If you are considering giving your child a rabbit for Easter, there is much you need to know beforehand. Bunnies require diligent care and daily attention from a person who is well-educated about them and committed to their care. They should not be lightly considered as a pet. Bunnies are the cutest little creatures. But, they will bite the &#!% out of you! I mean, have you ever seen the drawings of rabbits in medieval manuscripts, for God’s sake?!?

In November 2019, my then college student adopted a lionhead rabbit, thinking it could live in the dorm becasue a roommate had one. Turns out, you need papers from a therapist saying you need a support animal to keep one in the dorm. Guess who got to care for the bunny until school was out five months later!

Of course, I became attached the rabbit, and she to me. So, she is now my bunny. Her name is Sepia, because she is the color of a sepiatone photo. (I wanted to name her Hasenpfeffer, but Rainn would not allow it.) She weighs a little over 3 pounds. She can be the sweetest little bunny one minute, then the hatefulest critter you ever met the next.

If you have any idea of getting a pet rabbit, please read below carefully.

Rabbits live 8 to 12 years.

Owning a bunny is a long-term commitment. Too many people buy them on a whim at Eastertime, then after the new wears off, the animals end up discarded into the outdoors or taken to animal shelters. (See statistics below)

Rabbits are social creatures.

Rabbits are the healthiest when they become an integral part of the family, meaning they should be allowed to be in your house just like cats and dogs. This requires bunny-proofing any area where the sweet critter roams. Rabbits should be house-trained to use a litter pan if they free-roam.

Rabbits are nervous creatures.

Because rabbits are prey animals, they always think something is after them. Loud noise, activities, and other pets can upset them or even cause them to have heart attacks. This is also why they need to be indoors. I have a friend who tried to bathe a bunny, which caused the bunny to have a heart attack. BTW, bunnies do not need baths and always smell good.

Rabbits do not like to be picked up without warning, and they will scratch and hurt someone out of self-defense (especially those who attempt to lift the bunny incorrectly).

Rabbits are fragile.

Bunnies can easily be hurt. Rabbit bones can break, and their limbs can become dislocated if they are dropped, held too tightly, or jerked around. They also have fragile respiratory systems, so they cannot live in basements or drafty places. Lysol and other smelly sprays are not healthy for them either.

Rabbits need to be neutered or spayed.

As with all pets, neutering and spaying is a must. This will require an exotic pet veterinarian, as will their annual checkup.

Rabbits are expensive.

Even if you adopt a bunny, they are costly. You will need a large cage where they can nest and eat hay. Water and food bowls, toys, and wood. Rabbits’ teeth continually grow, so they have to eat wood to keep them worn down. This may include your furniture if you do not pay attention while letting them roam around the hose. They also love rubber, which tastes sweet to them.

Litter has to be paper pellets, which are not cheap. Cat litter has dust which rabbits fragile respiratory system cannot handle.

Plus, food. Please see the special diet below.

Rabbits like to chew.

Because rabbit teeth continually grow, they continuously chew. And they will chew on anything! Wood is what they need to keep their teeth worn down. They can’t have just any wood because certain types are harmful or even deadly to a rabbit. So, you must research and obtain wood for your bunny to be healthy. If not, they WILL eat your furniture and baseboards. And, IF you provide wood, they will STILL eat your furniture if you don’t pay attention!

Rubber tastes sweet, to rabbits anyway. They will nibble on anything rubber. Think of your device cords! Recently, I saw a post on Instagram where a dude showed a graveyard box of his device cords as he was adding a chewed one into the box while his bunny looked on. Another posts said, “Tell me you have a bunny without telling me you have a bunny.” Someone commented a photo of a tv remote just like the ours in the gallery below.

Rabbits have special diets.

Rabbits are herbivores (plant eaters) and are considered grazers, because they eat continuously. My little critter gets Oxbow hay pellets morning and evening, a tiny piece of fruit every couple days, two cups of greens (ones approved for bunny consumption), plus a green fresh-cut haystack the size of her body EACH DAY. Hay is 80% of their diet. My little queen bunny costs $40 to $50 a month! You can supplement dandelions, clover, and fresh grass for lettuce sometimes during spring and summer. This amount also includes litter.

• Per the House Rabbit Society and the Humane Society of the U.S. rabbits rank 3rd behind dogs and cats that are surrendered. Rabbits can live to between 8–10 years if well cared for, however, 80% of rabbits purchased at Easter either die or are abandoned within the first year. *Patch staff, Beth Dalbey. March 30. 21.’