Can You Keep a Rabbit in an Apartment?

If you are living in a small space but still want a furry companion, rabbits might be the perfect pet for you. This blog post explores the basics of creating a comfortable and enriching habitat for rabbits in apartments, covering their essential needs, dietary requirements, and care tips. Discover how you can enjoy the company of these delightful animals while providing them with a happy and healthy home environment.

Basic Habitat Needs

Rabbits are a great option for families or individuals who might not have enough room for a larger pet, especially those who are living in small homes and apartments. Many apartments have strict regulations about pets and while they may say no to a dog, smaller pets like rabbits are often negotiable and allowed in an apartment. Most rabbits are small with several dwarf species also available to make them even more suitable for apartment spaces.

While your apartment may be too small for a large pet, like a growing dog, it can be the perfect size for a rabbit. Rabbits need space to explore and live as part of their overall habitat. If they’re provided with safe enrichment toys to chew on and are well cared for, they can make a wonderful addition to your family and can live for many years. The basics that rabbits need is a safe place to sleep and room to hop and run around a bit. Their safe place can be a hutch or a caged off area of a room that has been cleared of any harmful items like wires and non-bun approved furniture. You can also use a portable run enclosure that can be taken outside that the rabbit can use to run and explore while you supervised.

If you are planning on keeping a rabbit in an apartment, you’ll want to make sure you have adequate space to accommodate their hutch or cage and space where they are free to roam, hop, and play around whether inside or outside your apartment.

Basic Food Needs

In the wild, rabbits are herbivores and eat grass, twigs, and similar items. Their front teeth are very sharp and are always growing so they need hard things to chew on to help wear those teeth down. In an apartment or small home, a rabbit’s diet should consist of at least 80% of high quality grass hay, with the rest of the 20% being made up of pellets, fruits, veggies, and herbs. They should also be given safe, and rabbit approved chew sticks or chew blocks as this will help them with the constant chewing and provides entertainment for them. Not all veggies, fruits, and herbs are good for them so it’s crucial that you check before purchasing them.

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Basic Care and Exercise Needs

The final consideration that needs to be made before bringing a pet rabbit home to an apartment is the general daily and weekly care they will need. While it may not be all the time, they do require care for things such as brushing and bathing. Rabbits with longer fur need more brushing and grooming assistance but many short hair species exist that little to no brushing. Most rabbits enjoy exploring and if started young enough and exposed to it often enough, some rabbits can be trained to walk or hop on a harness to have a little more freedom to explore outside (with supervision of course!).

While rabbits require less space than a dog, they do require enough space to roam around and hop to their hearts content. They are easy to keep in an apartment with the right space, quality hay, and interaction from their humans. If you can provide the right living situation for a rabbit in an apartment, then they make a great addition to your life and something you can look forward to coming home to every day.