How To Keep Your Kids Happy With A Rabbit And A Rabbit Hutch
There’s no doubt that just about all children want a pet. Whether it be feathered or furry they just want one. But the range of choices for a parent considering buying a pet for their children is enormous. Why does a rabbit make a great pet for children and how do you buy, or build the perfect rabbit hutch to house the rabbit.
A rabbit is small and cuddly and just the right size for children to pick up and pat. They can be housetrained so won’t make too much mess around the house, and they are very social, so love spending time with children. Generally a rabbit will live for around 10 years.
A rabbit has a relatively simple diet. You can buy bags of rabbit food at the pet shop and they are also happy to eat hay and vegetables. In particular they like to ask green vegetables like broccoli leaves and spinach as well as carrots and some fruits. Rabbits are quite cheap to feed.
But before you rush out and buy a pet rabbit for the children you need to spend a little time thinking about housing their rabbit. You need to buy, or build, a cage for the rabbit, or what is technically known as a rabbit hutch. This is a cage which allows your rabbit to be housed in comfort whilst still being able to browse on grass outdoors if they wish, and which keeps him protected from predators.
Most rabbit hutches are made from timber and wire. Rabbits are generally housed outside and most rabbit hutch are portable enough to be moved around. There is a compartment that is protected from the weather so the rabbit can be comfortable and dry while sleeping and there is also an area to allow your rabbit to hop around for exercise and nibble on the grass.
It’s important to choose the right floor for your cage. Many people use wire which is fine if your rabbit hutch is to be placed on the ground. Using wire allows your rabbit to eat the grass through the wire. However wire is an uncomfortable thing for rabbits to walk on and they don’t particularly like walking on wire. So if you’re hutch is off the ground and you use wire on the floor your rabbit will probably spend most of his time in his compartment.
If you’ve decided to use wire then it works well allowing the droppings to fall through the wire, making cleaning easier. But again if the hutch is off the ground use a material like slats that allow the rabbit droppings to fall through but which doesn’t hurt the rabbits feet.
If you don’t like the thought of wire on the floor of your rabbit hutch then you can use either wood or metal. Wood will soak up smell more, particularly of urine. Metal is a better material for the floor of your hutch as it’s easier to clean. However if you’re hutch is on the ground it doesn’t allow the rabbit to eat the grass.
There are varying opinions about the size of the rabbit cage that you use. I have seen suggestions that a cage that is 4 times the size of the rabbit is adequate. Personally I think a rabbit hutch only 4 times the size of the rabbit is way too small and does not allow the rabbit to move around much for exercise. I would never house a rabbit in a cage that small. Bigger is always better, but if your rabbit hutch is very small you must ensure that you take your rabbit out daily to play and exercise on the grass.
It is very important that the hutch be cleaned regularly and so you will need a door large enough so that you can effectively clean the hutch and replace the hay each day.
A rabbit is an excellent pet for kids. Do your research on rabbit breeds, and give yourself plenty of time before you buy one to sort out a solid, effective and well built rabbit hutch.
It’s not hard to build your own rabbit hutch, that’s part of the fun.
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