There are various items of equipment that are needed to keep a rabbit including a hutch or cage, water bottle, food dish, woodshavings and other accessories.

Before preparing the cage the intended location of the cage should be considered carefully.

Rabbits are sociable and therefore best provided with company, especially if the owner is away during the day or the rabbit is to be kept outside.

Rabbits should have a constant supply of grass or hay as the fibre contained is vital to their digestion and forms the bulk of their diet. This can be supplemented with rabbit mix or pellets, fresh fruit, vegetables, plants and flowers.

A pet rabbit will require routine care including feeding, the provision of fresh water, grooming, cage cleaning, health checks and annual vaccinations.

Rabbits are often not very keen on being handled so it takes time and patience to get them used to being picked up.

It is important to groom a rabbit regularly, and particularly during periods when they shed their coats, to prevent hairballs occurring when the rabbit grooms itself.

Rabbits can be trained to use a litter tray and perform simple tricks.

Check out the normal vital signs for a pet rabbit along with details of illnesses and diseases that rabbits can suffer from.

A rabbit's diet can be supplemented with vegetables and fruit to eat but there are a few vegetables and fruits that are not safe to feed to rabbits, so check out which are safe to feed and which to avoid.

Check out what rabbits should eat, how much to feed and how often.

Grass and hay should form the main part of a rabbit's diet and there are different types of hay available.

Commercially prepared mixes or compressed food pellets specifically designed for rabbits can be fed daily to supplement a rabbit's main diet of grass and hay.

A rabbit's diet can be supplemented with herbs, plants and flowers to eat but it is important to know which are safe to feed and which are poisonous to rabbits.