Improving my setup

Hi there! I have recently brought my two bunnies inside (they used to free roam the garden) after becoming aware of a few videos about safety... since watching these videos I quickly realised that my rabbits would be better of inside.

They currently stay in my bedroom but have access to the whole house when I am able to supervise (normally 4 or 5 hours a day).

I was wondering if I could get some advice on how to improve the setup and also on litter training. I am looking to get a rug soon but I wanted them to be better litter trained before hand as right now they just seem to go everywhere and only use there litter tray when they want food, water and hay. Hope you can help! Thanks

Here is a link to what my current setup looks like:
https://smallpdf.com/shared#st=1cbe...ed.pdf&ct=1585928386801&tl=converter2&rf=link

Hi Zoeeeeeeeeee,
looks good.
I think a few ppl on here with indoor buns chuck loads of hay down for them to mess about with & they do like to poo & wee in a tray that has hay in. a rug will be good but may get destroyed :lol: :roll:
i'm sure others will offer good advice.
good luck.

Thanks for the advice! Going to get an old cheap rug from a charity shop or off of ebay

Hi, your bunnies are lovely, and that looks a good setup. Some bunnies find wooden floors a bit slippy, so yes try a big rug, or for a cheaper alternative, maybe a couple of big fleeces, which are easy to wash a good idea for a litter box, is a large plastic underbed storage box, as they are shallow, so bunnies can jump in and out easier. A layer of newspaper at the bottom, and then a good layer of hay on top, should encourage bunnies to toilet in there, as buns love to chew an poo I'm sure others will have more ideas too.

Hi again! I’m glad you decided to bring your bunnies indoors after doing research. As for litter training, in terms of the litter tray itself, there are lots of options, but the bigger the better I’d say for initial training. Mine are fully litter trained free roam house rabbits also, and use large cat litter trays which I’ve found to be great. Please bear in mind that a litter tray should be filled half with fresh hay and half with litter, as rabbits tend to use the toilet whilst eating and having hay in the litter tray encourages good litter habits. Also please be aware that a rabbit should at least be able to do a 360 degree turn in their litter tray otherwise it is too small. As you have two bunnies, make sure you provide two or more litter trays incase a bunny gets territorial over one and there is another option for the other bun. You could also use treats and praise when your rabbit is using the litter tray properly but honestly with properly set up litter trays, most bunnies will get the hang of it pretty quickly anyways, providing they are spayed/neutered. Any accidents should be cleaned properly with pet safe cleaning products to remove the smell.

As for the set up, I’d say you need at least 1 or 2 hidey houses depending on their size. This can be as simple as a couple of cardboard boxes, but you can also buy tunnels, and my personal favourite is using NIC grids to make hidey houses and tunnels as these are easily customisable, fairly cheap and you can put blankets on top providing your bunnies won’t ingest them. Also ensure you have a range of chewing and digging toys for your bunnies such as sisal and seagrass mats, apple sticks and twigs, hay roller toys, willow toys, stacking cups, other treat dispenser toys, and of course cardboard which most bunnies go mad for, but make sure your bunnies don’t invest too much cardboard if you do choose to use it as this can slow down their gut potentially leading to GI stasis.

If you have any other questions, feel free to message or reply to this, but I hope this helps!

I'm pleased they have coped well with the move in. The only thing I'd add is something to lie under - in my house thats usually a coffee table; as prey animals they feel safe under something with a cover and big enough to sprawl out under

Thank you everyone for the help! Got some really great tips and I will be looking to get a larger litter tray, a mat for some friction and some kind of cover!