- Still think buying an Easter bunny for your child is the right choice? Remember these tips:
- Do your research. Rabbits are a lot more work than most people expect and temperaments vary by breed.
- Plan to be in it for the long run. According to the Columbus House Rabbit Society, rabbits can live to be 12 years old.
- Spay and neuter your rabbit. It makes him or her less aggressive and eliminates behavioral problems that arise with rabbit puberty.
- Rabbits are considered exotic animals, so regular vets might not know much about them. Take your rabbit to an exotic animal vet immediately after you buy it to make sure it's healthy and to learn how to care for it.
- Dietary indiscretion is the biggest problem Brauer sees in rabbits. Feeding rabbits brightly colored vegetables and treats found at pet stores can cause health problems. Green vegetables and pellets are best.
- Rabbit treats should rarely be carrots. Rabbits love bread, Cheerios and oats, too. They're also healthier for them.
- Rabbits have sensitive digestive systems. If baby rabbits eat lettuce, they can get life-threatening diarrhea.
- Rabbits require different diets for each stage of their lives. Talk to your vet to decide what is best for your bunny.
It's Easter morning, and children everywhere are squealing with delight at what they've found in their Easter baskets.
Rabbits. And they're not the chocolate kind.
It seems like a classic holiday scenario, but becoming the owner of a live rabbit requires more research and preparation than expected to make the situation healthy for everyone involved — from child to parent to bunny.
Dan Brauer, an exotic animal veterinarian at the South Dayton Veterinary clinic, says that parents usually don't put the necessary thought into buying rabbits for their children.
"They go to a pet shop and see this cute bunny and buy it on impulse for their kid," Brauer says. "They buy the bare minimum and soon the rabbits come down with health problems — these problems are preventable, but people don't want to invest in it."
The health issues range from respiratory diseases to gastrointestinal diseases to warbles — maggots that burrow tunnels under outdoor rabbits' skin and can grow up to two centimeters long. The vet bills grow at a similarly astonishing rate. Brauer says they sometimes amount to hundreds of dollars.
"I do have clients come in and say, 'I never thought I'd pay this much in doctor bills,'?" he says.
Jill Gannon, owner of Glory Acres Rabbit Tree in Eaton, says she stopped selling rabbits at Easter 10 years ago.
"I don't typically sell rabbits for Easter because when people do that, it's an impulse buy and they call me back after a month or so asking if I want the rabbit back," she says.
While Gannon says rabbits are not as time-consuming as dogs, they still require proper daily care. Owners need to prepare to spend time every few days cleaning the cage or the animal will begin to smell. Daily feeding and handling also is required.
Gannon thinks keeping rabbits indoors is much safer because the animals are sensitive to temperature changes and the elements. When keeping rabbits inside, however, she recommends caging the animal instead of letting it roam free throughout the house.
"I don't recommend rabbits having full run of the house because then you have the issue of chewing on things," Gannon says. "Females especially are very territorial – they think they own the whole house and then they start nipping because they're protecting their space."
This temperamental behavior is why Brauer cautions parents against buying Easter bunnies. He says rabbits "aren't always the easiest to handle for little kids. They don't bite very often, but they kick and scratch and get nervous because of how kids pick them up. Then the kids don't want to take care of them anymore and they start to smell bad."
Gannon holds similar viewpoints on the matter.
"Rabbits, when they've had enough, they've had enough — very few rabbits I've ever seen will lay in your lap for hours and hours," she says. "I think that's a misconception people have."
She compares rabbit personalities to dog personalities — they vary by breed. Researching typical temperaments before you buy can eliminate any surprises hopping up unexpectedly.
Rabbits suffer because of these surprises they spring on uninformed owners. According to the Humane Society of the United States, rabbits are the third most common animal brought to shelters in the United States and are not adopted often enough. Because of this, many rabbits are euthanized.
Brian Weltge, executive director of the Humane Society of Greater Dayton, says the society has a waiting list of people wanting to turn in rabbits.
"It's not a huge influx, but we do see a lot more action with bunnies in the Easter time frame — either people interested in them or turning them in," he says. "And rabbits do not find homes as quickly as dogs and cats."
Because the Humane Society of Greater Dayton limits its rabbit intake, it keeps its supply of rabbits relatively low and allows the society to send homeless rabbits to pet stores instead of euthanizing them. This, however, still leaves many rabbits without homes. Brauer says he takes in unwanted Easter bunnies and finds new homes for them, too.
Because of these issues, the Columbus House Rabbit Society started a "Make Mine Chocolate!" campaign to encourage a better understanding of rabbits as pets. They distribute educational literature and sell pins that look like chocolate rabbits to draw attention to the Easter issue.
When it comes to rabbits as pets, knowledge seems to be key. And despite the Easter issue, owning a rabbit can be a rewarding experience.
"They can be incredible pets," Weltge says . "I just think people don't do enough research in looking into what it's going to take to care for a rabbit. Like many other animals, young bunnies are very cute ... but as they become older reality sets in."
