How Long Do Pet Bunnies Live? Domestic Rabbits Lifespan
One thing that many people wonder about is how long rabbits might live. If you’re thinking about getting a rabbit, you need to know these things because you need to know just how long the average lifespan of a rabbit is so you don’t get heartbroken if your rabbit doesn’t live for 20 years. Rabbits, fortunately, can live longer if you have them captive because their lifespan is drastically reduced by things like predators, disease, and the elements in the wild.
Find a Veterinarian
If you get a rabbit, you want to make sure that you almost immediately take your rabbit to a vet in order to establish any rabbit care that may be needed. Ask your vet if they have any experience working on rabbits, and this can help your rabbit live longer. If you have a rabbit for indoors and aren’t intending on breeding it, you may need to take your new bunny to the vet and get it spayed or neutered if they’re at an early age.
The reason for this aside from the chance that you may end up with more bunnies than you care to have (especially common when people don’t get two rabbits fixed and one magically ends up being a male without noticing at first), is actually that rabbits can develop uterine cancer, and it’s more prominent in caged rabbits that aren’t spayed. You want to take your rabbit to the vet annually at least to make sure it’s in good shape. Another common reason to take it to the vet is because you can find out if the rabbit has GI (gastrointestinal) stasis. They may not show that they have symptoms of weakness though, so this is also another reason why you’ll want to take it to the vet sooner.
Consider Their Diet
If you want your rabbit to live longer, you need to make sure that it gets a diet which includes all of the nutrients it needs. Of course, you can give them an extremely small sweet treat of fruit about once per day, but your rabbit needs a well-balanced diet. Pellets are not necessary for your rabbit, but many people choose to do this. One thing you can do is choose loose hay or grass with some leafy greens mixed in with them. Rabbits love things like dandelion greens, and other wild veggies as well. If you get pet treats, keep in mind that they don’t have as much nutritional value as a rabbit should have and will provide empty nutrients.
Never give your pet anything that we consume as humans that isn’t natural, such as sodas, sugary treats like chocolate, candy, or marshmallows, because even if your pet likes them, they’re definitely not good for them.
Interaction
Keep giving your pet attention. You have to realize that an animal that feels unloved, gets lazy, and doesn’t get any interaction will get bored and can decrease your bunny’s quality of life. Play with your rabbit frequently and let it get plenty of exercise each day. Not only this, but you need to consider things like what will stress your pet out, what scares is, and try to avoid those things to keep your happy and healthy rabbit perfectly just that. Rabbits are actually a lot like puppies, and they get bored super easy. When they do, they’ll often chew on things. You can actually help get items for them to chew on that won’t hurt them from stores, as well as give your rabbit things like paper towel rolls so they can chew on them.
You can also consider this as a good reason to get a lot of interaction and one on one time with your rabbit.
Home Sweet Home
Rabbit housing depends on whether you’re storing your rabbit outside or inside your home. In the home, you generally want to let your rabbit move around in a dim lit room once in a while in order to make them happy, and also be sure that your rabbit can’t get into anything that can hurt it in this section of your home. You don’t want stairs, or any other obstacles that your rabbit can hurt itself on. Also, you want to make sure that your rabbit has a higher chance of getting sick if you’re keeping it outside. This is why it’s crucial that you take extra steps if necessary for your rabbit if it’s outside. If you only have one, it’s recommended that you actually keep it indoors
If you’re wanting to let your rabbit play outside, you want to have a predator-proof area or pen where it can run around without having the stress and worry that you may have outside. Never let your rabbit just run around the yard, or most of the time, you’ll end up risking your rabbit’s life.
So What’s the Average Lifespan?
The average lifespan for a pet rabbit is anywhere from 7-10 years, although sometimes things like illnesses, or even weather factors can cause problems that may end up making it harder to keep it alive that long. You can’t just keep your rabbit contained 24/7 if you have it as a pet, even if it’s outside. If you have a pet rabbit outside, you need to be able to get the rabbit used to you so you can pick it up and move it inside if necessary or if you can. Another thing to realize is that rabbits are a lot like rodents and birds, and will indeed get scared to the point that they can have a heart attack very easily or go into cardiac arrest.
Conclusion & How Long Do Rabbits Live
Most people thank us and just go on thinking that rabbits are low-maintenance pets. Nevertheless, it’s important to know that you can make your rabbit last a lot longer if you give it a reason to be happy. Think of it like a real Tamagotchi or Pokémon. You have to take special measures to ensure the safety of your pet.
