Rabbit Care Schedule: Daily and Weekly Jobs

A rabbit care schedule sorts the jobs by how often they come round: food, water, litter and a look over each rabbit every day, a full enclosure clean every week, nails every month or two and a vet exam every year. This guide lays out those jobs using the Merck Veterinary Manual, PDSA and the RSPCA, so a whole household can share them. You'll find more in our small pets and exotics guides.

Nothing here replaces your vet. Anything about your rabbit's health, teeth, diet or vaccines is a question for them. This is a list for organising the everyday jobs and keeping a record.

What goes on a rabbit care checklist?

Most jobs repeat daily or weekly. A few come round less often. Here is how the sources group them.

A few of these deserve a closer look.

The daily look-over. PDSA says to check each rabbit every day for illness or injury, including their rear end, and to notice changes in behaviour. It also says to check under the tail at least once a day, and twice or more in warm weather. That check matters: PDSA says flystrike can kill a rabbit very quickly. If you find anything that worries you, contact your vet straight away.

Litter and enclosure. The RSPCA says the toilet areas need cleaning every day and the whole home around once a week. It adds that you should clean more often if the space gets heavily soiled or more rabbits share it. It recommends non-toxic cleaners and making sure everything is fully dry before your rabbits go back in. After a clean, it suggests putting a small amount of the used bedding back so there is a familiar smell to return to.

Active hours. The RSPCA says rabbits are most active in the early morning, late afternoon and overnight. If your rabbit has an exercise space, it helps to have it reachable at those times. In warm weather the RSPCA says to provide shade when temperatures approach 20°C or the sun is out.

Grooming, nails and teeth. Merck lists brushing as a regular task and nail trims every one to two months or as needed. PDSA says most rabbits groom themselves but some need help, and that long-haired breeds may need brushing every day, especially while moulting, when loose fur can build up and cause matting. It also says a rabbit's teeth grow constantly and are worn down by eating the right foods, with plenty of hay helping. If teeth or nails look long, PDSA says to get veterinary help promptly. Ask your vet to show you how to trim nails, and how often suits your rabbit.

Weight and vaccines. PDSA suggests keeping an eye on each rabbit's weight and body condition over time, and says vaccines against myxomatosis and RHD 1+2 are kept up to date every year, with your vet confirming the schedule. Both are easy to track in a log and worth bringing to each visit.

Sources differ on small details. Some guides say to change water once a day, others twice. Where a figure matters for your rabbit, ask your vet and write down what they tell you.

How do I use a rabbit care schedule?

Start with the table, then change it to fit your rabbits and whatever your vet has told you. Your vet's advice always wins over a general list.

Then split the day. Many households put hay, water and the daily look-over in the morning, and litter and exercise in the evening. A rabbit that is active at dawn and dusk may fit that pattern naturally.

If more than one person helps, give each job an owner. Agree who does the under-the-tail check, who handles the weekly clean and who brushes. Nobody assumes someone else did it, and nobody does it twice. The same idea works for any pet, and our pet care chore chart shows one way to set it up.

In warm weather, the sources point to more frequent checks and shade. Add a second under-the-tail look to the list for those days.

What should I log?

A schedule tells you what to do. A log tells you what you did, which is what helps at the vet. A short list is plenty:

• Litter and toilet area cleaned
• Hay and water topped up
• Exercise time
• Brushing
• Full enclosure clean
• Nails trimmed
• Weight, if your vet asks you to track it
• Vet visits and what was said

Add short notes on anything that changed, such as a rabbit seeming quieter than usual or leaving food. Write what you saw in plain words and leave the explaining to your vet. PDSA says to contact a vet straight away if a rabbit seems unwell, is less active, has changes in fur condition, or shows signs of flystrike, and not to wait. A dated list of Observations makes that call easier.

If you also look after other small animals, our daily care log for a reptile shows the same idea for a different pet.

How do I keep track of it?

Paw Crew is an iPhone app, coming soon, built for exactly this kind of routine. You add your rabbit, log a job in one tap and see the day in the Day Ledger. Reminders that mark done can nudge you for the weekly clean or the nail trim, and household sharing through iCloud lets everyone at home see what has been done. Your records stay on your iPhone and in your own iCloud, and Paw Crew is free for one pet. It logs and reminds. It doesn't give care advice.

Bottom line

A rabbit care schedule is a short daily list, a few weekly jobs and a handful of longer gaps. Take the timings from your vet first and the general guides second, and write down what you do so the next visit goes smoothly.