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Online pet magazine.
Almost everything you need to know about pet care.
Rabbits
Rabbit keeping is very popular in the UK - Rabbits are happiest when kept in a social environment. Your pet rabbit is a rodent, which means they need to gnaw and chew to keep their constantly growing teeth worn down to size.
 Male rabbits are called 'bucks', females are called 'does' and the young are called 'kittens'. Healthy rabbits live on average between 6 and 12 years and can weigh anything between the 1.5kg dwarves to giants over 5.5kg. All tame rabbits are descended from the common wild European cottontail rabbit. Rabbits have been bred in captivity for centuries with the domestic breeds being kept over the years as pets, food animals, and laboratory test animals and for the fur trade.
There are dozens of different breeds and sizes available today. Because they are a sociable animal awake during the day (diurnal), quiet, easy to feed and house, seldom bite and can (eventually) be litter tray trained they make ideal pets either out-doors or in-doors; that is until your rabbit chews through your phone cable, TV flex, house plants or carpet.
Some rabbits can be skittish, scratch and are territorial. They don't bounce very well if dropped either!
Rabbits seem to have been part of our artistic and literary history forever, with many children's books featuring their lovable, sociable family traits. They have moved onto first the big and then small screen as cartoon heroes and villains. There have been many documentaries and they have featured in computer games, on wall paper, bedding and everybody loves the soft toy version (even your rabbit will love one).
Male rabbits shouldn't be housed together as they are likely to fight. Sexually active males and females should be kept apart to prevent uncontrolled breeding although a neutered male can be kept with females. Incidentally the rabbits tail is called a 'scut'.
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