8 week old bunny - Housing advice needed please...

Hi, we are picking up our 8 week old bunny on Friday. We are only having the one for now and may introduce another later in the year.

I have a dog crate that will be set up in the house because it is so cold at night. I was thinking about having her in the house at night and putting her in her outside hutch during the day. She will have plenty of bedding and an igloo full of bedding to snuggle in.

Any thoughts or advice? I dont want her to get used to being in a warmish house and then put out in the cold.

Hi there, welcome to the forum. :wave: Has she been indoors since birth? My instinct is that as she doesn't have a friend yet and it's winter, it could be too cold for her outside even during the day, as she won't have a full winter coat.
If indoors only is an option I'd do that. Would love some photos !

Hi, she is outside in a shed/hutch set up now. She has been there since birth. I've been reading about not changing temperature too much. I might keep her in the house and only put her out when its nice. By the time next winter is here she will be older and possibly have a friend. She definitely doesnt have a winter coat at the moment.

I will post some photos of her on Friday. My daughter is counting down the sleeps (so am I but she doesnt know that!!)

Having a house rabbit is awesome, you can have a really close relationship :thumb: I'm afraid a dog crate wouldn't be big enough on its own for bunny to be kept in, but you could attach puppy pens to make a large rabbit safe run for her. They need a lot of space permanently available to them. The RWAF minimum recommended is a 6ftx2ft hutch with a permanently accessible run of 8ftx4ft http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/ahutchisnotenough.htm

I would love to keep her as a house rabbit. We live in a rented home and am a bit worried about the carpets! We have a large run for the garden that could be used indoors around the crate. What could I use as a floor though? Maybe a low pile rug that is slightly bigger then the run??

some people use a large piece of vinyl flooring just bigger than the run to protect the floor, you could put a thin piece of ply under that to provide further protection :thumb:

Yes, fab idea! The more I think about it the more I don't want her outside!!

Laura325630 said:

Yes, fab idea! The more I think about it the more I don't want her outside!!

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Once you've had her inside you won't want to put her out if you can give her a big litter tray (underbed storage boxes are good) and put newspaper or wood pellet cat litter or other paper based litter in the bottom, then hay on top, hopefully she will mainly wee and poo in there, as they like to pee and poo whilst they eat:thumb: then if the rest of the area is bare non slip vinyl you can sweep up poops and put them in the tray to show her the way, and wipe up puddles. If you wipe diluted vinegar on the patch where she has weed then that neutralises it to hopefully avoid her going in the wrong place again :thumb: bear in mind litter training will improve in time, but more so after spaying :thumb: can't wait to see photos of her :thumb:

Thanks for the advice! I will post some photos on Friday when we have got her home