Our volunteers have fielded hundreds of questions over the years about rabbits in the Sacramento area (and beyond). Your question could be listed here. You can save yourself some time and money by checking if your question is answered here first.

We also have had to answer many misinformed questions. Read some of them here.

1. I need to find a home for my rabbit. Can you take him/her? Or, I found a rabbit, and I can't keep him/her. What can I do? I just found a rabbit and it's is in my kitchen or bathroom-what do I do with him?
2. Who do notify if I've lost/found a rabbit?
3. How do you trap a rabbit running in the park or neighborhood?
4. My bunny is aggressive and bites me. Why and what can I do?
5. I'm looking for a dwarf rabbit (or a small bunny). Do you have one?
6. At what age can you spay/neuter a bunny?
7. I have called around and it cost a lot of money to spay/neuter a rabbit? Why? Is there a low cost vet in town?
8. Do rabbits get along with dogs or cats?
9. Where can I get a cage?
10. How do you tell if a rabbit is pregnant?
11. Can I come to see your foster rabbits?
12. When will you return my phone call?
13. I don't have time for my rabbit, can you give him a better home?

Question 1.

I need to find a home for my rabbit. Can you take him/her? Or, I found a rabbit, and I can't keep him/her. What can I do? I just found a rabbit and it's is in my kitchen or bathroom-what do I do with him?

Answer 1.

The House Rabbit Society's first priority in rescuing rabbits is to rescue them from local animal shelters where they are in danger of being euthanized. We have prepared this flier with information & tips to find your rabbit or your newly discovered rabbit a new home. If you have decided to care for a found rabbit yourself, here are a few immediate things to do:

1. Shelter: Keep the rabbit in a quiet place in which he can feel secure. The laundry room, bathroom, or quiet corner of any room works well. You can use a cage or animal play pen to house the rabbit. Provide daily fresh water in a heavy bowl, crock, or animal water bottle.
2. Food: If you have no rabbit pellets immediately available, provide some dark leafy greens such as dandelion greens or collard greens. Carrot tops are fine, but do not feed carrots which have been know to cause upset stomachs in stressed rabbits. Do not feed iceberg lettuce which typically causes diarrhea. Do not feed any starches such as potatoes or corn or legumes such as beans. Get more veggie ideas here.
3. Sanitary arrangements: Rabbits are naturally inclined to use a litter box: they like to go in the same corner as before. All you usually have to do is put a box there. If you have found a rabbit, he may have already been litter trained. You can use a cat litter box, cardboard box, plastic shoe box or storage box, and add shredded newspaper.
4. Finding a permanent home: Post fliers in your neighborhood & and area pet stores to see if someone has lost their bunny. File a found animal report with your nearby animal shelters such as the SPCA & municipal animal control.

Q2.

Who do notify if I've lost/found a rabbit?

A2.

Both the Sacramento SPCA & Sacramento County Animal Control have a card system for lost & found pets. You can fill out a lost card about your bunny and check to see if anyone has filled out a found card. You should go and check the shelter in person rather than just phoning the shelters. Sometimes the description written on a card is totally different than what the animal really looks like. You should check every other day & post fliers in the neighborhood. Lost rabbits can travel considerable distances. Be sure to check a radius of at least 3 streets away.

If you find a rabbit you can also phone Sacramento Animal Control to fill out a found animal report on their automated system.

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Q3.

How do you trap a rabbit running in the park or neighborhood?

A3.

We typically put food or a fruit treat in a cage & wait for the rabbit to get hungry, then close the door once he is inside. Favorites include bananas, dried cranberries, & apples.

Q4.

My bunny is aggressive and bites me. Why and what can I do?

A4.

Unspayed or unnueterd rabbits are the most aggressive due their sexual hormones. They will also have pungent smelling urine, poor litter box habits, and wide mood swings. Jump to our local vet page for low cost spay and neuter clinics. Their behavior might persist for up to a month until all their hormones have left their system.

Even altered rabbits will sometimes be very territorial. Clean you bunny's cage or pen when she is not there since rabbits have been known to be very particular about the arrangement of their nest.

Rabbits can be frightened easily & bite defensively if you suddenly move your hand towards them. They have a great field of vision, but have a blind spot right in front their nose. Your hand coming up right in front might startle her.They have very poor close-up vision. They might not like being touched on noses or hindquarters. Rabbits typically do not enjoy being picked up & may bite in an effort to be released.

Your rabbit may take offense at some odor on your hands even though you can't smell it.

Your rabbit may accidentally nip you when she is grooming you or trying to get your attention.

Be alert & try to notice the occasions she is aggressive or bites.

See if your rabbit is trying to be the boss.

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Q5.

I'm looking for a dwarf rabbit (or a small bunny). Do you have one?

A5.

You can check our Foster page or call local animal shelters.

Q6.

At what age can you spay/neuter a bunny?

A6.

Males can be neutered at 4 months old, females at 6 months. This is when they become sexually mature. Vets prefer to wait an additional 2 months to minimize the possibility of complications & risks, but shelters want to do it as soon as possible to prevent the possibility of pregnancy. Often unpleasant behaviors related to sexual maturing (aggression and marking) also appear around 4 to 6 months, so altering is the way to quickly deal with this. Rabbits benefit from being spayed or neutered into adulthood as well. Adult unspayed females have an 85% probablity of developing uterine cancer.

Q7.

I have called around and it cost a lot of money to spay/neuter a rabbit? Why? Is there a low cost vet in town?

A7.

Vets have less experience altering rabbits than they do for dogs or cats and are not as efficient performing the procedure. Rabbits have different medical needs for surgery than dogs and cats & the vet you called may not have the equipment or supplies needed. Check our vet page to find the low cost clinic we have listed.

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Q8.

Do rabbits get along with dogs or cats?

A8.

Rabbits should be slowly introduced to other animals. For hints on introducing rabbits to cats & dogs, see our general tips for rabbits at home. For introduction tips see our bonding page. The key is to gradually get everybody used to each other & build up exposure time. Let the animals have plenty of breaks & timeouts from each other in the familiarization process. Depending on everyone involved, the process might take a day or maybe a month or more. Find out more here.

Q9.

Where can I get a cage?

A9.

Large pet department stores have cages, however these are not usually large enough to comfortably house a medium size rabbit (six to nine pounds). There are a lot of catalog sources. Check our bunny supplies page

Q10.

How do you tell if a rabbit is pregnant?

A10.

Gestation is only 30 days for rabbits. Litter size ranges from 4 to10. Methods for determining pregnancy include abdominal development and manual palpation. The abdomen of the rabbit does not generally enlarge until 3 weeks after the mating-which is almost delivery time. Manual feeling of the abdomen is the best determination. Embryos grow into the placental stage around 7 days. Manual examining can be accurate as early as 10 days, however prior to 14 days, it is almost impossible for a lay person to feel babies. To examine the rabbit, place on table and gently squeeze and feel the lower part of the abdomen. It will be soft, an indication of the fluid filled amniotic sac. Babies feel about the size of an olive and you should be able to feel a group of olives or grapes. Delivery occurs usually 29-31 days after mating.

Rabbits will dig and make a nest out of their hair and hay. Mom will feed the babies once or twice a day during the wee hours of the morning when most people are asleep. In the wild, when people discover a litter that has been hidden, they assume the litter has been abandoned. However, mom covered them up & left so as not to attract predators. She returns when she is not likely to be observed. Leave a nest alone if you discover one.

See the article "Baby Bunnies & their Mom" on our national website about caring for newborns.

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Q11.

Can I come to see your foster rabbits?

A11.

We do not have any facilities. All of our rabbits are in private homes. You can see our foster rabbits at our adoption days. Or you can email our Member manager to try to arrange a visit in between adoption days.

Q12.

When will you return my phone call?

A12.

Our hotline is answered by volunteers. They may not necessarily return phone calls on holidays, or on the weekends, or during work hours.

Q13.

I don't have time for my rabbit anymore. Can you give him a better home?

A13.

Even if you don't think you spend enough time with your rabbit, you are giving him a much better home and chance at life than giving him to a shelter or being turned loose (which is illegal). Shelters are extremely overburdened in this economic climate & you are the best chance he has at working for another home. Work on rehoming your rabbit with help from our tips here.

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