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grrrr hutches indoors?

cheekytikki

Wise Old Thumper
i am seriously considering changing the cage in the rabbit room for a large double of triple storey hutch (ideally would be a 6ft triple but they cost about £200-300 :shock:

the reason for the change is that duchess has started really chewing and shaking the bars even though they have loads of toys, i hide food for them to find, i spend time with them etc etc she just shakes the bars which makes loads of noise. when they were in my room it didnt matter so much but now they are just on the other side of the wall to my neighbours and i dont want the noise to annoy them

so do hutches indoors work ok? (i would just take the cage out but they will lose some of their space as the cage has the shelf in where they like to sit.

would a 6ft triple be the best option? (obviously with the bottom door open permanently (probably taken off) and where is the cheapest place to buy them? i found one on ebay (6ft x 72" x 20") for £270 or one where each layer is 6ft x 18" x 18" (which i though was a bit small :? ) for £169

or i could go for a happyhutch either double 6ft or triple 5ft

the thing is that i rally dont have any money (atm i have a grand total of £22) i am getting some more money on monday and i need to pay for 2 lots of vaccs next month (that is fine though i have the money for that) so the cheapest option possible really. i still may not do it at all but if i do would this work? (sorry for the long post)
 
well tbh they have the whole room so a double wud be fine i say omg your buns are so spoilt :shock: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
:lol: i just want them to have as much space as possible and the only way is up :wink: :lol: i will price up doubles and keep looking at triples :D of course if they have a hutch they will need the vet bed too hmmm this is getting pricey :wink: im thinking early christmas present and bye bye money for the rest of the year :lol: :lol:
 
is this a Dutch trait? Marley did this when he ws a house bun....it meant he wanted attention. Unfortunatley he did it while i was at work and the OH was watching TV, needless to say he was not amused!
 
Before you spend hundreds on a hutch, have a look at shelving units/cupboards. Even just a plain shelf running along the wall at jumpable height off the floor.

You can get some pretty fun furtnitire:

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produ...ge>C$cip=49803.Storage+units+with+drawers.htm
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produ...torage>C$cip=49799.Bookcases+and+shelving.htm

Have a look at second hand stuff too, a side board or similar with a shelf in might work well.

You don't really need a weather proof hutch for indoors so you're spending money on features you don't need.
 
before you buy a hutch and spend all that money how do you know she wont still chew the wire on the front of a hutch? admittedly it wont make as much noise but it will still be noisy. if they have acess to the whole room they only really need somewhere to sleep
 
Hi

I have thistle loge from P@H in my lounge- bunny is only in it for a few hours during the day and then roams free.
I used to have a cage and although they are more discreet you can't beat a rabbit mansion in your living room :lol:

Dillon2018.jpg
 
hmm ill keep thinking about the other options

it might be attention seeking but she also does whilst i am there and making a fuss of them so i think she just finds it fun (she also strips the coating from the bars)

she might still chew the hutch bars i suppose but at least she wouldnt be shaking the cage against the ajoining wall.

i might go to focus later and price up some melamine with the possibility that i might make them somewhere :D its got to be cheaper than £300 :lol:

thanks everyone
 
Have a look at the basic kitchen units. Some places just do the plain white boxes/shelves made from melomine which might be easier than building totally from scratch :)
 
Why do they need a cage or a hutch? If they have the whole room and the hutch would be open, I wouldn't bother with one. All they need is a hidey hole and that could be a cardboard box as they don't need warmth in the house I presume?
 
no they dont need a cage or hutch as such and they do have a box to sleep in it was really a case of gving them as much space as possible. obviously a double level 4ft cage gives more space than just the floor space it takes up. same as a 6ft x 2ft double or triple hutch will expand the 12 sq ft (i think thats right anyway) that it sits on to a 24-36sq ft area eeek i hope that is right it has been ages since i done any maths :? anyway i thought it would be nice to give them as much possible space and up was/is the only option.



btw i went to focus 6ft x 2ft melamine is £9.49 a 'sheet' so i will be considering making something :shock: :lol: will keep my options open though :wink:
 
i had a hutch before I changed to a cage. I found that it became smelly where they had wee'd on the wood. I prefer A cage but they are noisy. I think you have to play around before you are happy with the living arrangements. I am on my third house in 2 years so not too bad!!
Tracy
 
Have you thought about letting them free range? As long as they are litter trained (easy) and you've bunny-proofed at least the room you keep them in its so much easier and great for them to have lots of room stretch about. Darcy is free range and it works out great :D I use parts of his old baby pen to keep him in the living room while i'm painting the hall and thats when he goes mad biting the metal pen and actually lifting it up and down with his teeth! :shock: :lol: Hes a frenchie. I think all rabbits love doing this to get us to hurry up and let them do what they want! :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
I have a melamine cupboard thing:

Aupstairs.jpg


I put rugs in and on it to stop them from sliding about though :lol: best of all - this was free (just don't tell the landlord :wink: :shock: )

oh - and that gate isn't shut very often - they usually have the hallway etc. too...
 
If they are free range anyway then I would do away with the cage altogether and just leave them a litter tray and some sort of box to hide in if they want to.
 
They may not make as much noise shaking the bars but there is the potential in a multi-storey hutch for them to stamp loudly and those wooden hutches can be a bit like a drum...so you could end up actually making it worse. I'd have thought wood would also stink indoors after a while.

How is she shaking it? Can you line the sides with cardboard or carpet or something to stop her from being able to get hold of it and shake it?
 
ooo i didnt think about it acting as a drum :?

she is getting the bars in her teeth so i might try and cover the bars with something, if not i might take the cage out, i just feel mean as they spend nearly all their day in their cage (even though their cage is open all the time....in fact it doesnt have a door!) i might try and put some 'padding' of some sort around where the cage is against the wall as that might help a bit :)

thanks eveyrone for your ideas etc you have all given me a lot to think about :D
 
Hi. If they have the whole room, and their cage is never shut anyway why don't you just do away with it all together and allocate a corner of the room for the litter tray and a hay filled box for them to hide in if necessary?
 
If you need to gate off an area you could use clear perspex sheet so they couldnt bite it.
I previously made a large indoor 3 story "emporium" and the feet banging can certainly wake you up of a night. Luckily no neighbours!!.
 
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