Celebrating Christmas With Your Pet Rabbit (Ad)
Christmas is the time for family and we all know that our beloved pets play a huge role in our lives. I don’t know a single pet owner who wouldn’t say that their pet wasn’t a huge part of their family. It makes sense, therefore, that pets should receive the same treatment as everyone else does on Christmas day! They should be able to join in the Christmas celebrations with presents, treats and love.
If you’re a rabbit owner, it doesn’t matter if they’re indoors or outdoor bunnies, I think you’ll agree with me when I say that they deserve a special treat at Christmas. I’ve put together this post which features some great Christmas presents for rabbits, so read on if you’re keen to spread a little Christmas cheer this year.
Pets are such a huge part of family life – that’s why you need to make sure they’re insured.
We have always had house bunnies, which means that our pets have always been such a huge part of our day to day lives. From the moment we adopted them, we insured our rabbits with Petplan. Petplan’s pet insurance offers a great, affordable monthly price and their cover for rabbit related illnesses is exceptional. In fact, we owe a lot to Petplan, because without their insurance cover, we’d never have been able to pay for Huxley’s veterinary treatment. Sadly, although he didn’t make it, we were able to give him the best chance possible with critical overnight care and medication that we’d otherwise never have been able to afford.
Pet Plans Pet Advent Calendar
Luna, now a single house bunny, has refused to bond with any other rabbit since Huxley passed away. Although I feel sad for her, it’s clear that Hux was the only bun for her and I feel proud that we were able to give him every possible chance thanks to his insurance. This Christmas, there’s no way Luna will be left out of the Christmas celebrations – I am one of the 43% of people who buy their pets Christmas pressies!
Petplan want to treat our pet dogs, cats and rabbits too, which is why this year they’re running their Pet Advent Calendar. Every day on the run up to Christmas, you can head to the website and open up the day’s door. From there you can enter to win some amazing prizes for your furry friends. Prizes range from comfy pet blankets, pet stockings and cat caves to amazing weekend away deals in dog friendly cottages. It’s free to enter and you can come back every day during December to see what’s up for grabs! Don’t forget to share the page with your pet pals and spread the Christmas cheer.
Christmas Presents For Pet Rabbits
If you’re a bunny owner, you’ll know that rabbits have very sensitive digestive tracts. It’s important to make sure any treats that you give them are completely safe for them to eat. I’ve put together this list of great Christmas presents for rabbits that are completely safe for them to play with and nibble on. I’ve also mentioned some ingredients and materials that are best avoided – please make sure that before giving your bunny something over the Christmas period that you’ve researched whether or not it’s safe for them to have!
Rabbit Safe Fresh Foods
One of my favourite ways to treat bunnies at Christmas time is to give them some extra fancy fresh foods. When feeding Luna her dinner, we always give her a rotation of leafy veggies that we know she loves. However, at Christmas time, it’s nice to go the extra mile. Her absolute favourite Christmas treat is potted herbs. You’re able to buy potted herbs in supermarkets and they make a really fun Christmas present for rabbits. Luna loves munching away on the herbs and having a little dig in the soil. As far as rabbits go, Luna has a lot of ‘wild bunny instinct’ in her, so she loves foraging and digging, which is why she loves this Christmas present the most.
Make sure that your rabbit doesn’t eat the flower pot – if you have a chewer, remove the pot before giving it to your rabbit. Make sure you stay with your bunny and always check the soil is safe before giving it to your pet. There are loads of herb choices that rabbits love, but there are also herbs that should be avoided. If in doubt, a quick Google search will help you out (I have Googled ‘rabbit safe food’ so many times in the middle of Tesco!)
A few rabbit safe herbs:
- Basil
- Oregano
- Corridaner
- Lemon Balm
- Mint
Make sure you check before feeding your rabbit anything that it is 100% safe. Also make sure you know the signs of poisoning – rabbits are prey animals and hide their illnesses well, so ensure you’re regularly checking your bunny’s health. Make sure you don’t feed your bunnies anything from the onion family – including chives.
Rabbit safe toys and treats from stores.
Luna loves a good chew toy. Her favourite thing to do in life is nibble and destroy willow balls. She’ll spend hours destroying the balls until there’s nothing left but a pile of sticks, which she then gets bored of! But all that chewing is great for her teeth and it keeps her entertained, so as far as I’m concerned, they’re make excellent Christmas presents for rabbits!
You’d think that buying something from the pet shop with a picture of a rabbit on it would mean that it was 100% rabbit safe, right? Well actually, that’s not always the case. Make sure when buying your precious pets something new and exciting for Christmas that you avoid things that could be harmful to them such as dried corn and dyes. Also, treats such as yoghurt drops are full of fat and sugar and therefore should be avoided. Make sure you look for natural, bunny safe ingredients. Rosewood is a brilliant brand that makes natural rabbit safe treats that Luna just can’t get enough of. Selective Naturals by Supreme Pet Food also make quality treats for bunnies and we always keep a pack of Garden Sticks at home for Luna’s post claw trim treat.
One of Luna’s favourite toys is a slow feeder dog bowl with a sprinkling of herbs or pellets in and then a big layer of fresh timothy hay on top. She loves digging around for the food and it encourages her to eat her way through the hay (not that she needs encouraging!). She also loves stacking cups that babies have and cat balls with bells in them. Fortunately for us, she’s not a big chewer, but if your rabbit is, make sure you avoid giving them plastic.
DIY Enrichment Toys
As I said earlier, our rabbit is such a huge part of our family and the kids love her just as much as we do. In fact, I’m pretty sure Luna gets on better with the kids than she does with me sometimes! It’s important to me that my kids grow up with an understanding and respect for animals, which is why during the festive period I think it’s great to get them on board when it comes to getting the pets presents.
If you want to teach your kids to care for your animals, keep them busy and save some money, then DIY enrichment toys are the perfect Christmas presents for rabbits! There are tonnes of cheap options available that are guaranteed to be a big hit with your pet rabbits. I love doing these with the kids, and Petplan even has an entire blog post dedicated to tasty DIY enrichment toys and treats – I am definitely going to be giving the mini Christmas tree a go.
- Luna loves a good forage, so hiding treats in a big box of shredded paper always goes down well.
- Cardboard tubes stuffed with hay and herbs encourages her to nibble her way through the hay to get to the tasty leaves.
- Creating rabbit hide outs from all the cardboard boxes left over from gifts is a fun way to keep rabbits entertained.
- Paper bags – the larger the better – with shredded paper and treats inside.
There are so many cheap toys that you can make for pet rabbits that will keep them happily entertained for a long period of time. You don’t need to go crazy and spend loads to make sure that your pet is still part of the Christmas celebrations.
Snuggle Time
Rabbits are extremely social animals. They prefer to live in pairs and they need a lot of love and fuss, otherwise they can get depressed. Luna, being an indoor bunny, is always around us and comes and goes as she pleases. She loves flopping down into your arm for a good stroke and she loves having all the space inside to go crazy and binkie in.
Ultimately, the best Christmas present for rabbits is just to have some love and fuss. Like humans, they need to feel safe and secure, so it’s probably best to let all the chaos of Christmas Day fizzle out before bringing your bunny out for some snuggle time. Make sure you’ve earned your rabbits trust and ensure you spend time building a bond with them. Sitting with them and allowing them to come to you, offering them treats when they come after you call their name and making sure they have regular contact with you are great ways of ensuring your furry friend will trust you unconditionally.
Including Luna in our Christmas celebrations.
I’m really looking forward to including Luna in our Christmas celebrations – Christmas just wouldn’t be the same without her. We’re hoping that by next Christmas we’ll have a dog as well, so we’ll be expanding our family once more and we’ll be looking for even more ways to include our pets in our Christmas celebrations.
Are you one of the 43% who buy their pets Christmas presents? If so, I’d love to know what type of pet you have and what you’re planning on buying them this year. Don’t forget that if you own a dog, cat or rabbit, you can head to the Petplan Pet Advent Calendar and enter daily to win a variety of exciting prizes for your pets!
*This post is in conjunction with Petplan but all thoughts are my own.
Lukeosaurus And Me
Rachael is a 31 year old mum to 10 year old Luke and 5 year old Oscar. She lives in England and writes about family life, crafts, recipes, parenting wins(and fails), as well as travel, days out, fashion and living the frugal lifestyle.
37 Comments
Latoyah
Aww this is so cute! I used to absolutely love my rabbit when I had one. They make such lovely pets! I mis rabbit cuddles!
Lukeosaurus And Me
Thank you, she’s a cutie. Bunny cuddles are the best.
Nell (Pigeon Pair and Me)
Aw. What a lovely post. We had a couple of rabbits until last year and you’re right, they’re such sociable creatures! They were the best of buddies. They would have loved some of these treats.
Lukeosaurus And Me
Thank you, such a shame to hear you no longer have them. They’re such lovely creatures and so loving!
Lucy Mackcracken
Wow there really is an advent calendar for everyone including your pets now, what a lovely way to share a treat with them over the festive period.
Sarah | Boo Roo and Tigger Too
So important to make sure that every member of the family has something for Christmas – including the pet rabbit
Lukeosaurus And Me
I couldn’t agree more. 🙂
Erica Hughes
Some great tips here. I have always bought a little treat at Christmas for my cats.
Lukeosaurus And Me
My other half’s family all have loads of dogs and they always get Christmas treats too.
Samantha Donnelly
I love posts about presents for pets as well, I always make sure our dogs get treated at Christmas, I ordered our dogs presents today along with turkey for his dinner x
Lukeosaurus And Me
Aw bless you, I hope they love their gifts!
Yeah Lifestyle
This post is just super cute! We don’t have a pet rabbit but now I wish we had! I have 2 best friends who do have a rabbit as a per so I am gonna share this with them as they might find it useful
Lukeosaurus And Me
Thank you, Luna is the star of the show! Aw that’s great, I hope they find it helpful. 🙂
Yaya
This is such a lovely post – it is lovely to see pets are being remembered at Christmas too. Snuggle time sounds like the perfect gift.
Lukeosaurus And Me
Pets need snuggles too! 😀
Dawn Cameron-Hollyer
Our friend has a rabbit and we’re definitely going to show them this! It’s so sweet to include them as part of yourChristmas celebrations x
Lukeosaurus And Me
Aw thank you, I hope they find it handy 🙂
Karen Legge
I never knew that rabbits were herb fans. We don’t have one but I’ll be sure to remember that when we visit friends with one. I feel really tight that we’ve not got our kitties an advent calendar now.
Lukeosaurus And Me
Don’t feel tight, I’m sure your kittens will love all the cardboard boxes and wrapping paper on Christmas day!
charlotte
oh my these pictures are just adorable! I always wanted a rabbit growing up and now we have a cat who is afraid of everything so I don’t think we’ll be able to have one but we do need new pet insurance so I will give pet plan a go! I also need to get my cat some christmas treats now haha xx
Lukeosaurus And Me
Petplan is great, they’re really affordable so I was more than happy to work with them! 🙂 She’s a cutie, isn’t she?
Elizabeth Williams
Brilliant tips. Love the DIY enrichment toys and the list of rabbit safe herbs.
WhatLauraLoves
I used to always buy our rabbits toys from pets at home for christmas and give them extra herbs! xxx
Sabina Green
Gorgeous bunny! We love treating our doggies at Christmas but it is so important to know what is good for them. Insurance is such an important thing to have.
Melanie williams
Aw how cute is that rabbit…simply adorable. I agree, it is always important to make pets feel part of all family activities xx
Jenni
We can’t have any pets unfortunately, as my husband is allergic to most animals. I had a guinea pig as a kid, but I don’t think it was insured.
Jess Howliston
What great suggestions (and Luna is adorable!!) I will definitely give these a try this Christmas as a few months ago we welcomed two new baby guinea pigs into our home (Jeff and Gary) and I know lots of these suggestions would be good for them too! Thanks for sharing xx
A Mum Reviews
What a fun idea! So many great rabbit gifts!
Cassie Mayers
Love the DIY idea! I think I shall do something like that for my Gerbils, they would love it!
Lukeosaurus And Me
Thank you! Aw yes, they’d love it!
ClearlyBex
What a great way to ensure that your pets haven’t been forgotten this Christmas! We have chickens, and they’ll be having a new swing for their pen.
Lukeosaurus And Me
That is so cool! I’ve been trying to persuade my dad to get chickens but he says they’ve got too many foxes in their garden.
Lou @ Birds and Lilies
Luna is absolutely gorgeous! These are such cute ideas, I especially love the idea of giving them a little potted herb plant! ❤️ x
Lukeosaurus And Me
Thank you, she’s a cutie!
Stephanie
Ahh super cute, it’s lovely to include the pets with the festive celebrations as they’re part of the family. Great advice too
Lyndsey O'Halloran
Our bunnies sadly died earlier in the year. I used to love getting them presents though.
Anosa
I used to have a pet rabbit when I was young, I can not even remember my childhood without it, they are the best pets ever.