Management and behaviour of pet rabbits in Switzerland

Abstract

Introduction: Problem behaviour in pet rabbits may be related to inappropriate environments (McBride et al, 2004). Laboratory studies, e.g. Chi et al (2004) have shown a causal connection between management and behaviour change. The present study surveyed Swiss rabbit owners to investigate the relationship between husbandry and rabbit behaviour.

Methodology: Questionnaire data of housing, social grouping, feeding, exercise, interaction with owners and owner attachment (Zasloff, 1996) was collected. 21 Likert scale questions, such as ‘does your rabbit bite when being caressed?’ gave data of destructive, marking, affiliative and aggressive behaviour towards people and conspecifcs. 280 questionnaires were distributed to pet owners via veterinary surgeries in Switzerland. Data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).

Results: 80 questionnaires were suitable for analysis. 98.8% of the pet rabbits were provided with hay, 96% with objects to chew. Most housing systems contained enrichment objects in addition to water or food bowls. 45% of the rabbits were kept inside the house or apartment, 55% outside. House rabbits were more frequently kept as single animals, the mean size of their housing systems was smaller, interactions with people were longer and consisted of more play and caressing. All respondents rated rabbit behaviour equally. Rabbit attachment behaviours scored high (mean=3.1918, std.deviation=1.070) and were positively correlated with owner attachment [r=0.389, p=0.002]. Intraspecific aggression (mean=1.2667, std.deviation=0.55132) and aggression towards owners (mean=1.6315, std.deviation= 0.46795) scored low; these were not predicted by environmental conditions. Destructive behaviours (mean=1.7817, std.deviation=0.73428) showed weak positive correlations with the rabbits’ social environment.

Conclusions: Overall, the rabbits of this study appear to be kept under adequate conditions and scored low in aggressive or destructive behaviour. This suggests that improving housing conditions could prevent these behaviours in pet rabbits. However, rabbit behaviour was scored by a group of self-elected, highly attached rabbits owners, thus more studies are necessary.

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ORCID for Felicity L. Bishop: orcid.org/0000-0002-8737-6662

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