The 3 things you REALLY need to raise rabbits (and 1 that helps)

Sitting at the computer with Mr. Thumper in your lap, you idly type in “raising rabbits” into any search engine and you will come across for fancy setups…clothes…leashes…and more!

And then for the next month those ads will show up in every sidebar of every site you visit until you feel very guilty that Mr. Thumper doesn’t have all the “cool things”. You’re a rabbit raising failure, right?

Not so fast!

I have a HUGE secret that the pet supply marketers of the world would prefer you don’t know…And it’s not hidden behind a paywall or 75 pages of scrolling until your fingers cramp.

Do you NEED the $25 bunny toy? Nope. How about the $300 rabbit suite deluxe edition cage? Nope. The self heating, air conditioned, twice filtered watering system? Nope. Fancy food with a million additives? Nope…although quality is important in feeding.

Well…. the secret is…you only need THREE things to raise rabbits (or pretty much any animal).

#1 Food

#2 Water  

and…

#3 Shelter.

That’s it! To keep a living creature alive and healthy, all you need is proper food, a plentiful supply of clean drinking water, and shelter that is clean and protects them from the elements and predators.

But wait! There’s more! Well, actually, I’m making fun of those click bait pages that want you to keep scrolling. Let’s be realistic…your rabbits will be content with a $30 wire cage hung in an appropriate shelter (or built into a freestanding shelter), a $5 feeder on the side of the cage, a $8 water bottle, and a $25 bag of food. You could even do a $1 dog bowl for the water and feed – the feeder and water bottle help keep things cleaner and more sanitary but even those aren’t “needs”.

As for the one thing that helps? Concern for their mental wellbeing. This is a personal opinion, but I believe that animals should have stimulation to be happy. In this case, the one thing is something to play with. It doesn’t need to be a $25 fancy all natural seaweed infused hemp ball! (LINK TO SOMETHING HERE). Personally,  I hit up the dollar stores and pick up cat toy balls-the rabbits love pushing them around. If I want to reduce the noise, I give them ping pong or golf balls to push around instead. Got a pine tree? Toss the rabbits a few pinecones to chew on. Used up a roll of toilet paper? Give them the tube. Have a few small pieces of untreated safe wood from the last project? They’ll chew on a chunk!

So, despite the marketing for cool looking things toys….

In conclusion, all you really need to raise happy rabbits is food, water, and a shelter. In the end, the fancy wooden cages will be chewed apart, the expensive toys will break or be ignored, the fancy foods will end up under the cage instead of in the rabbit, and the fancy watering contraption will leak. And your rabbits will be just as content and productive as they were with “all the stuff”.  Happy rabbiting!