Rabbit

Grooming

Brushing is the core grooming job for a rabbit: two or three times a week for short-haired rabbits, daily during a moult; long-haired rabbits need layer-by-layer brushing down to the skin to prevent matting underneath. During a moult, fur intake rises, and daily brushing reduces the risk of gut stasis - so brushing is not just about looks, it is part of gut management. While brushing, run your hands over the skin and check for redness, hair loss or dandruff. Check the toenails every four to six weeks; overlong nails affect how the rabbit stands, and if you are not confident, leave it to a vet or a pet groomer. Don't bathe often, because rabbits clean themselves and a full-body wash easily chills and stresses them; for spot cleaning, a slightly damp cloth is enough. Clean cages and pens with pet-safe products, rinse thoroughly and let them dry before putting the rabbit back. Also keep untreated wood chews on hand to help wear the teeth down alongside hay. In daily life, watch how fast it eats hay and whether it drools - these are the earliest dental clues, earlier than waiting for weight loss.

Exercise

Rabbits are horizontal movers: they need a length they can hop along continuously, not levels, which is why a pen is generally better than a cage. UK rabbit welfare organisations recommend an activity area of about 3 m by 2 m; small Hong Kong flats may not manage that, so the practical approach is a pen as a base plus daily free-roaming time, rather than long confinement in a cage only big enough to turn around in. The floor must be non-slip: standing long term on wire mesh presses the soles, causing hair loss and even ulcers, so use a solid non-slip surface with paper pellets or unscented wood shavings; aromatic softwood shavings are also not ideal. The pen needs a hiding house, ideally with two entrances, because a rabbit is a prey animal and needs a retreat that doesn't involve crossing open space. Don't put the pen by a window with direct sun or in front of an air-conditioner outlet - localised heat is harder to notice than the overall room temperature. Rabbits are active at night, and the sound of jumping and cage-biting carries to the flat below; a thick mat reduces complaints. The most common beginner mistake is buying a small cage with shelves, when what a rabbit needs is floor space, not a shelved cage.

Training

Training a rabbit starts with the environment and how you pick it up. Litter training is the easiest success: rabbits usually urinate in a fixed corner, so put a square litter tray with paper or wood-pellet litter there - no scolding needed; if it already uses a particular corner, move the tray to that spot rather than forcing a change of habit. Getting handling wrong frightens and injures a rabbit: neither picking it up from above nor by the ears is acceptable; the correct way is one hand under the chest and one supporting the hindquarters, held close to your body. This follows from its prey instincts - a hand coming from above looks like a predator to a rabbit. Fruit may only be given in tiny amounts, occasionally, as a reward; don't use treats to buy cooperation, and don't relax the hay and vegetable proportions because the rabbit has been 'good'. Environmental noise is part of training too: site the pen away from sources of vibration and use thick mats to reduce sound transmission, and your rabbit's stress will naturally be lower. Also, don't shout after a one-off accident - rabbits are especially sensitive to sudden sounds.

Diet

Hay is a rabbit's staple, without exception. The general recommendation is that hay makes up most of the daily food volume; for adults, grass hays such as timothy are the mainstay, and young rabbits can have alfalfa, though alfalfa is higher in calcium and is not suitable in large amounts long term. Vegetables means a small amount of dark green leafy vegetables daily, with the portion adjusted to body weight; beans, corn and potatoes are unsuitable; try each new vegetable in small amounts one at a time while watching the droppings, and stop at once if they turn soft. Pellets are only a supplement - one to two tablespoons a day is enough. Any change of food must be slow: a sudden switch disrupts the gut flora and causes soft droppings, bloating and even gut stasis; the usual approach is a gradual mix over seven to ten days, and if soft droppings appear midway, pause and ask a vet. Fruit may only be given in tiny amounts, occasionally, washed, peeled, deseeded and at room temperature. Mixed feeds containing dried fruit, seeds and coloured biscuits are high in sugar and calories and are generally not recommended as a staple; a rabbit eating its own caecotrophs is normal physiology.

Living environment

Rabbits fear heat rather than cold: low temperatures plus dryness are usually manageable, while high temperature plus high humidity is very dangerous, so humidity and temperature must be read together. Most sources suggest a room temperature of about 15 to 22 degrees C, with extra cooling needed above 25 degrees C; rabbits dissipate heat through their ears and have no sweat glands, so a room at 28 degrees C or above is already quite dangerous. Practical measures include keeping the air conditioning at a stable temperature, laying down tiles or a frozen water bottle for the rabbit to lie on, using a fan only for air circulation, closing curtains against the western sun, and avoiding having the air-conditioner blow directly on the rabbit. Never leave a rabbit in an uncooled room or on a balcony; power cuts are a real risk in a Hong Kong summer, so have a backup plan for where it will go. The return-of-spring damp and the rainy season make hay and food prone to damp, and mould toxins cannot be dealt with by 'scooping off the surface' - store food sealed with a desiccant. The pen needs a hiding house, ideally with two entrances. If the flat has no air conditioning, decide in advance which room the rabbit will be in rather than moving it in a panic during a heatwave.