Building an enclosure for my buns

[Taylor]

My buns are about 6 weeks old. They’ve been all right sharing their pet store cage for the past two weeks with play time every night where we take them into the laundry room to run and play, however, they’re going to get big quickly and I don’t want them to be confined to a cage all day. We’ve been keeping them with my boyfriend where they will be for a year until I can move into a pet friendly apartment where they can have a lot more room. I was thinking about pet-safing the laundry room, maybe giving them a pen and a run, some ramps and toys, a much bigger space in all, but right now it’s kind of warm in there, not too hot, but not necessarily comfortable. We always have a fan running when they’re playing in there for them to run to if it gets hot. I’ve seen suggestions of ice-filled jugs and wet towels around the cage with a fan to keep them cool in a hot environment, but I’m also worried about mold or bacteria? It’s a damp smelling place. If I get an air purifier, do you think that would make it safe for them to be in there during the day? I want them to have plenty of room, but I want them to be comfortable and healthy. Any suggestions you may have would be greatly appreciated. 

[BinkyBunny]

Six weeks? I just read your other post awhile back that said you got them at 4 weeks. (yikes that is young )   I know you had gotten them from the pet store, but normally they don’t sell them until they are at least 8 weeks (recommended time to be weaned as they need the mama’s milk for good gut stability – some breeders may wean as early as 5 weeks but even that is not recommended, 4 weeks is almost unheard of). This is not to be critical of you in any way, as you didn’t wean them that young – not your fault!  I am just wondering if they are really that young as you definitely want to have the age right as they mature. (are they the same sex?) I would recommend you also get them seen by a rabbit-savvy vet to make sure of their gender as well. We have seen too many HE is really a SHE or vice versa type of posts! And again, you want to make sure before they reach sexual maturity which is not too far away (especially if they really are 8 weeks or so.)

If the laundry room seems too stuffy and uncomfortable (heat stroke can happen at 80 degees) and/or you are worried about mildew, why not set up an xpen in another area of the house? If you are concerned about flooring, you could get sheet vinyl remnants from a flooring store for pretty cheap and just get what you need for under the xpen (making sure the edged go outside of the pen so that they don’t chew on it.

While an air purifier might help some — they can be noisy 

which would be no fun for rabbit sensitive ears in a confined room.  

It definitely sounds like you care about your bunnies and want to do right by them – and getting more exercise is definitely something they will need.  Hopefully we can help you find what will work for them. 

[Taylor]

I am sure they are six weeks. I didn’t know anything about bunnies really until the day I decided to buy them. We had been looking into buying a hedgehog and decided that wasn’t for us, so we bought the bunnies. It wasn’t until I started doing copious amounts of research that I realized how young they were to be sold. Their digestion and eating has been normal, they are healthy and growing quickly and we are keeping a close eye on them and their habits to make sure weaning them that early hasn’t hurt their health. It has been a massive learning curve for us, but a wonderful one.

The laundry room is big, about the same size as my boyfriend’s room. Also, when we bought them it was established that I wouldn’t be able to keep them at my place. I told my boyfriend who I bought them with that I wanted them to have free reign of the house and asked if that would be a problem. He said it wouldn’t be, but low and behold, he hadn’t asked his roommate who did not take kindly to surprise bunnies. The situation with them is temporary, but I want them to be comfortable until I can move into a pet safe apartment which will be in about a year. Then they shall have a palace. I don’t think the air purifier would be too loud in a room that big as long as it’s okay for them to have it there. I’m prepared to buy them a space cooler, and am in the process of renovating a hutch for them that’s bound to be more fun for them than a cage when they grow.

Wallace is a male and Trippy is a female. They’ve been to the vet based on a poop scare that turned out to be nothing. Just as soon as Wallace hits neutering age, we are going to be on top of that. We wanted to get same sex bunnies, but these are the two that stole our hearts and I think we accidentally chose well seeing as two females don’t tend to bond as easily. They really adore each other which puts my mind at ease. I don’t know how, but they chose us and inadvertently chose each other. It’s been such a wonderful experience.

[Author]

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