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If you’re considering getting a new pet rabbit, I’m sure you are curious about what a rabbit does all day. Well, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, I’m going to list all of the major things that pet bunnies do every day.
13 Things That Pet Rabbits Do Each Day
1. Sleep
Pet rabbits sleep 7 to 12 hours a day, though they don’t get those hours of sleep all at once. They split their sleeping hours between the daylight hours and late-night hours so that they are most active in the mornings and evenings.
Bunnies are crepuscular which means that that they are most active at dusk and dawn. Consider that they are naturally prey to a lot of predators and these predators or usually active either at night or in the daylight. That means the safest times for a rabbit are at dawn or dusk.
Their preferred sleeping times are not the only part of their sleep affected by their status a prey. Rabbits also tend to sleep very lightly, always ready to flee to safety with any sense of danger.
This means that you’ll seldom see a bunny sleep for hours on end. Instead, they’ll be bunny-naping on and off all day and night.
However, if your pet bunny starts to feel really safe in your home, they might give up their bunny-naps for some deep sleep. If you ever see your bunny laying flat on their side and hard sleeping, then you know that you’ve managed to create a perfectly safe environment for your bunny.
2. Eat
Rabbits eat for 6 to 10 hours a day and by volume, they eat a lot. The bulk of a quality rabbit diet is hay, and a rabbit will eat a pile of hay roughly the size of their body every day! They’ll supplement that hay with a small serving of pellets, and a few fresh greens and treats.
Just to eat that much hay is going to take your rabbit hours because the hay is high in fiber and takes some time to chew. This chewing on that hay is essential to your rabbit’s dental and digestive health.
However, your rabbit doesn’t always just stand at their hay trough and eat. They will often grab a mouthful of hay and bounce around the room while they’re eating. It’s crazy cute.
P.S. If you are new to having a pet rabbit, you need to understand what a rabbit should be eating to be healthy and happy. I asked one of my veterinarian friends to define the best rabbit diet in this article.
3. Groom Themselves
Rabbits groom themselves for 4 to 8 hours a day. Bunny’s are very clean animals and they take their hygiene very seriously. You’ll see your bunny liking their paws and then combing their fur for hours at a time.
Given the opportunity, a bunny will add dirt rolling to their hygiene regiment. The dirt bath helps control both skin oils and parasites, but you don’t have to worry about the dirt and dust. In about an hour your clean little bunny will have removed the dirt and dust be ready to hang out on the couch again.
While a rabbit’s litter box can get a little smelly, rabbits seldom have any odor because they spend so much time cleaning themselves.
4. Watching For Predators
Rabbits are prey animals and as such, they are constantly on the watch for predators that might be looking to cause them to harm or, worse, make them into a meal. You’ll see your bunny scanning their environment and reacting to any new sights or sounds with caution.
As your rabbits become more comfortable with the safety of their environment, this scanning will diminish but it will never go away.
5. Poop
Rabbits poop in small round pellets and a healthy rabbit will produce 150 to 250 of these poop pellets a day. Some rabbits defecate just a few times a day, while others poop dozens of times each day. The number of pellets will remain the same regardless of the number of times your rabbit poops.
The size of the pellets will change with the size of the rabbit, but the number remains about the same. Many people even save their rabbit’s manure as it makes amazing plant fertilizer.
6. Pee
Rabbits urinate 2 to 8 times a day with a volume of 120-130 ml per kg of body weight per day. This means that a holland lop bunny (one of the most popular pet bunnies) will pee about 250 ml (8.5 fl oz) per day.
You need to know that while rabbits don’t really stink, their urine does. But if you set up your rabbit litter box right and keep it clean, it won’t be an issue.
7. Binky
Your rabbit will spend a few hours playing each day, and their most energetic playing is called binking. Rabbits normally binky in the morning and evening hours when they are most high energy.
8. Learning Tricks
Rabbits are intelligent animals that enjoy learning new things. You can let them choose their own tricks to learn (e.g. dumping their food dish), or you can teach them some more fun tricks.
9. Cuddle
Bunnies spend hours each day cuddling with something soft and warm. All bunnies are cuddlers, but not all bunnies like to cuddle with humans. Even if your bunny doesn’t want to cuddle with you, they will spend hours cuddling with other rabbits, soft blankets, pillows, or their favorite stuffed animal.
Every bunny needs something to cuddle with, just be sure to pick something safe to chew on, because rabbits do like to chew.
Remember that not all bunnies are equally affectionate. While some rabbit breeds are more cuddly, sometimes it just comes down the individual bunny’s personality.
10. Dig
Rabbits will spend some time every day digging. Given their choice, they’d live in a burrow in the ground so digging is natural for bunnies. They will dig in their dig box, or in their blankets, in their hay, or on your carpet. Your bunny should have a place to dig.
11. Solve Problems
Rabbits are intelligent and inquisitive animals who enjoy solving puzzles. They will spend a portion of their day looking for puzzles to solve. You can let them find their own puzzle (like how to open their cage door) or you can provide them some bunny-safe puzzles.
I’m made a list of my bunny puzzles on Etsy. Check them out!
12. Explore
Bunny’s love to explore new areas as long as they feel safe. As your bunny becomes more comfortable in their new environment, let them expand their area slowly and enjoy the cuteness of them exploring new areas.
13. Groom Others
Bunnies take their hygiene very seriously, and that includes grooming their friends. You’ll love the soft tickles of their licks and nibbles. It’s one of the cutest things that rabbits do!
14. Forage
Rabbits are natural foragers, meaning that they are designed to find their own food. Your pet rabbit is going to want to forage too. I’m a big fan of tossing handfuls of greens (a bunny salad) in a corner for my rabbit to discover.
If you don’t give your bunny opportunities to forage, they will find opportunities…trashcans or unattended plates.
15. Chew
Rabbits chew on various things every day. Rabbits don’t only like to chew, they need to chew. A rabbit’s teeth grow constantly, and only by chewing can they keep their teeth at a healthy length. Their hay acts as their primary thing to chew, but other items make their life better.
We like giving our rabbits sticks from the yard to chew on, but you can also get some premade rabbit toys that make great chew toys.
If your rabbit doesn’t have enough things to chew on, they will find things to chew on and some of those things could be not only expensive for you, but dangerous for your bunny.
Your Bunny Friend,
~Stacey
