Rabbit Cage

[tbowman]

I have used C & C cages in the past with my piggies. Now I will be adopting an adult California Rabbit from Craigslist and want to use the same type of cage but do not know what the apporiate size would be for this size of rabbit. Will I need to have 2 floors or just one? Will it need to have a top? I have to buy the cubes all over again as I gave my others away when I adopted out my pigges a year ago. Also will I need the bottom liner portion for the rabbit? If not, what else would work?

Thanks for your help.

[crazywiggy]

C+C cages are great for rabbits but obviously there are things you need to consider.

Firstly, one grid tall is not going to be big enough (if you have a lid) as the rabbit needs to be able to stand up fully on its hind legs without touching the top! If you want to make a basic one level cage you should make it 2 grids high.

The other thing is that rabbits are great jumpers - I've seen them jump straight out of a 3 foot high pen from a standing start. If you're concerned about your bunny escaping I would either put a lid on the cage, or make it at least 3-4 grids tall.

In terms of size, I tend to base them on the RSPCA recommendations which are 12 sq feet. So the smallest c+c I would suggest is a 2x5, although obviously bigger is better so just go for the biggest you can fit!

If you are going to use loose bedding like carefresh then you will want a coroplast or similar base so you have sides to hold the bedding in. But if you want to use something like carpet or fleece you could get away with a flat base from coroplast, lino or anything plastic based.
Either way, there is the chance you new rabbit won't be fully litter trained so having a base is a good idea so your floors don't get ruined with pee.

[RainKindle]

Dear tbowman,
If your rabbit will be confined to its cage you will need a top, and the cage needs to be made as large as possible, 3 floors depending on the rabbit.
here is a link to the rabbit society group I volunteer with on C&C cages.
Minnesota Companion Rabbit Society - NIC Condos
and this page has a list of minimum requirements
Minnesota Companion Rabbit Society - Rabbit Housing
The rabbits that I volunteer with require a minimum of 1.5 hours of exercise time outside of their cramped cage per day.
Most of the people who own rabbits in my group have their entire house rabbit proofed and their rabbit is free range with the cage as a home base and sleep area. This is something you would need to do slowly with a litter pan in each room.
Rabbits are very adorable, and they will follow you around your house "bumping" you. Especially if allowed in the kitchen. (and if they are comfortable on the kitchen floor)
Rabbit binkies are the equivalent to guinea pigs' popcorns and are very entertaining. Congrats on your new friend!

[tbowman]

I got my bunny and have yet to name him. He is 5 months old, pure white with pink eyes. He is a biter however and poor little Illiana (my 22 mo old grandaughter) has found that out the hard way! He loves to run around my room - I am keeping him in there until the KiKi the cat gets over having her domain invaded. She is not sure what the rabbit is. So I am not taking any chances that she may try to harm him. My Yorkie sniffed him and walked away and lay down. The rabbit is bigger then the dog!

He loves carrotts and apples. We have given him a chunk of apple last night and he scarfed it down. I bought his hay and his pellets and he seems to have transistioned ok. He was a outside bunny but now is total indoor bunny. I am not going to use the traditional bedding for him. I am using old green cotton curtians that I can wash and reuse. Right now I use puppy pads beneath the curtains but tomorrow I will go to Home Depot and get a piece of plywood and tile to make him a better base.

His pee is really wierd. And smells really bad! I call his poo "coco puffs". All in all he seems to be doing well and as soon as I finish his cage I will upload more photos. You can see his temp cage in the photo galleries under closed cages!

[RainKindle]

Congrats, 5 months, beware of adolescence. Your bun is going to go through a "let's see if I can chew on everything in sight." So be patient and prepared to train.
Bunny urine is different than piggy urine. Often it is a rusty red due to diet. Just thought I'd share in case you notice. If there is blood in the urine, it will be clearly not that rusty red color.
If you dump the litter pan daily, you will cut out much of the smell.
Most rabbits are easily trained to urinate in the litter pan. It takes more patience for poos. With a 5 month old rabbit, my society would put 2 litter pans in the cage with the rabbit. (and I'm not sure what the cut-off for unlimited pellets is, but you might want to look into age verses amount of pellets.)
Since he is a biter, be sure to provide plenty of outlets to chew.

[AnimalHouse36]

I've never owned rabbits but I've heard that nuetering them can make them much calmer and easier to litter train. Good luck!

[yorkshirelamb]

Ditto on the neutering. Also, males will spray urine so neutering stops that from happening. I have a C&C cage for my rabbit and he *mostly* pees in his litterbox when in the cage and during free time. He poops all over, but they usually do it to mark their territory. I don't have a general bedding all over the floor of my cage, just in the box.

[tbowman]

Do you need to neuter a bunny that will not have access to the opposite sex? Will that help with the scent glands? I have determined that he has those and thats the smell that is so bad. He racked out his pellets and pee'd in his food bowl today. What type of litter pan should I get? And what do I use as litter?

[yorkshirelamb]

You should neuter or spay your rabbit whether or not they have access to the opposite sex. For females, they have a very high chance of developing reproductive cancers, and for both sexes, it really helps with aggression or other behavioral issues and makes them easier to litter train. I don't know about scent glands, rabbit urine is just naturally smelly. My male is also in the adolescent stage of life so he does things like that too--he kicked his litter out into his water bowl the other day. For a litter box, any cat litter box, or even a big shallow tupperware container that the rabbit can easily hop in and out of would work, especially if you have a smaller bunny. Just make sure they can fit in it comfortably, since lots of rabbits like to hang out in their litter box. You can use Carefresh bedding, wood stove pellets, Feline Pine litter, just no wood shavings. Check out rabbit.org and read their sections on litter training.

[RainKindle]

Ack! not a shallow litter! Rabbits don't pee straight down like other pets. best to get one of those high backed litter pans as rabbits tend to pee almost horizontally sometimes.

[AnimalHouse36]

Originally Posted by yorkshirelamb

, Feline Pine litter.

Ack!!! Cat litter is a HUGE no no. Well at least it is for guinea pigs!

[tbowman]

Would a Ferret litter pan work?

And how can I tell if the rabbit is fixed or not? I got him from a lady in the country. She had kept him and his daddy and brother outside. Evidently they had a girl at one time and did not know it and well they made babies. They gave the girl away to avoid having anymore babies and seperated the others just in case they still did not know boy from girl. I am pretty sure that I have a boy. I got on Google and looked at Rabbit Sexing and see what I think are his testicals. They say they are enlongated, they look really wierd, not like any other animal I have ever seen.

But I did not think to ask the lady if he was neutered as I did not know that he would need to be. I will be taking him to the vet I used for my pigges and get him taken care of with in the next couple of weeks.

[yorkshirelamb]

I saw Feline Pine listed on rabbit.org, as far as I know it's all natural like wood stove pellets--I have no experience with it and I trust the people running the site. My personal experience with my rabbit is to pick a shallower pan since he refuses to jump and doesn't pee horizontally.

[tbowman]

I added a new level to the cage tonight. I did not get done as I ran out of zip ties. I bought a 100 at Target and used every one of them! Its still a work in progess. I know that the second story is steady and will support the rabbits weight. My 24lb grand daughter lay down on the 2nd level when we were putting the roof on! Since it held her I guess it will sustain the weight of the rabbit!

[bunnys n pigs]

I would suggest NOT using the condos, as rabbits are not meant for climbing, even though they are fair jumpers. Rabbits are solemnly meant for leveled land, and the slightest slip from a rabbit condo could injure, and even break the rabbits back. Take my word for it, sadly I've witnessed a nearly fatal fall from one of my own rabbits, and she ended up with a broken back and we ended up with broken hearts. Use the C&C cages, double grid stacked - heres an example of my double stacked cagehttp://www.guineapigcages.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/9150/ppuser/8410

[tbowman]

I have finally completed the Rabbit Cage. Its 5 x 2 and 2 high. I use old green drapes for the bottom and under that I am using puppy pads to protect my carpet. As of right now I am not using a lid since if he does get out he is in my room and I keep the door closed.

I took the advise of another member and decided against making a 2nd leval. Now he has 5 feet of running space. He is out in my room during the day and has found a rip in my box spring and climbs up in there to nap! Silly Rabbit! He has a metal crate for his hay now, but he dumps it out. I also put hay in his litter pan as I was reading a rabbit book and it said to put hay in the pan for him to eat, as he will climb in and drop his "coca pebbles" while he is eating and get the idea. I also vacum up his others and dump them in the littler pan.

I know for a fact that he is a boy now and will be taking measures to get him fixed. I figured out that he does spray and it smells like the body odor of a really stinky jock after playing a game of football!

Go take a look at my new photos and tell me what yall think! Thanks so much for all the help and advise!

[yorkshirelamb]

He's a very big handsome boy!