed. Many times she looks very relaxed, and I think she’s asleep, but her eyes are open. Rudy sleeps with his eyes closed though. If I come downstairs quietly in the middle of the day, he’ll often be lying there sound asleep, eyes closed.

Rudy is much more energetic than Frida. While she lies around being mellow, he lies next to her for a while, then he takes off across the room, being Mr. Teleporting Bunny (Zip! Zip! Zip! You blinked? You missed him), then he comes and hangs out with Frida some more. Sometimes he chases her for a while, which is good because she gets some exercise, and I think she actually enjoys it. When she was an only rabbit, I used to play chase games with her so she would get some exercise, because she didn’t tend to run around much on her own, but Rudy is very active.

“Oh boy! It’s a cardboard box!”

They do have things in common though. They both think that shredding a phone book into a million tiny pieces is the most fun imaginable. They share a rabbit sense of order which says it’s good to pick up one of your toys and put it in your bowl, and even better to put a second toy on or in the first toy; concentricity is good. They both enjoy playing with a plastic Slinky. Cardboard boxes are great toys. Depending on the size and shape, you can crawl or run through it, hop on top, hide inside, push it around, chew it...if you’re a bunny, a cardboard box is a wonderful thing! And they both love to be petted. Forehead rubs are their favorites. In the morning, they want to be petted before they’ll eat breakfast. Affection before food. They’ve got priorities.

Proper Rabbit Care

If you’re thinking of getting a rabbit, you have to ask yourself if you’re really committed to taking proper care of another living being. It isn’t a stuffed toy for you to just look at when it’s convenient. You have to spend time with it every day. You have to learn what its needs are so you can care for it properly. Rabbits aren’t like other animals. They’re not cats or dogs. They’re not rodents. Rabbits are lagomorphs (along with hares and pikas), and they have some specific nutritional needs. They aren’t difficult to take care of, but you need to know how to take proper care of a rabbit before you ever decide to get one, not after you have one you haven’t been taking proper care of and it’s sick because of your neglect.

The most important part of a rabbit’s diet is timothy hay (if you’re unable to find good quality timothy hay locally, a good source is the Oxbow Hay Company). This should be available at all times. It should not be alfalfa hay, as that is too high in calcium. A little bit of alfalfa hay once in a while is fine, but it should not be a staple. The timothy hay provides the right balance of nutrients, and it provides the necessary fiber the rabbit needs. This is extremely important. Rabbits need lots of fiber and exercise to keep from getting hairballs. Unlike cats, rabbits cannot throw up. Hairballs can lead to death.

I mentioned pellets earlier. These are the alfalfa pellets sold in pet supply stores as rabbit food. The packaging may say it meets all the rabbit’s dietary needs, but this is not true. I give Frida and Rudy a small amount of pellets for breakfast. For dinner they get fresh organic vegetables and a little bit of fruit. They get lettuce (not iceberg! Iceberg lettuce has no nutritional value, for rabbits nor for humans!), either romaine, green leaf, red leaf, or some other kind of nice dark lettuce. It just depends on what’s available at the store. Usually they get two kinds, a little of each. They also get some parsley or cilantro, some carrot, broccoli leaves, a piece of broccoli stem, an apple or pear wedge, or if it’s a special occasion, a small piece of papaya or pineapple. Papaya and pineapple are especially healthy because they contain an enzyme, papain, which breaks down protein, so it is helpful in breaking down any hair the rabbit might have eaten, thus helping to prevent hairballs. (The only reason I don’t give my rabbits these fruits more often is they’re so expensive. I give them 5-6 papaya tablets each daily though, and they love them. The cheapest source I’ve found is Puritan’s Pride.) In the summer I’m able to pick things out of my garden for them to eat as well. Dandelion greens are favorites. Yarrow leaves, violets and their leaves, strawberry leaves and the occasional strawberry go over pretty well too, and these are healthy foods for bunnies. If we want to give them a very special treat, we give them each a small piece of banana. Not too much, as bananas contain a lot of sugar, but my goodness, you haven’t seen happy till you’ve seen a rabbit eating a piece of banana.

Obviously, water should be available at all times. A water bottle is preferable to a bowl since it will keep debris from falling into the water. The bottle can hook onto the side of the cage, leaving more floor space inside for the rabbit.

For the rabbit’s health, you should have it spayed or neutered. It’s important to find a vet who is experienced in dealing with rabbits. If he or she tells you to not let the rabbit eat before the surgery, find another vet! Fasting before surgery is done with other animals to prevent vomiting during surgery; since rabbits can’t vomit, there is no need for them to fast. In fact, rabbits should never fast, because if they do their digestive systems can shut down. A vet who knows anything about rabbits would never tell you to not let the rabbit eat! Even if you educate the vet about this fact, he or she could still do something else out of ignorance, like use an anesthetic that isn’t safe for rabbits. Your rabbit might never wake up. Find a vet who knows rabbits.

Your rabbit should have toys to play with while it’s in its cage. There are some toys you can buy, and they’re generally quite inexpensive. As mentioned above, the plastic Slinky is a favorite. There’s also a plastic fabric softener dispenser that one can buy that looks like a ball with a ring attached to one side by a short chain, just a few links. This is great fun for them to pick up by the ring and toss. Some small plastic bell toys sold for pet birds go over well; anything that they can pick up and toss has play value. They enjoy tossing things, and they enjoy putting these small things in their bowls. There are many free toys. A favorite free toss toy is an empty tape roll from a roll of packing tape. Put a phone book in the cage for the bunny to shred, and you’ll have a happy bunny. Any of these can be played with outside the cage too, but outside the cage is where there’s room for large cardboard boxes.

Frida and Rudy used to have separate cages but I eventually replaced them with this “bunny condo” from Leith Petwerks. Here they share breakfast. They’ve had fun destroying a phone book together on the lower level.

Your rabbit needs to spend at least an hour a day out of its cage so it can exercise. The cage itself should be large enough for the rabbit to move around freely, of course, but the rabbit needs some time to really run around at full speed. The rabbit won’t be running around for the entire time it’s out, obviously, but it needs time to hop and play and tear around and, oh yes, binky. When rabbits are really happy, they binky. They jump straight up in the air. It’s a rabbit thing.

Some people let their rabbits have free run of the house rather than keep them in a cage. With some rabbits this would work; with others it would not. But I don’t think they’re unhappy in a cage. All domestic rabbits are Oryctolagus cuniculus, the same as the European wild rabbit, from which they are descended. (American rabbits, i.e., cottontails, are several species of the genus Sylvilagus. Jackrabbits are actually hares.) European wild rabbits dig burrows or warrens and spend most of the day underground, coming out at dawn and dusk to eat (rabbits are sometimes referred to as nocturnal, but this is not true. Coming out at dawn and dusk defines them as “crepuscular.” There is not enough light then for daytime predators to see well, but still too much light for nocturnal predators to see clearly). A cage is sort of like a warren. If you do let your rabbit have free run of the house, make sure it has a private little place of its own to go and be alone and out of the way when it chooses to do so.

Be willing to spend time with your rabbit. Play with your rabbit. Brush your rabbit. Trim its toenails. Hug it. Kiss it. Rub its forehead. Talk to it. Hold it in your arms and stroke its soft fur, your ear against its cheek, listening to the sound its teeth make as they softly grind together in contentment. That’s called “tooth-purring.” It’s a rabbit thing. It means you’ve made a rabbit happy. You’ve done a good thing.

Resources

House Rabbit Society -- a non-profit rescue and education group with an excellent website. A great source of information.

Great Lakes Rabbit Sanctuary -- sanctuary for abandoned, abused and neglected rabbits and source of rabbit care information.

Harriman, Marinell. House Rabbit Handbook: how to live with an urban rabbit. Drollery Press, 1991. Contains several profiles of people and their rabbits, training and rabbit-proofing tips, very good information about the rabbit’s digestive system.

Vriends-Parent, Lucia. The New Rabbit Handbook: everything about purchase, care, nutrition, breeding, and behavior. Barron’s, 1989. Contains an interesting history of rabbits, information about diseases, lists of what wild plants are safe for rabbits to eat and which ones aren’t, insight into rabbit behavior.

Hunter, Samantha. Hop to It: a guide to training your pet rabbit. Barron’s, 1991. Lots of information on bunny-proofing and rabbit psychology.

Kilfoyle, Sharon and Leslie B. Samson. Completely Angora. Samson Angoras, 1992 (2nd edition). Everything you could want to know about angora rabbits. This is written with the assumption that the reader is breeding angoras to make money, so I found parts of the book irrelevant, but there is very detailed information about nutrition, diseases, grooming, and also a section on spinning, knitting, etc.

The Language of Lagomorphs -- a good guide to rabbit communication.