Behaviour

How to meet our rabbits' need to be able to exhibit normal behaviour patterns

 

What are normal behaviour patterns?

If we are responsible for a rabbit, we must ensure that its “need to be able to exhibit normal behaviour patterns” is met (the third Welfare Need listed under the Animal Welfare Act, 2006). But what are rabbits' normal behaviour patterns?

A behaviour is an observable act or reaction, produced in response to a situation. It could be the response to thoughts and feelings, or to the environment and what’s happening in it. It can be voluntary or involuntary, based on instinct, or learned from experiences. 

Ebony demonstrating the rabbit behaviour of digging, at the expense of poor Dijon's clean nose. 

 

Our domestic rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus domesticus) are descendants of the wild European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus). Domestication of rabbits happened relatively recently, and their nature hasn’t changed significantly. They’ve retained their wild ancestors’ instincts, especially the prey animal instincts, and so behave in much the same way as wild rabbits, if we give them the opportunity. Therefore, to appreciate our rabbits’ complex behaviour patterns, it’s vital to understand the nature of their wild ancestors.

The Bunnymad glossary of rabbit behaviours

We’ve attempted the monumental task of creating a comprehensive list of behaviours exhibited by rabbits. Our A-Z includes every normal rabbit behaviour we could think of but please let us know if we’ve forgotten anything! 

Our glossary explains how our pet rabbits exhibit each of the behaviours, and how we can encourage them to perform these important behaviours, by providing appropriate care. 

Click here to browse Bunnymad's Glossary of Rabbit Behaviours

We aim to add more photos and videos of each behaviour, so keep visiting to see more!

Rabbit behaviours can be categorised by how they relate to four areas of rabbit needs, as found in our pages through the links below:

Prey behaviours

Behaviours associated with rabbits’ need to avoid predation.

Social behaviours

Behaviours associated with rabbits’ need to form social groups, socialise, and communicate.

Eating, sleeping, and toileting behaviours

Behaviours associated with rabbits’ daily activities.

Reproductive behaviours

Behaviours associated with rabbits’ need to reproduce.

 

Many rabbit behaviours are associated with more than one need (and, therefore, appear under more than one category), and even the categories themselves are inter-related (for example, the reproductive behaviour of breeding prolifically relates to the prey behaviour to needing to guarantee survival of the species), but this gives us a greater understanding of the behaviours we see our rabbits performing.