The first-time rabbit owner guide is the checklist for the first year with a rabbit in the Philippines: the space, the hay, the first week, the veterinarian, the heat, and the papers. Every item links to the guide that explains it.
A rabbit is sold as an easy pet and is not one. It needs unlimited hay, a room to run in, a companion, a veterinarian who treats rabbits, and protection from an afternoon that a dog would shrug off. Get those five right and the rabbit is quiet, clean, and a pleasure for a decade.
Contents
Before the rabbit arrives
- A room or a large pen indoors, with everything chewable moved: wires, plants, skirting, books on the floor.
- Two hiding places with two exits each: a cardboard box with holes cut in it works.
- A litter tray with paper-based litter, topped with hay. Never clumping cat litter or scented wood shavings.
- Good hay, a lot of it, and a rack or a corner to pile it in.
- A heavy water bowl. Rabbits drink more from a bowl than from a bottle.
- Plain pellets, measured, and a list of safe greens from the veterinarian.
- Chew toys: untreated wood, cardboard, willow balls.
- A carrier, nail clippers, a soft brush, and a ceramic tile or two for cooling.
- A veterinarian who treats rabbits, found before the rabbit arrives, with a first visit booked.
The first week
- Sit on the floor of the pen and let the rabbit come to you. Do not lift it this week. See The first week at home.
- Hay and water at all times from the first hour. Watch the droppings: many, round, and dry is right.
- Put a few droppings in the tray to show the rabbit where it goes. Most learn within days.
- Keep the room cool with moving air, and keep the rabbit out of sun.
- The first veterinary visit: weight, teeth, a stool check, sex confirmed, and a date for sterilisation.[1]
Health in the first year
- Sterilisation. Spaying removes a high risk of uterine cancer in a female and makes a bonded pair possible; neutering stops a male spraying and fighting. Done within the first year, by a veterinarian experienced with rabbits. See Why and when to spay or neuter.
- Teeth. They grow all the rabbit's life. Hay wears them; pellets and treats do not. A wet chin, a drooling rabbit, or a rabbit that drops food is a dental problem.
- The gut. A rabbit that stops eating or stops producing droppings for twelve hours is an emergency, not a wait-and-see. See When to go to the vet now.
- Flystrike. In the wet season flies lay eggs on soiled fur, and the maggots eat the rabbit. Check the rear every day and keep it clean and dry.
- Vaccines. Ask the veterinarian which rabbit vaccines are available here in a given year.
- Yearly check-up. Teeth, weight, and nails.
The daily routine
- Hay refilled twice a day: a pile as big as the rabbit every day, and more if it eats it all.[2]
- Fresh leafy greens morning and evening, a small measure of pellets once a day, fresh water twice. See Food and water basics.
- Several hours out of the pen to run, jump, and dig in a rabbit-proofed room.[3]
- Scoop the tray daily and change it fully twice a week.
- A brush once a week, daily for a long coat and during a moult; a rabbit that swallows loose fur can block its gut.
- A look at the droppings, the chin, and the rear.
Heat
A rabbit cannot sweat and pants poorly, and a Philippine afternoon in a closed room or an outdoor hutch is fatal. Keep the rabbit indoors, out of sun, with a fan moving air across the pen, a frozen water bottle wrapped in a towel to lie against, and a ceramic tile on the floor. A rabbit stretched out flat, breathing fast, with wet fur around the nose is overheating: move it to a cooler room, wet its ears with cool water, and call the veterinarian. See Pets in the Philippine climate.
Papers
- IAGD record. Free, from the register page or the SuperApp.
- Microchip. Possible at a veterinary visit, and required for travel abroad.
- LGU. No national law requires rabbit registration. See How to identify and register your pet.
Common mistakes
- A hutch as the whole home.
- Pellets, muesli mix, and carrots as the diet. Hay is the diet.
- Keeping the rabbit outdoors in the hot months.
- Bathing a rabbit. It causes shock and chills; spot-clean instead.
- Lifting by the ears or the scruff, or letting a child carry it. A dropped rabbit breaks its back.
- One rabbit, alone, for years.
- Waiting overnight when the rabbit has stopped eating.
Common questions
One rabbit or two?
Two, sterilised, bonded slowly on neutral ground, is the kinder answer for almost every household. A single rabbit needs hours of your company a day instead.
Can a rabbit live with a cat or a dog?
In the same house, separated. A rabbit is prey and it knows it; the stress alone harms it, before any bite does.
Which greens are safe?
Leafy ones: pechay, kangkong, romaine, coriander, basil, carrot tops, and many more. Small amounts of a new green at a time, and no iceberg lettuce, no onions, and fruit only as a treat.
