What type of house should I keep my baby Holland Lop in?

[Rocky&Michael]

First of all, I just wanted to say hello to everyone! I’m new here, and everything…so, yeah! And I’m kind of confused on what type of cage I should house my bun in. Okay, so I’m not keeping him outside. I can’t, the weather is way harsh, and I’d rather have him be in the house, and socialize with everyone.

I was thinking of making a C&C cage, but then as I was researching about them, I found that sometimes bunnies like to chew the metal off. And I wanted to originally keep him in a pen, too. But he isn’t litter trained (yet), so I figured it would make a big mess. Also, I was thinking of litter training him, and then letting him free roam in my room (after I buny-proofed it, of course). Or just getting him a regular cage. But the problem with the regular cages, is that they’re just too small! So yep, that’s it. So which type of cage happens to work best with your bunny? Please, post pictures of your cage, if you can! I would love to see them! And do you think i should let him free roam around the house? Or should he be in a cage of some sort? Thanks!

[Rocky&Michael]

Thanks for your answers, everyone!

[Adalaide]

Sorry, it’s early and a Sunday. You’re probably gonna be catching a lot of people having family time and church today. It’s usually gonna take a bit to get an answer so just be patient with us, please.

I’ve gathered that the general consensus here is that pet store cages are too small for buns. If you go up to the bunny info link and go to cool habitats you’ll get lots of great ideas. My Freya is a mini lop, she’s been mostly hanging in the bathroom. She does spend pretty much every waking moment I’m home out with me though. I have decided after seeing all the awesome NIC condos that we’re gonna build one for her, which will be exactly the right height to make a door onto the windowsill (huge windowsills) as well as the one to get out at the bottom. I’ve already used some of these for bunny proofing and am just waiting to find some pink ones to build the condo. It might be good to let him out to play a bit to see what his personality is like. Freya is a climber and will do anything to get high up, so we’ll make a condo that goes up more than being spread out. Until we get to that point, she’s in a totally bunny-proofed bathroom overnight and when we’re both at work. She’s got a zillion boxes to play in and on as well as a few toys to toss around. If he’s a baby and not too big, a pet store cage may be ok as a temporary place, as long as he gets out to play a few hours a day.

[Miyuki]

I know many people here have made cages with x-pens or built NIC condos. I’m not sure what everyone does if the bunny is not litter trained. I myself have one of the larger SuperPet cages but that has been recently abandoned. Right now I’ve just penned off a section of my entry way that has tile flooring and I’ve covered the floor. I have a vinyl shower curtain on the tile and over it I’ve covered it with towels.

The catch is my rabbit isn’t litter trained. So it does require more cleaning. However, I think most rabbits pick a spot to favor when doing their business so I really only have to sweep around one spot.  Or I just usually shake out the towels to get rid of the poo.  And I just change out and wash the towels that have been victims of the pee. Probably not the ideal solution but I think she likes it better than being in the cage.

Sorry I wasn’t of much help!  This is what I’m currently using below.  It has more towels and stuff now.  But it is still my work in progress.

[Elrohwen]

I have a 4′ x 2′ pet store cage (online from PetSmart, I couldn’t find anything that big in store). I have an xpen attached to the front and Otto’s allowed to run in his cage and xpen all the time. When we’re home, we usually remove the xpen so he can come out into the house a bit more and explore. Honestly, I love having the petstore cage because it keeps his hay and mess contained to an easy to clean area that I can easily sweep up. Then I can sit in the xpen with him where it’s clean. If I just had the xpen, he would spread hay all over the place and I’d have to be sweeping it up all the time. Here’s a picture of my set up:

 

As Otto gets older, I hope to move the xpen out and use it as a baby gate kind of to block him into his room, but for now I don’t trust that he won’t chew up baseboards and furniture, so keeping him in the xpen unsupervised works well. I also love having the xpen because it travels well if I want to take him with us to my mother in law’s house or something. I could get by without the cage and just use the xpen, but I don’t regret getting it at all.

ETA: He wasn’t litter trained when I got him, so I intended to keep him confined to the cage most of the time until he got the hang of his litter box. Within the first two days he was totally litter trained so I didn’t need to do that, but if it had taken him longer the cage would’ve been very useful for training.

[jerseygirl]

A cage similar to Miyuki and Elrowhens would be good and then a pen also. That way you can confine him to a smaller area while littertraining then allow exercise in the pen. Eventually, the pen can be allowed for as part of his housing with cage left there and the door open. The pens are easy to clean up in too!

[Cake]

This is mine. It also has a cube pen that is attached to the outside for my bun to run a bit.

[Cake]

I should mention that when I first got Indy, I had a small cage. I kept him in that until he was litter trained. (It only took a few days) I just put a big cat litter box in his small cage and put hay in it (with litter too). Now he is in his big condo and never ever makes a mess. He also hops back in to use the lower level litter when he’s out in the rest of the house.

(my bun is 4 months old)

[BunnyLiz]

My two are housed in NIC pens with a rug under them to protect the carpet.  But ive never housed a bunny that wasnt at least 90% litter trained in this sort of set up.  I got Hammer when he was a baby so he wasnt litter trained and started off in this big wood house I made for him, which he still loves to play in.  Here is one of my set ups.

But maybe you could do something like that and put a plastic or linoleum floor down with fleece for traction or grass mats. 

[Moonlight_Wolf]

[script removed]

This is my cage attached to a pen, she has access to this 24/7 because I can’t let her free roam  (My Mother, *Sigh*)

Currently the fish tank is gone and she has that extra space but I havn’t got a picture recently.

I at first had a smaller pet store cage, it was too small but I was able to litter train her in it fairly easily, now if I get another bunny it will be his cage untill he is litter trained. (kinda usefull)

You could always do what I did and make the sides raised on your cage (its on the bottom of my cage) (I used coroplast) it keps most of the stufff in, I am very happy with it. Good luck with your new bun!

[KatnipCrzy]

I at first had a petstore cage also.  And we started Cotton off in that- and soon added an enclosure made out of NIC cubes.  Then once she was trusted to stay in her NIC pen without trying to jump or escape and I was OK with the other pets in the house never wanting to harm her- we took out the petstore cage and kept her in her NIC enclosure.  I even sold the cage that I bought when I first got her- I was that convinced It would not use it for her or another rabbit again.

I have had to house other rabbits and I used a dog crate- which seemed to be better than a commercial rabbit cage anyway because of the added space and it was tall enough to add a another level with dowels and a piece of Coroplast.

The NIC pens (of ex-pens/exercise pens made for dogs) are easy to clean and roomy enough for when my buns are in their pens.

[BinkyBunny]

You have gotten some great  ideas!  You should also check out the cool habitats section https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/Coo…fault.aspx

During litter training, I especially like pens because you don’t have to squeeze in and/or contort your body to clean up hard  to reach places.   With pens you can also expand as litter training improves.   For the floor, you can just get some sheet vinyl or some other water-proof flooring. 

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