What does your daily Rabbit Care Consist of?

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pet_lover48

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Hi! Just curious to hear what people's daily care/jobs(feeding, cleaning, playtime, etc.)areto do with your rabbit(s)?

I'm wanting to adopt 2 rabbits and was just wondering what "a normal day with rabbits" would be like foryou guys? :)

All answers greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Pet_lover48
 
[align=center]I will =)

On a school day, I wake up and go to school, my mom lets the bunnies out and gives them pellets in the morning. Then I come home, play with them, lay with them, take naps with them. Then I go on the computer, do homework, talk with some friends. Then I clean their litterbox, and around 8-9, I go downstairs and make them a big salad and play with them before I put them to bed XD
 
My normal day with my rabbits, I have 2 flemish giant, I just got one new pragnant Mom 2 days ago so my normal day has changed,but it all starts when I get up in the morning. the first thing I do is go outside to there cages to say high to them. at that time I check there food. I grap there water bottle go inside and fill them up then I fill up there food bowl. then I will stay out and pet them for about 5 minutes each. then a few hours later I will come back out take my 4 month old(lilly) out and let here play in the run area for about a half hour while I usally will clean out any poop that she didnt do in her box. and add some more hay then I will go sit in her play area with her and she runs atound and will come play with me, my new mom rabbit is 2 years old(bella) and we are still working on bonding plus she hates to be picked up at this point so I just sit and talk to her and pet her when she will let me. then I go to work and when I get home around 11:30 pm I go back outside and check on them, I will refill there food if needed. I let mine free feed since one of them is under 6 months and the other one is pragnant and talk and pet them some more. I think I spend about a and hour or 2 each day just talking and petting them. sometime at there cage some time I will bring Lilly into the house and she sit on my lap. so I would say most days I spend anywhere from 1 to 3 hours aday with my rabbit and I know some may think that is not enough time spent with them. but between feeding and play that about how much time i spend and both of mine are outside rabbit. I also know in 3 week when bella has her babbies I will be very busy with them as well
 
Usually I wake up and get a glass of water to fill up Freckles water bottle. She has this really cool one that you fill from the top and you don't have to take it out of the cage. Then I give her some hay get ready and go to work then I will come home if her food dish needs to be refilled I will fill it along with getting some veggies and if we have apples she gets an apple cut into fours so that she doesn't get the core. she may or may not get her caged cleaned. I clean her cage 2-3 times a week. On cage cleaning days the rabbit and birds cages both get cleaned on the same day. Then I usually try to block off the tv area as Freckles loves to go underneath there. and let her out for a few hours then depending on her mood I usually have to tell her to stop scratching me and if she would stop moving then the trip back to her cage would be much easier. So thats my usual day with Freckles.
 
Morning:
9 am I sweep Chewy/Anakin's cage as Chewy still poops oustide the cage. This takes about 10 mins.

Then I go around and feed the rabbits fresh vegtables.

They get a handful of timothy hay, then a small handful of oat hay.

Wash water bowls, refill.

This takes in total about a 1/2 hour.

Then I let them out for the day.

Throughout the afternoon, I spend time with them and play.

9pm at night, they are fed another round of veggies, another handful of hay, and another sweep of the place (another 30 mins)
Then they are given treats and pellets (another 10 mins)

Every 2-3 days in the morning add an extra 20 mins for litter box cleaning.

Doesn't sound like a whole bunch if you don't include all the work my other animals have :p
 
When I get up (and get dressed and such), I come down and feed Lillian and Ginny and let Lillian into her pen. I then go let the dogs out and feed Korr and Amelia. Korr and Amelia also get a small treat in the morning. If they need hay, they all get some too. At night, I give pellets again and put Lillian back in her cage (her cage and pen are connected but she only has access to the pen during the day.
They all get veggies every other day. I don't have a set time, but I try for the afternoon or early evening.

I clean the cages every other day. This is just cleaning the poop and hay off the grate in the boxes and scooping the wet litter. Once a week I empty out the boxes and give them a scrub. This is usually done the day before garbage day. When I do the litter boxes, I also clean the food and water dishes as well as sweeping out the cage.

They do get pets and loved during the day. Korr and Amelia do get run time several times a week.

I also do Rabbit Agility, so get to do that at least once a month plus the events we go to. This really does help build a bond with them.
 
a quick clean. Make sure to get any fresh pee off the bottom of his cage as he's not litter trained yet. I also do a quick sweep of the poops. This is usually just so he doesn't get messy while I'm at school for a couple hours. My college course is only 3 hours long.
I also clean his water bowl and give him fresh water, hay and pellets.

Then I come home. Take him out for a bit. Again do a quick clean up. He's usually out for 20 - 40 minutes.

I take him out later at night (except Wednesdays as I'm working. This is when I do a bigger clean getting all the poops out and another handful of hay.

Before bed we usually have a quick cuddle too LOL.
 
Well all my classes this semester start at 8 AM (worst mistake I have ever made!)
Monday - Thursday
6:30AM I let Coffee outside of her cage so she can run around. I noticed a while back she was following me because she wanted food. So I clean her litter box, then I give her new water, I sweep her cage and clean it up a bit, and then I walk around because I want her to stretch her legs. I try to rub her nose for a few minuets also. 7AM I feed her and I am out the door to head to class.

On Monday and Wednesday I get home at 10 AM ish and she is usually sleeping. So I wait until I hear her ringing her little bell toy and then I will let her out. I will change her water once an hour and I will give her more hay and some pellets. I will study downstairs so she can run around for the rest of the day.

On Tuesday and Thursday I get home at 5:30PM I will clean her cage, change her water, and give her pellets and hay. I will let her run around for a bit and if it's Tuesday I will be downstairs studying so she can run around. On Thursdays it is Sexy Thursdays with my friends so I have them come over while I get Coffee's cage ready. They will give her the super nose rub from 2 or more temporary slaves. Sexy Thursdays normally end at 3/4AM Friday so I will go clean her cage, change her water, and give her hay and pellets. Add a little nose rub before seeing her again at 11AM or something.

Friday - Sunday
Normally I wake up at like 11 AM or later. I will take care of her and watch some TV. I spend as much time as can with her during the weekend. While I am not working or with my friends. It kind of changes from day to day But I always see her at 3 AM cuz I stay up way to late.
 
8 am start up, ouch.

Mine is 9 and sometimes I don't even want to get out of bed for that, lucky for me I'm not the type that CAN sleep in. Up before 8 even on Sundays.
 
In AM, sweep Caramel's cage...she likes to mess around with her food, hay and water (she has a water bowl, doesn't like a bottle) at night. Clean her bowls and refill them, refill Teddy's pellets, clean our foster bun, Lucky's cage, he is working on litter training so I clean up all his poops and put them in the box. Fill Lucky & Gus's bowls with pellets.
In the afternoons, I clean all the litter boxes pretty much every other day. Refill hay racks and give each a treat, like a baby carrot or fresh fruit, like blueberries.
In the evening, they all get their "salads" (at least 3 different greens). Caramel's water bowl gets refilled. Each gets playtime and cuddle time. Water bottles get cleaned and refilled pretty much every other day.
Caramel and Teddy play out of their condo together in the evening, chasing each other, then they go back in their condo on their own and lay down :)
Lucky (our foster boy, just came to us as a stray Thursday) has been sitting on my lap while I socialize with him and brush his knots out a bit each night.
Gus is just starting to explore more, he likes to hop around the living room and go back into his house, he loves playing in his house and shredding cardboard.
Teddy sits on my shoulder at night too and watches tv with me:D
All through the day I stop by their houses and say hi to them, pet them, kiss Teddy's nose as he sticks it out to me, he is so sweet! And I constantly put Lucky's poops back in his litter box in effort to train him.
I also sweep the floor around their houses at least once a day and use the dust pan as needed for stray hay.
Their houses, floors, etc... get washed often/as needed with Sun & Earth cleaner.
I think that is about it for our routine!
 
I used to keep Mr. Pepper in a cage but decided that I'd just let him have the run of the living room (which is only about 10x8) since he seems pretty consistent about using the litter boxes (after I changed from wired flooring to regular boxes with no wired flooring and bedding from aspen shavings to carefresh. He's good at peeing in the litter boxes but will usually leave some brown marbles around the floor...wondering if it's possible to train them to poop in the litter box too?)

I will wake up in the mornings around 30 min extra to clean up his litter boxes, refill his food bowls, give him more timothy hay, and change the water in the bottle.

After class or work I'll come home and do the routine over again.

Overall, caring for a rabbit is: clean, feed, play, clean, feed, clean, feed, clean feed, play. Have fun!
 
In the morning, before he leaves for work, my hubby feeds Gus his pellets and fills his water dish. Then the kids get up and let him out of his cage. Then I get up and usually feed him some lettuce, parsley, etc. while I'm making my breakfast. Thenthe kids and Iget to schoolwork and Gus does whatever Gus wants to do, be it sleep under the kitchen table, investigate the living room, or go outside in his pen to eat hay (one of us usually goes out to give him a fresh handful at then.) He actually spends a good deal of his day outside, but he's free to come in and go out as much as he likes. His pen is on the patio off the dining room, so all he has to do is stand at the door and look pathetic and we'll open it! ;)

From about 1 pm to 5 pm he sleeps under the kitchen table (unless we need to go out, then he gets put in his cage), then he wakes up when hubby gets home and begs a few treats off him. Then I feed him his second salad of the day while I'm making dinner.After that,he'susually fairly active,playing in the living room, running behind the curtains in the dining room, destroying a newspaper,begging treats or pets,etc. until 9pm whenwe feed him his bedtime pellets and refill his water dish.

Then, before bed, I call him into his cage (sometimes he comes running, other times I need a treat to seal the deal) andspend a few minutes petting him and scritching his ears. Then a kiss goodnight and I head to bed till the next day.

As for cage cleaning, since he has no hay in the house (allergies), it stays fairly clean, only needing a vacuum or sweep out every couple of weeks. His litter box gets cleaned every 3-4 days. Either I do it, or I get the kids to do it if I'm busy.

Gus is actually a really low maintenance bunny! :)

Hope that helps!

Rue
 
I have a bonded pair of bunnies....

Mornings:
- I wash & refill their water bowl in the morning.
- make sure they have hay (they have HUGE hay racks, so I refill it every few days).
- give them each a pet.


Whenever I get off of work in the afternoon/evening:
- open their cage door & they get free run of my apartment (and human attention) for 4-7+ hours, depending on when I go to bed.
- feed them pellets around 7pm & their salad.



* Once a week I sweep up their NIC cage/pen and do a full litter box cleaning.


My bunnies are SUPER easy to care for :).
 
I am not a morning person, so I do more of my care at night. My two buns don't have cages, but I use a baby gate to keep them in one room at night.

AM- Lights on- give the girls their pellets and a pet

PM- change the water and sweep up stray poops, change litter as needed, add hay as needed (they have multiple hay racks, so it is not every day)
We watch a little tv together and play a few games
Dinner salads and lights out

Weekends I clean all the animals more completely since we have so many I just spot clean during the week.
 
My oldest daughter comes home late at night and makes sure I've filled the water and given pellets and hay ( I do but she still checks lol).
In the morning, my flemish comes out first, leaps around, plays, then floomphs down on the floor for an hour or two.
Plays some more, has some pets and attempted cuddles. Goes back to his cage.
Then BunBun gets out for as long as he wants because he is completely littertrained ( and unfixed ) I'm lucky ;)
They get free fed everyday.
They eat when they want etc.
pretty laid back here.
After Babyboy ( the flemmie) has been out I do have to do a quick sweep although he is pretty good too about only using the litterbox. ( also unfixed.. again lucky :p)
I treat both bunnies like dogs. they don't get into too much trouble at all. Babyboy likes to hang out in the windows with the cats and that worries me sometimes but otherwise, pretty chill here.
 
Personally I find that having two rabbits (Anna and Yofi) really isn't a huge amount of work. The only thing frustrating for me is that I'm so limited for room. Otherwise, they're semi-easy.

A typical day consists of checking on them in the morning, giving them greens, fresh water, hay. In the evening when I come home from work they get pellets, and then a bit later on they get more greens. They're allowed to have free run of most of the house when I'm home; when I'm at work, or otherwise out somewhere, they have their own room to hang out in.

Every other day or so their litter boxes get scooped. Then on either Saturday or Sunday I do a major cleaning. Because Yofi has sensitive feet, I have to provide him with soft bedding, so their cage (always open access) has vet bedding in it. Since they do tend to urinate on this, the bedding has to be stripped out and washed weekly...hence the major cleaning on the weekend. Litter boxes are more thoroughly cleaned, dishes as well. And both bunnies get groomed and nails clipped on a semi-regular basis (every day grooming when they're molting; nails trimmed only as needed). Ears also get checked every now and then; Anna (who tends to sometmes get a *messy bottom*, has her underside checked...if needed, she gets cleaned, though this isn't required very often.

They both also get handled regularly by me, to keep them used to being handled, and to check for anything unusual that might be going on (for instance, last year I was checking Yofi and happened to notice what felt like a hard, bony bump on his leg...turns out he has arthritis in his joints. This would have gone unnoticed if I hadn't been handling him). I usually check ears, teeth, feel their bodies for lumps and bumps, etc.

Other than regular feeding, cleaning, checking for anything out of place, and scheduled vet visits, the only other thing I can say that might take up your time with rabbits is having fun with them. :)

[*Oh, that is, unless you have a Yofi. Then you should be prepared for upset food dishes, chewed up mail, a dog that is constantly antagonized, losing your voice from yelling, "YOFIIIIII!!!", and having bald patches on your head from tearing out your hair. :biggrin: ]

And...P.S. Make sure your home is fully *rabbit-proofed* before bringing home any bunnies. It'll save you a lot of hassle in the long run. Rule of thumb for rabbit-proofing: Any exposed wires WILL be chewed; any squeezable spaces WILL be squeezed into; any important papers left lying within rabbit-reach WILL be eaten; and anything moved out of rabbits-reach is probably still rabbit-reachable. ;)
 
Hi! Wow, 15 replies. This forum is so great! :biggrin:

So many replies, I can't individually comment on each one, but I readall of them and they were all really helpful. I now better understand what daily rabbit care consists of. They don't really seem to be that much work(not really much more than any other house pets.)They just need daily food, water, greens, hay, cleaning litter boxes out every few days, sweeping up around their arearegularily, fully cleaning cages/set-ups weekly and of course, love/attention, but that's the fun part. :)

Thanks again,

Pet_lover48

PS: If you haven't already replied to this thread,please do, as I'd be happy to hear more abouteverybody's daily rabbit care.
 
If you don't include the other animals, they dont require a lot of cleaning. I have a bonded pair so it makes it that much easier.

morning: (6:30-7:45 am, but doesn't take me this long, just the timeframe)
7am - give them their pellets, top up hay, rinse out water bowl and give fresh water, give 2 leaves of romaine lettuce or whatever greens the guinea pigs are getting

when i get home from work: (could be 6-7pm)
give supper pellets, more hay, veggies, then let them be for a little while, then downstairs for playtime.I am trying to increase their time out, but its stressful to them being carried downstairs to where there's carpet. so far they're getting 1-2 hours per night outside their house, they go to bed whenever i do.

i sweep the floor of their house when needed and do a weekly cleaning of the floors and litter box, not much cleaning needed really
 
I would have to add it depends on the rabbit.

My first rabbit, Gulliver, was a big New Zealand White. He was pretty messy, so I was always picking up hay & scrubbing down something I had underneath his litter box, because he would pee outside the litter box. I thought that was all normal and that all bunnies were messy!

My rabbit now, Jake, is neat as a pin. I only have to spot clean his pen every few days. He is impeccable with his litter box and hardly throws any hay outside.

Most of my rabbit care I do at night so I can get out of the house in the morning. I will spot clean as needed, change his water, and when I am getting his dinner ready I make another veggie packet for the morning, wrap it in a paper towel & wet it to keep it fresh.
Taking care of Jake takes only a few minutes a day:)
 

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