Housing

Housing

Whether your rabbits live indoors or outside, a hutch is the perfect home.  But there are many designs, shapes and sizes, so choosing the right one is essential.

SIZE – the hutch should be high enough for your rabbits to stand on their back legs, and with enough floor area to allow a minimum of three to four hops in any direction. You’ll need to get a bigger hutch the more rabbits you have.

LAYOUT – there should be separate eating and toilet areas. If you have more than one rabbit, there should also be somewhere for them to be alone.

LINING – line the floor with newspaper.

BEDDING – cover the lining with bedding material of hay, barley straw or dust-free wood chippings. This helps to absorb urine and keep the hutch comfortable.

TOILET – rabbits are clean animals by nature, so make a separate litter area, deep-sided and lined with newspaper and hay, which you should change regularly.

LOCATION – the hutch should always be dry, well-ventilated and kept cool  – heat can be fatal to rabbits. Indoors, avoid sites next to radiators. Outside, avoid south-facing walls and direct sunlight. In the colder winter months, add extra bedding to an outdoor hutch and move it into a garage.

CLEANING – rabbits leave scent markings which extreme cleaning can remove. This may cause them stress, but hygiene is important. Spot clean soiled areas when needed, but change all bedding and clean thoroughly every two or three days – always leaving a small corner untouched so it smells familiar.

It's also important to consider the surroundings when your rabbit is out of the hutch.

Rabbits love to chew and gnaw, so when they're living indoors, the house needs to be rabbit-proofed. Wires are an easy target, so metal ducting may be useful to cover them up. Also, be aware of wooden and laminate floors which can easily cause your rabbits to slip, injuring the lower back.

For outdoor rabbits, it's important to rat-proof the area where they're living. Fear of predators – like dogs, foxes and birds of prey – can cause stress, so try to minimise it. If a neighbour has a noisy dog, for example, house your rabbit as far away as possible. Ideally cover the hutch at night so that the rabbit cannot see outside should any predators enter the garden.

You should also make sure the garden is free of plants that are poisonous to rabbits.