Rabbits are one of the most popular pets in the UK, but they’re also, according to welfare organisations, among the most commonly misunderstood. Contrary to the “starter pet in a small hutch” image many people grow up with, rabbits are intelligent, social, physically active animals with genuinely demanding care needs – arguably closer to a cat or dog in complexity than to the low-maintenance pet they’re sometimes assumed to be.
Space and environment
Rabbits need far more space than a traditional small hutch provides. Welfare guidance generally recommends a permanently accessible living area that allows a rabbit to take at least three hops in a row and stand fully upright on their back legs without their ears touching the top – and crucially, this needs to be paired with a securely fenced exercise area they can access every day, not just for occasional supervised time. Whether housed indoors or outdoors, rabbits need shelter from extreme heat, cold and predators, a dry and draught-free resting area, and enough space to display natural behaviours like running, jumping and standing up on their back legs to look around.
Diet: hay first, everything else second
Diet is one of the areas where rabbit care is most commonly got wrong. The foundation of a healthy rabbit diet is fresh, good-quality feeding hay or grass, available constantly – rabbits should be eating roughly their own body size in hay every single day. Alongside this, rabbits need a large handful of safe, washed leafy greens daily, ideally five or six different varieties rotated for variety (examples include cabbage, kale, broccoli, herbs like parsley and mint, and dandelion leaves). A small amount of good-quality rabbit pellets can be offered – generally no more than around 5% of the diet – though pellets aren’t strictly essential if hay and greens are provided properly. Muesli-style rabbit food is best avoided, as it allows selective eating of the tastiest bits and is linked to dental and digestive problems, and fruit or root vegetables like carrot should only be given occasionally as treats rather than a dietary staple, given their sugar content.
Companionship: rabbits need other rabbits
This is arguably the single most under-appreciated rabbit welfare issue. Rabbits are highly sociable animals who value the companionship of other rabbits almost as much as food, and a rabbit kept permanently alone can develop abnormal behaviours and significant stress as a result. Rabbits housed with a compatible companion – commonly a neutered male and neutered female pairing, since neutering reduces fighting in both sexes – show fewer abnormal behaviours such as excessive fur-chewing or bar-biting than rabbits kept alone. If you already have a solitary rabbit, welfare organisations recommend looking into careful, properly managed bonding with a compatible companion rather than assuming your rabbit is content alone. Where a rabbit genuinely must be kept alone, daily interaction and attention from their owner becomes even more important.
Natural behaviour and enrichment
In the wild, rabbits spend much of their time grazing, digging, exploring and staying alert to potential threats. A good home environment gives them safe outlets for all of this: tunnels and hideaways to retreat into, safe digging boxes filled with shredded paper or child-safe soil, chew-safe wooden toys and branches to help wear down their continuously growing teeth, and enough space to run and “binky” (the joyful jump-and-twist rabbits do when they’re happy). Rotating toys and rearranging their environment periodically helps prevent boredom.
Grooming and everyday health checks
Grooming needs depend on breed – long-haired breeds like Angoras need daily brushing, while short-haired breeds need much less. All rabbits benefit from a regular gentle check-over: looking at their bottom for signs of soiling or flystrike risk (especially important in warmer months), checking teeth for overgrowth, and feeling for any unusual lumps. Rabbits are prey animals that instinctively hide signs of illness or pain until a condition is fairly advanced, which is exactly why regular hands-on checks and a good relationship with an experienced rabbit-savvy vet matter so much.
Veterinary care
Rabbits need routine vaccinations against diseases such as myxomatosis and rabbit viral haemorrhagic disease, along with regular health checks and appropriate parasite prevention. This article is general guidance rather than veterinary advice: if your rabbit stops eating, seems unusually quiet, is straining or not passing droppings normally, or shows any other sudden change, treat it as urgent and contact a vet straight away – rabbits can deteriorate quickly if their gut stops moving normally.
Getting started
If you’re considering rabbits for the first time, plan for a pair rather than a single rabbit, budget for a genuinely spacious enclosure plus daily exercise space, and find a vet in your area experienced with rabbits before you need one in an emergency. Done properly, rabbit-keeping is a real long-term commitment – but it also means a much richer, more rewarding relationship with two genuinely characterful animals than the old “hutch in the garden” image ever suggested.
Sources
- RSPCA – Pet Rabbits in the UK
- RSPCA – Feeding Your Pet Rabbit a Healthy Diet
- RSPCA – How to Keep a Rabbit Healthy & Happy
- RSPCA Knowledgebase – What Companionship Do Rabbits Need?
- RSPCA New South Wales – Bunny Care: Keeping Your Pet Rabbit Happy & Healthy
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