Tips to Cut Down the Costs of Owning a Rabbit
Owning a rabbit can be expensive, but it doesn't have to be! There are many simple ways you can cut down the costs.
- Make your own toys. I have an article about it that I'm continually updating: http://hollyshollands.weebly.com/bunny-fun.html. I also love this website: http://www.budgetbunny.ca/category/rabbit-toys/
- Shop at the Dollar Store for toys you can't make. My rabbits are just in love with balls and rattles that I can find in the pet section and the baby section of the dollar store.
- Reuse old Easter eggs, toilet paper tubes, baby toys, hard pet toys, cardboard boxes - as long as there aren't sharp or really breakable parts. Make sure your rabbit doesn't eat the plastic!
- Build your own cage. This can be very cheap, especially if you know (or are), someone in the lumber industry. Hutches can be very cheap to make, and you can build them however you want to fit your needs and the needs of your pet.
- Shop at farm supply stores for hay and feed. Hay and feed can be expensive from pet stores. At my Animal Co*Op, I can get a 50lb bag of feed for just $20. A 60lb bale of hay is just $17. The feed usually lasts a month and the hay lasts for months.
- Shop at farm supply stores for litter. I have previously used CareFresh for my litter. it's pretty expensive, about $20 once a month or so. But I recently found a pelleted litter, the brand is Crown, that I'm liking WAY more! It's so cheap, only around $11, and I've been using the same bag for two or three months now. With only one rabbit, I could easily see this lasting half a year, depending on how often you change your litter box out.
- Find a place to spay/neuter your rabbit that isn't a vet office. Vets can be very expensive - especially to spay or neuter your bunny. Places like a humane society, animal shelter, or a spay/neuter center are usually much cheaper.
- Build your own nestbox, if you are a breeder. I have a tutorial on that in another article.
- Grow your own fruits and veggies. If you feed your rabbit greens and things like that, this will greatly diminish the cost of weekly veggies and fruits. You can just pick them right out of your garden. A lot of time is saved, too.