10 Things to Know Before Getting a Rabbit

Rabbits are wonderful pets. Quiet, clever, startlingly expressive, and genuinely affectionate once they’ve decided you’re acceptable. They are also nothing whatsoever like the easy starter pet they’re usually sold as.

Almost nobody who struggles with a rabbit is a bad owner. They were told a rabbit is a small, simple animal that lives in a cage for a few years, and they made a perfectly sensible decision based on completely wrong information. So here’s the accurate version, before rather than after.

1. They live a lot longer than people expect

A well-cared-for indoor rabbit typically lives 8–12 years, and plenty go longer. That’s dog territory. This is not a short-term commitment with fur on it.

The old “rabbits live 2–3 years” figure comes from an era of outdoor hutches, poor diets, no spay/neuter, and no access to exotic vet care. It reflects how rabbits used to be kept, not their actual biology. See how long do rabbits live.

Plan for a decade. That includes thinking about college, moving, job changes, and whether the person actually caring for the rabbit in five years is still going to be you.

2. A rabbit cage is not enough space

This is the single biggest gap between what pet stores sell and what rabbits need.

The Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund recommends a minimum footprint of 3m x 2m (roughly 10ft x 6.5ft) with 1m of height for a pair of average rabbits — available continuously, not just during playtime. They specifically note the length matters because a rabbit needs room to actually run, not take two hops. The House Rabbit Society suggests at least 8 square feet of enclosure per 6 lb of rabbit, plus separate exercise space.

Almost no commercial “rabbit cage” comes close. Most owners end up using an exercise pen or a rabbit-proofed room. If that sounds like more than you pictured, that’s the point — better to know now. See what kind of cage should I get.

3. They’re prey animals, and it shapes everything

Rabbits are prey. Nearly every confusing rabbit behavior traces back to that fact:

They startle easily, and a startled rabbit can injure itself.
Most don’t like being picked up. Being lifted off the ground is what a predator does. This isn’t a training failure — it’s instinct.
They hide illness. A rabbit acting subdued is often already quite unwell.
They need somewhere to hide, and they need to approach you on their own terms.

If you want a pet that enjoys being carried around and cuddled on demand, a rabbit is likely to disappoint you. If you’re happy to sit on the floor and let an animal choose you, they’re superb. See do rabbits like to be held.

4. Rabbit vet care is specialized and costs more

Rabbits are classified as exotic pets. Many general veterinary practices don’t treat them, and the ones that do often charge more than for cats and dogs.

Find a rabbit-savvy vet before you bring a rabbit home, not when something goes wrong. You want a regular clinic and a 24-hour emergency option that sees rabbits, with both numbers saved.

This matters more than it does for other pets because rabbit emergencies move fast. A rabbit that stops eating can be in serious trouble within a day. See how often should rabbits see a vet.

5. Spaying and neutering isn’t optional

Budget for it from the start. It’s usually the largest single expense in a rabbit’s first year.

For females, it’s preventive medicine. Uterine adenocarcinoma is the most common tumor in female rabbits, and widely cited veterinary estimates put the incidence at roughly 60% of unspayed does over age 3, rising toward 80% by age 6. Risk climbs steeply with age. Spaying removes it.

For both sexes, it changes behavior substantially. Intact rabbits spray urine, are more territorial and aggressive, and are much harder to litter train. Most “my rabbit is being awful” problems in young rabbits are hormonal.

It also makes bonding a second rabbit realistic. Two intact rabbits generally cannot live together safely.

6. Rabbits and young children are often a poor match

This is the uncomfortable one, and it’s worth being direct about.

Rabbits are frequently bought as children’s pets, and the mismatch is structural: small children naturally want to pick up, carry, and cuddle a soft animal, and that’s precisely the interaction rabbits tolerate least. A frightened rabbit kicks hard enough to injure its own spine, and it may scratch or bite in self-defense.

Rabbits can work well in families with children — with supervision, floor-level interaction rather than holding, and an adult who owns the daily care. Just don’t expect the rabbit to be the child’s responsibility, and don’t expect a cuddly toy.

7. The daily work is real

Every day: fresh hay, fresh water, fresh greens, and a litter box scoop. Every week: a full litter change and enclosure clean. Ongoing: nail trims every 4–8 weeks, and heavy brushing during molts.

Rabbits are also messy in a specific way — hay goes everywhere, and they kick litter. It’s not hard work, but it’s daily work that doesn’t pause when you’re busy.

8. Most rabbits do better in pairs

Rabbits are social animals. Many are noticeably happier with a companion, and a bonded pair will groom, sleep together, and keep each other occupied.

The trade-offs: double the food and litter, double the vet costs, and bonding two rabbits is a real process that can take weeks and doesn’t always work with any given pair. The shortcut is adopting an already-bonded pair from a shelter.

9. They will chew, and they will dig

This isn’t misbehavior. Rabbit teeth grow continuously throughout life, so chewing is a biological necessity, and digging is hardwired burrowing instinct.

You cannot train these out. You redirect them — with plenty of hay, safe chew items, a digging box, and thorough rabbit-proofing of any room the rabbit can access. Expect to protect cords, baseboards, and carpet corners. See why does my rabbit chew everything.

10. The real cost is higher than the rabbit

The rabbit itself is usually the cheapest part. The meaningful costs are the enclosure, spay/neuter surgery, routine exotic vet visits, and hay — which you’ll buy continuously, in volume, for a decade.

Then there’s the emergency fund. Rabbits get GI stasis, dental disease, and other conditions that need same-day treatment, and exotic emergency care is expensive. Having a plan for that before you need one is part of responsible ownership.

About that Easter statistic

You’ll see a claim repeated across rabbit blogs and social media that 80% (or 95%) of rabbits bought at Easter die or are abandoned within a year, often attributed to National Geographic.

That statistic isn’t real. Humane World for Animals traced it and found no scientific study behind it, describing these as “rogue statistics” — and the National Geographic attribution doesn’t hold up either. Shelter intake data on an Easter surge is genuinely mixed: a 2012 study found only a slight, statistically insignificant May increase, 2021 New England data showed no obvious Easter spike, and while some 2023 data showed spring increases, researchers couldn’t attribute them to Easter.

We’re flagging this because we’d rather give you an accurate reason to think carefully than a scary fake one. And there is a real, well-documented issue in the same data: 81% of shelter rabbits were unaltered at intake. The problem isn’t a mythical Easter apocalypse — it’s rabbits acquired casually and never spayed or neutered.

The honest case against an impulse rabbit purchase is everything in the ten points above. It doesn’t need embellishment.

So should you get a rabbit?

A rabbit is likely a good fit if you:

Can commit for 8–12 years
Have room for a pen or a rabbit-proofed room
Can budget for spay/neuter and exotic vet care
Are happy with an animal that shows affection on its own terms
Don’t mind daily upkeep and a certain amount of mess

Reconsider if you:

Want a pet that enjoys being held and carried
Are buying it primarily as a young child’s responsibility
Are hoping for a short or low-commitment pet
Don’t have a rabbit-savvy vet within reasonable distance
Only have space for a standard pet-store cage

Frequently asked questions

Are rabbits good pets for beginners? They can be, for a prepared beginner. They’re not good casual pets. The failure mode isn’t difficulty — it’s expectations, since most people are told rabbits are simpler than they are.

Are rabbits low maintenance? No. They’re quiet, which is different. Daily care is comparable to a cat, and housing and vet requirements are more demanding.

Should I adopt or buy? Adopting has real practical advantages: shelter rabbits are often already spayed or neutered and litter trained, adults have settled personalities so you know what you’re getting, and staff can tell you how a given rabbit behaves.

Can rabbits be left alone for a weekend? Not safely. A rabbit needs daily monitoring — because appetite is the main early warning sign of illness, and a rabbit that stops eating needs help the same day. Arrange a sitter.

Do rabbits smell? Not inherently. A spayed or neutered rabbit with a clean litter box is close to odorless. Smell almost always means an intact rabbit, an infrequently changed box, or a health problem.

If you’ve read all this and still want a rabbit, that’s a good sign — you’re deciding with real information. Next, work out what to actually buy: what do I need for a pet rabbit, and which rabbit breed fits your space.

Source on the Easter statistics: Fact check: Does Easter cause a surge in unwanted pet rabbits?, HumanePro / Humane World for Animals.

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