Pet Habitat South Africa

<< Back To Blog List

06 Dec 2014

House Rabbits Over Christmas Period

Posted By : Guest

Filed Under : Rabbits | Pet Care

There always seems to be so much going on in your home at this time of year; more visitors come to your door, decorations give it a festive feel, and there is no end of tasty treats! This can be quite a change of surroundings for your house rabbits. Here are our best tactics to ensure your rabbits’ comfort is best prepared.

Although it may be difficult on certain days, try and stick to your rabbits’ routine as much as possible. Even on busy days, put aside time so you can give them plenty of attention, as you will be a friendly point of contact if your rabbits are not used to the changes in their surroundings. If you have a lot of visitors in your home, ensure that you never leave your rabbits unsupervised with others who do not know how to handle rabbits. This is especially the case with children, as it can be easy for an over affectionate child to mishandle or cause stress to your rabbits if left alone with them.

If your rabbit gets scared easily at noise, when entertaining guests be sure to keep your rabbits in a room as far away from your visitors as possible. Provide plenty of hiding spaces in the room so your bunnies can snuggle up in case they still feel threatened.

If you have an artificial tree or a real one that has been treated, do not let your rabbits chew on it as it may contain chemicals that are harmful to your pets. You may prefer to not let your rabbit near any tree to avoid any danger of it falling over. You can do this by either putting the tree in a room you do not allow your rabbit into or adding a playpen around the bottom of your tree.

Avoiding putting up festive plants such as mistletoe or holly since these can be poisonous to pets if they eat them.

A good Christmas chew present for your bunny can be a pinecone. Alternatively if you really wanted your rabbit involved in the festive period at home you could give them their own small rabbit-friendly tree to chew on and add some toys on low hanging branches.

If you add lights on your tree or around your home make sure that your rabbits have no way of reaching them or the electrical wire. They will most likely chew on the wire which can be fatal even when covered in protective tape. This also applies to candles, as bunnies who like to explore may get too close to the flame. Never leave your rabbit in the same room as your Christmas tree, fairy lights or candles unsupervised!

Bunnies will love ripping wrapping paper, but if you would like them to join in on the Christmas morning fun give them a treat covered in brown paper. It is important that your pets do not eat ribbons or sellotape, which are often an essential part of gift wrapping.

Tasty treats are great to indulge in around Christmas for humans but keep these out of reach for our rabbit friends! This is especially a concern for salty snacks, as these can be dangerous for rabbits to digest.

Finally, we all hope you have a great Christmas celebration with your bunnies – don’t forget to treat them with presents!