Housing

Please remember, regardless of the housing you choose, your rabbit needs at least a couple of hours of exercise everyday outside of this cage/pen.

Indoors vs. Outdoors
Many people have the misconception that rabbits are smelly and belong outdoors. However, this is definitely not the case, and in fact, we recommend that you keep and house your bunny indoors as much as possible. If you get a rabbit as a pet, you should treat it as a member of the family. Family should not be relegated to live in a shed or hutch outside.

There are also other reasons to keep your bunny indoors.
 * Rabbits are safer indoors out of reach of predators. Rabbits can literally be frightened to death without any contact to a predator.
 * Rabbits are social animals, and in the wild, they live in enormous warrens. They enjoy the companionship from people and other animals. You can see many instances where bunnies have bonded with cats, dogs, and birds. Hutch rabbits are often never interacted with or socialized, and this lack can often result in a dull and uninterested bunny.
 * Indoor rabbits will probably live longer out of stressful influences such as predators and poor weather conditions. They can easily overheat or freeze to death. Poor weather conditions such as rain may also make you not want to go out to feed and check on the bunny. Rabbits are delicate, and any medical warning signs should be treated immediately or they will go downhill fast. Not being able to keep an eye on them can be disastrous to a bunny's health.
 * Rabbits need exercise. Unless you build an extremely big hutch with a run outside or let him run around outside occasionally, the bunny will be unable to stretch his legs. You may have seen videos of wild rabbits -- see how they love to run around? You can provide a safe environment indoors out of a predator's reach for them to do what they love.
 * Outdoors, you can never see your bunny binky in happiness and learn to appreciate their bonks for pets. Rabbits can show a personality not unlike dogs and cats. Housing a rabbit outdoors without ever interacting with them will result in a rabbit afraid of humans.

You might worry that keeping your rabbit indoors will result in destruction of your personal property and poop and pee everywhere. However, the destruction can be easily mitigated given proper bunny proofing and training. Rabbits are also easily litter trained to poop and pee in a box. Give a try to housing your rabbit indoors, and see your rabbit bond with you. If you have any difficulties, don't hesitate to ask questions on forums or /r/rabbits. We will all be happy to help you help your rabbit!

Indoor Housing
A consideration when housing indoors is where to place the bun. A good location allows the rabbit has a place to relax by himself yet is not completely secluded from the family. As a result, the corner of a living or family room is a great location as it will have lots of foot traffic from family and roommates but still be quiet most of the time when no one is there.

Outdoor Housing
While we do not recommend outdoor housing for the reasons stated above, here are some resources to help develop a proper rabbit hutch. Please remember the rabbits cannot stand heat of over 80 degrees F for any period of time and that indoor rabbits have a history of living 4 times longer than outdoor hutch rabbits due to various factors!

If keeping your bunny outside is the only option in your situation, please follow some simple guidelines for housing.
 * Make sure your bunny is always protected from insects through the use of some fine mesh that you can staple to the cage. This is important for protecting your bun from aggressive insect-borne diseases such as myxomatosis.
 * Remember, your bunny is likely to grow quite a lot! If the bunny is young, make sure you consider it's adult size when purchasing a hutch. This should be tall enough for your bunny to sit up on it's hind legs in the adorable act of periscoping, and long enough for your bunny to completely lie down in with all feet out. Consider haveing a multilevel enclosure so bunny can survey his surroundings.
 * While your bunny make not be able to chew it's way out of your new cage, keep in mind what kind of predators might want to chew their way in. Keep your hutch close to the house and make sure your bun has somewhere to hide if they get scared. This hidey hole is also likely to be what will protect your bunny from the elements so it's a good idea to insulate it with some hay, old towels etc. Even though Mr. Bun is kept outside, a litter tray can still be supplied to make your job of cleaning the cage far easier and it provides your bunny with a specific spot to go in so that they aren't lying in their own filth.

Consider keeping a smaller cage to put in the laundry or other area inside so that bun doesn't have to be outside on those cold, cold winter nights.

The following are some more articles concerning the proper way to construct a rabbit hutch:
 * 3 Bunnies Rabbit Rescue, Inc., Outdoor Housing
 * The Rabbit House, Outdoor Rabbit Housing
 * HRS, FAQ: Rabbits Outdoors

Cages and Enclosures
A variety of options exist for housing rabbits in either a cage or other type of enclosure. Although pet stores market cages specifically for rabbits, some of these cages may be too small to comfortably house adult rabbits, particularly larger breeds. From the HRS Housing FAQ page, "A cage should be at least 4 times the size of your bunny when he's entirely stretched out--more if he is confined for a large amount of the day. Cage sizes also should be decided in conjunction with the amount of exercise time and space the rabbit has. One guideline to go by is at least 8 square feet of cage time combined with at least at least 24 square feet of exercise space, for 1-2 rabbits, in which the rabbit(s) can run and play at least 5 hours per day."

Some numbers provided by 3 Bunnies Rabbit Rescue, Inc. are the following (L x W x H, in inches):
 * Small rabbit: 24" x 24" x 18"
 * Medium rabbit: 36" x 24" x 20"
 * Large rabbit: 42" x 24" x 20"

If you don't have enough floor space to give your buns too much room, you can also try to build vertically with multiple story condo cages.

Commercial Cages
Most commercial cages advertised towards rabbits are too small for the average-sized rabbit. As stated above, the rabbit should be at least 4 times the size of your bunny when he's entirely stretched out. Most cages barely let a rabbit stretch out or sit up. If you do opt for a commercial cage, make sure to follow the guidelines stated above and do not get one with a wire floor. Wire floors are hard on a rabbit's feet because unlike cats and dogs, they have no padding on their feet. If you must use a cage with a wire flooring, you need to provide your rabbit with a resting board or rug for her to sit on, otherwise he will spend all of the time in the litter box. Cages with solid or slatted plastic flooring are acceptable.

Look for cages with a side door to allow the bunny to hop in and out on her own, and maybe a top-loading door for ease of cleaning. If the cage door opens on the side as a ramp and is wire, cover the door with cardboard so that a rabbit's foot cannot accidentally be caught between the bars.

Never use glass aquariums because they are rarely large enough and do not have enough air circulation. Rabbits overheat very easily.

Of course, if you use a commercial cage as a home base for a litter box, and the rabbit is free-roaming, size is not so much of an issue. It becomes a problem when the rabbit is shut in for hours on end.

If you would like a professional looking cage, you might also want to look at custom cages. Here are a couple available online made especially for rabbits.
 * Leith Petwerks, Inc., Bunny Abode Condos
 * Bunny Hope Central, Custom Built Bunny Cages
 * Yard & Garden Structures.com, Rabbit Mansion
 * Drs Foster & Smith, Small Animals - Cages and Pens

Dog Crate
One solution for suitable rabbit housing is a large or x-large dog crate. The large doors make it easy to clean, and these cages are very sturdy to help keep out kids or other pets.

Here are some guides on using and converting one to a rabbit abode.
 * Bunny Lovers Unite, JoJo's Guide to converting a dog crate / cage into a rabbit cage
 * The Rabbit House, Dog Crates as Rabbit Cages
 * The Rabbit House, Rabbit Cage Shelf Instructions

NIC Cube DIY Cages
NIC Cubes DIY Cages are a cheap alternative to buying a commercial cage or pen, but they require some work to assemble. The basic theory behind these cages is to assemble the wire shelving solutions available in stores into a cage using zip-ties. Aspirational owners can even decide to make multi-story condos using additional wood or shelving. A packet of around twelve wire cube sheets costs around $20-$25, and zip ties are around $5 for at least 100. A commercial cage suitable for a rabbit will most likely start at over $60. See the savings? You can easily adjust the size of the cage and condo to suit the shape and size you want.

Warning: You will need to make sure the type of wire shelving you purchase should have the slats relatively close together so your rabbit cannot get his head through. Otherwise, your rabbit may get injured or strangled. There is one type sold at Target that has bigger slats than the rest. These should either be discarded or used as unreachable walls, shelves, or cage tops. If they have to be used, cover them with cardboard.

Some examples of NIC Cube Condos can be found at the following pages:
 * 3 Bunnies Rabbit Rescue, Oliver's New Home
 * Cavy Cages
 * House Rabbit Network, Building a Neat Ideas Cube Condo
 * Princess Blackie's Web Page
 * http://sprowtybun.tripod.com/nic.html
 * Brey family, How To Build an Indoor Bunny Cage
 * Wisconsin HRS, A Project Idea: Bunny Condo from Neat Idea Cubes

Exercise Pens
An alternative to a traditional cage or NIC cube condo is an exercise pen, usually marketed for puppies and also called an X-pen.

Advantages over a traditional cage include the following:
 * Extremely portable (great if you travel with your rabbit)
 * Easy to reconfigure and move around the house
 * Can also be used outside (always with supervision)
 * Lots of room for litter boxes, hidey houses, toys, etc.
 * X-pen walls are easy mounting locations for bottles, hay racks, toys, etc.
 * Lots of space for your money

The X-pen represents an intermediate step between a completely free roaming rabbit and a caged rabbit. It is perhaps best suited to a bunny who can free roam under supervision but still needs to be confined at night. Exercise pens are much more portable than a traditional cage, and do not require as much up-front work as an NIC cube condo. The downsides are that you need to provide hidey-houses besides the X-pen itself, and this can take away from the portability somewhat. It should be stressed that the combination of an animal carrier and an X-pen to set up at your new location is probably the easiest way to travel with your rabbit. Bringing a large enough cage to comfortably house a rabbit in the car is difficult, but because the X-pen folds, it can easily fit in the trunk of a small car.

A decent size X-pen can be had for anywhere from $30-$100. They can be found online and in most pet stores. Exercise pens generally outcompete cages in terms of square footage per dollar. One popular brand is Midwest. If your bunny is not a jumper 24" is fine; otherwise 30" or higher is recommended. Some more X-pens can be found on Amazon here.

Another handy use of an X-pen is to keep a free-roaming, fully trained bunny from getting into certain areas. Perhaps your bunny only has unsupervised access to the kitchen or the laundry room. You can use an X-pen to block off access out of these rooms. You can also use an X-pen to keep your rabbit away from the TV stand or similar cord jungle.

Tips

 * Set up your pen against a wall to maximize the space you get.
 * Buy cheap vinyl flooring to put under the pen and bunny can even live in a carpeted room. Another cheap idea is to buy a shower curtain and overlay it with a carpet or blanket, then set your X-pen on top of that. Other options include a plastic chair mat, piece of linoleum, or an old rug. Make sure to keep an eye on your rabbit for ingestion of materials. Keeping the edges out of reach helps with this behavior.
 * Use an X-pen to confine a free-roaming rabbit when you're out of the house, cleaning, or the door is open.
 * Attach accessories like water bottles, hayracks, etc. directly to the X-pen.

Other Custom Enclosures
You can also come up with your own DIY custom enclosures using wood, metal, re-purposed furniture, and other materials. However, never build a rabbit enclosure with chicken wire because rabbits can chew the wire and hurt themselves. Remember to make any slats fairly close together so that the rabbit will not get his head stuck and accidentally injured or strangled.

The following are some examples of rabbit hutches made with IKEA furniture.
 * Grace Bonney, DIY Project: Nicole's Modern Bunny Hutch
 * IKEAhackers.net, The Bunny Condo

Enclosure Setup
Regardless of the enclosure you choose, there should always be some basic items in your rabbit's housing enclosure.


 * Litter box
 * Hay rack
 * Water bowl/bottle
 * Toys - chewing material, digging material, throwable objects, etc.
 * Soft surface to lie on (e.g. towel, carpet scrap, blanket) - be sure that your rabbit does not ingest this
 * Hidey house - empty cardboard box, overturned baskets with an entry hole cut out, towel draped over one corner

General bedding in an enclosure is not needed. It will confuse the rabbit when trying to litter train the rabbit. The only bedding/litter needed is in the litter box.

Free Range Rabbits
Untrained rabbits should be kept in an enclosure during the night and while you are away from home. When you see consistent litter habits when your rabbit is let out to play, you might think about letting him roam free range permanently with a home base. Note that an adult bunny will probably be easier to train and less destructive than a juvenile or baby.

Several prerequisites are needed, however.
 * Block off locations you do not wish the bunny to be in with baby gates, fences, or doors. Be sure that they cannot jump over them.
 * Fully bunny-proof the place where the rabbit will be roaming. Make sure there is nothing that he can get under or over that could possibly harm him. Hide all belongings that you don't want possibly destroyed and make sure all dangerous items are also out of reach.
 * The bunny should still have a home base such as a large cage or pen with a den available to him. This allows him to have a place to retreat to for peace and quiet. Things that should be provided in this base or nearby include a litter box, hay, and water.
 * Make sure the place has proper flooring allowing the rabbit to hop, stand, and run without slipping -- a concern especially important for older rabbits. Provide a soft surface for sleeping.
 * Provide plenty of environmental enrichment activities such as cardboard box forts, toys, telephone books, and digging boxes. If you have two or more rabbits bonded, they can provide entertainment for each other.