Cage help

[Themacmum]

Hi. I inherited a bunny today along with all her equipment. It could be temporary as the original owner is willing to let me try out bunny ownership for right now while she looks for other owners. I could, though, keep her if I want. I am looking for a replacement pet as my pet rats are quite old and I'm just waiting for the last one to pass away. I am not new to owning rabbits, but it has been over 10 years since I last had one.

She was a classroom pet in my son's preschool, but the original teacher left abruptly so they were scrambling for some housing for her. So I offered to take her in and see.

Anyway her cage seems acceptable for what it's worth (I may upgrade in a bit if I keep her, but like my rats she will get tons of time outside her cage). There are two things that I'm confused about though. Her cage had Timothy hay all over the floor. She is litterbox trained and has a litterbox in the corner that she uses. I took the hay out, should I put anything on the floor or just leave it bare plastic? She also has a box in one corner filled with sand. It appears she uses it like a bed, spending all her time, not eating or pooping in her sand box. Should I keep her sand box or create her a different bed? Thanks!

 

[Watermelons]

Ditch the sand box ASAP. Hay should be hung above the litter box (hay at all time) and some can be placed in the litter tray, ideally so she poops in the box as she munches on it.
Bottom of the cage can be a towel blanket or mat if she doesn't chew them. Most members use items like that and not bedding on the cage floor. As for where the sand box is, you could give her a cardboard box to hide in and jump on or something.

 

[Leopold_Ruby]

I use newspaper to line the floor of my rabbits cage but once he starts using his box better now that he's neutered I'll go back to a fleece blanket.

 

[Themacmum]

Ditch the sand box ASAP. Hay should be hung above the litter box (hay at all time) and some can be placed in the litter tray, ideally so she poops in the box as she munches on it.
Bottom of the cage can be a towel blanket or mat if she doesn't chew them. Most members use items like that and not bedding on the cage floor. As for where the sand box is, you could give her a cardboard box to hide in and jump on or something.

I thought so. I didn't think sand was appropriate, I never had it with my last bunny. I might leave the box itself in with some cushy fleece instead of sand.

 

[Blue eyes]

The cage actually seems small unless you could attach an x-pen around it and leave the door open. That way the bunny would have more room to move. As it is now, bunny has just enough room to turn around in that cage. It appears (though can't tell with photo perspective) that bunny's ears would also touch the top if bunny sat up on his hind legs.

If it's been ten years since you've had a bun, you might be surprised at the gains in rabbit keeping knowledge that have been made. I'll attach a couple (not so clear, I'm afraid) photos of more appropriate sized housing for rabbits -- even if the buns do get lots of time out. This can give you a better visual of some more spacious housing. The x-pen pic shows what you could do in addition to the current cage.

Also, as Watermelons said, there should be a good amount of hay available at all times. It should be an amount equal to the size of the rabbit.

 

[Themacmum]

The cage actually seems small unless you could attach an x-pen around it and leave the door open. That way the bunny would have more room to move. As it is now, bunny has just enough room to turn around in that cage. It appears (though can't tell with photo perspective) that bunny's ears would also touch the top if bunny sat up on his hind legs.

If it's been ten years since you've had a bun, you might be surprised at the gains in rabbit keeping knowledge that have been made. I'll attach a couple (not so clear, I'm afraid) photos of more appropriate sized housing for rabbits -- even if the buns do get lots of time out. This can give you a better visual of some more spacious housing. The x-pen pic shows what you could do in addition to the current cage.

Also, as Watermelons said, there should be a good amount of hay available at all times. It should be an amount equal to the size of the rabbit.

The cage is too small for permanent life, yes, but since I'm still seeing if the bunny fits into my lifestyle, I'm not going to invest in a larger cage for right now. Bunny has spent less than an hour inside her home today. I have a bunch of areas that are rat proofed for my rats who free roamed as well. Rat proofing is quite similar to bunny proofing as it turns out. I did hang a container of Timothy hay over her litterbox and changed out the sand for a piece of fleece I had for my rats.

If I do keep her (which right now is likely) I will get my NIC crates out of storage and zip tie them together to make a much more suitable home. Thank you.

 

[Themacmum]

Definitely not a tiny bun by any means. She will need a much larger cage should I keep her.

 

[Blue eyes]

She's adorable!! What a big fluffy girl.
My son has rats too. They are so much fun... (can't help but include a photo of them, since you have rats....)

 

[Themacmum]

She's adorable!! What a big fluffy girl.
My son has rats too. They are so much fun... (can't help but include a photo of them, since you have rats....)

So I got around to having both Mal (my one remaining rat and Anya the bunny out at the same time in a neutral space. I'm hoping I can do supervised range time with both of them occasionally. It went well and was very cute!
View attachment ImageUploadedByRabbit Forum1421291791.998554.jpg

 

[Blue eyes]

Oh my golly! That's a first! I've never seen that before. I wouldn't have been brave enough to attempt that.
The photo is adorable. They even have fairly matching colors!