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How to
House Your
Pet
Rabbit
First, read Ten
Reasons Not to put your Bunny in an Outside Hutch
and then come back here to
see suggestions on what you can do.
What to Consider:
 Your
Rabbit's Personality. Is your rabbit spayed or neutered and
litter trained. How old is the rabbit and is it still a
"teenager?" Some rabbits don't chew wires and gnaw
furniture legs, have perfect bathroom habits and are able to live outside
a cage. My Groucho is like that and for a long time he lived with a
kitty condo house and used a litter box right next to my computer
desk. The wires were very safe since he ignored them. As
the picture shows, other pets in the house had access to the his
turnip greens.
 Bunny
Proofing - Once Rosemary came to live with Groucho, everyone had to adjust.
She was a chewer, a jumper and gnawed on everything. It was like
having a kangaroo in the house. A puppy pen at 36 inches high and 2
1/2 ft. wide by 10 ft. long fenced in both rabbits until Rosemary out grew her
bad bunny habits. There was plenty of room to run in the pen. But
the rabbits always had many supervised hours out
running free everyday.
A
Place to Hide - Notice in both pictures there is a cat condo.
One is carpet covered and okay for a rabbit who doesn't eat carpet.
The other one is no longer being manufactured, but the bunnies loved running
though it and sleeping together inside. A rabbit who will chew
plastic will need a different hiding place made of cardboard or untreated
wood. There are other similar products if you look.
Non-Toxic
Construction - Amy Spintman created this Cottontail Cottage. It has
some
bunny-friendly enhancements. You can get them
on this website: www.catsandrabbitsandmore.com. Simple
cardboard boxes also work well. Cut a few holes in them and put them
on the floor. Most rabbits will enjoy investigating every inch of
the box and end up lounging inside. Also, visit
Cosmo's
Website by Tracy for more ideas.
Adequate
Room -
Leith Petwerks makes wonderful rabbit condos that are
attractive, sturdy and well thought out for rabbit comfort. If
nothing is too good for your rabbit, then
this is the ticket! They make them in one story, two and even three
level condos. These condos
 provide adequate room for one, two
rabbits or even three
 rabbits. Most pet store cages are inadequate
and don't allow a rabbit to even stand up or stretch out!
Leith Petwerks
can be reached at 1-812-824-1488
www.leithpetwerks.com.
They are house rabbit owners themselves. I have 2 of
these myself and can attest to their quality. And, if I can assemble
one, anyone can. See Rosemary and Bumble in their
Condo. They look small and they are big 'ol rabbits.
They get lots of run time, but they enjoy lounging on the
second level and watching the cats walk by.
Other
Spacious Ideas - Neat Idea Cubes - you can get them in office supply
stores and they can make a great bunny habitat with a little
imagination. There are several links for ideas on using Neat Idea
Cubes.
Bunny Buddies has plans for making cages using Neat Idea Cubes
or try these two links for more ideas:
Princess Blackie and
NIC Cubes
Rabbits are the third most popular pet across the Atlantic
Ocean
and they have some wonderful rabbit home ideas if you know someone handy with
simple carpentry like this bunny barn and house. The possibilities are
endless. The website link for the ones pictured below is down and I can't
find a source, but I will keep looking. If any good carpenters have any
other great ideas to show, please e-mail Hopperhome!
 
Photo Credit: Groucho
will always be the "perfect" bunny and this is how he would like to
live - as a lop king in his rabbit castle!
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See
House
Rabbit Habitats by the House Rabbit Society. There are photos and ideas for other rabbit homes.
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