Rabbits are intelligent, affectionate and social animals who require lots of daily attention as any other pet. Rabbits can live happily both indoor and outdoor, but if you have chosen to keep them as house rabbits – extra care must be given to keep them safe in indoor environment. As mentioned earlier, rabbits are highly social animals that crave for love and interaction with their human caretakers. Rabbits always look for a curious, playful companion with whom they can cuddle with and feel protected at the same time.
Are you thinking of getting a rabbit for your child? Are you looking out for ways on how to deal with kids and rabbits under the same roof? Does you already have a rabbit as your family pet? Are you noticing that your children and rabbit do not interact as you had expected? Well, the answers to all your questions are here in this post!
How to Deal with Kids and Rabbits under the Same Roof
Children and Rabbits are natural companions, agree?
The answer could be yes, no or may be – depending on many factors. Physically, rabbits are delicate animals which means they get easily hurt when children pick them up without proper knowledge of how to handle them. They react by kicking which means even children can also get hurt. Rabbits are very sensitive to changes which means they will either run away or try to bite when approached too harshly or loudly. Here are some cute ways that are helpful in teaching you how to deal with kids and rabbits under the same roof. Take a look –
Learn about your Child’s Personality!
If your child is calm, easy-going, cooperative and kind, you may think of getting a rabbit as your new family member. But what if your child is on the loud side? Yes, if he/she is super active, tends to interact aggressively, need frequent reminders about rules and doesn’t care for anybody, then he/she may find it difficult to build a strong relationship with a bunny rabbit. And you may notice that rabbit feelings are also hurt, which may lead to additional stress in your life.
Keep Supervision on Kids when they handle the Rabbit!
Close supervision must be taken into consideration when you are worried about how to deal with kids and rabbits under the same roof? Explain your child the reasons why certain behaviors are not favorable for the rabbit.
Always watch children when they are around rabbits.
Teach them to not disrupt or tease the rabbit when they are hopping or taking rest into their cage.
Make sure your Kids don’t share food with the Rabbit!
Sometimes you might have noticed that your kids try to become friendly with rabbits by sharing their food. But the truth can’t be ignored that rabbits have sensitive digestive system and eating wrong type of food items can lead to serious health issues.
If your child is mature enough to understand that rabbits can’t be feed anything, try to explain them that green leafy vegetables are the most suitable food they can offer to a rabbit.
Tell them never to give rabbits grass cutting as this can cause damage to their intestine.
Show your kids how to gently pet a rabbit!
Rabbits don’t tolerate being picked up or bossy nature. They enjoy sitting with their human companions and being pet. So, always make your child sit with you on the floor while you pet and talk to rabbit. Guide their hand slowly over the rabbit’s head, ears and upper back.
You must teach your child to fully support the rabbit’s body while they are holding it and to never hold a rabbit from its legs.
Have a conversation with your kids about rabbit’s particular needs!
Avoid saying ‘don’t and ‘stop’ to your kids whenever it’s the question of rabbit’s security or your kids perform a care-related task incorrectly. Instead, explain to them that rabbits are fragile animals, so they can’t be picked up simply like anything. Besides this, instructing them not to touch the rabbit’s droppings is another important step when dealing with kids and rabbits under the same roof.
Keep your Rabbit in a closed room during party time!
Rabbits, like kids are playful by nature and they enjoy making tunnels, hiding places and wooden platforms to keep themselves busy or entertained. But, they like doing all this in the company of only 2-3 people. So when lots of your friends are planning to visit your home – it’s better to keep rabbits in a closed room as they startle easily and don’t tolerate stress quite well.
By now, we hope you must have understood that it’s not easy to deal with kids and rabbits under the same roof. Taking care of a rabbit is solely an adult’s responsibility. It is unreasonable to expect a child of any age to take good care or responsibility of a rabbit. Always remember – the rabbit and your children, as well as your family peace, will greatly be influenced only by you accepting this responsibility.
Usually, motive of many parents behind getting a rabbit for their child is to teach the child some responsibility. But, what happens sometimes is beyond our expectation? Slowly, slowly the child loses interest and the rabbit suffers. So, if the child seems interested, encourage them. If they become bored, give them a chance to move on to the next thing confidently. And, you take the entire responsibility of keeping a rabbit active, happy and safe.