UNDERSTANDING RABBITS
Rabbits love the company of their own species . This is why you should always have a pair of rabbits living together .
Rabbits ’ teeth grow every day and around 3-5 inches a year . This is why it ’ s so important for them to have the correct diet , which is 80 % of their body weight in grass or hay . The best way to achieve this is to give them constant access to both . Rabbits are at their most active at dusk which is why they need access to an outside run at all times . This will enable them to show their natural behaviours .
Enrichment ideas
Stuff toilet tubes with hay which will encourage your rabbit to work harder for its food . Obviously there should be other hay available that the rabbit can access so it doesn ’ t get hungry and frustrated . You can also use activity feeders such as a ball where you put nuggets in and when the rabbit rolls the ball around the nuggets pop out .
Sleepy dormouse
This winter , we played host to a very special guest . A common Hazel Dormouse was brought to us by the North Devon Animal Ambulance after he was caught by a cat whilst hibernating .
Thankfully , he didn ’ t have any serious injuries and was given a clean bill of health from the vet . Sadly we were unable to locate his nest , so he spent the rest of his hibernation with us and was safely returned to his home when the weather warmed up !
Dormice spend most of their lives asleep , usually fully hibernating from October to April or May . In adverse weather , or when resources are scarce , they can also go into a hibernation-like state called ‘ torpor ’.
Contrary to its name , the common Hazel Dormouse is seriously under threat . The population is estimated to have fallen by 52 % since 1995 . Loss of habitat and climate change seem to be major factors in the decline , as well as the reduction in traditional forestry practises , such as coppicing .