Editing House rabbits

=Rabbits as Pets=

== Housing ==

Rabbits should NEVER be free roamed without supervision. It is important to have a properly sized wire bottomed cage for your rabbit to use as it's home base for times you can not monitor your rabbits activities.
Most breeds of Rabbits should be kept on one of three types of wire mesh floors. The wire circumference sizes can be 12 gauge Galvanized after weld, 14 gauge galvanized after weld or 16 gauge galvanized after weld. The Wire Spacing should be one inch by half inch, to allow for the best traction, comfort and support of a rabbit floor while allowing waste to fall through to drop pans or the floor below and away from the rabbit.
A comfortable  Home base cage size for most smaller breeds a 24" x 24" cage.  for reference Our house buck in a 24" x48".
 Free roaming should be supervised at all times.

==Rest mats==

Rabbits get friction burns from SOLID flooring , and Urine Scale from SOILD SOLID flooring, Pressure sores  can also be caused by using incorrect hardware cloth as flooring.   Proper Wire typically only causes  sore hocks in Rabbits with narrow feet.  Sore Hocks can be bred out of a line by selecting for Wide Well furred feet. Rest mats are used for extra Large Rabbits and Breeds like Rexes who are prone to getting sore hock due to there excessive weights, or thinner coat types and if a rabbit wants to get off the wire flooring.

==Feeding==
Feed your pet the SAME as a regular Maintenance feed for ANY rabbit. see the [https://mmcrabbits.com/BCWiki/index.php/Rabbit_Feeding_Guide Rabbit Feeding Guide]. Your Pets feed should consist of 80-100% complete balanced Pellets with a base protein of 15-17% higher for wool breeds, and a minimum Fibber content for 15%, up to 20% for wool breeds.  Papaya enzyme should also be offered to wool breeds to assist with digestion and to prevent wool block. 
===Food===

ARBA recommends feeding a complete balanced pellet as the main source of nutrition. Rule of thumb for selecting complete pellets for your rabbit should start with a baseline of 16% protein, 18% fiber, and a grass or legume as the first ingredient. Typically feed instructions will suggest you feed a measured amount to most adult rabbits rationed twice a day. Total daily intake should equal 1oz of pellet per lb of ideal adult body weight. Rabbits are crepuscular animals, active at dusk and dawn with a rest and digestion period during the day. ie:" a 10lb adult rabbit would receive 5oz of pellets in the morning and 5oz pellets at night.

A complete balanced Pellets should make up between 80% and 100% of a rabbits diet.

Some brands that have complete pellets are  Heinold, Kalmblach, Manna Pro Sho . It is important to select a 100% completely balanced diet. No different than balanced kibble.

==Enrichment==

Rabbits NEED enrichment, many types of Toys Can be found in pet stores but  there are many ways to give enrichment and stimulation to your pet. Forms of enrichment can be as simple as stuffing hay into paper towel rolls, or giving your rabbit safe wood toys such as Apple wood sticks or untreated pine blocks.

==Housing rabbits together==
Rabbits naturally do not bond. When a rabbit doesn't want to be near it's "friend" They can kill one another or cause severe injuries. Domesticated rabbits descend from European wild rabbits. European wild rabbits live in groups depending upon resources available. The more resources that are available, the less tightly they group, and actually prefer quite a bit of distance from the other rabbits. A literature review concluded that wild rabbits are either dominant or subordinate and the subordinate animals live in a constant state of stress and fear when in a group setting. Dominant animals require submission from subordinate daily, and if not performed, leads to violent fighting.

Domesticated rabbits allowed to live in colonies showed much aggression to each other, and the reviewers came to the conclusion that rabbits are very aggressively territorial animals and for their safety, should be housed individually.

A few  studies have mentioned that pairs of rabbits may be doable but even then one will take the position of the dominate rabbit, and it is a precarious social structure. 

Rabbits in reality are not social herd animals like horses or dogs, they prefer to be within View of other rabbits , but not nessicarrly  in contact with other rabbits. They function best along defined  territorial  lines, with a minimum of 80 sqft as a personal territory Per rabbit. Although many, even when allotted this personal territorial  space will violently  expand  that territory and fight , injure or kill any intruders.  

Notes from housing studies recommended separating Rabbits before 80 days of age, as in their study they found that  rabbits particularly bucks but also does that reached 80 days old while still in a group setting became very aggressive toward one another  as they hit adulthood. Spaying and Neutering does not effect aggressive behaviors since typically their behavior is the way rabbits are wired as a species. Occasionally  altering a rabbit will make it more aggressive as well as open it up for other types of cancer, skeletal muscular and hormonal issues.



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But not all rabbits can bond and most actually  prefer to be alone. Even the studies that have been done had concluded two is the limit for most likely success, any more and it will be difficult  and create a fear base society  within the herd. 

 

They have a very introverted  dynamic, as far as socialization goes .  This has been studied many many times always concluding that rabbit prefer being alone most of the time. they Tolerate  others but that's about it. 

So honestly  no not all rabbits can or should be bonded.

==Interaction==

Interaction is important even with meat rabbits. Interacting daily with your Rabbits makes them calmer, and friendlier and reduces stress when taking to shows or on butcher day. Playing with your Rabbit Calmly, letting them come to you, giving treats, Grooming, are all ways to stimulate your rabbits. Supervised free roam time, Grooming, and supervised inter species playtime can be a fun outlet for your Rabbit.