Indoor Rabbit Cages

[cookiemistress]

Im hoping to get a rabbit (or two) and im at the stage of looking at cages, im saying indoor cos i live in a flat but my parents live close by.
A lot of people have said they use a dog crate, the question is how would i "adapt" it so the litter doesnt get kicked outside?

I was thinking of attaching wood or plastic to the outside but bunny would be able to chew it through the bars

Help please?!!?

 

[-FighterFishh]

Im hoping to get a rabbit (or two) and im at the stage of looking at cages, im saying indoor cos i live in a flat but my parents live close by.
A lot of people have said they use a dog crate, the question is how would i "adapt" it so the litter doesnt get kicked outside?

I was thinking of attaching wood or plastic to the outside but bunny would be able to chew it through the bars

Help please?!!?

I'm not sure how you'd stop the bunny from kicking it's litter out, but I will advise you to make sure you're up for cleaning the hutch/cage out a lot, as rabbits litter smells. Badly.

 

[TigerJack]

I used to have a bunny when I was a teenager. I kept him in a plastic dog crate, as opposed to the metal ones with the bars. I put a little cat litter box in for him to do his business. Because the cage was solid plastic, the litter didn't come out. It also kept it darker inside and gave a more sheltered feel.

Downside, rabbit litter smells horrible and I eventually moved him to an outside hutch!!

 

[cookiemistress]

I know they smell, we used to keep quite a few when i was younger.
So general concensus is get a specially made bunny cage? OR litter train and use newspaper or fleece to line cage?

 

[starrynightxxi]

I would litter train and use fleece as that is what I do with my rats. And if you look into rabbit rescues in your area, you may find a/a pair of already litter trained rabbits so you don't have to do any of the work!

 

[emma12321]

mine used to be in a cube and coroplast cage http/www.guineapigcages.com/cubes.htm this site shows some. i built mine 8 cubes long 2 wide 2 high and had double doors that opened on the front they had a shelf at either end to jump up on and i kept them on megazorb bedding, they now live in the shed with the guineas and are free range bunnies.

 

[cookiemistress]

So to litter train id just put their poop into the litter tray?
What do i line litter tray with?
Any extra tips?

Ive bought a huuge dog crate and im going to bunny proof my front room.

 

[Joshwainwright]

This seems an awful lot of work for a rabbit. Why not just keep it at your parents house?

 

[cookiemistress]

This seems an awful lot of work for a rabbit. Why not just keep it at your parents house?

cos that kinda defeats the whole object of having/owning a pet.

 

[coldcazzie]

IME rabbits are fairly easy to train - ours trained themselves! Pets at home do a litter tray that is triangular in shape and the back corner has really high sides so they don't pee over the back edge (the main problem we had with a cat litter tray was them missing!) line with newspaper and sawdust. Other than that they don't need anything other than a sheltered place to feel safe in, and I'm not convinced a dog crate would do that, being that it's quite open. Cardboard boxes are good, except they get shreadded. Cat carrier would work - good for transporting to the vets etc if you wanted/needed to as well. Get some wood logs/branches as well (make sure they're not poisonous first) because rabbits like to chew! Although I'm sure you know that if you've kept them before!

 

[Joshwainwright]

I know nothing about rabbits. I never knew you could actually "potty train" them...

 

[cookiemistress]

IME rabbits are fairly easy to train - ours trained themselves! Pets at home do a litter tray that is triangular in shape and the back corner has really high sides so they don't pee over the back edge (the main problem we had with a cat litter tray was them missing!) line with newspaper and sawdust. Other than that they don't need anything other than a sheltered place to feel safe in, and I'm not convinced a dog crate would do that, being that it's quite open. Cardboard boxes are good, except they get shreadded. Cat carrier would work - good for transporting to the vets etc if you wanted/needed to as well. Get some wood logs/branches as well (make sure they're not poisonous first) because rabbits like to chew! Although I'm sure you know that if you've kept them before!

Yeah the bunnys we had before were dwarfs and they were kept outside in hutches.
Id planned to get a house/bed to go inside the crate and i have a ready supply of big strong boxes to But ill have a look at a large (ish) plastic carrier.
Thanx for tips on litter training, can you get the triangular trays that are suitable for giant rabbits?

 

[coldcazzie]

IME rabbits are fairly easy to train - ours trained themselves! Pets at home do a litter tray that is triangular in shape and the back corner has really high sides so they don't pee over the back edge (the main problem we had with a cat litter tray was them missing!) line with newspaper and sawdust. Other than that they don't need anything other than a sheltered place to feel safe in, and I'm not convinced a dog crate would do that, being that it's quite open. Cardboard boxes are good, except they get shreadded. Cat carrier would work - good for transporting to the vets etc if you wanted/needed to as well. Get some wood logs/branches as well (make sure they're not poisonous first) because rabbits like to chew! Although I'm sure you know that if you've kept them before!

Yeah the bunnys we had before were dwarfs and they were kept outside in hutches.
Id planned to get a house/bed to go inside the crate and i have a ready supply of big strong boxes to But ill have a look at a large (ish) plastic carrier.
Thanx for tips on litter training, can you get the triangular trays that are suitable for giant rabbits?

Depends if you just mean large rabbits (as ours were) or actual giant rabbits. I had to bug pets @ home for about 2 months for them to get the tray in in the size that I wanted and it cost me about £14 brand new - they have a smaller version which is suitable for guinea pigs and dwarf buns but my buns wouldn't have even fit their huge backsides in it! True giant rabbits definitely wouldn't fit in even the one I have though. The one we have is about 14 inches x 14 inches, and about a foot high at the back. Hell, I'll even sell it to you if you want it! Our buns were stolen last year so we've no need for it, currently it's just sitting in the garage. Whereabouts are you?

A box inside a crate would be fine. As long as they have somewhere sheltered to retire to when they feel like it.

Oh, and buy some lemon/lemongrass essential oil (great for banishing those ammonia smells rabbits are so good at producing!) and get some enzyme cleaner in case they ever pee on the carpet by accident, it's wonderful stuff! Expensive, but so worth it!

ETA: I found that the buns naturally found a place they wanted to use as their toilet, so I just placed the tray in that spot and they started to use it. Then all I did was move the tray if they went anywhere else (ie, inside/new hutch). After only a couple of weeks they knew that the tray was their toilet and would use it wherever they were, as long as it was placed in a reasonable location (ie, not right in the middle of the room - rabbits are prey animals after all and have instincts!)

 

[cookiemistress]

Ah thanx great info, im lincoln city area

 

[coldcazzie]

Have sent you a PM