How to Make Halloween a Happy Holiday for Your Bunny

Make Halloween fun for you and your bunny

Halloween can be a scary time for house bunnies. Normal routines in your home suddenly change with the putting out of decoration, kids dressing up and running around and the doorbell constantly ringing.

These changes to your routines can affect your bunnies behavior, often negatively. Your bunny may become less social as they shy away from the noise. Guests not used to bunnies can miss handled them and trigger aggressive behavior.

Changes to you home and normal routines can make Halloween a scary time of year for bunnies.

You can also unwittingly introduce dangers into your home such as food that can be toxic to bunnies as well as ornaments that are electrified or contain candles.

If you want to make sure you make Halloween stress free for you and your bunny then read this simple guide. We talk about Halloween decorations that can be dangerous and show you how to bunny proof them and stop them being chewed. We have tips for managing guests and list all the do's and don'ts experienced bunny parents follow this time of year.

Bunny proofing Halloween lights and decorations

Electric lights, ornaments and decoration

Halloween decorations that you plug into the wall can be extremely dangerous to an unsuspecting bunny. The soft insulation used in the trailing power cords offers little protection from razor sharp teeth and can result in burns to your bunnies mouth and serious electric shock. These ornaments can also get extremely hot and are made of things that smash easily.

It is important that you keep these types of decorations out of your bunnies reach. It only takes you back to be turned for a second for serious harm to be done.

To start it can help to arrange your furniture in front of your plug sockets so you can trail the cables behind, out of your bunnies reach. It can be helpful to place ornaments high up on top of furniture and lead the power cords straight up the back to them.

If you have strings of lanterns or fairy lights don't let these trail down to the floor. Its best to hang these up out of reach.

If you can't find a way of hiding your power cords out of reach you could try covering them with plastic piping. This is often called split length tubing as it can be split along its length so it can slip over the cable without removing the plug. We recommend you use a tough plumbing pipe, the type that you find in home improvement stores.

We would avoid using double sided sticky tape, office cable tidies or rubbing soap, perfume, chilly or bitter spray on them as this will not work, you should not underestimate how good bunnies are when it comes to chewing so use something solid.

Remember your bunnies are going to be curious so do not underestimate their determination to climb up on things and reach up to get what they want.

Halloween decorations and ornaments

It's best to move decorations and ornaments out of reach before your bunny can take an interest in them. Once their curiosity is sparked it is likely they will keep returning no matter how many times you say NO!

Halloween decorations are often made of synthetic materials that can be easily chewed and ingested which can cause gastrointestinal problems. Even though some of the natural looking materials can be poisonous for bunnies, they can be treated with fire retardant materials or pesticides. It's best to plan and set the decorations out in a way that keeps them off the floor and out of harm's way.

Candles

Be mindful of ornaments that candles go inside as these can get very hot.

Remember to keep candles well out of reach as your bunny could burn its whiskers off or worse. Do not place candles on anything that can be knocked over or on something like a tablecloth that can be tugged on by your bunny resulting in the candle toppling over them.

Remember to also place ornaments that candles go inside out of the way as these can also get very hot.

Bunny safety rules for guests at Halloween

If you have guests, especially children, it may be best to keep your bunny out the way as they may not appreciate becoming the center of attention. Guests that may not be used to bunnies will not understand that they may not want to be picked up and played with and clumsy handling can make them timid and skittish and lead to some nasty bites and scratches. Bunnies also have fragile backs and can be injured easily if handled improperly or dropped.

If you do want to introduce guests, especially children to your bunny, make sure you go through some simple rules at the start.

Chocolate and sweets

It is important to not leave chocolate treats out. Bunnies cannot eat chocolate or things with chocolate in them. It is quite serious if your bunny eats some chocolate and you should contact a vet for advice.

Sugary sweets are also no good for bunnies and are best kept hidden away. It's always best to stick to regular bunny treats as these are best for your bunny.

Can I give my bunny pumpkin to eat?

Hubble bubble bunny trouble

With all the fun to be had this time of year scooping out Pumpkins to turn them into lanterns it seems an obvious question, can my bunny eat pumpkin?

The good news is yes they can eat raw pumpkin flesh however it is very important not to give them too much. Bunnies find it hard to digest sugary foods so you will need to limit this. Give it like other surgery treats such as carrot or fruit and only give your bunny about a teaspoon per 2 lbs. of body weight a day.

Bunnies can eat the flesh of pumpkins, they can also eat the leaves. It is not recommended to feed them the seeds, guts, or skin as these are hard to digest. Never feed your bunny cooked pumpkin or any sugary sweets made with pumpkin.

If you do want to give your bunny pumpkin make sure it's something you would want to eat. You should avoid cheap pumpkins soled for making Halloween lamps from as these may be treated with wax and other pesticides.