Life with My 20-pound Rabbit

Holding Duncan

Duncan Inspecting a Large Box of Tissues

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October 19, 2009 -

The day I came home with my newly adopted rabbit, I will never forget the look on my mother’s face. I lugged the large dog carrier into my bedroom where my mother was curiously waiting for the newest addition to my pet family. She would later state how she imagined that a “bunny” would come hopping its small, fluffy self out of the large carrier. What emerged was a mammoth-sized Flemish Giant rabbit named Duncan. Duncan plopped, rather than hopped, outside of the carrier and into his forever home.

(I won’t go into detail about this rabbit breed, there’s a Wikipedia page on the Flemish Giant rabbit that provides some background information if you’re interested.)

Before being surrendered to an Arizona-based animal welfare organization, Duncan was a breeding rabbit, kept outdoors year round with other rabbits in too small of a pen. He still bears his breeding tattoo in one of his big ears. A wonderful, Phoenix-based rabbit rescue, Brambley Hedge Rabbit Rescue, later took the surrendered rabbits and sought adopted homes for them. It was at this time that I was curious about adding a rabbit to my pet family. Long story short, I met my match with Duncan. Courtesy of Brambley Hedge Rabbit Rescue, Duncan was neutered and microchipped before I could bring him home.

Duncan has been in my life for a little more than two years now and he’s truly an example of a “gentle giant;” he presently weighs in at 20 pounds.  A mellow fellow, Duncan spends most of his time lounging about his bedroom (aka his man cave). Duncan has supervised roam of the house (to ensure he doesn’t get into any wires) and supervised backyard jaunts; but he has free roam of his bedroom (yes, he has one of my house’s bedrooms as his own). His bedroom setup includes a huge, wire dog crate at one side of the room that’s always kept open and houses his litter pan and is lined with sisal for his shredding pleasure. Outside the crate are area rugs for his lounging needs. He is in the company of my two chinchillas, a guinea pig, small parrot and degu…as well as visited by my dogs and cats.

Duncan is litter trained and is pretty faithful at using his designated toilet to pee and poop. Litter pans for rabbits just aren’t big enough for Duncan, so I use the largest cat litter pan I can find.

Feeding a rabbit this size is actually quite simple. Duncan’s diet consists of free-choice Timothy grass hay (I usually buy it by the bale from a local feed store), a cup of premium rabbit pellets in the morning and a bowl of fresh vegetable greens in the evening (along with a few papaya tablets for digestive health). Most importantly, Duncan always has access to a bowl of clean water. Those water bottles that hang from a cage don’t work for Duncan; he does better with a big bowl of water set out for him.

The most costly thing I go through with Duncan is litter. I prefer to only use paper-based, pelleted litter for Duncan. Given his size, he shares a healthy amount of pee and pearl-sized poop each day. My morning chores include getting out the vacuum I keep in his bedroom closet dedicated for the purpose of cleaning up his man cave.

Vanessa M. - PetSmart Charities, Inc.