Scratches & kicking
Rabbits are built differently to other animals and can easily be injured if not interacted with correctly.
Rabbits are very bottom heavy. Their back legs are much bigger than their front legs and this means that they hold most of their weight in the second half of their body.
If a rabbit is held or picked up incorrectly, a rabbit will panic and kick out with its strong hind legs. This kicking can cause a child to drop the rabbit. A rabbit will drop to the ground bottom first causing breaks, serious injury and sometimes death.
The child will also be injured by the scraching of the nails and the kicking of the legs.
Bites from sharp teeth
When a rabbit turns 5-6 months of age, a bunny will change from that fluffy, cute and tolerant rabbit that they once were as a baby bunny.
Once a bunny hits 6 months of age, they are now a teenager. Their personality emerges and they start to make their own decisions on how they want to be treated by their human friends. Rabbits have very strong personalities and if they do not want to be handled or picked up as they did as a baby bunny, or are frightened by chasing or loud noises, they will start to lunge and bite the children.
A rabbit's bite is very sharp and hard. A rabbit's front teeth need to constantly grow and grind down to the sharpness of a razor blade to ensure they can chew hard fibrous foods.
When a rabbit bites human skin, the incisor teeth plunge deep into the skin. Rabbits can hold their bite in fear for quite a long time and the pain is intense.
Rabbits are fabulous companions for the right person and some children can be excellent with small animals. Children, however, should never be the main carer for a rabbit.
Rabbits HATE loud noises and will attack if threatened
Rabbits are not fond of loud noises, being chased and are very territorial and aggressive if threatened. Most rabbits that are surrendered to shelters were bought for small children. When the bunny hits the age of around 6 months, they start to mature and become their own little personality. This is when the bunny decides that they will not tolerate being picked up or handled roughly. Rabbits can start to growl, lunge, bite or chase whoever is the threat. Once a bunny starts to show these signs, most families ditch the bun instead of learning how to adjust and interact with their maturing rabbit.
Do you have 10 years to dedicate to a rabbit?
Rabbits live for 10 years or more if looked after properly. Rabbits need regular veterinary visits, desexing & yearly vaccinations. Desexing helps with behaviour and long term health issues. Calici vaccinations are yearly and this is a good opportunity to have your bun health checked. Rabbits age 8 years to our 1 so a yearly checkup is vital to keep up with any health issues.
Rabbits need good food
Rabbits need good quality vegies that you would eat yourself, not freebies from a bin.
Rabbits need good quality hay from a stockfeed store, not dried up pet hay from a pet shop or inedible straw.
Rabbits need to know they are safe
Rabbits need a safe space to run, not cooped up in a box in the backyard or left outside to fend for themselves. If inside, they need a safe bunny proofed room and a safe place to sleep. If they live outside, their enclosure needs to be BIG and INSECT/PREDATOR PROOFED.
All this requires money.
Rabbits need a mature person to look after them. They are not a toy for a small child.
Injuries to the children & rabbit
Children & rabbits
For too long it has been thought that rabbits are great "starter" pets for children. This is completely inaccurate.
Rabbits are misunderstood and delicate creatures with strong personalities, sharp teeth and nails.. Not only can children easily injure a rabbit but also a rabbit can injure your child. All children under 15 should be supervised with a rabbit.
When a rabbit and child are not supervised, the rabbit will always come out second best. Sadly there are too many stories about rabbits being accidentally killed by small children, such as the bunny who was taken to the park and dropped down the slide until it didn't move anymore. Or the one that was brought inside to sleep with a little girl who placed it under her pillow where it suffocated overnight. That's just two true stories but sadly there are so many more. Rabbits are living, breathing little bundles of personality and love. They are not a toy.
