I recently bought my daughter a lion head rabbit as a pet. Without giving much thought to where we were going to keep the “wabbit wasculy,” I pulled out my credit card and added a few more zeros to the family debt. A month after our new adventure and thousands of rabbit pellets later, I decided it was time to invest in an outdoor hutch. The only question was; Do I build one or buy a commercially available model?
I did a quick internet search, which you may be doing now, too, and quickly decided that buying a pre-made hutch would probably be my best option. While I found plans to build our bunnies’ new home, it seemed to me that the investment of materials and time would not be significantly less than having one ready to go, out of the box.
I’d say my carpentry skills are pretty normal, but I wasn’t willing to risk the safety and sanity of my rabbit or my daughter if something happened to him. We live in the country and while I don’t think we have cougars or anything like that, I know we have hawks, eagles, foxes, and other predators that love rabbit meat … not to mention my ex-husband too!
Outdoor rabbit huts come in many different styles and price ranges. I wanted to make sure mine was large enough for our pet to have room to move around and also provide an area where he could seek shelter from the elements. He also didn’t want to spend a lot of time cleaning the cage.
After doing some research, I learned that a wire mesh floor could actually be used so that the pellets simply fall to the ground under the cage or accumulate in a pan hung below. He was concerned about the rabbit standing on a metal rack, but experts agree that it can be done without damaging its legs.
My daughter would undoubtedly disagree with these experts, so I decided to look for a hutch that had the main cage area with a wire floor but offered a solid and comfortable floor within the small living room. I learned that rabbits can be trained to use a litter box and that they generally do not defecate where they sleep.
I ended up getting a cage that had two tiers. The lower level actually gives access to a rabbit runner which my neighbor added for me to give the bunny some room to jump while keeping it safe from predators.
When you buy a rabbit, you need to understand that they need a nice house to live in and it should probably be outside the one you actually live in. There are many different sizes to choose from and I would get the largest I can afford. Rabbits like to jump and move. Also, make sure they have a hidden area to hide in.