Transitioning bunny to a new cage. Advice?

[LuigiTheBunny]

I ordered a new cage for Luigi yesterday and it’s arriving tomorrow, so I’d love to get some tips on helping a bunny adjust to his new cage. This is his current cage (borrowed from my in-laws) and the set-up for his food and water:

 

Unlike most rabbit owners, we (my hubby and I) haven’t been using a litter box. Luigi uses the entire cage as his litter box, though he only pees and poops in one or both of the back corners. His water bottle has always been in that spot, and he has hay on almost every side of the cage. For litter and bedding, we use Carefresh and some straw. This is a 0.35 square meters cage with a height of 40 cm (15.7″), so it’s really small, but this doesn’t matter because he is rarely in his cage nowadays. He’s a free roaming bunny and only goes inside to eat hay, drink water, or use the toilet. For the record, he is a medium-sized lop, weighing about 2.2 kg, or 4.8 lbs for American friends.

The reason for buying a bigger cage is that we’ll be going away on vacation soon, and we need to make sure he has enough space. He’ll be housed at my mother-in-law’s while we’re gone. I may have to buy an exercise pen for him as well, because their house is not bunny proofed and has two cats.

What do you guys do to get your bun used to a new cage/hutch? I’ve read that bunnies might get upset that the new cage doesn’t smell like them. I don’t want Luigi upset. What if I were to take some of his poop or pee-soaked litter and put it in his new cage? I was also thinking of taking the whole tray from the bottom part of his old cage (picture above) and putting it in his new cage, so he can get used to it without losing his old “habitat” all of a sudden. I’m not sure at this point how I would like to set up his new cage. I would LOVE to start using a litter box, but it really depends on whether he would use it consistently.

His new cage will look like this. Any tips would be appreciated!

[Azerane]

I’ve found my bunnies have all adapted pretty quickly to new cages/set ups. If you’re looking at potentially litter training, I would make sure you have a litter box, take the bedding and some soiled bedding and put it in the litter tray in the new cage, and leave the rest bare (or put a fleece blanket down in the rest, whichever you prefer). That will help with litter training, but the smell from the used bedding will also help.

If you can I’d suggest giving the new cage a quick spray down with a hose and just wipe it dry, just to get any strong residual factory smells or dust off of it. But just having their familiar things inside it with their smells is really helpful. If he’s spooked at all I would just cover half of the cage with a towel or blanket until he’s more settled.

[LuigiTheBunny]

Thanks @Azerane! I followed your advice and washed both the cage (bottom tray) and his new litter box with warm water and dish soap. He’s used his litter box already and hops into the cage to eat hay and drink water. I think he’s adjusting well. No accidents outside his litter box yet, though it’s only day one. I hope this helps other bunny parents get their bun used to their new cage as well.

[graysonbun]

@LuigiTheBunny i’m glad that he seems to be adjusting fine! I think they catch on pretty fast hah! Great setup!!

[Azerane]

That’s great that he adjusted so easily.

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