Hutch set up

Just wondering how all you lovely people who keep your buns in hutches have them set up...

What bedding do you use?
Do shavings blow around if it's windy?
What do you use in the sleeping area and the 'play' area?
Can you toilet train a hutch bun? What litter do you use?

Pics would be great.

Wondergirl said:

Just wondering how all you lovely people who keep your buns in hutches have them set up...

What bedding do you use?
Do shavings blow around if it's windy?
What do you use in the sleeping area and the 'play' area?
Can you toilet train a hutch bun? What litter do you use?

Pics would be great.

Click to expand...

Mine are all in sheds now but when they were hutch buns they had newspaper with a layer of megazorb then hay throughout. Toilet training is down to the bun as much as the living accomodation, some people have litter trays in their hutches and find that works

Won't a litter tray take up lots of space?

1. I have lino throughout the hutch. As it's winter, in the "bed" part there's newspaper and a ton of straw with hay on top. In the "day" part, which they sleep in more than the other bit, I have fleece cut to shape, on top of that a handy "peter rabbit" 2nd hand baby blanket folded in half with straw and hay on top of that, and snugglesafe buried into that! The fleece:

and finished (pre-rabbit investigations, post clean out):

In the summer it will pretty much be stripped back just to lino and a blanket with a bit of hay!

2. I don't use shavings at all. Just no need for them and they can cause respiratory problems.

3. Mine have 24/7 access to their 6x4 run below, so their whole hutch is really a sleeping area!

4. Mine have 2xlitter trays down in the run. I just use straw in their litter trays at the moment. Mustering up the courage to switch to Megazorb! You can see one litter tray in the background here:

It's an underbed storage box (with the lid being used as a windbreaker).

Wondergirl said:

Won't a litter tray take up lots of space?

Click to expand...

You could get one that fits the whole bedroom area A and E have a whole shed and they sleep in their tray - is a shed an option?

Oooh catxx that looks very swish

My worry about using shavings in the day bit is that they blow everywhere in the wind. Lino is a good idea though.
I like the fleece too... Do they wee on it?

webbkath said:

You could get one that fits the whole bedroom area A and E have a whole shed and they sleep in their tray - is a shed an option?

Click to expand...

A shed isn't an option I'm afraid

Wondergirl said:

Oooh catxx that looks very swish

My worry about using shavings in the day bit is that they blow everywhere in the wind. Lino is a good idea though.
I like the fleece too... Do they wee on it?

Click to expand...

Nope! And that's why I use it haha. They are well litter trained and only wee in their litter trays (not mastered that for poops yet though...). They also sometimes wee in the corner of the night bit of the hutch, which is why I don't use fleece in that bit.

I have two identical cut-to-shape pieces of fleece and it's all washable anyway. They also don't chew fleeces which makes it easy for me to use. Not safe for all bunnies though!

What bunnies do you have catxx?

I use Megazorb to line the hutch and then put thick hay on top in the sleeping area and the open area. I do this because it stops Molly's sore hocks flaring up so it's the only bedding option I have. The hay compacts down after a few days and so doesn't blow around in the wind. I've never used shavings, but Megazorb doesn't blow around unless there was a very strong wind (which would blow any bedding up).

You can toilet train a hutch bunny but I never achieved it so my rabbits use their sleeping area as their toilet so that gets cleaned out daily. If you get a 6ft hutch, a litter tray doesn't take up that much room. You can also put hay racks/balls next to the litter tray so that when they eat, they go toilet too.

these two:

Pat (L) and Bob (R)
Brother & Sister, 4yrs old, Nethie x Lop x English, got them in September

Gorgeous!
Loving the names too hehe