Overview
Rats and mice are common rodents that can be kept as a pet or live in the field, wild or inside your house. If you happen to have rabbits, can they get along with each other, will your bunny attack these rodents or will the vice versa happen?
Do rats and rabbits get along
If you keep both rabbits and rats or mice as pets, you need to know that they can get along well if they are well socialized and handled. In fact, they can share the same common area. However, it is not a good idea to house them together since each of these animals prefers a companion of their own kind. Each of them live in colonies.
Furthermore, their dietary requirements are slightly different and there is a possibility of either eating the other’s food that might not be very healthy or potentially harmful.
Do rabbits eat rats and mice?
We have mentioned the fact that these two animals can get along together well. On the issue of a bunny eating a rat, this does not occur. Rabbits are herbivores. This implies they will depend on only plants as a source of their food.
Furthermore, their digestive system may not be able to handle foods that are high proteins and fats. Instead, they depend on foods that have high amounts of fiber but less energy such as hay. Therefore, these pets should not eat meat or foods high in sugars or fats.
Besides being herbivores, bunnies do not have hunting instincts since they are prey animals. Therefore, they do not have the ability to chase or capture any creature that walks, hops, crawls or flies. They will only eat stationary foods while in their natural habitat.
Thirdly, rabbits are known not to be interested in any moving things. Try rolling a toy to these pets and they will only look at it until it stops moving. This is when they can begin playing with it. Therefore, should there be a rat or mouse in rabbit hutch, they will simply ignore them.
However, due to the fact they love chewing and they will eat almost anything given to them, if you give them rat meat, they may munch it. Furthermore, since they are territorial, it is possible for a bunny to nip, pounce on or chase a way these rodents if it tries to invade his or her marked territory, especially to the unneutered ones.
Do wild rabbits eat mice?
Wild bunnies are no different from the domestic ones. They depend on similar types of foods, are not hunters and they are not interested in moving things.
Conclusion
We can conclude that rabbits do not eat field, house or wild mice and rats. However, since they can pass some parasites, it is good to ensure these rodents do not access areas where your bunnies stay, unless you have them as pets. Otherwise, they may cause some harm.
Also, their rapid movement may make your bunny to be scared which often makes these pets to get stressed. In case that happens, try to calm him or her down.
To keep rats and mice out of your bunny’s hutch, there are several approaches including use of rat guards, keeping good hygiene, ensuring there are not food or fecal droppings among other ways.