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A pet rabbit has a pretty good lifespan almost similar to other house pets like dogs and cats.

If you intend to bring home a new pet rabbit or you already have one, you can use the techniques I have shared in this article for giving your domestic rabbits improved health.

Improved rabbit health will definitely increase your domestic rabbit lifespan indoors.

As well as I have shared here my routines which aids me to keep my pet rabbits lively and in amazing shape for longer life.

These methods are clear as well as necessarily applicable for any house rabbit that is living indoors.

Domestic rabbit lifespan indoors.

A domestic rabbit may live up to 12 years if they are properly taken care of. Besides, there are several other factors which a rabbit owner must comply with to increase the lifespan of their house rabbits.

You may have noticed I quoted the word indoors several times above. Because the lifespan of a pet rabbit or any domestic rabbit is correlated with the location of its habitat.

House rabbits are delicate small pets which most rabbit guardians do not comprehend.

They are so delicate that a simple shock due to fear can give them a heart attack and kill them.

Most importantly:

In order to increase the lifespan of your pet rabbits, you have to take care of them and interact with them. As well as proper supervision is always required.

In the wild usually, a rabbit may only survive up to 3 years. A domestic rabbit if not taken great care also may pass away very fast due to several health issues.

In the wild rabbits are prey animals, they are not spayed/neutered. It is very common for a rabbit in the wild to only survive less than a year.

Regardless of where we keep our rabbits, indoors or outdoors, to boost domestic rabbits’ lifespan, it is the rabbit owners’ liability to do their best.

Now:

Many rabbit owners prefer to keep their pet rabbits outdoors in hutches, which is not the best choice for pet or domestic rabbits.

Rabbit are sociable animal and they require friends and has to interact with their owners.

Leaving your rabbits outdoors may result in a decreased lifespan but not as much as the wild rabbits’ lifespan.

The best practice:

Is to keep your pet rabbits indoors and possibly raise your rabbits cage-free.

If you do not intend to raise your house rabbits cage free, you can choose one of the cages most of our readers suggested for indoors here >>> Indoor rabbit cages.

Maintaining a proper diet is vital for any rabbit’s lifespan. Domestic rabbits have that opportunity to survive longer due to the fact the rabbit owners constantly provide their rabbits with nutritious meals and good treats.

Unlike the rabbits in the wild has to find their own food and will survive on what is available to them.

Next:

If you raise your rabbit in an unhygienic environment and do not maintain cleanliness in the rabbit habitat, which also is the cause of a limited rabbit lifespan.

Now let’s chat a little more in detail concerning the circumstances that can develop the lifespan of domestic rabbits living indoors as well as outdoors.

Factors affecting your domestic rabbit’s lifespan and how to develop their lifespan?

Circumstances for house rabbits’ well being and longevity depends on several factors which are as follows:

1. Food for an excellent maintained diet.;
2. Housing or where your is your rabbits’ habitat;
3. Domestic rabbit’s physical health;
4. The mental health of your pet rabbits. The livelier a rabbit the longer it may live.

Rabbits are friendly social animals and enjoy the companion of their guardians. Therefore rabbit guardians must not compromise on anything regarding the longer lifespan of their pet rabbits.

Best rabbit food for an excellently balanced diet.

A rabbit’s diet is very important for ensuring the well being of a rabbit. If your rabbits don’t have a proper diet or proper balance of hay and nutritious food, they will suffer in the long run.

To ensure you rabbits better health you will have to provide your rabbit with fresh greens, occasional treats, hay, and water.

Your pet rabbits must not go dehydrated so they need to have adequate drinking water at all time.

Read here >>> What to feed your pet rabbits?

Hay must be the main component in their diet. Because hay contains fiber and fiber is very important in a rabbits diet to maintain a great digestive system.

As well as hay helps for rabbit’s dental health. Later in this article, you can read more why hay is important for rabbit’s dental health.

Read here >>> Why is hay important for a rabbit’s diet?

Housing.

A rabbit requires a large running space. Although they are small animals it is vital for house rabbit to run around and exercise to keep themselves in good shape.

For many rabbit guardians, it is not easy to provide their rabbits a large running space due to many reasons. But having a spacious cage is alright, and perhaps you can use a playpen around the rabbit cage to provide your rabbits a running space.

If a rabbit is kept in a congested place and does not have plenty of space to move around, that will affect your rabbit’s physical health.

As a result, your rabbit’s lifespan will deteriorate.

If you decide to buy a rabbit hutch and keep your pet rabbit outdoors, is also a fine idea. That will allow domestic rabbits to have sufficient space and light.

Before you do so you have to get a safe rabbit hutch that can be kept outdoors.

Domestic rabbit health.

If your rabbit is not in good health definitely they will not live a longer life. A domestic rabbit in good health will live longer by your side.

It is your duty to take care of your rabbits and visit vets frequently.

For an extended lifespan your rabbits must have all the following done by the vets:

Spaying and neutering.

Domestic rabbits must be spayed/neutered. Especially female rabbits are vulnerable to uterine and mammary cancer.

Similarly, a male rabbit that is not neutered is prone to testicular cancer.

Spaying and neutering your rabbits will keep your rabbits safe as well as your rabbits will act less territorial.

Vaccinations.

Rabbits can easily get a viral infection. Vaccinating domestic rabbits will keep them safe from infection and diseases.

A vaccinated rabbit is less likely to get sick and live longer.

Dental Problems.

Rabbits tooth grows all life long. In order to prevent rabbit tooth excessively long rabbits like to chew on stuff.

Chewing on hay continuously helps rabbits to wear off their tooth.

You must provide your rabbits with plenty of best hay which they can chew on all day long.

Scatter many safe rabbits chew toys to prevent their tooth from continuous growing.

A rabbit’s tooth when it grows excessively long, it is really painful for them. Pain can cause too much stress in your house rabbits. A rabbit may die suffering from the pain in their tooth.

These delicate small pets must not suffer and a rabbit guardian can simply prevent that from happening by always giving them good quality rabbit hay together with rabbit chew toys.

Rabbit lifestyle and lifespan.

A rabbit cannot maintain a better lifestyle unless its owner supports them to do so.

Talking about lifestyle means helping your rabbits to have their meals on time and not bothering them when it is a rabbit’s time to sleep.

Most rabbit owners do not understand that rabbits are crepuscular animals. They are most active during dawn and dusk.

However, when most rabbit owners are awake and tend to play with their rabbits, that is their time for sleep. An owner may also bother their rabbits when the rabbit is already sleeping.

Failure to understand how do rabbits sleep and whether they sleep with their eyes or open or closed can cause the rabbit owners to disturb and interrupt the rabbits during their rest time.

Interruption of their sleep and not allowing them to sleep properly will cause stress in these delicate animals.

Veterinary care.

Rabbits are so delicate. They get stressed or sick very easily. A food that is starchy can cause them to have watery poops.

Understanding your rabbit’s diet and realizing health-related issues sooner and visiting a vet will ensure the long life of domestic rabbits.

Visiting any regular vet is not an option for domestic rabbits. Visiting any regular veterinary doctor may not always be right because rabbits are considered as exotic pets.

Find a vet that is specialized in rabbits health or a vet that works with exotic pets.

Every time you find anything unusual going on with your rabbits or may hear any unusual behavior visit a vet as soon as possible.

Going for regular checkups, keeping your rabbits in good shape will help grow the lifespan of your rabbits.

Toys for mental health and a happy bunny.

A lonely rabbit is very likely to pass away very soon due to the fact a lonely rabbits mental health deteriorates in time.

If your rabbit s bored and you do not spend sufficient time to bring your rabbits in a lively mood, your rabbits will suffer.

The domestic rabbit is similar to wild rabbits. They need to dig, forage, run around keep themselves active most of the time. That is the behavior of a normal rabbit.

A bored rabbit that is cage-free within your house is likely to chew on household stuff, carpet and furniture if they are bored.

To keep their mental health stimulated, you must provide them with rabbit chew toys. Rabbit chew toys are inexpensive and you can choose from many of them.

However many commercial rabbit chew toys can be dangerous for your rabbit because of the materials they use to make it.

I have written a list of safe rabbit chew toys recommended by our readers here which you may check out.

To retain your rabbits healthy, lively and prevent them from leaving you too early, you can provide them with toys. As well as bond with your house rabbits, spend time with them.

Similar to all other pets, rabbits want human interaction too. Interacting with their owners give the pet rabbits happiness and they do not feel lonely anymore.

As a result, a happy rabbit will have a longer lifespan indoors.

Common causes of death in rabbits:

Rabbits may die to several health issues. The most common reason for death in rabbits is GI stasis.

Not having enough fiber in a rabbit’s diet can cause GI stasis or gastrointestinal. The fiber in a rabbits diet comes from the hay.

Lack of enough fiber in a rabbits diet will cause a blockage in their stomach.

In case domestic rabbits are left outdoors on a hot summer day, your pet rabbits rabbit can die from overheating too.

That is why a domestic rabbit left indoors has an extended lifespan.

Rabbits will die from extreme stress. A mere sight of a predator can cause a heart attack in these animals. So leaving your rabbits without proper supervision and care is a NO-NO.

Find out the reasons for stress in rabbits here >>> Signs of stress in rabbits.

Having an injury while rabbits are left alone can be a reason for rabbit’s death too. Untreated injury can cause death in rabbits.

So always you have to keep an eye on your rabbits likewise any other pets.

Rabbit breeds and lifespan.

It is true that the lifespan of a domestic rabbit is not depended on their breed. It is more dependent on the care and love they receive from their owners.

However, the domestic rabbit lifespan indoors depends on the size of the breed of your rabbits. It is known that the larger breeds of rabbits tend to pass away early.

Although having a large body size, they have small organs similar to the size of small rabbits. The organs are not sufficient to support the good health of a large breed of rabbits.

As a result, large rabbit breeds have a lesser lifespan often compared to their smaller counterpart.

Hence it is often suggested for pet rabbit lovers to adopt smaller breeds of rabbits.

What is a rabbit’s age in human years?

A rabbit that is only 1-year-old in human age, has approximately lived 7 years in bunny age.

So to calculate your rabbit’s age you can just multiply the number of years he/she has lived in human years with seven.

That way you can find the approximate bunny years your rabbits have lived.

According to the Guinness book of world records, the longest a bunny has lived is 16 human years. 16 human years is equivalent to approximately 112 years.

Want your rabbit to be happy and healthy?

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