Everyone looks at bunnies and thinks they’re just these super cute fluff balls that like to munch on hay all day. While that is all true, they are also so much more than that.

When I got my bunny, I didn’t really know exactly what I was getting myself into. I knew about her lifespan and her basic needs but I didn’t really know anything past that. After two years of living with her, this is what life with a bunny looks like.

Morning Time: In the morning, my bunny Button is already waiting for her food. She’s throwing things around in her kennel and maybe even stomping trying to get my attention. I normally wake up to the sound of her chewing on her kennel. My bunny alarm clock doesn’t stop going off until she gets her breakfast and fresh water.

After work: After I get home from work, she’s ready for more food and lots of attention. She gets let out of her kennel to run and binky all over my room. She loves to run. She also loves making noise. She grunts and grinds her teeth and she has one of those cat tunnels that crinkle when they run through it and she absolutely adores the stupid thing.

Night Time: After running around all day, she’s ready for a banana or some cilantro as her “midnight” snack. She gets lots of snuggles and goes back in her kennel for the night. During the night, she can get pretty sassy and start stomping her feet. She does that to get my attention and to tell me she wants out. She’s used to sleeping with me at night, so this transition has been a little hard for her. We don’t let her sleep with us anymore because there’s two of us now and we don’t want to accidentally roll over her in our sleep.

That’s just the beginning of life with a bunny. Those are the daily adventures of Button. Her mood changes daily though so her behavior also changes.

This past week, for example, she has been a huge sass queen. Any time I have reached in her kennel to fill her food up, she has grunted at me and nudged my hand (her way of asking for attention). If we start giving our other animals love, she gets jealous and hops over to us slowly. She’s not so sure about how she feels toward the other animals, but she knows we are her humans and she thinks we only love her.

If we hold our hands out at all, she will run up and nudge our hands like a cat when it wants attention. As long as you’re petting her head and ears, she will lay there. She would stay there forever if it was possible.

Any time she hears a bag crinkle, she automatically thinks it’s for her and comes running. She’s the cutest lil thing when she’s excited.

While she is cute, she is also very destructive. She has chewed through countless chords and has chewed holes in some of my shirts and purses and even chewed an entire corner of carpet in my old house. Bunny proofing your home is a necessary precaution with a bunny. I have chord protectors on all the chords in our bedroom and have NIC grids along all of our baseboards so she doesn’t chew them.

She can be messy. Even though she is litter trained, Button also loves to dig in her litter box and sometimes throws dirty litter or other things out of her litter box for me to sweep up.

Even though she is messy with her litter, rabbits are actually huge neat freaks. Button, like a cat, grooms herself multiple times a day and never has an unpleasant odor. If she washes her face around you, it means she trusts you completely and is extremely comfortable in her environment.

Bunnies are prey animals. Because of this, they are always looking for escape routes and places to hide. They get spooked easily and are not suitable pets for children. They also do not like to be picked up. It reminds them too much of a predator reaching down and grabbing them so the whole experience is just terrifying for them. After they learn to trust you and you build that relationship with them however, they will learn to let you pick them up and be totally fine with it as long as it’s you and not a random stranger.

Rabbits need lots of room to run. Cages and hutches sold in pet stores are not good enough for bunnies. They don’t give them room to run around and explore and they are generally pretty messy since the whole thing is their litter box. Most hutches also have that wire flooring which is awful for rabbits feet and can lead to a lot of pain and problems down the road. Putting a rabbit in a cage or a hutch in the equivalent of Harry Potter in his closet. The only difference is that Harry Potter’s toilet is also in that closet.

Can you imagine living like that?

Bunnies are not a low cost or low maintenance pet. They require so much attention and love and different foods and vet care. They require supervision and lots and lots and LOTS of toys! It’s like having a toddler in the house. Bunnies throw tantrums just like a toddler and have the same mood swings and can sometimes be pretty unpredictable.

I would not recommend a rabbit for anyone that doesn’t have the time or patience to care for one properly. If you’re planning on getting one and sticking it in a pet store cage or hutch, a rabbit is just not the pet for you. If you think they’re just cute to look at, they probably aren’t the pet for you. If you are thinking about rescuing or adopting a rabbit, I would suggest you do your research first. Just like with any animal, you need to be prepared before you bring your rabbit home.

One of my favorite resources is actually another bunny parent. She and her bunny have a YouTube channel that I love watching. I will link one of her videos below talking about what you need before getting a rabbit.

She also has lots of other videos that are helpful for rabbit parents but if you’re just in the market for some cute bunny videos, she has those too! She has thrown her bunny birthday parties on taken her on stroller rides so there’s plenty of cute videos on there as well as informational videos.

My bunny is probably one of the best things that has ever happened to me. She came into my life when I didn’t even know I needed her and has become my best friend since then. We don’t always agree on things and she definitely sasses me quite a bit, but at the end of the day, she’s my baby and I love her more than life. Living with her has been a learning experience but it has also been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. She is a huge blessing in my life.