Contrary to popular belief, rabbits do not needThe term information need is often understood as an individual or group's desire to locate and obtain information to satisfy a conscious or unconscious need. Rarely mentioned in general literature about needs, it is a common term in information science.https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Information_needs
Salt & Mineral Wheels
As long as you're feeding your rabbit a balanced diet of pellets, hay, and fresh veggies, they're getting all the salts and minerals they need. A salt wheel can actually cause your bunny to consume too much sodium, which can lead to health issues. Save your money and skip this item.
In general pet rabbits don't need access to a salt lick in order to remain healthy. However like most animals, they need sodium to live and maintain bodily functions. Sodium is one of the major components of salt. So rabbits do need salt, but they are able to get all of the salt they need from their regular diet.
You'll want to opt for Himalayan Salt if you do decide to opt for a lick because it is from naturally clean waters and contains 84 minerals that all play a big role in promoting the health of your rabbit. This includes sodium, magnesium, and potassium.
Rabbits know when they are lacking in salt or other minerals. As such, rabbits often enjoy salt licks as a way to fill a gap left by their diet or specific body chemistry. If your rabbit has a well-balanced diet, it will probably ignore salt licks until it has a sodium deficiency.
What Does a Rabbit Need in Their Cage? Provide 1-2 inches of high-quality paper-based bedding in their main enclosure. Other items needed are a litter box in the corner with paper-based products, a cardboard hide box, a hay rack, a water bottle, a small pellet dish, and toys.
Occasionally the diet of some herbivores and others pets can be lacking in salt and other minerals. This natural pink stone allows your little ones to suppliment their diet as needed Perfect for rabbits, guinea pigs, and hamsters.
Taste: Like humans, rabbits have the ability to distinguish between sweet, sour, bitter and salty tastes.
Your rabbit licks you to groom you and show affection. They also do this to get your attention. In some cases, it can be a sign of courtship behavior. It can also be their way to assert dominance if they bite you after licking.
Objects to play with or throw - such as untreated straw, wicker, sea-grass mats and baskets, balls and plastic flower pots. Solid plastic baby toys such as 'key rings', rattles, stacking cups and some robust cat and parrot toys can make good rabbit toys.
Why do animals need a salt lick? Animals such as deer, sheep, goats, cattle, and elephants make regular visits to the salt resources in nature to get the minerals they need like calcium, phosphorus, iron, zinc, and sodium. There substitutes to natural salt licks which we will touch upon later in the article.
Do NOT feed the following: cereals, grains, nuts, seeds, corn, beans, peas, breads, biscuits, sweets, sugar, breakfast cereals, chocolate or any garden plants that are toxic to rabbits (see links below).
Rabbits' teeth grow continuously throughout their lives, so they must chew on hay every day to help keep their teeth from overgrowing. Rabbits also have an innate need to chew. By providing rabbits with safe rabbit chew toys, you can satisfy their need to chew and help them wear down their teeth.
The best places to pet a rabbit are their forehead and behind their ears. The cheeks and strokes down their backs are also good spots. But rabbits dislike being pet on their bottom, feet, chin, and underside.
Rabbits communicate using body language, and apologizing is one example of this behavior. Rabbits apologize by touching heads. Bonded rabbits rarely fight, but it can sometimes happen. If the rabbits groom each other after touching heads, then the apology has been officially accepted.
Rabbits are social and intelligent creatures. They'll know that you love them; you just have to learn how to say “I love you!” in a way they'll understand. You can show your rabbit you love them by giving them gifts such as toys and yummy treats.
Don't forget to give your rabbits plenty of space
Rabbits love nothing more than having the space to run around, play, dig and explore while enjoying a bit of 'me' time. Show your bunnies you love them by offering a secure environment where they can display these natural behaviours safely away from predators.
Rabbits spend a lot of time cleaning themselves every day. As a result, rabbits don't have a strong body odor and should never be bathed. Generally a rabbit will only smell if their cage is not being cleaned regularly or if the rabbit is having health problems.
If your rabbit chews the carpet, some rabbits will dislike the taste of bitter sprays for pets, hot pepper sauce or flakes, vinegar, or rubbed-in Ivory soap, but they can be a hit and miss. Some bunnies will not care or even love the taste.
Rabbits are a social species and have evolved to live in groups. In the wild, rabbits do not live alone. Rabbits kept as companions are not biologically different from their wild counterparts and so their innate need to be kept in the company of other rabbits is just as strong.
Do Rabbits need vaccinations? While it's not the law to vaccinate pet rabbits, we strongly advise vaccinating your rabbit to protect them against sometimes fatal diseases. Keeping your annual vaccination appointment every year is really important for both you and your rabbit.
How Much Salt Do Rabbits Need? There is no concrete source of how much salt rabbits should consume every day. According to Nutrient Requirements for Rabbits (1977), made by the National Research Council, they said that rabbits' safe and adequate salt consumption is 0.5% of their everyday diet.