Well I can’t help you there if the grounds of your anxiety are based on the assessment/reassessment of your child’s ability to learn responsibility (personally I feel as long as you’re dedicated to the idea of patiently coaching him/her, everything will be just fine). But if they are concerns over caring for your pet than that’s something you can always read up on and continuously consults with friends/family/vets for their experienced advice. However if the anxiety is over whether or not you selected the right breed of pet then the following should give you some comfort.
You see the one thing that makes rabbits different from all other domestic pets it the fact that they are by nature green in lifestyle. Everything about your pet rabbit will fit in perfectly into your sustainable lifestyle. And I should know because I’m the proud ‘mummy’ to a cheeky full black lionhead.
Let me break it down for you:
Care
Caring for a house rabbit isn’t as difficult as it sounds. Rabbits are extremely smart animals with impeccable hygiene so no worries there. They rarely fall sick, if you take good care of them so there’s no need for trips to the vets for anitibiotics and medicaton which means fewer threats of drug-resistant bacteria, contamination of waterways, and pollution against aquatic animals. They are very clean by nature and since it’s’ indoors all the time you won’t ever find him mucked up, but I do give my bunny a ‘shower’ every 2 weeks. Being so small, he doesn’t consume much shampoo and the fact that I use Earth Bath on myself just means all my pets and I share the same hair/fur care product.
Diet
This little critter is as green as can be when it comes to diet. Some experts will say give 90% timonthy hay and the rest a mix of pallets and fresh fruits and vegetables, but that’s not really a fix ratio. If anything your rabbit will probably have a preference. Now if you’re one who grows vegetables in your garden then fantastic! Bunny can have it all home grown and fresh. But if you don’t, don’t fret because you can just pick something up from the local grocers when you do your own shopping – saves on gas and cuts down on carbon emission!
Exercise
Well every living creature needs some exercise to stay in shape and so will lil bunny. But unlike a dog, you won’t have to drive him down to the local dog friendly park for a good run. He’ll be just fine and more than happy wizzing across the floors of your house/apartment. No requirements for a drive = savings on money and carbon footprints
What comes out the rear end
Like I said time and time again, rabbits are clean and smart. They are very easily trained to use a litter box and everything from the litter to the droppings are green! You should have no issues using recycled paper as the litter and both this and the droppings can be ‘repurposed’ as compost for your garden. It’s important to note here that rabbit droppings are different from the poo of dogs and cats because of the rabbit’s diet. They are rich in nitrogen and phosphorus which is essential for flower and fruit products. Rabbit droppings are dry pebbles that do not smell either.
Playtime
Rabbits are really intelligent. You’d be surprised that they know how to play fetch just like a puppy would. Rabbits are also pretty simple in wants. The toys they especially love are usually stuff you already have laying around or are about to send to be recycled. They have a fondness for toilet paper rolls, old t-shirts and towels as well as cardboard boxes (you can make a little cardbox castle for him!). And if you feel you want to pamper the bunny with store bought toys then that’s fine too because there are many organic toys for rabbits to choose from.
Rabbits, nature’s little eco warriors in fur.
