Rabbits make good pets

Press, 1 May 1984, Page 14

Rabbits make good pets

Pet rabbits come in several colours, the most popular being white, black and grey.

Rabbits aged about six weeks can be bought from pet shops for between ?3 and $5.

When a young rabbit is first taken home, the owner should spend quite a lot of time holding it to get it used to people. Pet rabbits need a sturdy hutch with a run. The hutch should be divided into a sleeping compartment and a day area with a round hole in the separating wall. The sleeping compartment should be dark, and the other part light, fronted by wire netting. .Rabbits need to be kept out of draughts, so the hutch must be well sheltered. The floor of the hutch can be spread with woodchips or sawdust, and straw put on top of this. Hay can be used for bedding.

Rabbits need exercise, and should not be kept unless a run can be provided.

Special pellets can be bought to feed pet rabbits. These cost about 65c for a lkg bag which lasts about one week.

As well as pellets, rabbits should receive green vegetables. Two meals a day keep rabbits fit.

Foods rabbits will eat include cooked potatoes, hay, clover, waste bread, leaves of cauliflower, broccoli, lettuce and dandelion, fresh grass, celery tops, carrots, turnips, parsnips, beetroot, mangolds and swedes.

Never give a rabbit onions, potato stalks, raw potatoes, rhubarb, geranium or chrysanthemum, or clippings of garden shrubs and trees.

Pet rabbits will generally live four to five years.