SO YOU WANT TO GET A RABBIT 4 - The Rabbit Cage

Before I became a rabbit owner, I used to imagine rabbits in small cages and are hardly moving. That was so the wrong impression. Quite the opposite, rabbits require a lot of exercise and room to move. I think this is a very important consideration if you plan to be a responsible rabbit owner.  Do you have space?   Can you afford the accommodation?  If not, DON'T GET A RABBIT.

I want to show you sample cages of my four rabbits.  Unfortunately, I haven't spayed them.  That's why they're all separate.  But as you can see, there's a fair amount of space in their cages. I don't think it's near ideal yet compared to the hutches I've seen.  But then again, there is something you don't see in this picture.  I let these bunnies run around the house every single day possibly for a combined 2-4 hours.  Unfortunately I don't have enough time awake to let them all out even longer than that (I hear 4 hours is prescribed daily).   But I do let them run until they decide to lie down or go back into their cages to eat.

From a design standpoint, there are a couple of important fundamentals here.  First, I don't use a wire bottom.  I've seen some terrible cages in various pictures of rabbit groups in the Philippines.  I don't know what it's called, but it's like naked wires at the bottom. The default wire of the cages I use has some coating so it's relatively softer.  But even then, the exposed part is very small.  In these cages, you will either see a plastic litter tray, the default tray and soft floor mats (these mats are exclusively used by the rabbits).  The mats by the way are replaced every week (sent to the laundry) and even more frequently if there's a pee mishap.

So why even expose some part of the flooring?   As rabbits are want to do, they spill and throw their water bowls on a fairly regular basis.  So it makes sense that I leave the area near the water bowl open at the floor.  

Apart from the space, flooring, and food & litter tray, you will also find a small grass hut and / or timothy mat inside the cage.  Once in a while, the rabbits seem to want to destroy or throw those around.  It's a good distraction.  

Lastly, in case you didn't notice, all these cages are inside a room -- indoors.   There's also an air conditioner in this room which I typically use on a hot Manila day (11 AM - 6 PM).  What is a hot Manila day?  Well I would say 90% of the year.  

So please, take a cue from me.  If possible, outdo this set-up.  But I can't emphasize enough that it's not just the accommodations, but the time you spent with them that is just as important.  These are medium sized cages, but I also let them out as much as I can every single day (supervised play).