# Bunny cage - Room for improvement?



## overhear (May 5, 2021)

Hi All, 

My bunny's cage (22" X 38" by 19" high) is in the corner of our living room. During the day her cage is open so that she can go in and out for water, litter, hay and naps with her stuffed bunny friend. At night when we go to bed I close her cage door for added safety. 

This has been a great arrangement because we get lots of family time together -- she loves reality TV! -- but I'm wondering if her cage is a bit too small. 

She seems happy and well-adjusted, so maybe I'm over-thinking this. In the picture you can see some of the tunnels we've made for her. She started out a bit skittish so we made tunnels out of boxes and tucked them into corners where she could go to hide or hang out. 

Do you wise rabbit people think she needs a bigger cage?


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## CrazyChickenGirl (May 5, 2021)

As long as she is out for a good portion of the day that’s probably enough room.


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## Blue eyes (May 5, 2021)

With all the stuff in the cage, there really isn't room for her to move around much. An easy solution would be to get an exercise pen (30" tall or higher) and set it up around her cage just for nighttime. One end of the pen can tuck between the cage and that brown piece of furniture to the right. The other end can wrap around (or in front of, if necessary) that chair. If you wrap it around the chair, the chair can be pushed against the wall to pinch the pen in place.


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## overhear (May 5, 2021)

Blue eyes said:


> With all the stuff in the cage, there really isn't room for her to move around much. An easy solution would be to get an exercise pen (30" tall or higher) and set it up around her cage just for nighttime. One end of the pen can tuck between the cage and that brown piece of furniture to the right. The other end can wrap around (or in front of, if necessary) that chair. If you wrap it around the chair, the chair can be pushed against the wall to pinch the pen in place.




Are bunnies very active at night?


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## Preitler (May 5, 2021)

Some are. Friend of mine had to rehome her rabbits because she got anxiety attacks caused by the night time activity. But they were caged. My buns sleep most of the night, but go for a snack or poop now and then. They sleep in my bedroom but their base is in the vestibule so that doesn't bother me, that silent hop-hop-hop in the middle of the night actually is like Homers Everything's OK Alarm. They get active once the sun comes up, my alarm clock is pretty much superfluous this time of the year.

I actually like my rabbits being around because it's the silence that gets at my nerves.


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## peanutdabunny (May 5, 2021)

overhear said:


> Are bunnies very active at night?


Depends, what time do you close the cage at? My bunny is still very active around 11pm-11:45 pm


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## overhear (May 5, 2021)

peanutdabunny said:


> Depends, what time do you close the cage at? My bunny is still very active around 11pm-11:45 pm



If we stay up past midnight she often goes into her cage and chills in her hay box, but most nights we go to bed around 11 so I don't know how active she is. 

I'm super tempted to get a webcam so I can see what she's up to.


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## dianedriver (May 6, 2021)

overhear said:


> If we stay up past midnight she often goes into her cage and chills in her hay box, but most nights we go to bed around 11 so I don't know how active she is.
> 
> I'm super tempted to get a webcam so I can see what she's up to.




We just got a webcam. It’s great and a lot of fun


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## katlupe (May 6, 2021)

My bunny's litter box is in his cage but I never close him up in it. I have the door fastened to stay open. He is not as active at night as he used to be, but he is 7 years old now. He actually has 5 different places to sleep in this small studio apartment. I know he would make all kinds of noise if I locked him up in it at night. But most of the time, if I get up in the middle of the night, he is sprawled out in the spot where I feed him, just sleeping.


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## zuppa (May 6, 2021)

I agree it is very stuffed and she has no room to move at all. Rabbits are more active in the night time, but also depends on your lifestyle, they will adjust to it.
If you want to use cage as her homebase it's fine but I would make it sheltered and cosy little space, where she can hide, what I see now there's no hidey place for her and she must be feeling all as a display rabbit, this is for you to observe and not for her to feel good in there.

One toilet would be enough, two is a bit confusing and takes space. I would cover her top with a blanket, or put a piece of wood on top and then cover with a blanket, so about 1/3 of her front would be covered and she can feel unwatched there.

Playpen would be good as well, but really there's so much room for improvements, your living room looks great and this cage looks like foreign thing there, even if you could put a coffee table over it it would look very different!

Not this coffee table in your pics its very low, I use children tables 120 x 60 cm and about 55 cm high, 60 cm when with castors.


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## overhear (May 6, 2021)

zuppa said:


> One toilet would be enough, two is a bit confusing and takes space. I would cover her top with a blanket, or put a piece of wood on top and then cover with a blanket, so about 1/3 of her front would be covered and she can feel unwatched there.
> 
> Playpen would be good as well, but really there's so much room for improvements, your living room looks great and this cage looks like foreign thing there, even if you could put a coffee table over it it would look very different!
> 
> Not this coffee table in your pics its very low, I use children tables 120 x 60 cm and about 55 cm high, 60 cm when with castors.



The large litter box is actually her hay box. She eats and sleeps in the hay box and uses the corner box for litter.

I like your idea of making the cage into more of a hiding place. During the day she has lots of hiding places, but the cage is very open -- and very ugly. So far I haven't found a better pet habitat that my husband is willing to have in our living room but I'm always looking. I've actually thought about retrofitting the entertainment cabinet (next to her cage) into her housing, but that would be a big project.


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## TreasuredFriend (May 6, 2021)

Our bunnies have numerous hours of playtime each day, and all have XLG dog kennel crates, expanded x-pens or quads hubby specically built for our sanctuary crew. They all slumber at night and don't wake us up.

Ages of our current sanctuary crew are 3 to 10. Our 13 and a half yo elders didn't want to do zoomies or climb on their shelving amenties due to golden years status. Their water crocks are filled with fresh water each day and the comforting sound of hay nibblage or drinking water at night is soothing to certain devoted bun parents. A youngster bunny may choose to be more active when humans have designated sleep hours!

How young is your girl? Is she already spayed? Will she put on ounces and seemingly be more squished in her current housing unit with a larger litter box, toys, food crocks, etc? As best as possible, give your boy/girl the options of laying down 5 different ways in their private bedroom space.

She's a part of your family and I'm glad she's not secluded where she'd feel like a commodity.

Helpful link below:









Housing Options


[ Tablet users, try the "web" version by clicking on "web" at the bottom of this page for a better, user-friendly format . ]



rabbitsindoors.weebly.com


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## TreasuredFriend (May 6, 2021)

@overhear - you're very considerate to place a cardboard panel over the flip-flap door opening to avoid her foot from accidentally catching and doing harm to her bones, i.e. fracture. Also, you are so considerate to place the rug underneath the flip-flap door for traction instead of the slippery flooring.

As she grows, if a pre-puberty gal now, the ability to stand on her hind legs and stretch up tall in her private bedroom space is beneficial.


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## overhear (May 6, 2021)

TreasuredFriend said:


> Our bunnies have numerous hours of playtime each day, and all have XLG dog kennel crates, expanded x-pens or quads hubby specically built for our sanctuary crew. They all slumber at night and don't wake us up.
> 
> Ages of our current sanctuary crew are 3 to 10. Our 13 and a half yo elders didn't want to do zoomies or climb on their shelving amenties due to golden years status. Their water crocks are filled with fresh water each day and the comforting sound of hay nibblage or drinking water at night is soothing to certain devoted bun parents. A youngster bunny may choose to be more active when humans have designated sleep hours!
> 
> ...



She's an unspayed rescue who was found last Halloween -- so 6 months ago. At the time my vet guessed that she was about 6 months old. Unfortunately my vet doesn't spay small animals and I haven't found a NYC-area vet willing to spay her for under $800 (including preop and post-op care) so she hasn't been spayed yet. 

Compared to my previous rabbit she's very low-key. She gets excited and runs over when someone comes into the room, but otherwise mainly likes to snuggle, graze, and nap.


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## peanutdabunny (May 6, 2021)

If you realllllllly want a cage I would look into getting a bigger one. The furplast 200 or 160 are good sized cages, they have a plastic base. You can sometimes find them on craigslist


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## overhear (May 6, 2021)

Now I'm wondering ... is there really any good reason to shut her in the cage at night, except for nervousness on my part? She's out all day even if we're not at home and she's perfectly fine. Still ... I would worry more with her out and about.


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## peanutdabunny (May 6, 2021)

overhear said:


> Now I'm wondering ... is there really any good reason to shut her in the cage at night, except for nervousness on my part? She's out all day even if we're not at home and she's perfectly fine. Still ... I would worry more with her out and about.


Assuming you work, I would take a weekend day and have her out and observe what she likes to get into. Then you can counter act that


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## overhear (May 6, 2021)

peanutdabunny said:


> Assuming you work, I would take a weekend day and have her out and observe what she likes to get into. Then you can counter act that



Right now I work from home. Probably best not to encourage me to spend more time staring at her than I already do!


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## TreasuredFriend (May 6, 2021)

Novice bunnny guardians tend to buy the shavings packs that pet stores display on their shelves. Unneeded. The pet commodity stores will show dropped-off sale products (baby rabbits) in glass aquarium fish tanks with the entire bottom filled with shavings. eeek. Pet stores sell items not necessarily the best products for your beloved pet.

Shelter story: Woman brings in 2 dwarf rabbits for surrender. The girls were housed in glass fish tanks (the woman could carry by herself) filled with shavings for their entire life. I was in the rabbit room when the dwarfs were headed back. One dwarf's eye had an abscess and was euth'd. Other dwarf transitioned to our rescue.
----------------------------------
Clover has a soft bath mat or suitable cotton rug covering which allows her comfort for hocks. Insert smile face. You are being so considerate to ask Qs and be concerned that Clover's cage could be cramped. Happy to know she's included as part of your family.

Over ten years ago we were contacted to accept a rex boy whose teenage owner outgrew his interest in 4H activities and hence had no interest in lifelong care of his rabbit. I believe their mindset was to cover the bottom of caging unit with all shavings.


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## overhear (May 6, 2021)

I'm so sorry to hear about those bunnies, @TreasuredFriend!

I use a thin layer of yesterday's news (unscented paper pellets) in the litter box. Her hay box only has hay. Being unspayed, she has started to poop in her hay box occasionally, but luckily she's good about using her litter for pee.


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## Diane R (May 6, 2021)

This is what is needed in terms of housing: Indoor Housing


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## BunBun71 (May 6, 2021)

You probably need a bigger cage. What time do you put her in the cage at night? And what time do you let her out?


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## overhear (May 6, 2021)

About 11 pm to 7 am.


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## BunBun71 (May 6, 2021)

overhear said:


> About 11 pm to 7 am.


Ok


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## Cinn-a-bun (May 8, 2021)

overhear said:


> Are bunnies very active at night?


Very active.


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## Cinn-a-bun (May 9, 2021)

overhear said:


> Are bunnies very active at night?


Very much. My bunny will hop, lay, nap all night.


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## Cinn-a-bun (May 9, 2021)

overhear said:


> I'm so sorry to hear about those bunnies, @TreasuredFriend!
> 
> I use a thin layer of yesterday's news (unscented paper pellets) in the litter box. Her hay box only has hay. Being unspayed, she has started to poop in her hay box occasionally, but luckily she's good about using her litter for pee.


I tried the hay in a box for my bunny, but she started to poop in it. So, I removed the box. Put or hang some hay in the litter box. Use a towel, blanket, or pet bed for sleeping on. My bunny came with a cage. And it was out of the as fast as it came in.
It's easier for me to sweep and vacuum, than to deal with cleaning a cage.


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## overhear (May 9, 2021)

I'm getting a Blink camera for mother's day (yea!) so I'll be able to check on her activity level at night soon. Then I may start keeping her cage open all night.


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## Ankit (May 9, 2021)

overhear said:


> Are bunnies very active at night?


My answer is no because of my experience. My bunny free roam all day and night, she used to sleep at night under my bed. I think you can use play pen rather a small cage. Play pen is much better than cage. But if you not have enough space in your house for play pen then you may leave your bunny in a different room .


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## Catlyn (May 9, 2021)

Your room there seems pretty great for not having that cage there at all. There aren't any electric cords visible, and i don't think you have wallpaper there? If you say she's been fine roaming all day without getting into any shenanigans, then it would be a greta idea to monitor what she does(and now that there's a petcam you can see where she goes at night) and if she's still all good, maybe do some rabbit-proofing here or there, and then i would say you're good to go and leave that door open all day all night.
I see there are two water dishes and two litterboxes? Why the doubles? I think that the one which is self-refilling(that white, bigger one) is good, no need for doubles unless it's smoldering hot or something. As for the two litterboxes, try shoving the bigger one into the corner that the smaller one is at, and just keep the litter beding in that one corner. She will most likely be a tad bit confused but still keep going how she's used to. Food in the poopy box tends to ensure more stable litter habits too.
This doesn't keep on helping if she's not spayed though. Have you tried these links:





Rabbit Vets Near Me – House Rabbit Society







rabbit.org




Vet Care | Rabbit Rescue &Rehab ?

Anyways, good luck!


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## overhear (May 10, 2021)

Catlyn said:


> Your room there seems pretty great for not having that cage there at all. There aren't any electric cords visible, and i don't think you have wallpaper there? If you say she's been fine roaming all day without getting into any shenanigans, then it would be a greta idea to monitor what she does(and now that there's a petcam you can see where she goes at night) and if she's still all good, maybe do some rabbit-proofing here or there, and then i would say you're good to go and leave that door open all day all night.
> I see there are two water dishes and two litterboxes? Why the doubles? I think that the one which is self-refilling(that white, bigger one) is good, no need for doubles unless it's smoldering hot or something. As for the two litterboxes, try shoving the bigger one into the corner that the smaller one is at, and just keep the litter beding in that one corner. She will most likely be a tad bit confused but still keep going how she's used to. Food in the poopy box tends to ensure more stable litter habits too.
> This doesn't keep on helping if she's not spayed though. Have you tried these links:
> 
> ...


Thanks so much for your thoughts @Catlyn ! She actually only has one littler box (in the corner). The larger box is her hay box where she eats and sleeps (see pic below). I'd hate to take that one away because it's her go-to spot.

I can definitely move her little food bowl out of the cage since it's only used 2x a day for her handful of pellets.


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## peanutdabunny (May 10, 2021)

overhear said:


> Thanks so much for your thoughts @Catlyn ! She actually only has one littler box (in the corner). The larger box is her hay box where she eats and sleeps (see pic below). I'd hate to take that one away because it's her go-to spot.
> 
> I can definitely move her little food bowl out of the cage since it's only used 2x a day for her handful of pellets.
> 
> View attachment 55059


I agree with catlyn I would move the tan litter box over to where the blue litter box is. You can put the blue litter box into the tan litter box, you can also put the food bowl into the litter box. Rabbits love to eat and poop. You can use the other side and stick a hide house in there, that would be great!


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## overhear (May 10, 2021)

peanutdabunny said:


> I agree with catlyn I would move the tan litter box over to where the blue litter box is. You can put the blue litter box into the tan litter box, you can also put the food bowl into the litter box. Rabbits love to eat and poop. You can use the other side and stick a hide house in there, that would be great!



Right now she sleeps and nibbles in her hay box. If I put her litter box inside her hay box, I'm wondering where she would sleep. In the new hidey house?


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## peanutdabunny (May 10, 2021)

overhear said:


> Right now she sleeps and nibbles in her hay box. If I put her litter box inside her hay box, I'm wondering where she would sleep. In the new hidey house?


Yep! Do you use amazon? You could stick in a amazon box


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## overhear (May 10, 2021)

peanutdabunny said:


> Yep! Do you use amazon? You could stick in a amazon box



Hmmm ... I'm not sure the litter box would fit in her hay box, but I can DEFINITELY place her hay box inside of a hidey house. Love these ideas!


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## Catlyn (May 10, 2021)

What i was meaning to say, similarly to Peanut, you can try fitting the smaller box into the corner of the bigger box. Pouring the toilet pellets to one side of the bigger box and leaving hay at the other end will yield the same results. This is, in my experience, the most common toilet setup-efficient and not as space-consuming. Then she'll pee, poo, eat and even sprawl out in that one box. They aren't picky in that sense.


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## overhear (May 10, 2021)

Catlyn said:


> What i was meaning to say, similarly to Peanut, you can try fitting the smaller box into the corner of the bigger box. Pouring the toilet pellets to one side of the bigger box and leaving hay at the other end will yield the same results. This is, in my experience, the most common toilet setup-efficient and not as space-consuming. Then she'll pee, poo, eat and even sprawl out in that one box. They aren't picky in that sense.


Gotcha. Thanks.


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## nicolekline97 (May 10, 2021)

I think it is okay but a little tight. Could you add a shelf there by chance? Or possibly put a pen around? We had the 2nd largest size dog crate and had a shelf. It was quite large. We switched to having her have an area with a covered little, a small cat condo, food/water. She is out during the day and we put a pen around the area at night...option.


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## Sunshine's Fine (May 11, 2021)

I find it best to have hay available while bunny is in the litter box. They like to eat and poop at the same time. If you want to keep a box of hay for her lay in, that's fine, but you should have hay in/near the litter box. I actually made a hay feeder from a cereal box when I had 2 buns, and was going to build a wooden one to replace it if it worked okay. I assumed they'd tear the cardboard one, since they loved to chew cardboard hidey houses to shreds. Well, that was 4 years ago, and the cereal box hasn't even got a tear in it! I lost one of my girls last August. but the 2 of them used this box every day, and now my remaining girl does too. Here's a pic of the "temporary" box I made from a cereal box and duct tape:


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## overhear (May 11, 2021)

Sunshine's Fine said:


> I find it best to have hay available while bunny is in the litter box. They like to eat and poop at the same time. If you want to keep a box of hay for her lay in, that's fine, but you should have hay in/near the litter box. I actually made a hay feeder from a cereal box when I had 2 buns, and was going to build a wooden one to replace it if it worked okay. I assumed they'd tear the cardboard one, since they loved to chew cardboard hidey houses to shreds. Well, that was 4 years ago, and the cereal box hasn't even got a tear in it! I lost one of my girls last August. but the 2 of them used this box every day, and now my remaining girl does too. Here's a pic of the "temporary" box I made from a cereal box and duct tape:


This is great!


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## overhear (May 11, 2021)

I know I must sound completely clueless, but.... If I put a litter box into the hay box, will she start peeing in her hay?


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## lilac (May 11, 2021)

Not purposely, but either way she won't eat soiled hay.


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## peanutdabunny (May 11, 2021)

overhear said:


> I know I must sound completely clueless, but.... If I put a litter box into the hay box, will she start peeing in her hay?


Rabbits are super smart and clean! Im sure they wont eat soiled hay


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## overhear (May 28, 2021)

Just wanted to give you all an update. Bunny and I had a slumber party so I could see how she did at night with her cage open. Neither of us slept much because she was pretty active, so last week I stopped closing her cage at night. I also got a bunny cam and I feel more comfortable now that I can keep an eye on her.


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## Diane R (May 28, 2021)

That's great. You might want to cover more of the slippery floor with non-slip flooring to avoid injuries and longer term health problems.


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