playing with them...

Do rabbits like to play? Of course they do! Do rabbits need mental stimulation and exercise? Absolutely! A bored, unstimulated rabbit can become destructive, aggressive, overweight or depressed.
Rabbits can be playful and energetic and can be quite goofy to watch at play. Haven't you seen your rabbit get a sudden burst of energy and go flying through the house, twisting and turning all the while? This dance is one of the many ways rabbits play.

Observe what your rabbit likes to doAllow your rabbit a lot of playtime and let him to do what comes naturally: chew, dig, toss, shred, bunch or burrow. Some rabbits will never chew, but they love to toss things around; others are dedicated diggers. By observing and interacting with your rabbit, you can capitalize on his entertainment preferences.
Experiment with different toys. If at first Bun isn't sure why you have given him these new, odd-looking objects, gently toss the new toy toward him or actually put him in the play box. With appropriate toys, Bun can fulfill his needs without getting himself into trouble. Besides, bunnies are so cute when they are intent upon something.

checking there gender...

If it is 5 months old, or older, the easiest way to tell is to flip it over and see if there are bald sacks on either side of the tail. If so, you have a male. If not, you either have a female or the testicals have not yet dropped.So if you do not see these, you will have to go the harder route. Turn the rabbit over and scissor the tail with your pointer and middle finger (one on top of the tail, one on the bottom). Gently pull the tail away from the body, exposing the genitalia area. At the same time, use your thumb to gently pull the top of the genitalia area's skin toward the rabbit's body. This should expose the genitalia, if it is done correctly. Shaft-like and sticking up means a male. (If it is a baby, there will be a round hole). Attached at one end, but not at the other, and with a slit means a female. If you are still unsure, you might try to find a show breeder in the area to figure out the gender and to show you how it is done.

how many babies can a rabbit have

Rabbits hide their nests in plain view, often putting them in the open; for example, in the middle of the lawn, as well as in brush piles and long grass. If you find a nest that has been disturbed, do all you can to restore and protect it rather than bring the infants inside. If a dog has discovered the nest, keep your dog away from the area and reconstruct the nest with grasses. If need be, you can move the nest a few feet away where safer.
Rabbit mothers nurse their babies for approximately 5 minutes a day. They will be in the nest or nest box early in the morning and then again in the evening. The milk is very rich and the babies "fill up" to capacity within minutes. Mother rabbits do not "sit" on the babies to keep them warm as do some mammals and birds. They build a nest with fur and grasses which helps to keep the babies warm in between feedings. Do not force a mother rabbit to sit in the nest box. You can pick up the babies and see if they are feeding by checking the size of their stomachs (should not be sunken in), the pinkness of their skin and activity level (they should not be blue in color or sluggish in movement) and the amount of time that you hear them crying (baby bunnies should be quiet most of the day....if they are crying constantly then they are not getting fed). If you come across a nest of bunnies in the wild and the mother is no where to be seen, please DO NOT disturb them...this is normal. By removing them from the nest you are greatly reducing their chances of survival.
If your dog disturbs a nest or you find a wild bunny with its eyes open, please put him back if not injured. Mom will be coming back at night to call and feed him only once in the middle of the night. Do not take the bunny inside or feed him. That is the mom's job. IT IS A MATTER OF HIS/HER SURVIVAL AND UP TO US AS HUMANS TO LEAVE NATURE BE AND LET THE MOM CARE FOR HER YOUNG. We often hear of mothers moving their babies and their nests, and have seen moms come back every night for up to a week to look for her missing baby. Do not take the baby from the mom or she will be frantic.
I/My Dog/My Cat Destroyed a Rabbit Nest! What Do I Do?Remake the nest as best you can with grasses, hay, straw in the same place. Nests can be moved to a safer place up to 10' away from the original site and can be reconstructed if necessary. To make a new nest, dig a shallow hole about 3" deep and put into it as much of the original material as you can recover, including the mother's fur. Add dried grass as needed, and put the young back. Mother rabbits return to the nest to nurse only at night, staying away as much as possible so as not to attract predators. To determine if the mother is returning, create a tic-tac-toe pattern over the nest with straw, grasses or tiny twigs. Wait 24 hours to see if the twigs have been disturbed. She may be able to feed them without moving the twigs much, so double check--If the babies look healthy, are warm, then the mother is coming back. If they are cold, dehydrated, get them to a professional; do not care for them yourself. Please contact a Wildlife Rehabilitator or rabbit vet immediately.
How Do I Know If the Baby Bunnies Need Help?Very young wild baby bunnies with eyes closed and ears back rarely survive in captivity, even given the most expert human care; and so it is very important to determine whether they really need help. Try to assess whether the infants seem warm and healthy or cold, thin, and dehydrated. One test for dehydration is to gently pinch the loose skin at the back of the neck. If it stays in a "tent," or does not spring back in one second, the bunny is SEVERELY dehydrated and needs rehabilitation IMMEDIATELY by a professional rabbit vet or rehabber. Another test is to stroke the genital area to stimulate elimination. If the pee is brown and gritty, the mother rabbit has not been there to help the bunnies urinate. The brown, gritty urine is toxic, and the infant bunny must be cared for by a professional. Please contact a Wildlife Rehabilitator or rabbit vet immediately.
Older baby bunnies who are found outside of the nest may not be orphaned or in need of assistance. Baby cottontails are born without fur but develop a full coat in a week. Their eyes open in 10 days, and in three to four weeks they are weaned. At this age, they may explore the world outside of the nest but return there to sleep. They are not ignored by the mother but stay with the family group until four or five weeks of age. To determine whether a bunny of this age needs assistance, perform the dehydration test. Also look for bleeding, convulsing, fly larvae, broken limbs; if any, get to a rabbit vet or emergency vet immediately. If he is just out and about, leave him be. He is discovering his world, waiting for mom to return at night when we humans are asleep.
What If the Baby Bunny Is Injured?Either call or take him to your local humane society or animal shelter/animal control. Call first as often they will come pick up the baby. If they don't have a wildlife center, they will refer you. If after hours, contact a local emergency rabbit vet or Rabbit Veterinarian.
The best thing you can do for an injured wild baby bunny is to get in touch with a skilled rehabilitator. Great info on local rehabilitators can be found at The Wildlife Rehabilitation Information Directory
Is there anything I can do to avoid orphaning baby bunnies?The harsh reality is that many of us who care about wild baby bunnies may be contributing to the suffering and death. House cats who roam outside will kill about every other time they go out. And unlike feral cats who hunt because they are hungry, and kill immediately, house cats maul and torment their prey, sometimes skinning baby bunnies alive. Cat owners need to provide managed outdoor habitats for their cats - such as windowboxes or pens. Providing a bell on your cat will help warn the wildlife if you cannot keep him inside.
Lawn chemicals can produce convulsing death in baby rabbits. According to the Poison Control Center for Animals, lawn applications that contain herbicides are not directly toxic to small animals; but they may make toxic plants more palatable to them and may make the animals sick for a few days. Products which contain insecticides, such as Dursban or Diazinion, which are added to many lawn products to control fleas or grubs in the lawn, are toxic.

what they eat

One of the enjoyable things about bowhunting is watching different animals come and go in the immediate area and witnessing their daily lives unfold. Rabbits are particularly cool.
Rabbits do not seem to have leisure time. Their days are spent looking for food, eating, interacting with other rabbits, resting, and sleeping. And all the while they keep a constant ear and eye out for the predators that want to turn them into today's lunch or dinner.
The area I bowhunt that I named the "Hammer Hole" is well stocked with rabbits. They always seem to be traveling through, eating, or messing around with other rabbits.
Here is one of the Hammer Hold rabbits munching on some native grass stems. They clip the stems close to the ground and eat them. The stem looks like it is being sucked into the rabbit. Here it is for your enjoyment or for your computer's Wallpaper: 1024x768, 800x600, 640x480.
Rabbits love wild flowers. They clip the flower's stalk off and start nibbling. The bud comes closer to the rabbit with every bite. Here's a different Hammer Hole Cottontail for your enjoyment or for your computer's Wallpaper: 1024x768, 800x600, 640x480

training rabbits

Obedience Training; We have to be honest. Most people will not be able to obedience train a rabbit the way they might be able to train a dog. This does NOT mean rabbits are stupid. Quite the contrary! A rabbit may understand very clearly that you are trying to get him to do something, but will simply give you a baleful stare and continue doing his business as if to say, "Yeah, I hear you. But what's in it for me?" This irritates you until a minute later, when your adorably manipulative bunny comes running for kisses and cuddles.Now that you have set up a safe, comfortable box, put it in an area where the bunny can be comfortably confined for a few days, except for brief excursions for run and play. You can place the box inside the indoor hutch, tuck it behind the john in the bathroom, or place it in a corner of the laundry room: whatever is convenient as well as attractive to the bunny.
Use a baby gate to enclose the bunny in the selected room with his litterbox, and be sure to provide plenty of toys, food, water and comfortable places to sleep. This will be bunny's home base and should be as inviting as you can make it. It may take a few days for the bunny to reliably use the box, as he may mark the area thoroughly as he settles in. It may help to soak or sweep up "accidents" (they're not accidents) with a bit of tissue and put the tissue in the box. He'll get the idea! Like cats, most rabbits prefer to do their biz in a nice, absorbent spot such as a clean litterbox.
It often helps to put a handful of timothy hay in a clean corner of the litterbox to encourage use of the box. A rabbit will often sit in the box, happily munching at one end, while the processed product comes out the other end. This may seem a bit disgusting to a human, but rabbits don't consider their feces to be dirty. Some rabbits will even nap in the litterbox! As long as the litterbox is changed regularly, this should pose no problem: rabbit fecal pellets are hard, dry and relatively odorless. In fact, rabbit litterbox leavings are just about the best natural, organic fertilizer you can get for your garden! Grow an herb garden, fertilize with bunny's litterbox leftovers (including the organic litter) and enjoy the ultimate in recycling!
Once your bunny is reliable about using the litterbox in his area, you can gradually increase his freedom. Be sure that he can always get back to his litterbox when he's free in the house. There's a possibility that he may pick a second area in the house as a toilet corner. If the behavior continues, even after squirt bottle and white vinegar, you may have to raise the white flag and provide another litterbox or two. But bunny's litterbox doesn't smell if it's changed regularly. Good luck!