Pet Rabbits Facts - Characteristics, Life Expectancy and Other Interesting Info
Rabbits are cute and soft with fascinating behavior that a new buyer would admire the range of activities it exhibits. They are very affectionate animals. They may take some time to get adjusted to a new environment. But once they are given enough time and sense of security, they love the company of human being, however they do not like to be held. They are more intelligent than most people think. They can be litter trained and can also be trained to perform some amusing activities. A Japanese man raised a rabbit called Oolong which could amazingly balance tiny objects on its head as it hopped. There are over 50 different breeds that are recognized by the American Rabbit Breeders Association. However there is much more varieties than that, for example Snowshoe hares are not included in the listed 50 breeds. This is because as a professional association concerned with organizing them in fairly strict standards they have differentiated the breeds accordingly. With different features, sizes and colors specific to each breed, there are some similarities among all the rabbits irrelevant of their breeds. Rabbits belong to Lagomorphs species. Since they have constantly growing teeth they are often misunderstood as rodents. Rabbits are highly prolific creatures which mean that they produce large number of offspring. They live up to 10 years and they mature in about 6 months and immediately start breeding. This is because they had survived in the wild being prey to a lot of predations. Their natural instinct of survival despite the danger in their evolution had made them prolific over thousands of years. Their gestation period is as little as a month and they produce a lot of kits. Kits are rabbit babies. Rabbit’s teeth keep growing through out their lives, unlike other mammals whose teeth shift but do not grow after adulthood. To control the growth of the teeth, they keep chewing on anything and everything possible. That could be a problem for rabbit owners since they damage the furniture and other materials in the house. The most common or even favorite thing for the rabbits is the shoe. This problem can be handled by consciously keeping the shoes out of reach. Rabbit proofing the furniture at home helps to prevent the furniture from damage. The rabbits must be provided with lot of chewable toys available in pet shops to keep them from exploring the house to chew newer items. Another natural instinct of rabbit is digging. In the wild they lived in burrows that they dug. This could be a problem with domestic pets, since they dig up the garden and damage your plants. Rabbits are stressful animals. There are several medical conditions that they are borne to as a result of stress. They are highly disturbed with loud noises and screaming. They do not like it when children play with their ears. They may even attack the children if they are quite stressed out. The vision of rabbits is about 360 degrees so they can watch for danger around them. However, they do have a blind spot under their face that is approximately about 10 degrees. So they may move their head constantly in order to estimate the distance of objects by analyzing the object in different angles. Rabbits need regular grooming. Though they are clean animals naturally, it is necessary to brush them often to avoid accumulation of fur balls in the intestine. With more and more people choosing rabbits as their pets should make it clear that they make real companions and amuse the owners well enough. More Rabbit Selection Articles: | 