Housing Long Haired rabbit

[Nephthysa]

Hi everyone,

I volunteer for a small rescue organisation, and currently have a bonded pair in my care while we get our new house set up (once we are set up, I will be looking at three more).

 My current pair is a part Netherland dwarf girl called Junebug who has amazing attitude, and a cashmere lop named Johhny Cashmere. They are adorable, but obviously the person who surrendered mr Cashmere has never groomed him. Consequently I am dealing with his matts and nips, slowly but surely.

 I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions about housing for long haired rabbits? We have two Shepherds, so unfortunately free roam is out of the question, and I did have them outside under the alfresco in a double storey hutch, but I feel that they just do not get enough attention out there. I was thinking about moving them into my study but it does not have a door, so I need an enclosure to keep them secure and safe from 45kg doggy paws.

I hate having them in a hutch as mr Cashmere is constantly full of hay through his fur, but at this point I don’t have much option. I am thinking about blocking off the room with a baby gate, but it will take some convincing of the boy to do this as it is a brand new house and he hated the gate at the old house. If I do go this way, I will still need somewhere to house them overnight safely, but that will not result in messy fur too much.

I was also thinking about a custom design Besta-style cabinet, but this does look expensive, as we are talking about three units at $120ea plus doors and shelves (works out to about $600 total), which is a lot for fosters – although I am still working on this with my partner

 Any suggestions?

[Megabunny]

Hey. Sorry this hasn’t gotten any attention yet. I think most people like either the Xpen arrangement or NIC cube enclosures. If this is a rescue organization, do you have someone spaying and neutering them? If so, they should be able to be in one of these pens with a litter box filled with whatever you choose. My favorite is pine pellet horse bedding.
NOW THAT I’VE SAID ALL THAT… Sounds like you’re mostly wondering about keeping them safe from the dog. Even if they’re in a pen that the dog can’t get into, if the dog is hyper and going to scare the rabbits that will not be a good arrangement for the rabbit. Inside, they really shouldn’t need a ton of hay that gets in the fur. Some people put the hay in, like, a kleenex box. You’d be using it just as food, not as any bedding. You could put the kleenex box inside the litter box because they like to do their business while they eat. You need to rotate the hay daily as it gets mushed down so they can find the best parts, then also change it out completely or add to it regularly.
This answer is all over the place. I don’t know if I’m addressing any of your concerns enough. If the dog is friendly enough and not going to try and get through the bars, I would think an enclosed NIC cage would work, though I notice you talk in metric, and I don’t know if the NIC cubes are available outside the US. Basically, you need something enclosed, a litter box and you should be able to contain the hay to a point. I’m not sure what else to suggest. Maybe this will get the ball rolling and others will jump on

[FuzzyLopGotAttitude]

I have also recently moved to a new place that has dogs. However, I am only comfortable to let one of them into the room I house my rabbits (who live in an xpen arrangement). The other dog, however, is a terrier mix and has harmed wild rabbits in the past, so he is not aloud inside the rabbits’ room unless he is on a leash and the bunnies are in their xpen. So, I get your worry over the shepherd being in close proximity to the rabbits. I would strongly suggest keeping the rabbits, foster or not, in a separate room of the house. A room the dogs know that they are not aloud access. Gates work for some dogs, but others, like my aunt’s terrier mix, will jump them if there is something on the other side that they want. It all depends on how well you know your canine. Knowing this, if there is not a room available for the rabbits, it is still always best to keep the rabbits inside because, as you know, there are too many factors going into outdoor living for a rabbit that are adverse to its health (weather conditions, temperature, predators, wire flooring, etc.). If you’re worried about the fur and hay, I would suggest weekly grooming to reduce the ‘shedding’ as well as containment of the hay to a litter box or hay rack. As mentioned above, hay in the litterbox is a great place and also helps to litter box train them. This is because of their ancestors living in the wild and used to going on grass. Wood pellets are a great litter base. I put down newspaper then wood stove pellets and hay on top. This way there’s no smell and I can better monitor their urine for illnesses. You can forgo the wood pellets as well, but I would recommend frequent changing of the litter so that the smell doesn’t get bad and the rabbit isn’t eating hay it’s soiled on (I would also recommend a hay rack above the litter box for additional hay supply that hasn’t been soiled). That being said, I would keep the rabbits in a separate room so that your partner doesn’t have to worry about them and for their safety against the dog and the outdoor elements. (Even if the dog is friendly, it could view the rabbits as play toys an accident could occur as I’m sure you’ve given thought to based on your post)

I hope this helps!

[Nephthysa]

Thanks for the suggestions so far peeps. I’m response to the above;
Yes, they are both sterilised.
Yes, they are both litter trained.
Yes, I have a hay rack now rather than putting the hay into the litter tray.
They are back in the outdoor hutch at the moment, but it is under an alfresco area in the corner against the house, so very sheltered.
I use recycled newspaper pellets for litter, I found they last and don’t smell so bad, plus they are good for buns if they decide to eat them.
Yes, the dogs are not allowed in to the room unsupervised, but you can not trust an intelligent breed like shepherds who are bred to chase, small furries running are irresistible. I would never forgive myself if something were to happen. My dogs wouldn’t hurt them on purpose, but they would try to play.
I have carpet down in the hutch now, and along with the hay rack hope that this helps mitigate the seeds everywhere.
My partner doesn’t want any pets, but a house is not a home without, and we do have two dogs plus a cat and a foster, plus the two bunnies. You can imagine the fur! So I am trying to preserve the $500k investment we just made on our brand new house and keep him happy at the same time.
I have heard about NIC cubes but they are not readily available in oz, plus they are not something that fits in with our decor.
I am currently grooming Mr Cashmere every two days (give him a break in between), at least until the knots are all gone, and he has discovered that he can dig at me which makes me stop hopefully we can get it under control soon and get him comfortable and happy.

[Megabunny]

All the best! Hoping you can arrange something for them before summer hits over there in Oz. That heat would be too much for them.

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