Best 6 Bunny (Rabbit) Hidey Houses In Large & Small Sizes (2023)

FAQs

How much space do 6 rabbits need? ›

Your rabbits' living space should be as big as possible! When you think how rabbits live in the wild, it's obvious why bigger is better. 10ft x 6ft x 3ft/3m x 2m x 1m is the absolute minimum recommended space for a pair of rabbits, but we recommend providing much more than this.

Rabbit hutches should be one square foot for every pound of an adult rabbit weight. The hutch should be at least 20 inches high and higher for larger breed rabbits. Many hutches are made with 16-gauge wire for the sides and tops and 14-gauge wire for the floor.

Indoor rabbits can be housed in an indoor hutch or cage. A wooden or metal hutch is suited for indoors too but are not necessary. A simple cage with a solid base and lots of hay is just as good.

There needs to be room for your rabbit to move about and lie down, as well as space for food, water, litter box and toys. Never use glass aquariums as they are seldom large enough and do not have enough air circulation. It is also best to have a cage with a front door so your rabbit can come and go on his/her own.

It's important that rabbits live with at least one other rabbit at all times, so that they feel safe. As they're social animals, they also enjoy eating together, grooming each other and lying down together to keep each other warm. Living together will also make sure that they have companionship.

Baby rabbits leave the nest when they're 3 weeks old and about the size of a chipmunk. If you find a chipmunk-sized but fully-furred rabbit with eyes open, ears erect and the ability to hop, they are meant to be on their own. As small and helpless as they may look, they are not an orphan and don't need your help.

Wire-bottom cages are very painful for rabbits. They create sore hocks on the feet (pictured below) that are incredibly painful. They also cause arthritis, which is painful and chronic. Your rabbit should always have a solid surface to stand/walk/sleep on.

Your rabbit's resting area should have at least two compartments. A darkened sheltered area for sleeping away from noise and another for eating/relaxing. All areas should be well ventilated, dry and draught free as damp, poorly ventilated, hot or dirty environments can cause illness.

The hutch should be raised off the ground on legs to repel predators and prevent the base becoming sodden wet. The roof should be sloping to allow rain run off and covered with roofing felt to keep the hutch watertight.

Here's what your rabbit needs for a comfortable home: A secure living space with enough room - rabbits are active and need to be able to hop, run, jump, dig and stretch out fully when lying down. They'll need enough room to exercise and stand up fully on their back legs without their ears touching the roof.

What do rabbits like the most? ›

What do rabbits eat? Rabbits should have a daily diet of mostly hay, a smaller amount of fresh vegetables, and a limited number of pellets. Hay is the most important part of a rabbit's daily intake. Unlimited, high-quality grass hay, such as Timothy, orchard or brome, should make up the bulk of a rabbit's diet.

Floor Covering: Rabbits do not feel safe on slippery surfaces and could end up with serious injuries. All floor coverings should be washable and prevent slipping. Some suggestions would be carpet samples (provided they do not eat them), towels, cotton throw rugs, and sea grass mats.

Cardboard, hay, and paper make excellent flooring for a cage or hutch. You probably already have some in your home right now. Wood bedding, marmoleum, and fleece work well, too.

We recommend a good quality soft straw as the ideal bedding for warmth and comfort, particularly for outdoor rabbits. It's warm because the hollow strands trap warm air and it's also absorbent. It's important to understand the difference between hay and straw.

For rabbits, use litter made from aspen shavings or recycled paper. Pine and cedar shavings can be unhealthy for rabbits so they should be avoided.

When you keep rabbits together, they form a 'pecking order', with some animals becoming more dominant than others. Rabbits can develop abnormal behaviour and may suffer if you leave them on their own and with nothing to do for long periods, so you should keep your rabbit with at least one other friendly rabbit.

Have hiding places and toys ready to put in the area, but leave it empty for when you first introduce them. Once the rabbits are comfortable with the sight and smell of each other, they can be introduced for short periods in the neutral area.

Rabbits can live happily in male/female, female/female, male/male pairings and larger mixed groups. However, the most natural and therefore easiest pairing is male/female. In the wild, rabbits tend to live in male/female pairs and will sometimes remain partnered for life.

Rabbit nests often look just like a small patch of dead grass on your lawn. That's because the mother rabbit makes her nest by digging a small hole in the ground and then covering it with grass, leaves and other plant material to help protect the babies, Wildlife Illinois(Opens in a new window) reports.

Only 20 percent to 25 percent live for a year after birth. That means many rabbits never produce offspring of their own.

How deep should a rabbit nest be? ›

To make a new nest, dig a shallow hole about 3 inches deep and put into it as much of the original material as you can recover, including the mother's fur. Add dried grass as needed, and put the young back.

Locking your rabbit up

Keeping them in these tiny cages can cause a range of health problems, including obesity and even deformities if they're not able to move around naturally. It's also cruel. Rabbits are smart, social and highly curious, and they need to be able to explore their surroundings.

Rabbits shouldn't be kept in small cages

"They should be able to run back and forth, and have separate spaces to sleep, eat, and use the bathroom." Rabbits that are held in small cages often become depressed, and a lack of exercise can lead to health problems such as obesity and muscle weakness.

Allowing your rabbit to roam freely through your home comes with its own unique challenges, but it is definitely achievable with a bit of effort and education on how to take care of your pet rabbit. Best of all, it can be incredibly rewarding, creating a more intimate and open bond with your pet.

Whether you allow your rabbit to sleep with you or not is a matter of preference. Observe where your rabbit feels most comfortable, and go with it. If you want to train it to sleep with you, then you can do it slowly while making your rabbit's safety your utmost priority.

Sleeping through the night

Most rabbits will go to sleep between 10-12 pm. They'll sleep until it's time to wake up in the morning and start a new day. Like afternoon nap time, many rabbits will periodically get up to stretch and eat in the middle of the night.

Rabbits with enclosures on concrete, slabs or decking (or in grass runs with a wire mesh skirt around the perimeter) will not be able to dig out, making them more secure.

Turning the hutch so the front faces away from the wind will also help reduce wind and rain through the mesh areas. If it's not possible to turn the rabbit hutch around then put something just in front to block direct wind and rain.

Think of rabbits out in the wild: they are prey animals, always on the alert for danger, yet unable to communicate verbally. That's where stamping or thumping comes in: they use this body language to tell others they are feeling threatened.

Objects to play with or throw - such as untreated straw, wicker, sea-grass mats and baskets, balls and plastic flower pots. Solid plastic baby toys such as 'key rings', rattles, stacking cups and some robust cat and parrot toys can make good rabbit toys.

What are the rules for house rabbits? ›

Never leave your rabbits unsupervised with a cat or dog, even if you know they are good friends. Rabbits will need a large, safe enclosure in a quiet part of your home. This enclosure must include a main shelter and a large, secure exercise area, with additional hiding places.

Like lots of pets, bunnies need plenty of exercise and stimulation. While it's often necessary to cage your rabbit when you're gone or sleeping, confining it to a cage all day is detrimental to its well-being; it denies your rabbit vital exercise, prohibits socialization, and increases boredom and lethargy.

Hay: The staple of a rabbit's diet

As grazing animals, rabbits need to have an unlimited supply of fresh hay daily. You'll want to feed your rabbit grass hays. Good types of grass hay for bunnies are timothy, orchard grass, brome and oat hay.

What are rabbits afraid of? 'Rabbits are naturally fearful of anything coming from above, like their predators would. If we bend down to pick them up, that action is scary,' says Rosie. 'They also dislike being lifted up, as that's what happens when they're in a predator's mouth.

Smells. Rabbits don't like the smell of predators or death. That's why many gardeners swear by everything from sprinklings of human or animal hair (get it from your hairdresser or animal groomer) to human urine (easier to for men and gardeners with fences to apply).

For the material, it's best to get a rug with natural fibers, such as sisal. Since rabbits have a tendency to chew on everything, they might end up eating some of the rug. Sisal is a safe material for rabbits to ingest, so this is the rug I recommend using for the flooring under your ex-pen.

Rabbits prefer temperatures of about 60–65 degrees Fahrenheit, but they are comfortable in lower temperatures as long as they are appropriately housed. An outdoor rabbit hutch must be waterproof and should have a solid roof with a slight overhang to keep rain and snow out of the hutch.

For indoor pet rabbits, bedding is not necessary to include in your rabbit's habitat as long as your rabbit has access to soft flooring. Outdoor rabbits will require bedding for insulation to help them stay warm in the night and during the cold months of the year.

Blankets/Polar fleece – Blankets are a soft material that allows your bunny to dig, dig, dig. Polar fleece is the only safe fabric for buns, because the fibers are short enough that they will not cause digestive problems. Pile these in front of your bunny and let him dig to his heart's content.

Rabbits can actually sleep on hay or straw, but as we mentioned above, straw is warmer bedding for rabbits than hay, keeping your bunny more comfortable in the winter months. However, make sure you don't purchase old, stale, brittle straw, which can irritate your rabbit.

What is the best bedding for rabbit odor? ›

The best kind of litter to use for rabbits is a paper based, unscented litter. This has the best absorbency and odor control while also being safe for a rabbit's digestive and respiratory systems.

Your rabbits need deep bedding of shavings or Megazorb under their bed of plenty of straw. Straw is warmer than hay because it's hollow and provides more insulation. Buy good-quality soft straw that's not spiky or dusty, such as barley straw.

The HRA guidelines recommend at least 8 square feet in their enclosure. The rabbit will require an additional 24 square feet of space to exercise for a minimum of five hours every day.

Since rabbits have evolved to live with their families (which can grow very quickly), there isn't a very low limit of the number of rabbits that can live together – more often than not, the constraining factor is the amount of space you have!

Most owners house a pair of rabbits, but keeping three or four are also popular options. Be sure that you have enough space to comfortably house all your rabbits, or else you'll have to purchase multiple runs to create enough space.

Depending on the dressed size, one rabbit can easily feed a family of four. An acquaintance of mine who enjoys raising meat rabbits prefers the live weight of his butchers to be 3 to 2-1/2 pounds. Personally, I like to let my growers get up to around 4-1/2 pounds.