Housing is part a thing that you should prepare if you are a rabbit’s owner. Every living things need a place to rest. Human and animal are no different – even the wild animals. Wild animals would make and choose their own nest to living – to breed. Wild animals are born with their own instinct – reckoning that they have to survive by their own ability and power, not depending on anyone. A nest for them is not only a place to sleep or rest, it also the safest place to hide from all their enemies (other predators).
But rabbits are no wild animal – it’s a pet animal. Yes – and that fact make them more vulnerable compared to the wild animal which is habitual living in the mother nature. A pet need someone to take care of them – providing all of their necessity included food, water, and a place to stay (cage or hutch). They can’t survive without helping hand from another party. In other words – it is you – the owner – who should provide a place for them.
You should understand as the crepuscular animal they need a lot of space to counterbalance their activities. If you don’t know what crepuscular means – crepuscular is creature which sleep during the day and active during the night. With this fact, meaning you have to choose the perfect cage or hutch to accommodate all of their activity during the night – so, they could do whatever they want even you’re not watching them.
To accommodate this innate nature, that means you have to know the exact size housing for them. Some rabbit’s owner will let their rabbit out of their cages during the night (usually they had a special room only for their rabbit). But, if you don’t allow your rabbit out from their cages during the night then you should prepare enough space and toys to exercise during their active period.
So, how much space does a rabbit need in a cage? We’ll share to you a guideline to build or buy the most proper and perfect cage or hutch for your rabbit – so they could enjoy their activity without any discomfort obstruction. Giving them enough space to move and exercise would increase their quality of life – increase their mood and mental health, so you will always see their happy faces every day. Here we go; how much space does a rabbit need in a cage?
- The Perfect Size for Cage or Hutch
Rabbits do every routine in their cages such sleep, go to toilet, eat, playing – included jump, running and hide. All these activities, they do it in the cage. So, provide them enough spaces is the main basic logic before you build or buy a cage. The cage or hutch has a minimum size for the living space that you should follow. The cage or hutch needed 12 square feet (1 feet is equal as 1.1 meters), with the minimum large area 32 square feet – this is the minimum size you should provide for your rabbit.
Don’t forget, your rabbit’s living spaces also included feed or water bowls (or other container), the sleeping area, and the space for litter tray – plus some space and area to placing their toys. The space should be enough for rabbit to stretch in all direction they want. If their places is to small for them, it could trigger some health problem such depressed, muscle wastage, spine problem, and obesity caused lack of exercise.
The cage or hutch should make them feels like it is their home – comfortable home. The more it feel like home, it could prevent your rabbit to run away from your house.
If you want to know rabbit full length, then you could know it when your rabbit is in their relax time – a rabbit will fully stretch their body in this exact time. This is a simple way to measure the size that you needed to build or buy a hutch. The hutch should give them enough spaces for your rabbit to lie (rest) with it legs fully stretch – and plenty space to let them turn around.
Otherwise, they will feel that the hutch is nothing more than a jail and not their home. For small to medium-sized rabbit you would need a minimum width more or less 60cm – and for the large to giant rabbit, a minimum sized you need is 90cm.
The long of perfect hutch should allow your rabbit to make three to four hops without smacking their body part to the edge of hutch or cage. So, if your rabbit is a medium-sized, they will take about 45cm each hop. If the hutch has wide about 2 feet, then the length at least should be 6 to 12 square feet.
The rabbit not only need to lie down or hop – they also need plenty of room for stand up. To give many places for them to standing freely – at least you should provide 60cm height for a medium-sized rabbit, and 90cm height for the bigger rabbit. Make sure their ears isn’t hit the roof of hutch/cage.
A rabbit would standing often to check the environment surround them to make sure that they are safe. Enough height for them to stand will assure them that they are in the safe place.
And the last one is, don’t ever forget to give them extra rooms for run and exercise. You need to provide them at least 32 square feet (this is the total enclosure of the hutch/cage) because not only to sleep, stand up, and lie down – a hutch or cage should be their playground too. It should allow them to run, jumping, and playing all the way around which part of their exercise and the way to keep them healthy – and please – don’t forget to clean it regularly to keep the hutch/cage from stinky.
With all of this guideline, you could fulfill all your rabbits necessity to increase their life quality and keep them healthy. Don’t forget to feed them with healthy food and if it needed you could also give them some extra supplement!