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RabbitScientific
classificationKingdom:AnimaliaPhylum:ChordataClass:MammaliaOrder:LagomorphaFamily:Leporidae
Appearance Rabbits are small mammals, and come in a
wide variety of colors and sizes.  They can range in
weight from approximately six to 28 pounds, and from
12 inches to several feet in length.  Although wild
rabbits tend to be agouti in color, rabbits have as
much color variation among themselves as other
household pets.  Their fur is prized for its softness,
and even today Angora rabbits are raised for their
long soft fur, which is often spun into yarn.
Rabbits have sharp incisors similar to those of
rodents, long ears, large hind legs, and short fluffy
tails.  Rabbits move by hopping, using their long and
powerful hind legs.  To facilitate quick movement,
rabbit hind feet have a thick padding of fur to dampen
the shock of rapid hopping.  Their toes are long, and
are webbed to keep themselves from spreading apart as
they jump.
 Diet The typical diet for a pet rabbit should consist
of water, hay, pellets, fresh vegetables, and cecal
pellets.  Anything else, including fruit and other
treats should be given only in very limited
quantities, as it may cause obesity in your rabbit.
Pellets should be less than a couple months old to
insure freshness, and should consist of a minimum of
18% fiber, low protein (14-15%), and less than 1%
calcium.  Depending on the amount of vegetables
available, an adult rabbit should be given between 1/4
and 1/2 cup of pellets per 6 pounds body weight daily.
 Pre-adolescent and adolescent rabbits (7 months and
younger) can be given as much pellets as they can
consume, although additional vegetables are preferable
to additional pellets.  An older rabbit (over six
years) can be given more pellets if they are having
difficulty maintaining a steady body weight.
Pellets were originally designed for rabbit breeders
for the purpose of providing as many calories and
vitamins as inexpensively as possible.  This is
optimal when the rabbits are being bred for food or
for experimentation, but the long-term effects of a
pellet-based diet on rabbits are quite negative,
resulting in an obese, unhappy, and unhealthy rabbit.
Vegetables are essential to the health of rabbits.  At
least two cups of three different vegetables per 6
lbs. of body weight should be fed to your rabbit
daily.  A wide variety of vegetables will result in
the healthiest rabbit; preferably a combination of
dark green vegetables and a root vegetables.  Stay
away from beans or rhubarb, as they can cause your
rabbit to become sick.  Additionally, it is wise to
select vegetables that are high in Vitamin A.
To ensure that your rabbit can tolerate a specific
vegetable, add one vegetable at a time to its diet. 
If the rabbit starts to act lethargic, or exhibit
diarrhea or loose stools, then discontinue use of the
new vegetable immediately.  Below is a table of
vegetables considered healthy for a rabbit:
Alfalfa, radish & clover sprouts
Artichoke (Jerusalem)
Arugula
Basil
Beet greens (tops)†
Bok choy
Broccoli (mostly leaves/stems)†
Brussel sprouts
Caraway
Carrots & carrot tops†
Celery
Chard
Chives
Cilantro
Clover
Collard greens†
Cucumber
Dandelion greens and flowers (beware
pesticides)†
Dill
Endive†
Escarole
Fennel
Green peppers
Kale†‡
Lemon Balm
Lilac
Marigold
Marjoram
Mint
Mustard greens†
Parsley†
Pea pods†
Peppermint leaves
Raddichio
Radish (tops)
Raspberry leaves
Romaine lettuce (no iceberg)†
Sage
Savory
Spinach†‡
Watercress†
Wheat grass
Zucchini
† = Contains Vitamin A.‡ = Contains
goitrogens and/or oxalates, and may be toxic over long
periods of time.
Hay is essential for the health of all rabbits for a
variety of reasons.  A steady supply of hay will help
prevent hairballs and other digestive tract problems
in rabbits.  Additionally, it provides a number of
necessary vitamins and minerals at a low calorie cost.
 Rabbits should be provided with a constant, unlimited
supply of hay for their consumption.  Rabbits enjoy
chewing on hay, and always having hay available for
your rabbit may reduce its tendency to chew on other
items in your house.  It is also a good idea to
provide hay in your rabbit's litterbox, as rabbits
enjoying munching on food while they are defecating.
Not all hay is created equal, however.  Timothy hay
and other grass hays are considered the healthiest to
provide your rabbit.  As a persistently high blood
calcium level can prove harmful to your rabbit, hays
such as alfalfa and clover hay should be avoided. 
Alfalfa is also relatively high in calories, and a
constant diet of it can cause obesity in rabbits.
Treats are unhealthy in large quantities for rabbits,
just as they are for humans.  Most treats sold in pet
stores are filled with sugar and high calorie
carbohydrates.  These should be avoided; the vitamins
they claim to provide aren't needed, since the
vegetables will provide all the vitamins your rabbit
needs.  In addition, they contain high quantities of
sugar and other simple carbohydrates which will make
your rabbit obese.  If you are determined to feed your
rabbit treats, the best treat to provide them with is
fruit.  Below are some acceptable fruits:
Apple (no stem or seeds)
Banana‡
Blackberry
Blueberries
Cantaloupe
Grapes‡
Honeydew
Orange (including peel)
Papaya
Peach
Pear
Pineapple
Plums
Raspberries
Strawberries
Tomato
Watermelon
&Dagger = Use very sparingly, as rabbits will eat only
these, and ignore their other food.
Cecal pellets are mostly digested food that rabbits
defecate and subsequently reingest; a process known as
Coprophagia.  Usually a rabbit will eat the pellets
straight from their anus, and as such, many people do
not know of this aspect of a rabbit's diet.  They are
often refered to as "night pellets" or "night
droppings", since the rabbits tend to eat them a few
hours after their evening meal.
Cecal pellets are soft, smelly, clumpy feces, and are
a rabbit's only supply of Vitamin B12.  Due to the
design of the rabbit's digestive system, they cannot
extract some vitamins and minerals directly from their
food.  At the end of their digestive system is an area
called the cecum where cellulose and other plant
fibers are broken down and ferment. After they have
been broken down and passed, a rabbit's digestive
system can finally extract the vitamins from them.
Occasionally, your rabbit may leave these pellets
lying about their cage; while smelly, this behavior is
harmless.  If their cecal pellets are consistantly wet
and runny, this may indicate either too little fiber,
or too many starches in their diet.  This probably
means that they need to be fed additional hay.
 Reproduction Rabbits are famed for their reproductive
capabilities.  Although certainly not the strongest,
fastest, or smartest of the mammals, they have carved
out a strong ecological niche through their impressive
ability to multiply quickly.  This prolificness lead
to the oft-used vulgarity, "fuck like bunnies" and the
more proper, "multiply like rabbits".
Rabbits have a very high success rate for
impregnation, due to the fact that female rabbits
ovulate at the time of copulation.  The gestation
cycle for a rabbit averages 31 days, although it can
vary anywhere between 29 and 35 days.  Litter sizes
generally range between two and 12 rabbits.
Rabbits have many names they are known by.  In the US
(particularly), they are commonly refered to as bunny.
 Young rabbits are known by the names bunny, kit, or
kitten. "Rabbit" itself used to be the word applied to
the young, with the adult being called a cony or coney
(pronounced cunny). This term fell out of useage owing
to the taboo value of a homonym, and "rabbit" became
common usage for both the young and the adult, with
"bunny" entering into use later.  A male rabbit is
called a buck, and a female rabbit is called a doe.  A
group of rabbits is known as a herd.
 Species Notable species include the European rabbit,
Oryctolagus cuniculus, which has been domesticated and
through selective breeding has produced a wide range
of breeds of pet rabbits.  The wild form is well-known
for digging networks of burrows called warrens.  The
American genus Sylvilagus comprises thirteen
cottontail species.
 Taxonomy Unlike hares, they are born blind and
furless, in a furlined nest, and totally dependent
upon their mother.  They were classified as Rodentia
until 1912, when they were moved to the Lagomorpha
order.
Rabbits share the family Leporidae, together with the
related hares.      Their order, Lagomorpha, in
addition to containing hares, also contains pikas.
 Rabbits and people Rabbits are popular pets. They are
an example of an animal which is both petted and eaten
by the same culture.  Snares or shotguns are usually
employed when catching rabbits for food. Dogs are
often employed in rabbit hunting. Rabbits are often
raised for meat called cuniculture. Rabbit pelts are a
widely used fur for clothing.
Because of their appetites, and the rate at which they
breed, wild rabbit depredation can prove problematic
for agriculture. Gassing, barriers (fences), shooting,
snaring and ferreting have been used to control rabbit
populations, as has the disease myxomatosis.
 Rabbits in culture and literature Rabbits are often
used as a symbol of fertility.  It is possibly as a
consequence of this that they have been associated
with Easter.  There is a rabbit among the 12 animals
in the Chinese zodiac. Rabbits have appeared in a host
of works of film and literature, notably the White
Rabbit in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland; in the
popular novel Watership Down; and as the cartoon
character Bugs Bunny. Rabbit feet are considered
lucky, and fake rabbit feet are often sold as cheap
trinkets.
 External Links http://www.rabbit.org - House Rabbit
Society

---------------------------------
See also: cuniculture, Easter Bunny, hare, Rabbit
invasion in Australia It was last modified 20:19 Mar
19, 2003. All text is available under the terms of the
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