Housing for Classroom Buns

[LemongrassMichelle]

Hello! (If you're upset with me for having bunnies in a classroom, please read the back-story at the end of this post...)

I am wondering what the best hutch situation would be for a single Dwarf Dutch bun that lives in a classroom and is allowed free-roam of the class during the day. Also, what about a bonded pair of Dwarf Dutches in the classroom next door? I'm looking for the hutch to be a home-base and litter area, but they're confined to the hutches at night and on weekends. What they have now is not working (both size and style) and I would like to make it easy on the teachers to have in their room, clean, etc. Links to various options would be extremely helpful!

BACK-STORY:
I was introduced to bunnies as pets when I adopted a dwarf bun from my job last summer. I run a summer camp program called Tiny Farm Camp which has a small farm space (large gardens really) and houses several animals for the summer months. On the farm we have chickens, dwarf goats and miniature horses. Last year they adopted 4 dwarf bunnies from a local shelter, bought hutches, and used those rabbits for the rabbits class. When I took over the program mid-summer they were transporting the bunnies daily from an air-conditioned classroom/office where they lived in their hutches to the farm where the class took place in the shade and the morning, back to the classroom and their hutch. The camp director let the buns out of their hutches for 1-2 hours a day, but they often didn't even leave the hutch. They had a bonded pair of sisters and a pair of brothers that un-bonded after neutering, so they kept them separate. One of the single males didn't do well at all with the kids, so I brought him home at the end of the program and adopted him. The others were put into classrooms (K-2) for the school year.

After having the "antisocial" bunny (Pepe) for about 2 months, he changed completely and became a part of our family. I did a ton of research on house rabbits, gave him free roam of the house (although he never left my son's room) and he bloomed into a loving little dude.

This year I ran the farm program from day 1 and have been working with the classroom teachers as far as diet (they were feeding mainly pellets and a little hay) and exercise. Both classroom teachers were open to the idea of free-ranging in their room, and the bunnies took to it well. However, when I picked up the bunnies this year, it was desperately clear that they were not cleaning the hutches enough. They were damaged from rabbit pee in the corners which should have been avoidable had they been spot cleaning daily. The hutch for the bonded pair was also too small for the sisters. The rabbits (by order of the administration) had to be caged when the teacher left for the day or if there was a substitute.

I know that putting rabbits in a classroom is not a great option, and I'm doing my best to give them more than they had before (or would have had if they'd stayed at the shelter). I'd love to have them adopted by families during the school year instead, but that's not the situation I inherited and the teachers and students love love love those bunnies!!! (When I went to pick them up, the students were traumatized because I used the boxes we got at the shelter to transport them (the shelter name was emblazed across the boxes) and the kids thought I was taking the bunnies back to the shelter!) I bought exercise pens so that this summer the rabbits have lots of space in our camp classrooms to play with their new toys and zoom and binky (which they do) and they're safe from harm. They're never caged at all during our camp time and their hutches are used as a home base only. I've cleaned them to the best of my ability, but they need to be replaced.

Also, I'm continuing to work with the teachers and will give them the exercise pens for the school year in hopes that the administration will count that as "caged" so that they never have to be stuck in their hutches at night or over the weekend.

 

[Blue eyes]

I remember your earlier posts on this topic. Do you have any photos of their classroom hutches that you're wanting to improve? How large of a footprint is available in the classroom for the hutches?

Also, are you wanting something complete or could it be something that you build or put together?

 

[Blue eyes]

It sounds like you'll need something that makes it very simple for the teacher to access the litter box. (Do the current cages have a designated litter box? -- if not, then having one would make the teacher's job much easier.) The setup of the litterbox is also quite important and determines how easy/difficult it is to maintain. The most effective (and most economical) way is to use wood pellets (different than shavings) for the litter and top it with hay. You can read more about that (and how/why it is so easy) at this link"
https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/odor-free-home.html
For ease of access, perhaps something similar to this would be a good cage option. Of course the fancy bed and the throw rugs aren't necessary. It's just a general idea of a way to make a simple cage. The plexiglass looks great but could also be replaced with a hardware mesh.

 

[LemongrassMichelle]

It sounds like you'll need something that makes it very simple for the teacher to access the litter box. (Do the current cages have a designated litter box? -- if not, then having one would make the teacher's job much easier.) The setup of the litterbox is also quite important and determines how easy/difficult it is to maintain. The most effective (and most economical) way is to use wood pellets (different than shavings) for the litter and top it with hay. You can read more about that (and how/why it is so easy) at this link"
https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/odor-free-home.html
For ease of access, perhaps something similar to this would be a good cage option. Of course the fancy bed and the throw rugs aren't necessary. It's just a general idea of a way to make a simple cage. The plexiglass looks great but could also be replaced with a hardware mesh.

View attachment 61108

This is similar to what we have (materials-wise) but they have a hidey-hole spot that they use as their litter area. Because it's covered it's not particularly easy to get to but we've made it easier with removable trays. I like the open-ness of this, and the box. My current bun has a hanging feeder and it's perfect above her litter box, so I'll likely set it up like that as well. My only question is that since they're used to hiding when they do their business, will that be a problem for litter behavior?

 

[Blue eyes]

This is similar to what we have (materials-wise) but they have a hidey-hole spot that they use as their litter area. Because it's covered it's not particularly easy to get to but we've made it easier with removable trays. I like the open-ness of this, and the box. My current bun has a hanging feeder and it's perfect above her litter box, so I'll likely set it up like that as well. My only question is that since they're used to hiding when they do their business, will that be a problem for litter behavior?

Having the litter box in a secluded area is a fine idea (preferred actually). But that can be as simple as having a shelf overhead.
What do you mean by removable trays? Is this a tray under a grate? A photo would help me visualize what you have.
Having a plastic box as described in the link above makes things quite easy-- especially if there is a "reserve" box. Prep the reserve box with litter and hay. Swap the used litter box with the new. Then the used one can be dumped, cleaned, and air dry with no rush.

 

[BunLover]

It sounds like you'll need something that makes it very simple for the teacher to access the litter box. (Do the current cages have a designated litter box? -- if not, then having one would make the teacher's job much easier.) The setup of the litterbox is also quite important and determines how easy/difficult it is to maintain. The most effective (and most economical) way is to use wood pellets (different than shavings) for the litter and top it with hay. You can read more about that (and how/why it is so easy) at this link"
https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/odor-free-home.html
For ease of access, perhaps something similar to this would be a good cage option. Of course the fancy bed and the throw rugs aren't necessary. It's just a general idea of a way to make a simple cage. The plexiglass looks great but could also be replaced with a hardware mesh.

View attachment 61108

I really like that pen

 

[LemongrassMichelle]

Having the litter box in a secluded area is a fine idea (preferred actually). But that can be as simple as having a shelf overhead.
What do you mean by removable trays? Is this a tray under a grate? A photo would help me visualize what you have.
Having a plastic box as described in the link above makes things quite easy-- especially if there is a "reserve" box. Prep the reserve box with litter and hay. Swap the used litter box with the new. Then the used one can be dumped, cleaned, and air dry with no rush.

Our hutches look a lot like the one in your photo, but with the hiding area. There is a removable tray under the whole hutch and on top of that I put a thick layer of newspaper, then a lunch tray (2 for the girls), then more newspaper and bedding on top of that. Usually I just remove the lunch tray, dump, wipe and replace the litter/newspaper. They have a tendency to pee over the edge though, especially my single guy. I'll take a picture tomorrow when I'm visiting and cleaning.

 

[White Rabbit]

Our hutches look a lot like the one in your photo, but with the hiding area. There is a removable tray under the whole hutch and on top of that I put a thick layer of newspaper, then a lunch tray (2 for the girls), then more newspaper and bedding on top of that. Usually I just remove the lunch tray, dump, wipe and replace the litter/newspaper. They have a tendency to pee over the edge though, especially my single guy. I'll take a picture tomorrow when I'm visiting and cleaning.

Great idea, and i have to attest to it. Ive done something similar to my rabbits hutch(even though she almost never uses it lol). It has 3 sliding trays, filled with litter, and it comes clean extremely easy, especially if the wood is sealed or using plastic. This should allow the students and teachers the ability to clean it with in minutes. I don't know if you or anyone you know works with wood, or with a 3rd printer lol, but the sliding litter box is by far the best idea. Ill post a few pictures of mine below, just gotta get on my phone haha. Very nice way to keep your student happy and overall school while saving some bunnies. Keep up the good work

 

[Blue eyes]

Our hutches look a lot like the one in your photo, but with the hiding area. There is a removable tray under the whole hutch and on top of that I put a thick layer of newspaper, then a lunch tray (2 for the girls), then more newspaper and bedding on top of that. Usually I just remove the lunch tray, dump, wipe and replace the litter/newspaper. They have a tendency to pee over the edge though, especially my single guy. I'll take a picture tomorrow when I'm visiting and cleaning.

Looking forward to seeing your photos. When I just checked this thread, I thought the photos above were from you and I was already formulating in my mind all the negatives about that setup for a classroom setting. But now I'll just wait until I see what you have.