New Bunnies

Hi

I have just reserved two very beautiful 2 year old lop doe bunnies (neutered) from a rabbit rescue. I will have them as house bunnies as they have previously been kept as this. During the day when I am not there I would like them to be in a play pen with access to their indoor hutch. At night I will put them in their hutch so it needs to be large enough for them both. Please could you recommend a good large indoor hutch and play pen. I would like to bring them home on Friday so need to order their hutch asap.

Thank you.

Carys

Welldone for rescuing. The hutch needs to be 6x2x2ft but not really for them to be shut in without access to the playpen. Would they have to be put in the hutch overnight with them being left out all day unsupervised. I know not everyone has got access to a spare room but the playpen sounds good because you can always extend and make bigger. Im sure someone will be along with some ideas soon. xx

We have an indoor set up using a Savic puppy own and a large dog cage. They free range in the lounge when we are home, unfortunately one of ours is a chewer [emoji45] so we need to watch her

You can use any hutch for inside, although you don't really need one at all. You could stick to just a playpen and use a sleeping box then can hide/sleep in. I think you may find they get a bit cross is you restrict their space just at night and that's one of the times they are quite active. You may find starting with a playpen, once they've settled in and are using their tray you can even get rid of that and have them free range - depends how well behaved they are!

If you do want a smaller area, look at large dog crates - which you can DIY a shelf into for extra floor area - and again add a. box (it can just be cardboard) for hiding/sleeping in.

carys said:

Hi

I have just reserved two very beautiful 2 year old lop doe bunnies (neutered) from a rabbit rescue. I will have them as house bunnies as they have previously been kept as this. During the day when I am not there I would like them to be in a play pen with access to their indoor hutch. At night I will put them in their hutch so it needs to be large enough for them both. Please could you recommend a good large indoor hutch and play pen. I would like to bring them home on Friday so need to order their hutch asap.

Thank you.

Carys

Click to expand...

Hi Carys and welcome to RU :wave:

I think you could devise something that looks prettier than a hutch to be in your home. There are various sorts of housing for rabbits that people have here and they look really snazzy. You can dress it up with a bed and colourful fleeces so it's not an eyesore for you, and gives the rabbits lots of interesting play area. Tunnels and various levels make good use of limited space.

If you have a pen, don't forget that they will spend all night (and day when you're not there) trying to get out of it. Once they've had a taste of freedom they really won't like being locked away any more and may well chew the bars.

How old are your lovely girls, and what are their names?

In a previous post a couple of days ago you mentioned reserving a couple of boys from a Rescue. Will the girls be in addition to the boys, or instead of?

Have you checked with the rescue what their exact requirements are? Some may require a separate hutch and exercise area, some will be happy with just a large pen and some hiding spots. One thing I will say is don't underestimate how high rabbits can jump, if you can't put a roof on the pen make sure you buy one that's high

Personally I'd recommend ditching the hutch and just having a pen, as they are easier to clean out and give you more freedom with what to place inside. Wood can also become smelly inside if weed on.

I have a pen, with a wooden house to hide in, a litter tray and a tunnel, and then various toys that I switch in and out. You can get a lino offcut for the flooring if the bunnies aren't litter trained or if you just want something wipe-clean.

You can get a puppy pen online from amazon next day, I have this one in medium: https://www.amazon.co.uk/BUNNY-BUSI...999&sr=1-4&keywords=bunny+business+medium+pen
It's nice and cheap and gives a space of just over 5ft x 5ft or 160cm x 160cm when put in a square, the large one gives 200cmx200cm which is better. The panels are 80cm high, high enough to prevent jumping out (from my buns at least!), as long as you don't put things they can use as a step-up too close to the edges. I have it attached to a pen or against a wall to get more space, as it's a bit small to use all day and night alone, and you'll need to provide free-range time too.
edit: Always double-check the dimensions when looking at pens or any housing for that matter - quite often looks can be deceiving!