Below will give you some guidance on the required care if you choose to adopt a rabbit.

A Mini Lop Rabbit is a small-mid sized rabbit, as adults they are about the size of a Coles tissue box with head and legs added. In Australia a mini lop should reach about 1.6kg adult weight,  Australian Mini Lop = Holland Lop. When you are searching note that a American Mini Lop 2.5kg+ = Australian Dwarf Lop. The smallest rabbit you can get in Australia is a Netherland Dwarf.

🧬 VIENNA A Vienna rabbit is one that carries the gene for blue eyes, it is linked with the white colour. Same as with blue eye people, you need the gene from both parents for the blue eyes to come out, as the gene for brown eyes is dominant. A blue eye rabbit will be known as a Vienna (V). Vienna Split (VS) is a blue eyed rabbit with a white strip from ears to nose. Vienna Marked (VM) is a blue or brown eyed rabbit with white markings. Vienna Carrier (VC) has brown eyes but we know they carry one copy of the blue eye gene. Vienna Free (VF) we know they don’t carry the blue eyes at all.

🐰 A baby rabbit is called a kitten, or kit for short. Adopting a rabbit is like adopting a dog or cat, they are relatively long lived (5-9 yrs), smart, can be litter trained, can hop around the house, will bond with you and be sad when you are not with them. All babies are born with their ears upright, as their skull grows their ears drop down, this can be as early as 3 weeks or later to around 8-10 weeks. They don’t have to have rabbit company if you give them time. Rabbits are not just great for kids, but also adults - A bit like cats, their silly antics brighten every body’s lives just a little. All rabbits have different personalities just like people, they can be shy, bossy, hyperactive, docile, tolerant, mischievous, crazy etc

☘️ FEEDING 80% - 95% Hay/grass, balance 10% vege treat, 5% quality pellets this is 1/4 cup per 2kg so a baby rabbit should have about 1/8 cup per day!, 5% fruit and treats. DO NOT feed cereal,oats, carbs, bread, ‘seed mixes’ grains, corn, etc cheap poor quality pellets and feeds can lead to digestive problems, poor teeth, disease, nutrient deficiency, potential floppy bunny syndrome and sudden death. We feed Origins Rabbit Pellets, I’d recommend sticking with this brand. 

💡Cable protect your house, or limit what rooms they have access to, you can get cable protectors from Bunnings. From experience, my rabbit ate our Xbox, and a friends ate her washing machine! It can be an expensive lesson.

🐇💕 MY BUNNY NEEDS A FRIEND, actually no it doesn’t, but if you do get a friend then be prepared for it to not work out, unless bonded at a young age, or your bunny is de-sexed introducing a new rabbit may lead to disaster, typically 6-8 weeks you can get babies together but after that they they can start getting territorial. Male + Male will fight, Female + Female will fight, Male + Female = date night.

🦷TEETH the hardest part in a Rabbits body is their teeth, and teeth on teeth is what keeps them worn down, it is constant eating, hay, grass etc. it is not buying them an apple stick to chew on - tho they will love you for it! chewing on wood does not wear teeth down. Constant available feed, promoting constant teeth on teeth action will generally keep them worn down and in good order.

🌞 SUMMER rabbits are ok with Perth Winter, as an adult bunny cold is not a problem, and they will acclimatise to summer if living outside, however can suffer heat stroke above around 30 deg C- an ice bottle/eski brick each morning will get them through the better part of the day if living outside - this is what we do. If your bun is an indoor bunny - don’t put outside for a run and subject to extreme heat variations if they are not used to it.

👐 NEVER hit or show aggression to a rabbit if it is having a fight with another, gently separate, and ALWAYS supervise small children 👧 - only gentle kindness should be associated with human hands, small kids can squeeze - but with coaching from you they will learn to be gentle.

💧 FUR MITES AND WORMING - use the spot on treatment Revolution for kittens. You only really need to use if you see a problem, dirt in ears = mites,  you don’t need to treat this every month like with cats, depending on housing. You can check with your vet for other options. If you house your rabbit with a guinea pig we would recommend it more regularly, piggies are prone to mites and you need to keep it under control.

🦠VIRUS PROTECTION - you can’t vaccinate against myxomatosis in Australia but you can against several strains of the calicivirus. We do vaccinate our adult rabbits, but the kit you buy is not vaccinated unless you request it. Vaccinations are typically from $100 each depending on your vet. Shop around though you can find some that are cheaper at almost half price. 

✂️ NAIL CLIPPING - easy done with nail clippers, but is not recommended before 6 months old as the nail bed is not fully developed.

⛏ DIGGING - all rabbits will and can dig no matter how small, it’s in their genes, they do need hop around time to,if digging becomes a problem then simply put a sheet of wire under the playpen or cage.

💩 TOILET TRAINING - People don’t train rabbits, it is natural instinct for them to use one corner away from their home/nest. It is a prey-instinct thing to keep their home and kittens safe from predators. At first they learn this over their first 6 weeks or so from their mum and associate what she uses as a litter tray as the toilet spot. When you get them home they maybe a bit disorientated but be patient and the litter spot will be chosen by them, we use a kitty litter tray and recycled paper kitty litter - this they should recognise.

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