2torial #0931:
Learn2 Care for a Pet Rabbit (continued)

Furnish the cage

The cage is your rabbit's home, and it doesn't take much to make it a comfortable refuge. Here are the furnishings a bunny needs:

• Food bowl. Get a heavy, crockery bowl that can't be chewed up or tipped over.

• Water bottle. A crockery water dish is fine if you keep it clean and full, but a gravity-fed plastic sipper bottle, which attaches to the side of the cage, is easier to fill and clean.

• Bedding. Give the rabbit some fresh hay or straw, newspaper, or an old blanket or towel to sleep on and play with. Change it twice a week.

• Litter box. Procure a plastic cat litter box with a lip around its inside rim. Fill it halfway with low-dust cat litter, hay, or other litter material (ask your breeder or veterinarian for recommendations).

• Chewables. Put commercial rabbit toys, alfalfa cubes, or, if you have it, a piece of dry, untreated pine, apple, willow, or aspen wood in the cage for your friend's chewing enjoyment. (Avoid other fruit woods unless they've been cut and dried for at least a month--some green woods may be toxic to rabbits.)

• Nest box. Sometimes rabbits need to be in a small, enclosed space to feel safe. Give it a shoe box that's open at one end, or another similar box. Clean the box with the rest of the cage, and replace it when it gets a bit chewed up and soiled.

• Hay rack (optional). A hay rack that mounts on the wall of the cage keeps the rabbit's dietary hay from getting dirty underfoot.

Note: Don't use wood shavings for litter or bedding. They're available in pet stores and they smell nice, but studies indicate that they put rabbits at risk for liver disease. Some experts also warn against clumping kitty litter. It's convenient, but rabbits may swallow or inhale it and become ill from clumps that form inside their bodies.