Today, many families decide to take in a rabbit as a pet. It is not surprising, since these sweet animals are also very intelligent, which makes them perfect housemates if they are given an adequate education for coexistence.
If you are interested or have already fostered one of these little lagomorphs, you may find yourself interested in knowing how to raise a rabbit By For this reason, on our site we want to help you in this process by providing you with the information you will need in this article.
Characteristics of rabbits
In order to educate our furry friend, we must first understand what attributes characterize him, since these will determine our way of relating to him.
- They are lagomorphs: rabbits are small quadrupedal mammals, that is, they stand on four legs, belonging to the order of lagomorphs, which are distinguished from rodents in that they have two pairs of upper incisor teeth (rodents only have one pair). In addition, they are from the Leporidae family, in the same way that hares are.
- Physical appearance: their physical appearance is characterized by having bodies covered with abundant hair with the most varied colors (white, brown, palomino…) present in a layer of homogeneous color, diffuse or with spots. These animals can weigh between 1 and 8 kilos depending on the breed of rabbit. They also have an oval head, round eyes and their characteristic long ears between 5 and 7 centimeters, as well as a small tail.
- They are herbivores: Rabbits are herbivores and therefore can only eat vegetables. They have teeth that allow them to gnaw hard foods that are part of their diet, such as seeds. If you want to know more about the needs of your furry friend, we invite you to read the following article on Rabbit care.
- They are very sociable: rabbits also have strong legs with which they can dig and live in burrows where they are protected and in community with others of the same species, which makes them very sociable animals.
- They are prey: Rabbits in their natural habitat are prey, which makes them agile, skittish and with very acute hearing due to to their long ears, which allows them to flee at the slightest sound that makes them suspect that a predator is stalking them.
- High reproductive capacity: also, due to their status as prey, they have a high reproductive capacity (and, therefore,, of proliferation), with the same female capable of giving birth to approximately 30 kits a year (this is what we call rabbit pups).
How to gain a rabbit's trust?
As we have seen, due to their prey nature, rabbits tend to be rather fearful, which can result in a more elusive or reserved behavior if we do not know how to properly relate to them. We must also bear in mind that there are rabbits that are more shy or meek depending on the breed, for example, Belier rabbits tend to be calmer compared to toy rabbits or dwarfStill, each individual is unique and has their own quirks.
1. Be patient
Building a satisfactory relationship with our furry from the beginning is very important to be able to educate him and, for this reason, it is very important that when we want to teach something to a rabbit we are patients, since learning is a process that requires time and, furthermore, the use of punishments, scolding and yelling will not be at all beneficial for the well-being of the animal or for it to trust us, since the only thing we will achieve is that he be afraid of us. We must also keep in mind that a rabbit can take a few months to adapt to a new home and new people.
two. Let him get closer to you
When interacting with our rabbit, we must try to get on his level, since these animals are small and generally They will always be at our feet. Because of this, as we are taller, they can feel intimidated. For this reason, when you want to interact with him, try to sit close to your bunny, on the floor or the sofa, and let him come to you, since that these are curious by nature and if you are patient they will come to inspect you.
3. Avoid sudden movements
When he approaches you, resist the urge to pet her right away and let him explore you firstso he learns you're not a threat. Then, little by little, interact with him avoiding sudden movements and initially caressing his body, since he may feel threatened if you touch his face, always using a soft tone of voice(remember that they have a very sensitive ear). Also, be sure to reward him with food that he likes (such as small pieces of carrot, apple, grass…), since thanks to the positive reinforcement you will make him see you as someone trustworthy and to his liking.
4. Pick him up (carefully)
Once you have established a bond of trust and notice that he is not scared by your side, you can try to pick him up Have Keep in mind that this can be a complicated step for him, since rabbits generally do not like to be held and the fact of being "in the air" can generate quite a lot of fear, since it is usually the predators that lift them from the ground. For this reason, at the beginning we will hold it for a short time close to the ground, and we will progressively increase the height and the time, always rewarding it in the process with gifts and caresses if we see that you like them.
How to train a rabbit to relieve itself?
To begin with, we must bear in mind that rabbits are clean animals which like to have a specific space where they can relieve themselves. Now, when they are small, they still do not control their bowel movements and, therefore, they will defecate and urinate everywhere. Also, if the rabbit is already an adult, it is advisable to consult a veterinarian about neutering or spaying it, since it could make its stools in unwanted places with the intention of marking its territory
1. Add a corner to the rabbit cage
To train your rabbit to relieve himself in a suitable place, we will start the learning process by providing him with a corner pad big enough in his cage, with a specific substrate, so that we encourage him to relieve himself in the right place. In the event that we observe that it raises its tail with the intention of urinating and defecating outside the corner, we will pick it up to take it to it, as long as the rabbit has no problem being picked up. On the contrary, if it has a more scary character, we will avoid taking it so as not to generate a stressful situation.
two. Place their feces in the corner
When our colleague relieves himself out of place, we will collect it with a cloth or toilet paper to place it in his corner, so that he associates that space with the smell And in addition, we will thoroughly clean with a specialized urine product (which you can buy at an animal store) the places where you have mistakenly defecated or urinated in order to delete the odor traces and prevent him from doing it again in the same place. In the same way, since the rabbit will go to its corner because of the smell, it is important that when we wash its corner and fill it with clean substrate, we mix it with a little of the old one to preserve the smell and not confuse it.
3. Reward him when he relieves himself in the corner
Finally, it is also important that we try to educate our furry through positive reinforcement. For this reason, every time we see that it relieves itself correctly, we will instantly reward it with a prize that we know it likes, such as its favorite food or caresses. In this way, we will get him to associate the behavior we want with a positive situation and he will repeat it more often.
If you need more information on how to train your rabbit to relieve himself correctly, we recommend the following article: How to teach a rabbit where to relieve himself?
How to teach a rabbit not to bite?
Although it is popularly believed that rabbits are peaceful animals, since they are not predators, they can surprise us and show aggressive behavior such as biting us If your rabbit has ever exhibited this behavior, it may have scared you into thinking it can't be rectified. Now, it is possible to teach your rabbit not to bite, but for this you must first know the reason why it has bitten you. Let's take a look at the most common reasons :
1. My rabbit bites out of fear
As we have discussed, rabbits are often fearful of being handled because they are prey. For this reason, if the animal has not yet got used to us, it will run away. On the contrary, if he feels cornered with no possibility of escape (for example, if we hold him in our arms), it is very likely that he will react by biting us.
Also, if we have tried to “educate” our rabbit through aggressive strategies such as physical punishment or yelling, it will clearly be afraid of us and will try to defend itself by biting. In these cases, it is important that we take the time to make friends with our rabbit, so that he loses his fear and learns to trust us.
two. My rabbit bites because of pain
If your furry had no problems when you interacted with him, but has made a sudden change in behavior becoming aggressive when you touch him, it is very likely that he has experienced or is experiencing pain. For more information, check out this other article on 15 signs of pain in rabbits.
That is to say, it may have been the case that you inadvertently hurt him and related you to the bad experience. In this case we will have to dedicate time to make him understand again that we are his friend and that we are not going to hurt him again
Or also, it may be that you have pain as a result of some pathology or injury. In this case, it is important to take him to the vet quickly so that he can detect it
3. The rabbit is angry and bites
Your rabbit may have a rebellious attitude because its welfare is not fully covered. For example:
- You are not comfortable in your accommodation.
- Because he is locked up in his cage for a long time.
- Because he needs to run, dig, jump, socialize and interact with his surroundings.
- Because if he doesn't get out of the cage, he can't stretch properly.
- Because you don't pay attention to them and they feel lonely and angry.
If any of these situations occurs, our rabbit will feel frustrated and may react aggressively. In addition, rabbits that cannot stretch properly can develop physical pathologies that cause them pain.
You have to take into account that their social needs are covered, since rabbits need to be in company to feel safe. For this reason, a rabbit that sits alone will feel more nervous and may be aggressive as a result. To resolve this situation, if the animal spends many hours alone, we should consider letting it live with another rabbit.
4. My rabbit bites because it protects something valuable
Some rabbits may bite when we come near something that is valuable to them, such as:
- Your territory(usually your cage).
- Your food bowl.
- Another rabbit that is your friend.
For the rabbit, it is necessary to protect this element and it may see us as a threat. Consequently, with the intention of defending him, he may bite us when he reaches out, for example.
Once again, we must generate a bond of trust from the beginning in our rabbit to prevent this situation from occurring. In these cases, to rectify this behavior, we must gradually approach this element that the rabbit wants to protect, and reward it as we get closer and it does nothing to us. We must be very patient, since depending on the individual, learning may take a few days. And we will have to act progressively, avoiding forcing the situation, since it could bite us again and make a bad learning again. In case he hurts us again, we must avoid scolding him at all costs because we will only achieve the opposite effect to what we want, since we will become an even greater threat.
5. Why does a rabbit bite? - Hormones
Rabbits may display aggressive behavior towards us or other rabbits usually in spring, which is the natural breeding season for rabbits. the rabbits. This aggression is hormonal and indicates a normal desire to defend their territory and drive away any rival.
If we have ruled out the above causes, we should take him to a veterinarian, since this behavior should be reduced by neutering or spaying.
For more information, you can read this other article on Why does my rabbit bite me?
