Before you bring your rabbit home you must first set up the cage in the area where you intend for the rabbit to stay. Set it up with the water bottle, food bowl, and toys. Make sure everything is clean, orderly, and that everyone is prepared and ready for the responsibility and provilege of a new rabbit.
You will want to take a box with aireholes for (or another person to hold) the rabbit. Keep the cage at home. If you have purchased a carrier or have one that will work (make sure it doesn’t smell like another animal!) that will also work fine. Set the rabbit carefully into the traveling box (or give it to the person) and walk to the car. The entire ride home have someone stroke the rabbit and talk to it. It is preferab;e that the person holding the rabbit is its official owner and the driver merely a family member/onlooker. When you get home introduce the rabbit to its new home. THen close the cage door and leave the rabbit be for awhile (no less than several hours) so it can become accustomed to its new environment.
On handle the rabbit once a day, twice at the most, at first. Rabbits handled too often when it has been moved can resort to biting as a defensive action. Give it at least a week to get used to its surroundings, including other pets. Always supervise ineraction between the rabbit and other pets (especially naturally predatory pets such as cats, snakes, and dogs). If you have more than one rabbit, put the new rabbit in a seperate room on quarantine for a week.
Every day for the first month hold the rabbit gently on its back (as the breeder/seller should demonstrate) and check its genital area for cleanliness and any problem indicators such as diarrhea and individually hold each toe. After the first month do this check twice a week.
When it comes time to clip your rabbit’s toenails, you can either pay a vet to do it or youu can do it yourself using guillotine-style dog or cat clippers. Check each toenail for the edge of the quick (blood vessel), place the clippers a millimeter away from the quick’s edge and clip quickly. If you accidentally cut the quick, comfort the rabbit and check for bleeding. If bleeding occurs stop all clipping, stop the bleeding, and try again the next day. Toenails should be clipped approximately once a month depending on the growth rate.
Check your rabbit’s teeth regularly to make sure they are being worn
down sufficiently. Rabbit’s teeth (incisors) grow constantly their entire lives, so if
they don’t keep them worn down it will be painful and expensive for a vet to fix
it. They can’t eat or drink with overgrown incisors. Help your rabbit keep its
teeth worn down by providing wood chews (available at pet supply
store/catalogs) and feeding them a healthy diet. Also provide toys they can chew
on (they’ll chew on them anyway).
