Hutch

[Deleted User]

Ok so I found a free hutch around my street. I am probably going to get it but it has wire on the bottom, should that be o.k. for domino’s feet?

[JK]

No no no no no!!!! Wire is very bad for their feet as it can cause terrible sores.  You would need to put something like linoleum down to cover it.  How big is it?  You would also need to sterilize it with a bleach solution.  I believe it is 10% bleach to 90% water.  Even if it is big enough you would need to make sure the bun has outside run time.

[Beka27]

i think a NIC condo or xpen would be much better. the wire is an absolute no-no. it can cause sore hocks which is a very painful thing for bunnies. and it would have to be thoroughly disinfected. you don’t know where it’s been. there could have been any kind of animal in there, or a very sick bunny.

[bunnytowne]

hmm is it big?  yes after sterilizing it well you can put something in there for bun to lie down on and sit on. a carpet rug if bun doesn’t chew it up or grass mats  or a flat little board big enuf for bun to rest on or maybe bigger. a cuddlecup for bun to lie on I am sure you could find something bunny appropriate to put in for bun to lie down on. a big flat plastic storage lid or container would work too.

[Sarita]

Are you going to use this inside?

[Deleted User]

No, I’m NOT going to use it inside, a hutch is an out-door cage. My neighbor told me to bring him inside to sleep cause where I live, there are a lot of Coyotes!

[JK]

You know we are all advocates of indoor bunnies.  I certainly hope that’s your plan. It’s so dangerous for buns to be outside for any length of time due to predators, weather conditions, fleas, mites, fly strike! Plus bunnies are so social and should be part of the family to develop their incredible personalities.  I had NO idea that they were so intelligent and fun prior to having a bunny.

[Deleted User]

Well, it’s getting hot and we don’t want him to be inside during the summer. The hotter it gets, the more prone we are to terrible smells affecting us more. My mom said that I don’t clean his cage enough and he smells (a lot). My mom better have a good sense of smell to be able to smell that because none of us smell it. So she wants the bunny outside because she has an even better sense of smell during the summer and she REALLY doesn’t want to smell the bunny in the summer.

[JK]

That sounds very bad to me. You should be cleaning his cage frequently enough so that he does not smell. Edson does not smell and if you walked into my house you would never know I had a bunny. He will be subjected to hot temperatures outside as well as the other things I mentioned. It doesn’t sound like you care enough about the well being of your bunny. Maybe you should consider giving him to someone who will allow him to live inside. Sorry to be harsh but I am very concerned about how you are treating this poor rabbit.

[Alicia Conklin]

Wow, but just think of how the heat will affect your poor bunny outside?

I would suggest…an NIC condo for starters..bigger area less smells..when my rabbit was in a pet store cage for his first few days here it smelled too..because it was a glorified litter box, I don’t smell him at all now. So…first NIC condo

Second a few litter boxes in his spots that he likes with a GOOD litter.  I like yesterday’s news..it stays fresh for a long time for me.. Change the litter boxes every few days, you can also scoop out the big piles of poop daily to help.

Vacuum or brush/sweep out the stray poops daily..this will also help with smell.  

If your mom won’t allow this or you can’t commit to this..maybe it’s not the right time for you to be having a rabbit. I’d thin about surrendering the rabbit rather then making it live outside, in the heat. around predators.  That’s just selfish.

[rabbitsmba]

Whenever someone tells me their rabbits smell I say “Rabbits don’t smell – only dirty cages smell.” If you aren’t cleaning the cage properly and often enough, you really need to.

Rabbits don’t belong outside. They die very easily from heat stroke and can even be scared to death. THis means if a predator comes lurking around, it doesn’t even have to attack the bunny to kill it – just knowing a predator is around is enough to actually scare it to death.

YOur rabbit needs to be inside at all times. If your mom is not supportive of this, you need to find this bunny a new home.

[Scarlet_Rose]

Lemon, I agree with what is being said here. A rabbit really needs to be an indoor pet and not cast outside, especially when it is so hot out. There has to be some kind of compromise like keeping the rabbit in your room perhaps? If not, I think it might be best to surrender the animal to a shelter or give it to a good indoor home and when you are older and able to have a pet inside, then consider adopting a rabbit.

[Beka27]

you have posted threads in the past worrying about the temperatures, for a week it was too hot, than it was too cold. rabbits do best in a house that has a regulated temperature. i’m guesing it get warmer than 80-85 degrees in California, which could be deadly for your rabbit. the only time the temps would drop low enough for him to be comfortable would be at night, which is when most of the predators come out.

your rabbit was just neutered a week or two ago… that should eliminate any smell. unaltered bunny’s urine DOES smell sometimes, so hopefully that is not going to be the case anymore. BUT… you also need to do your part and take care of him. this is part of the responsibility of having a pet. your parents allowed you to get a rabbit, so they also need to accept responsibility for him and provide the best possible care for him. they agreed to get him neutered which was a HUGE step in the right direction… but if you cannot provide him with an indoor home, that is no way for him to live. you need to consider rehoming him or giving him up to a rescue.

do you think your bunny would get more care and attention outside? no, he wouldn’t. he’d be forgotten about.

here is an idea… why don’t you come up with a schedule with your parents for cleaning out the litterbox and cage? every 2-3 days at a specified time, you can clean out the litterbox and spot-clean (this should not take longer than 10 minutes!) once a week do a full cage cleaning with your parent’s help.

[Deleted User]

Tell all of this stuff to my mom, she is NOT going to get rid of this rabbit no matter what!

[Beka27]

Posted By lemon541 on 06/17/2008 8:47 PM
Tell all of this stuff to my mom, she is NOT going to get rid of this rabbit no matter what!

we do not have any contact with your mom.  can you show her this site and have her read this thread?

[MooBunnay]

From experience (I previously lived in LA for a year, WITH rabbits) – I know that LA temperatures are much too hot for a rabbit to be outdoors in the summer. I had my rabbit indoors in the coolest part of LA (near the ocean) and that still required me to do about 45 minutes of work each morning to prepare my INDOOR rabbit’s cage to be cool enough for the day. I froze gallon milk jugs of water, put thin sheets that were soaked in water and then frozen around her cage, and a rotating fan to blow a cool breeze through the sheets. And, once again, this was to keep an INDOOR rabbit cool enough. There is no way to keep your rabbit cool enough outdoors.

I find it odd that the smell is an issue, as I have 7 rabbits indoors in an apartment and have no smell issues whatsoever. What kind of litter do you use? I use lonestar bedding which is similar to “feline pine.” I also use a covered cat litterbox dome, which prevents any hay from excaping the litterbox, as well as any scents. If you do these things there should be no smell, as I do this for 7 rabbits and still have no smell in my apartment. Can you tell us what exactly the “smell” is that is mentioned?

[lilmizzsnickerz]

i understand where you are coming from i live in ireland and for a few months my mum made domino live outside and i ended up making the shed have a run attached so he had the shed and the run cause i felt bad for him but i told my mum who i am renting of that he had to come in or i wud move out and now he lives in my house with me and to be honest its much more enjoyable having him inside as he had such a great personality that i wasnt enjoying whilehe was outside

[Deleted User]

Thanks, I’ll try to convince my mom to let him stay inside.

[JK]

That’s great to hear!  Just show her all of our answers if you can.  We are all very responsible bunny owners and care so much about the welfare of our rabbits that’s why some of us come across pretty harshly sometimes! Good luck!

[Author]

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