Rabbit
Housing
Considerations
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Rabbits can be housed indoors or outdoors. Indoor rabbits should
be confined to a suitable enclosure when their activity cannot be
adequately supervised. A roomy wire cage with at least one-half of
the floor's surface area covered with Plexiglass or washable towels
is recommended. The Plexiglass or towels provide relief from
constant and continual contact with the wire floor, helping to
prevent hutch sores on the feet. A water bottle or ceramic crock, food dish and a litterbox
should be provided for the rabbit inside the enclosure.
Under no circumstances should rabbits be allowed total freedom
within the home. Rabbits love to chew and can be very destructive to
household furnishings. Furthermore, they can be seriously injured by
biting into telephone and electrical cords.
Like cats, rabbits can be easily trained to use a litterbox in
the home. If the rabbit has already selected an area for
elimination, the litterbox should be placed in this location. It
helps to place some of the rabbit's fecal pellets in the litterbox to
encourage its use.
Rabbits housed outdoors should be confined in roomy wire cages
with Plexiglass covering about one-half of the floor's surface area.
The wire mesh should be just large enough to allow fecal pellets to
drop through. A water bottle or ceramic crock and a heavy food dish
should be provided.
Adequate shade and a "hiding spot" should be provided as well.
Rabbits are typically anxious, wary animals and are easily
frightened. This is especially true of newly acquired pet rabbits
and rabbits kept for reasons other than as pets. A concealed area
into which these rabbits can retreat when they feel threatened is
necessary to prevent injury that would result from excessive and
futile efforts to escape from the cage. Hiding provides a safe
alternative to useless and often injurious escape efforts.
Shade must be provided to prevent heat stress or heat stroke.
All rabbits, even those housed indoors, are especially sensitive to
high environmental temperatures. Adequate shelter must also be
provided against wind, rain, snow and ice.
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