Provide your rabbits with a secure living environment that is large enough for them to exercise in and stand up fully on their back legs. Rabbits whilst domestic, are naturally prey animals   and you should provide a secure shelter where your rabbits can rest, feel safe and are protected from predators and extremes of weather and temperature. Ensure all areas of your rabbits’ environment are well ventilated, dry and draught free.  Rabbits need regular and frequent opportunities to exercise. Make sure your rabbits have opportunities to exercise every day to stay fit and healthy. Ensure they also have a suitable toilet area to encourage litter training - Their toilet areas should be separate from sleeping areas but in order to encourage the use of the area try placing a hay rack over the litter tray to encourage them to eat hay.

Rabbits may use either a water bottle or water bowl but this should be either heavy enough for them not to tip or secured in some way. We offer both bottles and bowls to our rabbits and these bowls are secured to the wall of their enclosure with a non-tip bolt.  Food bowls should also be heavy (we provide personalised ceramic 500ml bowls in our shop) so they cannot be knocked over and we recommend placing a seperate bowl for greens, fruit and veg to prevent the moisture going into their pellets. Rabbits can live either outdoors or indoors but ensure you follow the guidelines so that either accomodation is appropriate, safe and as big as possible to make sure your bunny stays happy and healthy. 

Ideally rabbits should be kept in pairs or groups. To prevent accidental litters, groups and pairs should be neutered males & females or two females or two males. It is highly advisable to neuter all types of pairings to prevent territorial behaviours. In bonded groups or pairs rabbits will play with eachother, groom each other and sleep together. The process of bonding needs to be taken slowly and you should have the means to seperate the rabbits appropriately whilst this is in process. Rabbits can live by themselves and will bond with their owners but they will need plenty of interaction and socialization with you and the family to ensure they do not get lonely. Rabbits can grieve and become sad if they are left on their own (such as when they lose a bonded friend) and in extreme cases this can lead to death when they stop eating and drinking. Be sure to give your rabbit lots of love and attention should this situation occur. 
Socialisation with you should be slow at first and gentle. Alot of rabbits don't like to be picked up or cuddled despite their cuddly appearance! Mini lop plush rabbits are highly socialable and love to bond and play with their owners. Rabbits will show you affection by 'chinning' you and running around you in a circle which is their little 'dance of love'! Happy bunnies will show they are comfortable with you by exhibiting their happy behaviours such as binkying, zooming around, playing with their toys and sometimes even jumping to you (or on your lap!) 

Rabbit Teeth: Rabbits have continuously growing teeth - a rabbit's top front teeth grow at a rate of 3mm a week! It's important for them to have a constant supply of hay in order for them to graze and wear their teeth down. They can also use gnawing toys to help with this. In extreme cases rabbits will need their teeth filed down - experienced owners do this themselves but we advise seeking a vets assistance. 
Rabbit Nails: Long nails can get snagged easily and can be torn, sometimes right out of the nail bed. This is of course extremely painful, and there can be a surprising amount of bleeding. 
As part of your regular checks of your rabbits you need to keep an eye on their nails. If the nails need clipping and you aren’t confident to do this yourself then ask your vet  to do it. There is a vein and a nerve running up each nail that has to be avoided. It’s known as the ‘quick’ and if it gets cut it will be painful for the rabbit and there will be a lot of blood - this is called the quick. It is fairly straightforward to cut a rabbit’s nails, especially pale, translucent ones where the quick can be seen, so it’s well worth learning how to do it. You can either hold your rabbit with it’s backside supported as if it is sitting up to cut the nails or place it on a towel on a worktop and very gently pull the foot to the side to get to the nails.
Avoiding cutting the quick: If you have a rabbit with light nails it’s quite easy to see the quick but if the nails are dark it’s far more difficult. There are ways to get around it. You can shine a torch from behind the nail. The light coming through will show you where the quick ends, and therefore where it’s safe to cut.  If you are going to cut your rabbits’ nails then you’ll need some decent nail clippers. We recommend the scissor-shaped type. We also recommend having a torch to hand to ensure you can see the quick through the nail - especially with darker nails!

It's also good to have on hand some anti septic powder to hand  just in case as if you do manage to nip the quick in the nail you can pop this powder on to stem the bleeding. 
Grooming Fur: We can help our pets by grooming them regularly, and this is especially important when they are moulting. When rabbits groom themselves they swallow a lot of fur and if they swallow too much it can cause their gut to slow down, which can be dangerous. Unlike cats, rabbits cannot vomit, so it’s important to remove as much loose fur as possible.

Matted fur: If your rabbit has any matted fur and you cannot gently brush the matt out, try untangling with your fingers, but be very careful not to tug on the fur as that can be uncomfortable for your rabbit and may even cause injury to his skin. If this doesn’t work, you may need to cut the matt out. Be careful, especially if it’s very close to the skin. If you are worried that it’s so close to the skin that cutting it might cause injury, ask your vet to clip the fur instead, using a clipper head that is appropriate for a rabbit’s fine fur.

Getting your rabbits wet: As a prey species, rabbits do not like to feel vulnerable, and a rabbit in water isn’t a natural position for them to be in. Even just getting them wet is problematic. When wet rabbit hair clumps together, getting them completely dry is a very difficult task, and rabbits who are left damp are potentially prone to respiratory infections and hypothermia.

TRANCING - NEVER LAY YOUR RABBIT ON IT'S BACK. This is called 'trancing' it forces your rabbit into a state of fear. This is prey behavior and is essentially them 'playing dead' This is a dangerous and unnecessary practice which we do not enforce. Rabbits can be trained and calmed by other methods.

• Neutering - unneutered females are at high risk of developing womb cancer, and unneutered rabbits are more likely to fight. You should therefore neuter your rabbits unless you intend to breed them, have plans in place for caring for both parents and offspring.

• Besides preventing reproduction and reproductive cancers in females and testicular tumours in males, neutering reduces unwanted behaviours like spraying of urine, aggression, false-pregnancies and excessive mounting.

  The younger the rabbit is neutered the better, preferably less than six months of age. If a rabbit is neutered later in life it may be less effective in reducing the unwanted behaviours as they will have become ‘learned’.

  Neutered rabbits still have hormones going around their bodies. Neutering them doesn’t rid males of all their main hormone, testosterone or females of their main hormone, oestrogen.
  
  

  
  

Other Animals

Like alot of households you may have more than one type of pet. Rabbits are socialable creatures but are also prey animals. It is important to ensure introductions are made under supervision appropriately making sure your bunny feels secure.