Care for Japanese Lionhead Rabbits

Set up a house for your Japanese lionhead. Use a cage large enough that she can move around easily. A good guideline is a cage that is at least four times the size of your rabbit. The size of the cage also depends on how much exercise you plan on giving your lionhead. If she has free rein of your home, the cage doesn't have to be as big since she will primarily sleep and eat there; if her living quarters are more limited, get a bigger cage or place the cage in an enclosed rabbit run so she can run around.

Place your rabbit's food and water dishes in the cage. Provide bedding for her, too -- absorbent, washable rugs or towels will prevent her from injuring her delicate paws on the cage grate. In addition to the towels or mats, spread rabbit bedding around the cage for her to nest -- a common and cheap type of rabbit bedding is made from newspaper pulp. Replace the bedding and wash your absorbent layers as they become soiled -- once a week at a minimum.

Rabbit-proof your home to the best of your ability. Rabbits can be wily when it comes to getting what they want, and mature rabbits can also jump fairly high. Use boxes, pet gates, wooden boards and other barriers to prevent your rabbit from entering areas you want to keep rabbit-free. Cover your electrical wires and other cables with a spiral cable wrap -- rabbits can and will chew everything, including objects that can harm them. Hang houseplants high if you have an active rabbit, or keep them in areas that the rabbit will be unable to access, because some plants are poisonous.

Train your rabbit to use her litter tray. It's easier to train older rabbits to use a litter tray, but if your rabbit is a baby, persevere. Rabbits like to urinate in the same places, so put your rabbit's litter tray where she goes the most. Rabbits go still and flatten their rears when they're about to urinate, so if you see her getting ready to go, gently transfer or encourage her to go to the litter tray so she can learn. Training your rabbit to contain her bowel movements to the litter tray will be trickier, but you can begin by transferring her "pills" to the litter tray so she learns to associate them with that location.

Spay or neuter your rabbit at 6 months for females and 5 months for males. Take your rabbit to a veterinarian who specializes in small animals. Unless you have Japanese lionhead rabbits specifically for breeding purposes, spaying or neutering increases your rabbit's life span and quality of life. Rabbits, especially females, have high chances of developing reproductive cancers, and spaying or neutering should eliminate that risk, as well as make male rabbits less aggressive and less territorial.

Make sure your rabbit always has a supply of fresh food and water. A good rabbit diet includes rabbit pellets with at least 18 percent fiber content, fresh vegetables, hay -- alfalfa, timothy or oat -- and plenty of water. Rabbits love dried fruit, but treats should be given sparingly. Make sure your rabbit always has a bowl of fresh pellets and plenty of hay to nibble on; she will eat when she's hungry, so establishing feeding times is not necessary. Leafy green vegetables, root vegetables and other varieties in different colors are good to give your rabbit, but don't feed her beans or rhubarb. Use a heavy water dish that will be more difficult to upset; if they are frustrated or bored, rabbits may knock over their water dishes.