Is this cage setup okay for my mini Lop?

i recently brought the ferplast rabbit 140 cage, i did a post a few days ago asking if it was big enough for my 2 mini lops and was told it wasn't so i decided not to put the bunnes together.

i purchased a play pen to and attahced it to the cage so its double the size of the cage, is this okay for just one of my bunnies? as well as putting them in a run in the garden when the weather is nice.

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Do you mean you've split up your pair of bonded rabbits?

Hi. What is the measurement of the run? The minimum size recommended is 6foot x 2 ft (2m x 0.75m) so I think it's probably still too small.
Glad to see someone looking to improve accommodation, sadly most of the cages and hutches sold are little more than prisons.

no, they where in seprate cages and they bonded through playing together, they have never lived together

Was that link supposed to show a picture of our set-up?

its just over 140cm (bit bigger than the cage) in length

Bunnies shouldn't be only put together for play time and then separated again and again, if they get together and bond, its stressful when they are taken away from one another. Plus rabbits are social animals and the great majority prefer the permanent company of other rabbits.

It's best to have them both neutered when possible and then bond them fully and allow them to live happy lives together. Are they male/female or two males and two females?

they are not fully bonded yet this is why they are not together yet, i was told to let them play for a certain amount of time each day and keep doing it until they have fully bonded. i am not confident in leaving them alone together....and my eldest bunny is already neutered and my other bunny gets neutered on friday...but any tips would be helpful

Unfortunately the space is still too small. Perhaps have a look at the indoor housing set ups on here. I'm a bit confused - where is your other bunny living and don't you want them to live together.


Cross-posted

my other bunny is in the opposit side of the room, i do want them living together, but i didnt think i could just put them together straight away? i didnt want the bonding to be rushed

how much bigger would the cage need to be?

OK - so you are going to bond them when your rabbit has been neutered on Friday. You will need to allow 3-4 weeks for the hormones to settle if you are to send a chance of bonding them.

The minimum hutch size for one or two rabbits is 6ft x 3ft x 3ft, with a permanently attached run (meaning they have 24 hour access) of 8ft x 6ft.

Firstly, welcome to the forum :wave: It is great you have already given them more space after realising the cage alone is too small, it is sadly the case with the majority of rabbit housing even though it is advertised as being suitable for rabbits when it sadly is not. May I ask what your other rabbits set up is like, for example is it the same as this? As others have mentioned it is still on the small size even with the attached run, but don't panic bunny still has enough space to hop around for now while you look into expanding it. I would perhaps buy another pen and join the pens together to increase the run size, or perhaps an XL dog crate instead of the cage to use as a base with the attached pen.

Babsie said:

OK - so you are going to bond them when your rabbit has been neutered on Friday. You will need to allow 3-4 weeks for the hormones to settle if you are to send a chance of bonding them.

The minimum hutch size for one or two rabbits is 6ft x 3ft x 3ft, with a permanently attached run (meaning they have 24 hour access) of 8ft x 6ft.

Click to expand...

This is good information here for you about what size the cage and run needs to be expanded to

Also as for bonding there is many different techniques, one of which is the 'dating' method similar to what you are doing now. Where the rabbits meet for a set amount of time each day which is gradually increased if things are going well until they are bonded and together 24/7. However as one is not yet neutered and will need time to recover I would perhaps avoid putting them together until after the neutering (3-4 weeks as mentioned until all hormones have died down) and then either put them together as above or, as I like to do as it avoids the potential stress/disturbing them through constantly separating them is putting them together in a small neutral space with constant observation.

thanks for advice, one of my other bunnies is outside in a 2 storey hutch and run, and my other is in a similar one to the image, and he is a lot smaller than the bunny in the picture

Cute bunny.

As you've already found out, sadly shops still sell rabbit housing that isn't actually big enough. It's great that you've already increased the size of the housing and hopefully you can get some ideas from here on how to give them more room without too much more outlay.

The RWAF recommend a minimum hutch size of 6x2x2, with an attached run of 8x6 that they can (ideally) have permanent access to. With indoor bunnies, people usually find it easier/cheaper to bunny proof a whole room for the rabbits to live in otherwise housing of that size tends to take over the place. :lol:

Have you looked at this thread for some ideas? http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?304613

You're right in thinking that you shouldn't just put the two bunnies together and expect them to get along. :thumb: It's also a good idea to make sure both are neutered first as pesky hormones can make bonding difficult.

While the housing situation at the moment isn't as good as it could be, it's also not actually that terrible as a temporary measure either until the pair can be bonded. You could use the time while you're waiting to bond them to have a read up of the housing threads and have a think about how best to increase the space ready for when they can live together. You could even think about bonding all 3 of them and there is some info here about bonding trios..... most of it will still be useful to have a read of for bonding a pair too. http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?317003

Hope that all makes sense; I'm trying to give some useful advice without bombarding you with too much info at the same time :lol: but feel free to shout if there's anything you'd like us to expand on.

Thanks for posting a picture so we can see the set up. I noticed that you have laminate flooring, how do your bunnies get on with this? it may be a bit slippy for them to get grip and this could put them off running, venturing out onto the laminate. You might want to consider alternate flooring if this is the case - perhaps a rug or playmats?

It's good that you've sought advice in order to give the best care for your rabbits. I hope all goes well :thumb:

Once you bond both bunnies you will probably be able to combine their spaces which will give them both more room.

Your current set-up is much roomier than most bunnies in my region of New York State, USA get and I know you will work to give your bunny plenty of exercise outside the cage/pen.

Hi, you've been given great advice already, so I won't repeat that. I have a house rabbit, he has full access to a rabbit proofed room, it was easier to do that than try to put him in a pen. it already had laminate floor down but he runs and binkies on that fine. Other rabbits that I had before wouldn't go on the laminate at all, but they were outdoor rabbits.

My rabbit is fully litter trained, I put loads of hay in his litter tray and he always poos and wees in there whilst he is eating it.

bunnies95 said:

thanks for advice, one of my other bunnies is outside in a 2 storey hutch and run, and my other is in a similar one to the image, and he is a lot smaller than the bunny in the picture

Click to expand...

Just to add on the subject of what's been mentioned about neutering and hormones etc ... A male will not be fertile after 3/4 weeks, but the hormones take much longer than that to 'settle' (if ever!). That is roughly 12 weeks/3 months.

Good luck! I've been so encouraged by everything you're doing for your rabbits :wave:

As MightyMax has said,its great that youre seeking advice and acting on it.So many people do not and rabbits end up always living in a tiny cage,totally unsuitable for them.
It sounds like your bunnies are going to get on anyway, but when you are ready to bond them feel free to post any questions you may have as there are lots of experienced "rabbit bonders"on RU.

Lots of luck!