Making Chappy Indoors - Help and Advice, please?

[DoragonHinansho]

Hello! I was really hoping for a bit of advice, please!

I'm finally leaving the nest, so to speak - renting my own one bedroom studio flat for the very first time, and my landlord says I'm allowed to bring my hamster, and Chappy, my rabbit! I really wanted to bring Chappy with me. While my parents have been lovely enough to look after her while I've been in University accommodation and the likes, Chappy simply doesn't get the one-on-one time she really needs, especially since she's only really bonded to me and is aggressive. She's not too bad, you know? Just very protective of her territory despite being spayed, but we're at the point now where I can feed her and stroke her inside the cage, it's just picking her up I still need gloves for! But she's getting better every day.

Anyway, I really need some advice on what I can do for indoor housing. Chappy is a 2.5kg rabbit, she's a Californian crossed with lionhead - I was considering perhaps a large dog crate? I looked in Pets at Home for some ready made rabbit indoor enclosures, but they're way too small! I'd love to have her as a house rabbit, but one of the conditions is that Chappy isn't allowed to run around free (...what they don't know won't hurt them when I'm in the flat, she can run around the kitchen...shh....) so I'm looking for something big enough to house her. Another idea was perhaps getting creative and making a C&C type cage? She can jump pretty high though, so I'm not sure how that would work. It would probably be BETTER that I can simply step into her enclosure to clean her out, feed etc rather than reaching in, but I'm open to any suggestions!

Any bedding suggestions would be great as well! I'd rather not be sweeping up woodshavings constantly anymore, unless I could get a crate with a plastic bottom or something? But honestly, any ideas I'm really open for.

Now that I'm living on my own, it means I can finally take Chappy dating and hopefully get a partner! I really hope that helps her settle down and be less aggressive. I'd love a little baby, as Chappy is neutered, but I'll have a look around. Last thing I wanna do is introduce a baby for it all to go pear shaped. There is a store local to me which are more than happy to let me in early and go through the entire introduction process with Chappy, but obviously I'll wait until she's settled into her new home first. Mum has refused another rabbit up until this point so she's been on her own.

I'm based in the UK, Manchester - a student, so cheaper options are preferred, but obviously I need to do what's best for her!

Sorry about the long post! I'm really excited to be able to do this finally as it'll be so much better for Chappy!

 

[Blue eyes]

The rabbit versions of C&C cages do have roofs. Here is a photo of one I made awhile back.


With this cage, I just used a shop vacuum on the carpet. You probably can't see it in the photo, but I have plexiglass around the sides on the bottom level to help contain stray poos. You'll also notice that I have several doorways to allow easy access for cleaning. (There is one on the second level on the right side too.)

Though I do have a roof, it probably isn't necessary except for stability. A rabbit isn't likely to jump from that upper level out and over such a long drop down.

A tall x-pen could also serve as a cage. I've seen them as high as 48" (but they do get heavy at that height).

This website is just about housing rabbits indoors and offers other flooring options, cage options and other tips.

If you do plan to get a bondmate for her, you may want to coordinate it so that you bring both rabbits to the new place at the same time. This would make the area neutral which would make things much easier. You really don't want her staking claim to her new home and her new cage before introducing another rabbit. It would be easier if they are introduced together in a place neither has been before -- no territory issues. This is especially true with females who tend to be the most territorial.

 

[samoth]

Lots of people love the C&C setup, but I went with a larger xpen before mine were able to be free range. The reason I personally chose the xpen over the C&C was greater structural stability, more simple/flexible with only eight pieces, and no significant price difference. However, depending on the size of your flat, the C&C setup may be better for you.

Here's my original setup. The xpen was £50 through Amazon here in the US.

 

[lilnaugrim]

Also be aware that some bunnies climb......mine does >.< So he escapes any x-pen or wiring I put up unless it has a "roof" on it like the C&C cages would. And having a large bunny like you and I, means they can hop taller fences lol. So make sure to consider that too.

 

[lavendertealatte]

This is my setup currently to give you some ideas. It's a kind of C&C cage which is just connected to an x-pen. I don't think my flooring is ideal but I just wanted to use what I had around the house, so in the C&C cage, it's two pieces of plastic ribbed shelf liner that I taped together and spare tiles I had lying around to cover where the two pieces come together. I needed something easy to clean cause when I first got Bunster he wasn't potty trained yet, and also Bunster sometimes has issues with cecos lying around which are messy. Bunster doesn't really like the tile cause it's slippery. Surprisingly the plastic liner is not as slippery, so he tends to use that side to get out of his litter box. For litter I use wood pellets which I can buy at the local feed supply store pretty inexpensively.