# Is this cage big enough?



## jen92473 (Jan 23, 2014)

We've got am 8 week old Dutch and I was wondering if this cage is big enough for her. As in, will she still need to be let out in a bigger area to exercise, or would this be sufficient? It's our old three-story condo of NIC cubes so it's 5 feet by 5 feet and 29" tall. She's so tiny she can crawl between the 2 inch grids! This is the "rough draft" and we'll put down nicer flooring in the next week or so. And am I missing anything? Thanks, guys!


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## Blue eyes (Jan 23, 2014)

That set up looks nice & roomy. I might be a little nervous about boxes/platforms that are placed against the side walls for fear she might hop over.

My opinion is that you have 25 square feet which is good for her to move around. It would still be nice to let her out now & then so she can get her full speed up. The area you have now is still large enough for her to binky.

(Yeah, the 2" grids aren't safe for any rabbit.) In fact, come to think of it, in the foreground there is a white box and by that are the 2" grids. Might she slip through if she hops on the box and tries to wiggle through?


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## Imbrium (Jan 24, 2014)

I've always heard 60 square feet or so for a rabbit or bonded pair that don't get any time out of the cage. 25 square feet is enough for binkies but not for bunny 500s and such. An hour or two of free run time (as opposed to the usual recommendation of 4-5 hours) each day would make it enough space.

As a note, I'd be wary of even the grids with the "normal" sized holes around an 8 week old bunny - at 9 weeks old, Nala got her head stuck in a NIC grid (that I would've sworn was too small for her head to fit through, heh). I didn't reintroduce NIC grids until she was 11 weeks old; by then her head was way too big for her to shove it through one of the holes. The issue with NIC grids is that it's squares instead of primarily just vertical bars (like an x-pen has) - if an upright eared bunny shoves their head through one, their ears pop up on the far side and prevent them from pulling their head out.


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## Blue eyes (Jan 24, 2014)

^^ Agreed that bigger is always better! That's why I like having mine out all day. 

The 25 square feet idea is from House Rabbit Society. But as they themselves state, it is just 'one guideline.'

Enclosure sizes also should be decided in conjunction with the amount of exercise time and space the rabbit has. One guideline to go by is at least 8 square feet of enclosure time combined with at least at least 24 square feet of exercise space, for 1-2 rabbits, in which the rabbit(s) can run and play at least 5 hours per day. (from rabbit.org)


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## RabbitGirl101 (Jan 24, 2014)

Yes, this cage is plenty big enough!


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## RabbitGirl101 (Jan 24, 2014)

RabbitGirl101 said:


> Yes, this cage is plenty big enough!



Edit: Yes I know I'm not quoting directly from the HRS and that I don't have house rabbits but this cage still is big enough, Dutch's don't get very big this rabbit will be perfectly fine. The only thing I would worry about is as she develops more muscle she might jump out and have a little adventure.


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## @rabbitmummy (Feb 7, 2014)

My rabbits hutch is 45cm in height 42cm in width and 1.2m in length... Is this big enough would you say?


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## Blue eyes (Feb 7, 2014)

its_anneh said:


> My rabbits hutch is 45cm in height 42cm in width and 1.2m in length... Is this big enough would you say?



If you want to follow the guidelines I quoted above from the House Rabbit Society, then it's too small. I figure that hutch to be about 5 square feet -- just barely over half of the recommended size. In addition, they should have access to an additional 24 square feet for at least 5 hours per day. (24 square feet would be a space about 2.25 square meters)


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## Blue eyes (Feb 7, 2014)

^^^ 2.25 square meters would be about 1.5 meters by 1.5 meters


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## @rabbitmummy (Feb 8, 2014)

Blue eyes said:


> If you want to follow the guidelines I quoted above from the House Rabbit Society, then it's too small. I figure that hutch to be about 5 square feet -- just barely over half of the recommended size. In addition, they should have access to an additional 24 square feet for at least 5 hours per day. (24 square feet would be a space about 2.25 square meters)




Okay. Thank you it's probably half the size because our rabbits don't enjoy being together and they run round the whole garden often so I'll try and get them out for 5 hours and maybe 3 hours inside as they hate going outside so they can run round the shed.


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## Blue eyes (Feb 8, 2014)

its_anneh said:


> Okay. Thank you it's probably half the size because our rabbits don't enjoy being together and they run round the whole garden often so I'll try and get them out for 5 hours and maybe 3 hours inside as they hate going outside so they can run round the shed.



8 square feet is also minimum for 1 rabbit. If you could find a way to provide a larger cage, that would be best. Your idea of giving them more exercise time is a great idea.


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## @rabbitmummy (Feb 10, 2014)

Blue eyes said:


> 8 square feet is also minimum for 1 rabbit. If you could find a way to provide a larger cage, that would be best. Your idea of giving them more exercise time is a great idea.




I've decided to let them run round the shed all day and in put them in their hutch at night


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## @rabbitmummy (Mar 19, 2014)

I've bought them a new hutch which is big enough as it's to risky to leave them out all day.


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## @rabbitmummy (Apr 12, 2014)

Blue eyes said:


> If you want to follow the guidelines I quoted above from the House Rabbit Society, then it's too small. I figure that hutch to be about 5 square feet -- just barely over half of the recommended size. In addition, they should have access to an additional 24 square feet for at least 5 hours per day. (24 square feet would be a space about 2.25 square meters)




Sorry, the hutch is 3ft high 6ft long and 2ft long which allows them to binky, stand on their hind legs and run around like mad.


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