Dog kennel/shelter/house for rabbit?

I am somewhat confused on what to call them...

Hi,

I'm getting a giant rabbit halfway in December and I will move flats next week.
I would have at least 2 weeks left to bunny proof the flat and buy all the supplies and of course a place where she can sleep, safe and comfy.
Because it is a giant bunny she's gonna get really big and I find it hard to find rabbit hutches. They are either too small or too big (and with too big I mean, hutches for outside and will never fit in the flat) She's gonna be an indoor house rabbit
I might want to start with a small play area until she's litter trained but in general my idea is that I will bunny proof the flat, and she can have free range. I was planning on having the litter box outside of her hutch/cage/shelter and her (okay I will call it a hutch for now) hutch door would always be open and maybe she doesn't even like to sleep in there, who knows?
So because of the size I have been looking at 'hutches' for dogs.
How big does it have to be, if she can always have access to the flat?
Another thing, Do I have to buy it specially for her, or would I have to buy something where she and later her friend could go in? (Like, would they both have their own, or one shared/bigger one?)

I like the wooden ones more than those crates and what kind of bedding would you guys suggest?

Do you mean somewhere for her to sleep in basically?

P@H do have quite big/wide hutches which would be acceptable for them to be kept in over night, but not all day.

I just wanted to add that I have had a giant bunny in the house too, and he never slept in his 'bedroom', he just preferred to sleep on the carpet. All he did was pee in his bed.
I just bought him a soft basket from Home Bargains and he seemed to like lying in that, he even bunny flopped into it when I first gave it him.

BigBunnyBenji said:

Do you mean somewhere for her to sleep in basically?

P@H do have quite big/wide hutches which would be acceptable for them to be kept in over night, but not all day.

I just wanted to add that I have had a giant bunny in the house too, and he never slept in his 'bedroom', he just preferred to sleep on the carpet. All he did was pee in his bed.
I just bought him a soft basket from Home Bargains and he seemed to like lying in that, he even bunny flopped into it when I first gave it him.

Click to expand...

I don't think you can get any hutch that's big enough for a giant to be kept in for any period of time, especially not overnight.

For a base that's always open, you could use a big dog crate? You could attach a puppy pen for the early days before she is housetrained and if everything is not bunny proofed yet :thumb:

ETA I would definitely make it big enough for 2 bunnies to snuggle

A crate? The largest dog crate you can get is 48inches which is only 4ft x 2'ish ft so not big enough for a rabbit to be shut in, especially a giant. Rabbits are most active at night so the space they get shut in needs to be a good size.

I had a 48inch crate but tbh if you are bunny proofing you might as well just get a large storage box to use as a litter tray and have a water bowl and food bowl by that and use it as her base. The crate is huge and took us so much room, having a free range rabbit is much less of an eye sore in this house!

If you wanted to close her in at night I would be looking at a puppy pen, or maybe 2 for a giant. They are only £25-40 on eBay so loads cheaper than any hutch/crate/cage you can get which are usually too small.

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?304613-Indoor-Housing

Thanks all,

I don't plan on shutting her in at night, the door would always be open.
I thought she might want to have her own space where she could sleep or hide from me?
Do you mean that as long as I provide a litter tray, water bowl, food bowl etc (toys of course) she doesn't need a hutch?

I was looking at these kind of things: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dog-kenne...tchen_Steamers_Cookers_PP&hash=item20d681d1e1
I don't mean that size but just in general dog houses.

I had an indoor bunny and I have him a dog crate as a shelter and he never went in it:roll: so no I don't think you need one if you have all the essentials and hidey places :wave:

elmoandfern said:

I don't think you can get any hutch that's big enough for a giant to be kept in for any period of time, especially not overnight.

For a base that's always open, you could use a big dog crate? You could attach a puppy pen for the early days before she is housetrained and if everything is not bunny proofed yet :thumb:

ETA I would definitely make it big enough for 2 bunnies to snuggle

Click to expand...

I meant as somewhere to sleep, rather than to be closed in. My giants have never been enclosed in any hutch/kennel.

You can buy large plastic dog kennels, I have one and it is easily big enough for my conti to sleep in, but all they ever do is poop in it.

http://www.petsathome.com/shop/kenny-5-plastic-kennel-by-ferplast-93255

Hmm, well if she's only gonna use it as an extra litter tray I'll pass! haha.
So on what do they like to sleep? I kind of had this image of straw and hay, not only to eat the hay but also to sleep on. But I don't think my roommate will like it if I put straw and hay randomly on the ground "as a bed"

You could get a plastic dog bed and put hay in it. I have a large shed and in one dog bed there is blankets and vet bed and the other is hay. Both have been used as "beds". Sometimes they just like to sit on a blanket.

Similar to these and they come in different sizes:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Do-not-dist...d=1385137077&sr=8-4&keywords=dog+beds+plastic

I made cushions for Pooka once she was litter trained. Your bun may like a child's pop up tent, or a couple of cardboard boxes with doorways cut in, so that she has somewhere to 'hide' in case something upsets her. I've just gotten some foam tiles on eBay, like the gym floor ones, and set them up under Pooka's water bowl as she kept flipping it up :roll: they're a good way of water protecting the carpet and much easier to get hay off of. Apparently they're comfier than carpet too, as many bunny flops told me. On top of that are the cushions mentioned above and a fleece blanket. She nibbled at the tiles to begin with but once she realised they were a bit bland got bored of that :thumb:

I have an indoor giant bun and she lives in a room with her husbun. They don't have a bed as such but 3 litter trays stuffed with hay, 2 of which are underbed storage boxes and the third is a large plastic dog bed.

I find any container of hay that they can sit in is likely to be used as a litter tray so make sure it is absorbent and leak proof! Giants do mahoosive wees! :shock:

They have boxes to play in and dig at and I want to get them a child's play tunnel for Christmas as Farore doesn't fit through the bunny ones although I have seen her try!!! :lol: they have a homebase value doormat that has long fibres and feels like fluffy carpet which they like to sleep on but I normally find that they never sleep on things bought for that purpose! :roll:

After Christmas they will be moving house into the living room and I have bought this http://http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/50161321/ which I will take an end off and one of their litter trays fits perfectly in there! So ill put a hay rack and a litter tray in there so they have somewhere which is 'theirs' plus hopefully it will contain some of the hay! They will still have their dog bed too as they like that and it works really well.

When Mottle and Peaches were indoors (mini lop and a lionhead x) they liked to go behind the sofa as a retreat space and used underbed storage boxes as litter trays.

You could get a table for them to go under/on.

If you want an enclosed bed space / hidey hole, you could use a large cat carrier withn the door removed - they also come in dog sizes. I use standard size cat carriers indoors as bed areas. I put a few sheets of newspaper in the bottom and then stuff it with hay at the back and on the floor. If you face it in towards eg a wall, there is less tracking of hay over the floor and it looks a bit neater all round. It is also very easy to clean. Outside, I use these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SNUGS-CAT-SHELTER-KENNEL-CATHOUSE-MOULDED-PLASTIC-STONE-/131038631983

This is also nice:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DELUXE-PE...DOGHOUSE-INDOOR-OUTDOOR-SHELTER-/151172413793

I find my lot like to sit on top of things so a flat roof would be good.

Thanks everyone for the replies! After my money came in today I've been looking at dog crates again

My boyfriend thinks its too big!



They have these sizes:

Small 24"L x 18"W x 21"H £29.95

Medium 30"L x 21"W x 24"H £37.95

Large 36"L x 24"W x 26"H £44.95

Extra Large 42"L x 28"W x 31"H £58.95

Giant 48"L x 30"W x 32"H £72.95

Plus I really like the pink colour

I have also seen these:


Small: 76.5 x 50.5 x 58.5 cm (L x W x H)
and
Large: 105.5 x 66 x 70 cm (L x W x H)

On a side note we've had this cage(Or very very similar!) for our dog a Labradoodle (size of a labrador) so I kind of understand when some of my friends criticize me on this.
I don't like the colour lol.

Once again the door would always be open, day and night! (But would be handy if I have to clean or hoover around)

Loving the pink crate. Link please :wave:

I use the 48" dog crates as temporary secure enclosures or as part of a larger run - but I have small bunnies (1.2-2.5kg). Even with a shelf in, there isn't much room for a couple of little rabbits to move around. They are going to be quite a tight space for giant buns so would only be suitable as a 'safe' area or somewhere to put food bowls, etc so I wouldn't consider anything smaller than the 48" one.

I suspect that the plastic trays will get chewed eventually - mine are metal - but that also makes them colder to sit on.

I can see the appeal of the one on wheels for ease of cleaning. Our dog crate in the lounge (for the dog) is really difficult to clean round the edges where the bits of food go - and he doesn't have hay to deal with.

I'm guessing this would be too small for a giant?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Soft-Stra...el-Doggy-Fashion-Cushion-Basket-/281200845622
Its so cute!

I did get the dog crate and I will see how it goes, it not a place where I would lock her into, just somewhere she could go if she wanted.
If she chooses to never use it I can always sell it...
I wanted to get one with a steel tray, but the last one was sold just before I wanted to buy it :/

one concern for me, would she jump on top of the crate?
It seems pretty high to me. If she would I'm afraid she would injure herself.
I'd like to put something on top of it to make it darker/safer to jump on, or if she wouldn't jump on it I could use it to put other stuff on

Ohh I had a bit of a bidding war on Ebay on sunday and yesterday my puppy pen arrived!
I have not been able to set it up yet, but had a quick look at and it seems smaller then I thought
However it is only temporarily until she is litter trained and then I can use it as a wall I guess to protect my cardboard moving boxes in my room:lol:


I am getting more and more excited about the rabbit My colleagues call me rabbit crazy.
The train ticket is booked as well (98 pound!!!)
15 days to go

If you're getting a large carrier to take her to the vets when she's fully grown (with space for a friend of course) then I'd just leave that out with the door removed.