There are more than 50 varieties of rabbits ranging from 1-9 kg (2 – 20 lbs.). Rabbits need both a space to exercise and a quiet place to hide. Like many pets, it is important to find the right rabbit as they all can have very different personalities.
Rabbits are herbivores and eat primarily grasses and leaves. They will also eat vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds.
Eight to twelve years
Did you know?
- Rabbits are members of the leporid family—they are not rodents. The characteristics that separate them from rodents are: more incisor teeth (rabbits = 6, rodents = 4), they can chew from side to side, they have long erect ears, they have kangaroo type back feet and have a scut for a tail.
- Captive rabbits will solicit attention from people by nudging at them with their muzzle or scratching at the floor.
- Unlike Thumper of movie fame, a domestic rabbit will thump in response to stress or a perceived threat.
- Rabbits have scent glands under their chins which they use to mark territory. Males may also use this gland to mark females.
- Rabbits are coprophagic, meaning they eat their own feces. Grass and other plant material is difficult to digest so rabbits will re-ingest it to get the maximum amount of nutrients from their food. The re-ingested pellets, known as cecotropes, are nutrient-rich and passed out of the body like feces, but contain twice the protein and half the fiber of typical fecal pellets.
- Lindsay Wildlife’s domestic rabbit, “Miles”, was adopted from the Oakland Animal Shelter in August 2006 at approximately 6 months old.