Bunny cage - Room for improvement?

[overhear]

Hi All,

My bunny's cage (22" X 38" by 19" high) is in the corner of our living room. During the day her cage is open so that she can go in and out for water, litter, hay and naps with her stuffed bunny friend. At night when we go to bed I close her cage door for added safety.

This has been a great arrangement because we get lots of family time together -- she loves reality TV! -- but I'm wondering if her cage is a bit too small.

She seems happy and well-adjusted, so maybe I'm over-thinking this. In the picture you can see some of the tunnels we've made for her. She started out a bit skittish so we made tunnels out of boxes and tucked them into corners where she could go to hide or hang out.

Do you wise rabbit people think she needs a bigger cage?

 

[CrazyChickenGirl]

As long as she is out for a good portion of the day that’s probably enough room.

 

[Blue eyes]

With all the stuff in the cage, there really isn't room for her to move around much. An easy solution would be to get an exercise pen (30" tall or higher) and set it up around her cage just for nighttime. One end of the pen can tuck between the cage and that brown piece of furniture to the right. The other end can wrap around (or in front of, if necessary) that chair. If you wrap it around the chair, the chair can be pushed against the wall to pinch the pen in place.

 

[overhear]

With all the stuff in the cage, there really isn't room for her to move around much. An easy solution would be to get an exercise pen (30" tall or higher) and set it up around her cage just for nighttime. One end of the pen can tuck between the cage and that brown piece of furniture to the right. The other end can wrap around (or in front of, if necessary) that chair. If you wrap it around the chair, the chair can be pushed against the wall to pinch the pen in place.

Are bunnies very active at night?

 

[Preitler]

Some are. Friend of mine had to rehome her rabbits because she got anxiety attacks caused by the night time activity. But they were caged. My buns sleep most of the night, but go for a snack or poop now and then. They sleep in my bedroom but their base is in the vestibule so that doesn't bother me, that silent hop-hop-hop in the middle of the night actually is like Homers Everything's OK Alarm. They get active once the sun comes up, my alarm clock is pretty much superfluous this time of the year.

I actually like my rabbits being around because it's the silence that gets at my nerves.

 

[peanutdabunny]

Are bunnies very active at night?

Depends, what time do you close the cage at? My bunny is still very active around 11pm-11:45 pm

 

[overhear]

Depends, what time do you close the cage at? My bunny is still very active around 11pm-11:45 pm

If we stay up past midnight she often goes into her cage and chills in her hay box, but most nights we go to bed around 11 so I don't know how active she is.

I'm super tempted to get a webcam so I can see what she's up to.

 

[dianedriver]

If we stay up past midnight she often goes into her cage and chills in her hay box, but most nights we go to bed around 11 so I don't know how active she is.

I'm super tempted to get a webcam so I can see what she's up to.

We just got a webcam. It’s great and a lot of fun

 

[katlupe]

My bunny's litter box is in his cage but I never close him up in it. I have the door fastened to stay open. He is not as active at night as he used to be, but he is 7 years old now. He actually has 5 different places to sleep in this small studio apartment. I know he would make all kinds of noise if I locked him up in it at night. But most of the time, if I get up in the middle of the night, he is sprawled out in the spot where I feed him, just sleeping.

 

[zuppa]

I agree it is very stuffed and she has no room to move at all. Rabbits are more active in the night time, but also depends on your lifestyle, they will adjust to it.
If you want to use cage as her homebase it's fine but I would make it sheltered and cosy little space, where she can hide, what I see now there's no hidey place for her and she must be feeling all as a display rabbit, this is for you to observe and not for her to feel good in there.

One toilet would be enough, two is a bit confusing and takes space. I would cover her top with a blanket, or put a piece of wood on top and then cover with a blanket, so about 1/3 of her front would be covered and she can feel unwatched there.

Playpen would be good as well, but really there's so much room for improvements, your living room looks great and this cage looks like foreign thing there, even if you could put a coffee table over it it would look very different!

Not this coffee table in your pics its very low, I use children tables 120 x 60 cm and about 55 cm high, 60 cm when with castors.

 

[overhear]

One toilet would be enough, two is a bit confusing and takes space. I would cover her top with a blanket, or put a piece of wood on top and then cover with a blanket, so about 1/3 of her front would be covered and she can feel unwatched there.

Playpen would be good as well, but really there's so much room for improvements, your living room looks great and this cage looks like foreign thing there, even if you could put a coffee table over it it would look very different!

Not this coffee table in your pics its very low, I use children tables 120 x 60 cm and about 55 cm high, 60 cm when with castors.

The large litter box is actually her hay box. She eats and sleeps in the hay box and uses the corner box for litter.

I like your idea of making the cage into more of a hiding place. During the day she has lots of hiding places, but the cage is very open -- and very ugly. So far I haven't found a better pet habitat that my husband is willing to have in our living room but I'm always looking. I've actually thought about retrofitting the entertainment cabinet (next to her cage) into her housing, but that would be a big project.

 

[TreasuredFriend]

Our bunnies have numerous hours of playtime each day, and all have XLG dog kennel crates, expanded x-pens or quads hubby specically built for our sanctuary crew. They all slumber at night and don't wake us up.

Ages of our current sanctuary crew are 3 to 10. Our 13 and a half yo elders didn't want to do zoomies or climb on their shelving amenties due to golden years status. Their water crocks are filled with fresh water each day and the comforting sound of hay nibblage or drinking water at night is soothing to certain devoted bun parents. A youngster bunny may choose to be more active when humans have designated sleep hours!

How young is your girl? Is she already spayed? Will she put on ounces and seemingly be more squished in her current housing unit with a larger litter box, toys, food crocks, etc? As best as possible, give your boy/girl the options of laying down 5 different ways in their private bedroom space.

She's a part of your family and I'm glad she's not secluded where she'd feel like a commodity.

Helpful link below:

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/housing-options.html

 

[TreasuredFriend]

@overhear - you're very considerate to place a cardboard panel over the flip-flap door opening to avoid her foot from accidentally catching and doing harm to her bones, i.e. fracture. Also, you are so considerate to place the rug underneath the flip-flap door for traction instead of the slippery flooring.

As she grows, if a pre-puberty gal now, the ability to stand on her hind legs and stretch up tall in her private bedroom space is beneficial.

 

[overhear]

Our bunnies have numerous hours of playtime each day, and all have XLG dog kennel crates, expanded x-pens or quads hubby specically built for our sanctuary crew. They all slumber at night and don't wake us up.

Ages of our current sanctuary crew are 3 to 10. Our 13 and a half yo elders didn't want to do zoomies or climb on their shelving amenties due to golden years status. Their water crocks are filled with fresh water each day and the comforting sound of hay nibblage or drinking water at night is soothing to certain devoted bun parents. A youngster bunny may choose to be more active when humans have designated sleep hours!

How young is your girl? Is she already spayed? Will she put on ounces and seemingly be more squished in her current housing unit with a larger litter box, toys, food crocks, etc? As best as possible, give your boy/girl the options of laying down 5 different ways in their private bedroom space.

She's a part of your family and I'm glad she's not secluded where she'd feel like a commodity.

Helpful link below:

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/housing-options.html

She's an unspayed rescue who was found last Halloween -- so 6 months ago. At the time my vet guessed that she was about 6 months old. Unfortunately my vet doesn't spay small animals and I haven't found a NYC-area vet willing to spay her for under $800 (including preop and post-op care) so she hasn't been spayed yet.

Compared to my previous rabbit she's very low-key. She gets excited and runs over when someone comes into the room, but otherwise mainly likes to snuggle, graze, and nap.

 

[peanutdabunny]

If you realllllllly want a cage I would look into getting a bigger one. The furplast 200 or 160 are good sized cages, they have a plastic base. You can sometimes find them on craigslist

 

[overhear]

Now I'm wondering ... is there really any good reason to shut her in the cage at night, except for nervousness on my part? She's out all day even if we're not at home and she's perfectly fine. Still ... I would worry more with her out and about.

 

[peanutdabunny]

Now I'm wondering ... is there really any good reason to shut her in the cage at night, except for nervousness on my part? She's out all day even if we're not at home and she's perfectly fine. Still ... I would worry more with her out and about.

Assuming you work, I would take a weekend day and have her out and observe what she likes to get into. Then you can counter act that

 

[overhear]

Assuming you work, I would take a weekend day and have her out and observe what she likes to get into. Then you can counter act that

Right now I work from home. Probably best not to encourage me to spend more time staring at her than I already do!

 

[TreasuredFriend]

Novice bunnny guardians tend to buy the shavings packs that pet stores display on their shelves. Unneeded. The pet commodity stores will show dropped-off sale products (baby rabbits) in glass aquarium fish tanks with the entire bottom filled with shavings. eeek. Pet stores sell items not necessarily the best products for your beloved pet.

Shelter story: Woman brings in 2 dwarf rabbits for surrender. The girls were housed in glass fish tanks (the woman could carry by herself) filled with shavings for their entire life. I was in the rabbit room when the dwarfs were headed back. One dwarf's eye had an abscess and was euth'd. Other dwarf transitioned to our rescue.
----------------------------------
Clover has a soft bath mat or suitable cotton rug covering which allows her comfort for hocks. Insert smile face. You are being so considerate to ask Qs and be concerned that Clover's cage could be cramped. Happy to know she's included as part of your family.

Over ten years ago we were contacted to accept a rex boy whose teenage owner outgrew his interest in 4H activities and hence had no interest in lifelong care of his rabbit. I believe their mindset was to cover the bottom of caging unit with all shavings.

 

[overhear]

I'm so sorry to hear about those bunnies, @TreasuredFriend!

I use a thin layer of yesterday's news (unscented paper pellets) in the litter box. Her hay box only has hay. Being unspayed, she has started to poop in her hay box occasionally, but luckily she's good about using her litter for pee.