Other Pets

16 Surprising Facts About Pet Rabbits (2024 Update)

White rabbits of the giant Chinchilla breed

Rabbits are among the many most recognizable and customary domesticated animals we hold in our houses. Rabbits are available all styles and sizes and might adapt to many dwelling conditions, together with dwelling exterior in giant runs or in homes. A typical false impression about rabbits is that they’re untrainable and simply stay their lives in a cage. That’s utterly unfaithful! Rabbits are clever, curious, and stuffed with persona. On this article, we’ll convey you 16 stunning details about pet bunnies so you may find out how superb they’re!


The 16 Pet Rabbit Info

1. Rabbits Can Study Their Names

Opposite to in style perception, pet rabbits are sensible and might study many tips, together with their names. Educating your rabbit their names is best when you have a tasty (however wholesome) deal with ready, and it’ll take much less time than you would possibly suppose! Rabbits may also be taught extra superior tips, similar to enjoying fetch, and constructive reinforcement is one of the best ways to get outcomes!

man holding lop eared rabbit
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2. They Can Reside for Extra Than 10 Years

Some species can stay for greater than 10 years in the event that they’re effectively sorted. Usually, rabbits are solely given a lifespan of round 4 to five years; whereas this can be true for wild rabbits that face extra risks than pet rabbits, well-looked-after pet rabbits can comfortably attain 10 and even 12 years of age. Smaller breeds usually stay longer than larger breeds.

3. Rabbits Have Tooth That Are All the time Rising

A rabbit’s tooth are all open-rooted, which means they by no means cease rising. The incisors and molars in a rabbit’s mouth are positioned to develop towards one another and continuously put on one another down (with the assistance of a fibrous food regimen) to remain on the right size. In contrast to our tooth that develop, fall out, and are changed by a everlasting set; a rabbit’s tooth develop in as soon as and replenish new tooth materials continuously. Rabbits with malocclusion (tooth that don’t meet correctly) can have a number of issues, together with the roots rising into their eyes!

Polish Rabbit staring straight ahead
Picture Credit score: Park Doraemon, Shutterstock

4. Rabbits Can’t Vomit

Rabbits’ digestive methods can not convey up meals or hair like cats or canine can. They self-groom and ingest hair, however they don’t have any means of eradicating it and might run into issues. Rabbits have one-way digestive methods and don’t have the required diaphragmatic power or anatomy wanted to convey the contents of their stomachs again up, to allow them to’t vomit or gag.

5. Rabbits Are Not Rodents

Rabbits would possibly share some traits with mice and rats, however they’re not rodents. Rabbits belong to a category known as Lagomorpha, which incorporates rabbits, hares, and pika. There are important variations between the rodent and lagomorph households, with the obvious (other than measurement) being their tooth and dental construction. Lagomorphs, like rabbits, have a second pair of tiny “peg” tooth behind the primary giant pair of incisors of their mouths, which assist them hold their tooth floor down.

Silver rabbit breed standing outside
Picture Credit score: Roselyne M, Shutterstock

6. Rabbits Bounce and Twist When They’re Completely happy

Have you ever ever seen a contented rabbit leap, twist, and leap into the air? This blissful dancing is also referred to as “binkying,” and it’s completed when the rabbit feels blissful, comfy, and protected of their environment. Rabbits usually have large bursts of power that accompany binkying. A binkying rabbit is a wholesome and blissful one, so simply benefit from the present!

7. Pet Rabbits All Come From Europe

Whereas the wild rabbits discovered within the US are all Cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus Sp.), pet rabbits are a totally completely different species originating in Europe. Wild rabbits discovered throughout Europe are the descendants of domesticated rabbits and are the identical species (the European Rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus). Which means all pet rabbits within the US are descended from European rabbits.

Black and white mini lop rabbit looking out of a box
Picture Credit score: Mie Winther, Shutterstock

8. Big Rabbits Can Weigh Extra Than 20lbs

There are various styles and sizes of rabbits, starting from tiny 2-pound mini breeds to the Giants. The Flemish Big is the biggest rabbit on the earth, usually weighing round 20 kilos, with some even reaching as much as 40! The present reigning champion of massive rabbits is a Flemish Big that’s 4 ft lengthy and lives together with his breeder within the UK. Big breeds just like the Continental and Flemish want plenty of area to roam, however they usually have very light and pleasant temperaments.

9. Rabbits Can Study to Use a Litter Field

Many rabbits will educate themselves to make use of a litter field if one is accessible to them since they’re very clear animals. Rabbits dislike dwelling in their very own mess, so most will decide a nook to do their enterprise. By putting a litter field on this nook, rabbit house owners can educate their rabbits to make use of the litter field even when it’s subsequently moved!

rabbit sitting litter box hay
Picture Credit score: mkzdillon, Shutterstock

10. Rabbits Stomp When They’re Offended

Identical to a binky reveals your rabbit is blissful, they’ll additionally present you once they’re sad. Thumping or foot stomping is a protection mechanism rabbits use to warn others of the hazard because the sound and vibration journey by way of the bottom. Rabbits are explicit about sure issues (similar to the place objects are of their cage) and can let their house owners know if one thing displeases them. Thumping is one in all a number of distinctive physique language quirks rabbits use to speak with one another and their house owners.

11. Rabbits Can See All Round Their Heads

As a result of they’re prey animals, rabbits should at all times be alert to hazard. In contrast to predator species with front-facing eyes (similar to cats and canine), which choose depth higher, rabbits have their eyes on the perimeters of their heads. Whereas that reduces their depth notion, rabbits can see nearly 360 levels round their heads. Pair that with swiveling ears, and you’ve got an animal that may see and listen to every part round them.

Satin Angora rabbit
Picture Credit score: JumpStory

12. Rabbits Are Crepuscular

Rabbits are crepuscular animals which might be extra lively at daybreak and nightfall. They aren’t nocturnal however can nonetheless be a little bit lively at night time and in the course of the day. It’s one other protecting mechanism, and rabbits use the low gentle to camouflage themselves from predators higher. That’s the reason you’ll see mom rabbits solely visiting their infants as soon as a day round nightfall; she desires them to remain hidden. Once they’re not lively, rabbits sleep or relaxation and eat grass or hay.

13. Carrots Aren’t Good for Rabbits!

Whereas Bugs Bunny immortalized the carrot because the tastiest snack for rabbits, they’re not excellent for them. Rabbits take pleasure in carrots since they’re candy, however they comprise little or no vitamin. They’re low in fiber and excessive in carbs, making them a less-than-ideal meals. Rabbits that lived solely on a food regimen of carrots would sadly not stay that lengthy in any respect. Rabbits dwelling on a food regimen of principally carrots will probably produce fewer cecotropes (nutritious poop that assist rabbits digest), be torpid and inactive, achieve weight, and have poor digestion.

lionhead rabbit eating carrots
Picture Credit score: Diana-Macias, Shutterstock

14. Rabbits Sleep With Their Eyes Open

It is a very unusual indisputable fact that is smart when you concentrate on it; rabbits sleep with their eyes open. It’s one other defensive mechanism that stems from being a prey animal. Rabbits should be capable to see their environment always, and their eyes keep open whilst they sleep. Rabbits will blink their nictitating membranes (third eyelids) whereas they sleep to maintain their eyes moist, however their eyes shall be open and practical.

15. Rabbits Want Firm

Rabbits are very social creatures that must stay in social teams to really feel protected and guarded. A rabbit dwelling by itself is a harassed rabbit, and so they usually start to exhibit bodily and psychological well being issues out of loneliness. Rabbits can cease consuming (which rapidly turns into lethal for them), or they will present uncharacteristic aggression. Preserving rabbits collectively permits them to carry out pure conduct they will’t do in any other case, similar to allogrooming or forming a pecking order.

rabbits eating grass
Picture Credit score: Julia Kuznetsova, Shutterstock

16. Child Rabbits Are Known as Kittens

Lastly, child rabbits are known as kittens! A bunch of rabbit kittens is named a nest or a litter, and older rabbits share their names with deer. An grownup feminine rabbit is named a doe, and an grownup male is named a buck! A bunch of grownup rabbits is known as a colony or a herd.


Conclusion

Rabbits are fascinating creatures which have been domesticated for a whole bunch of years. They have been initially used for meat and fur to maintain Roman troopers fed and clothed. They steadily morphed right into a companion species, and now these marvelous creatures are every part from present animals to remedy animals! Rabbits ought to at all times be saved collectively and given sufficient room to hop and leap about. In case your rabbits are well-cared for, they are often wonderful companions for over 10 years!


Featured Picture Credit score: taya_xxmeimei, Shutterstock

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