Some Common Myths About Bunnies Debunked

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Pipp

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Rabbits Revisited: Some Common Myths About Bunnies Debunked

TRUE OR FALSE?

Rabbits Make Lousy Easter Pets

FALSE. While there is good reason for the predominant ‘Make Mine Chocolate’ campaign discouraging people from obtaining rabbits at Easter – it’s a choice that needs careful consideration and research and can’t be an impulse buy or a gift purchase – rabbits make wonderful companions for prepared and committed guardians.

Rabbits Are Expensive Pets

FALSE. All pets are expensive and while the ASPCA lists rabbits as the most expensive pet on their Pet Care Costs page, rabbits do not have to be at the mercy of pricey pet store supplies. They are actually better off being fed mostly free vegetation like weeds, grass, tree leaf, bark, herbs. They can also help dispose of dinner leftovers like carrot tops, beet greens, parsley stems, kale stalks, leafs from broccoli, cauliflower, celery and other staples. (Rabbits make awesome ‘garden’ pets). The bulk of their diet is hay. A bale from a feed store costs $10 and lasts two months.

Rabbits Are Timid


FALSE. Rabbits are neither timid nor aggressive. They are infinitely curious and will approach humans, most will enjoy being petted, stroked and nuzzled (mine demand it), and bites are very very rare. Most do not like being picked up and can become wary of hands when not handled properly, but will happily hang out with their ‘people’.

Rabbits Can’t Live With Cats and Dogs

FALSE. Most rabbits will get along with most cats, and the problem is more often a jealous rabbit chasing the family cat than a cat going after a rabbit. Dogs need more caution. Dogs with high prey drives that react strongly to small animals cannot be around pet rabbits.

Rabbits Should Only Be Indoor Pets

FALSE. Rabbits are great indoor pets because they are very social and entertaining animals and easily form tight bonds with humans, so house rabbits for people who have the time to spend with them are a true joy. But rabbits properly housed in pairs or colonies in secure, roomy outdoor enclosures survive very well with little human interaction.

Rabbits Smell or Carry Diseases

FALSE. Domestic rabbits will use a litter box and they groom themselves fastidiously like a cat. Their feces are dry compact balls with no smell and no residue. They carry very few zoonotic diseases and parasites and are considered one of the safest pets available.

Pet Rabbits Can Survive In The Wild

FALSE. A number of the domestic rabbits are surviving for months and even years in very urban areas, but those same rabbits would only last days (or minutes) in outlying areas. Their offspring fair even worse. An estimated 90% of rabbits born in the wild don't make it past their first year.

Richmond Rabbits Are Wildlife

FALSE. Unless you’re the BC Provincial government. Pet rabbits hail from Europe where they’ve been domesticated and bred for 500 years. Feral rabbits in the UK are as common and natural as a pack of wild poodles. Yet the Wildlife branch of the BC Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources has deemed all uncontained domestic rabbits in B.C. wildlife, and an invasive alien species to boot. It is legal to trap and kill a Richmond bunny but it is not legal to trap and possess them.

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