How to bond with your Netherland dwarf

Bonding with your Netherland dwarf rabbits is so easy; you can begin the steps today!

You’re very frustrated that you’re having a problem to bond with your bunny. Who doesn’t? Bunny is companion pets and yet your bunny seems worried having you around. Fortunately, bonding with your rabbits is easy.

It is easy to bond with your Netherland dwarf

The idea is to slowly build trust. Bunny, not matter what breeds, is prey animals in their nature environment. This makes them less confident and worried having a predator like human around them. But by building trust, you can bond with your rabbits without much hassle.

Building trust to bond with your bunny
There are several steps to follow if you want your bunny to feel more confident having you around.

Do not go to her – instead, let the bunny come to you. If you notice that your bunny try to avoid being close to you, just let him be. Your bunny will eventually get curious about your existent and he will come to you himself just to check you out. When he does, that is the right time to let him feel comfortable having you around.

Give him foods – Pets, not matter what kind of animals it is, love a treat. Some rabbits are less likely to run away when you pet them during their meal. This is a great way to make your bunny feel confident about you petting him.

• If your bunny aren’t willing to take the treat from your hand, or run away when you try to pet him during his meal:
• At first put some treat in a bowl. The bowl considered as a safe place for the bunny. Lets the bunny eat the treat and discover how delicious the treat is.
• Only after the bunny learn that the treat is hard to resist that you start to try to give the treat to him by using spoon.
• As your bunny feel comfortable, move your hand further down the spoon a little bit every day until your hand reach the treat.

Make yourself look shorter – by lying on the ground so you will look less scary to your bunny. As mentioned early, bunny are hunted animals and you need to show him that you’re not a big and scary predator. This will make your bunny feel confident to come near you.

Talk to your bunny – Whenever your bunny seems to feel calm, try to talk to him. This will make your bunny feel more confident, safe and comfortable hearing your voice. Simply sit beside him and talk to him will eventually cause the rabbit to learn that your voice cause no harm to him.
If you’re not good at talking just read him a book

Watching him – Watching your rabbit, without interacting with him, can have a major boost in your effort to bond with your bunny. By watching the rabbit, you will learn more about him such as his favorite toys, his reaction to certain sounds and a lot more. This info will obviously help you to bond with your bunny.

Other than that, watching your bunny can make your bunny know that your presence is harmless.

Things that you need to be aware of when bonding with your Netherland dwarf rabbits

• When your bunny arrives at your house for the first time, he is in a lot of stress. The long journey from shelter or pet shop to your home can cause a lot of stress to the bunny. Your bunny need time to get comfortable with his new environment.
• Take it slowly. Remember that you, as a human are considered predator and rabbit are prey. It is pretty hard for a prey to trust and feel safe around predator. Just put yourself in your bunny shoes, will you feel safe and confident if a lion try to be friend with you?
• Bunny is sensitive to smell, changing deodorant or simply being around other animals can change how you smell to your bunny. Maintaining how you smell when you’re around your bunny can make him feel like he “know” your smell, therefore, make him feel safe.

Start applying these tips today and don’t forget to share it with your friends on Face book and twitter! Or you can also share your own tips on bonding with your Netherland dwarf rabbits on the comment section below.

Is it better to keep a Netherland Dwarf rabbit in a cage indoor?

Netherland dwarf rabbits outdoor
Photo @ Wikipedia | CC

If you already decide to get yourself a Netherland dwarf rabbit, you might wonder if it's a good idea to keep you bunny in a cage inside your home. Since you'll be keeping the rabbit in a cage inside your house, separated from the outside world, you might think that it seem like a cruel thing to do to your bunny and can't decide whether to keep the bunny inside or outside of your house.

If you get yourself a bunny, it is more better to keep it inside your home. Even if it look like you're separating your bunny from the outside world, keeping your bunny inside your house is not a cruel thing to do. In fact, it is better to keep the rabbit inside for a couple of reasons :

The predator
Other animal outside of your house can be dangerous to your rabbit. Some of them might think of your rabbit as their prey. Your bunny can get hurt or even eaten by other animals if you left him outside of your home. Even if you're keeping them in a cage outside, other predator animals might be able to find a way to get into the cage to harm your rabbit.

The weather
Sometime the weather could be either too hot or to cold for your bunny to handle. Keeping your rabbit inside can save him or her from the extreme weather outside of your home. Keeping the bunny in cage inside can make them more comfortable during extreme weather.

Keeping your Netherland dwarf rabbit in a cage indoor is good for your bunny safety and comfort. However, don't forget to let your bunny out daily to play around more freely. Also, don't forget to supervise your rabbit if you let him out to make sure your bunny didn't go to far or get lost.

See also :
Is it okay to let my Netherland dwarf bunnies run freely around the house?
Will it smell when Netherland Dwarf Rabbit's pee on the carpet?
Why does your Netherland dwarf rabbit sleep in his litter box?

Is it okay to let my Netherland dwarf bunnies run freely around the house?

Photo by Duchessoftea | CC

Pets is not just an animals, most people see their pets as part of their family. Because of this, most pets are let free by their owner to play around the house. What's more, pets such as cats and dogs seem smart enough not to mess up with their owner property or cause injury to themselves if they're let free. (Despite the fact sometime they do cause a few broken vase)

But that is for cats and dogs, how about a Netherland dwarf rabbit? Will it be OK for you to let your bunny play freely around the house? Or will your bunnies get lost or run away if you let it free around your home?

Since pets usually considered as part of the family, a lot of people would love the let their pet playing around freely. But for a Netherland dwarf rabbit, letting it out freely around the house without any supervision is NOT a bright idea.

There is a lot of problem that can occur if you let your bunny free without supervision. Unlike cats or dogs, Netherland dwarf rabbit is not smart enough to learn to stay in place. Because of their size, you might accidentally step on them if you didn't see them coming.

Also, you dwarf bunny might run away if somehow you forget to properly close the doors. Beside that, rabbit chewing behavior make it even more dangerous for them to play around the house without you to look over them. Imagine what will happen if you dwarf bunny is chewing an electrical wire.

As an owner of the rabbit, ofcouse we will want to let our bunny to play around freely. But it is not good for the bunny itself to let free without any supervision. A rabbit pet need it owner supervision and companion to stay safe and happy. Remember that we need to make the safety of our bunny as our priority.

See also :
Will it smell when Netherland Dwarf Rabbit's pee on the carpet?
Should you put a collar on your Netherland dwarf rabbit?
Netherland dwarf rabbit keeps nibbling your hand, a friendly behaviour?

What can you use as bedding for your Netherland Dwarf rabbit?

An owner of Netherland dwarf rabbit like you will definitely want your rabbit to have a comfortable home. The right bedding for you bunny is important to make sure your rabbit is comfortable in his cage. Beside that, choosing the right bedding also important as some bedding are known to cause health problem to small animals such as dwarf rabbits.

There are some factors that you need to include into your consideration when you choose things that you want to use as bedding for your rabbit. This include the price of the bedding, whether the bedding is comfortable and suitable for small animals and whether the bedding have the odor control feature. Some bedding is able to control the odor a little, which is good for people who can't stand the odor of their rabbit.

So, what can you use as bedding for you bunny?

For a bunny that already litter trained, simple things such as small hand towel can make a good bedding. Other than that, you can also use hardwood bedding such as aspen chips or shavings. However, people said aspen isn't very good when it come to odor control, but it is easy to find and less expensive.

Nevertheless, Hardwood bedding recommended by a lot of people because it said that hardwood is safe for small animals like your rabbit. Hay can also be use as bedding for your rabbit, some people are using hay with hardwood for their bunny.

What's more, you can also use Yesterday's News as bedding for you bunny. Yesterday's News is good at odor control and what most importantly, economical. This product is actually produced as a cat litter, but it will make a good bedding for your rabbit.

However, there are some problems, some rabbit will chew the material you use for their bedding. Beside that, rabbit which is not yet litter trained is more likely to cause mess and you will need to clean the cage very often. If you're having these problems, you can litter train your rabbit and use things that they can safely chew as their bedding. Giving your rabbit some toys for them to chew might help too.

Using the right thing as bedding for your Netherland dwarf rabbit is pretty important to make sure your rabbit will be comfortable in his home. A safe and comfortable home is one of many factors that can make your bunny a much happier pet.

Further reading :
How to litter train a Netherland dwarf
Why does your Netherland dwarf rabbit sleep in his litter box?
Netherland dwarf rabbit keeps nibbling your hand, a friendly behaviour?

Your Netherland dwarf rabbit is peeing blood?

As an owner of Netherland dwarf rabbit, you always want to make sure your rabbit is in good health condition. But one day your rabbit is peeing something that look like blood! What could this possibly mean? Is your rabbit require immediate visit to the vet? Continue reading to find out more.

First thing first, do not panic. Being panic will not solve anything. As a start, you will need to observe. You need to be sure if your rabbit really is peeing blood. Sometime rabbit urine can turn out red due to certain factors such as things that s/he being eating lately. Yes, some food can cause the color of your rabbit's urine to become red.

What if your rabbit really is peeing blood?
If you find out your rabbit is actually peeing blood, or not sure whether it really is blood or not. It is best for you to take your rabbit to the vet, especially if your rabbit is not spayed. This is because a non-neutered rabbits are more likely at risk of getting uterine tumors.

Beside that, there is also possibility that your rabbit might have urinary tract infection. This is very dangerous for your rabbit since this kind of infection could cause death to a small animals such as rabbit. A visit to vet is definitely a must for this kind of situation. More info about this infection on this website

It's never a good sign when your Netherland dwarf rabbit is peeing blood. Do not hesitate to take your bunny to the vet. Peeing blood really is something to worried about because it could have been a sign of tumor and infection.

Further reading :
Will it smell when Netherland Dwarf Rabbit's pee on the carpet?
How to litter train a Netherland dwarf
Should you put a collar on your Netherland dwarf rabbit?

Will it smell when Netherland Dwarf Rabbit's pee on the carpet?

Photo by Yuki Matsukura | CC

It doesn't matter what kind of animals you have as a pet, littering will always become one of the most common problem among pet owner. This same problem also occur among owner of Netherland dwarf rabbit.

As a pet owner, we always want to let our pet playing around our house. However, just like most animals, there is a possibility for your bunny to urinated around the house if you let it out of it hatch. Some people doesn't mind doing a little cleaning work but will it be smelly if your rabbit pee inside your home? especially on the carpet.

Yes, rabbit urine is going to smell. Ofcouse, if you don't mind you can also clean the carpet often but this will take a lot of your time. Beside that, if your rabbit somehow think the carpet as it litter spot s/he will keep doing it business on that carpet and the stains will eventually shown.

Luckily for you, there is a few simpler ways to handle this. The best option is to litter train your rabbit. Just like dogs and cats, rabbit can also be litter trained. Litter training a dwarf rabbit is not difficult too. Most rabbit owner little train their rabbit to prevent it from destroying the carpet and household items, you should too.

If you have not litter train your bunny yet, you can start today. It is not that hard to litter train a Netherland dwarf rabbit and there is a lot of tips on how to do it available all over the internet. A little effort today will pay you well in the future as there will be less odor and carpet cleaning work to do.

Further reading :
Should you put a collar on your Netherland dwarf rabbit?
Do Netherland dwarf rabbit like to be around people?
How high can a Netherland dwarf jump?

Why does your Netherland dwarf rabbit sleep in his litter box?

Sometime it is hard to understand Netherland dwarf rabbit behavior, especially when it come to litter training your rabbit. You have tried everything to make it litter box the best place for it to litter including putting the litter box at the corner where you know your bunny like to litter. But instead of littering, your bunny is sleeping inside his litter box!

The litter box is not the most comfortable place for your rabbit to sleep, in fact there is another area in  the hutch that you've decorated with the most comfortable bedding you can afford, specially for him to sleep . So, what up will all this sleeping in the litter box? Why are your bunny doing this? Here's why.

To understand this behavior, you need to look at the type of box you're using as a litter box. In it nature habitat, rabbit hunted by all sort of predators including human. Because of this, they like to hide inside everything that make them feel safe from the predators.

They will even hide inside the litter box if the box can make them feel safe from the hunter. If the litter box have a high side where it can make your rabbit think s/he was hidden from predators, your rabbit are more likely to sleep inside it because that litter box make your bunny feel safe. Some rabbit will even eat inside their litter box too due to this. It's just a pure rabbit instinct.

But a litter box is still a litter box, and it is not OK for your rabbit to sleep in it. How can you fix this?

First thing you can do is to make the sleeping area(the area where you bunny suppose to sleep) a lot safer for him. You can do this by making the area hidden from predators. Beside that, the area must at least have two entrance so if predators is coming from the first entrance, your rabbit can use the second one to escape.

We all know your house is safe from predators and all but your bunny didn't know that. For your bunny to sleep in the area where it suppose to, you must make him feel safe to sleep in that said area. When creating a home for your rabbit, you must try to think the way your bunny did to create a safe zone for him to call home.

Understanding rabbit behavior can help you to become a more responsible and smart rabbit owner. Taking care of a Netherland dwarf rabbit is not so hard if you know the proper way of doing it. Remember to see things from your rabbit point of view to know why your rabbit is doing certain things that it do.

Further reading :
How to litter train a Netherland dwarf
How high can a Netherland dwarf jump?
Are you giving your dwarf rabbit a proper diet? find out more