Housing
Your rabbit should have a safe place to retreat that is all their own. We recommend getting an exercise pen that is 36” high to set up their home base. We have included pictures of examples of setups below. It is important to have hidey places for them, a litter box, a hay feeder if you don’t want to keep the hay in their litterbox, toys, blankets and/or a bed, a water bowl that is secured to the x-pen or is in a large, heavy bowl they cannot tip over or throw, and a dish for their pellets. It is best to let your bunny get used to this area for a few days before allowing them to free roam. Rabbits need at least several hours of exercise out of their confined space per day, and interaction with their people. Starting with a bonded pair of bunnies will help keep boredom at bay, as well as provide them much needed rabbit companionship. The setup is basically the same for one versus two rabbits, with the exception of bowl size and bedding. Many people allow their rabbit free roam of one room all the time. Some keep them in x-pens when not at home or at night, and some people let their rabbits free roam the entire day. It is important to bunny proof any area your rabbit will have unsupervised access to. This includes covering all cords or placing them out of reach.
Enjoy our gallery below full of examples of setups provided by our fosters and adopters
This is a more permanent enclosure. The bunnies are out free roaming throughout the day and the gate is only closed at night.
A lot of people buy doll furniture at IKEA for their buns and they tend to love it. You can also find furniture on Etsy, as well as hay feeders and lots of fun toys
36" exercise pens are out favorite. A lot (ok, most) bunnies can climb or jump over xpens that are any shorter than the 36". If you click on this picture it will take you to one of our more favorite brands, Midwest.
When you have buns with special needs, you need to try and accommodate their needs. A low entry litter and hay box is ideal for buns with mobility issues. This litter box was the bottom of a larger carrier. Eventually we switched to a large, shallow clear storage bin and cut the front out of it (click on the picture to be taken to an example).
Rabbits love hidey places, whether it's boxes or blanket tents. Ghost loves playing and sleeping in his blanket tent. it makes him feel safe.
You can make their space even bigger in the xpen by using a wall, however make sure your rabbit isn't a chewer and can't damage anything you care about or could hurt them. The floor of their space should always be mostly covered by a blanket or large towels or rugs, something to give them traction. Rabbits don't like hopping on slick surfaces.
It is helpful to have multiple litter boxes for multiple rabbits. If you have the space to devote a whole room to them then that is an even better option than just an xpen, but it is still best to start them enclosed in a smaller area in the room to make sure they are potty trained before giving them full access to the room.
Chewy and Costco boxes make great homes for rabbits. You can put a towel, blanket, or soft bed inside the box for them to lay on
When setting up their space make sure that anything you care about is out of reach, and there are no hanging plants over their space that can drop leaves that may be toxic to them. House rabbits for the most part do not have a good sense about which plants are toxic to them.
Remain conscientious of fumes, vapors, plug-ins, or essential oils you use. Rabbits have very sensitive respiratory systems and a lot of those aren't good for them. When choosing a room to put them in, choose one where it is not chaotic all of the time, but where they will still be able to feel like part of the family and not be forgotten about. Many people set them up a space in a corner of their front room.
You can put 2 xpens together to make a larger space for them also. They should still always get free roam time every day even in a larger pen though.
You can home make your own hay holder. Rabbits are lazy poopers, so they like to poop where they eat. Placing the hay holder over the litterbox is an ideal place. You can also purchase versions of these on Etsy or Amazon.
Having lots of things to stimulate their minds while you're gone during the day is a great way to keep the destructive behaviors to a minimum. Also having them with a friend will also help keep them happy and busy. A lot of the bedding and houses you would buy for your cat, you can also use for your rabbit, and often they will be less expensive.
Adding a ramp is a great way to utilize more space. Make sure to cover the top of a crate with a blanket and/or pad to make sure they can't catch their toes on the bars (using a wire bottomed cage is the best way to break bunny toes). Note: the bunny in the crate is being bonded and is new to the space, it is ok to keep them temporarily this way especially when bonding or bringing them to a new house and potty training them as is being done here, and they were let out often, but that crate is not an ok size to keep a bunny in long term. It is also totally fine to set up their food and water and litter box in one of these to use as their home base if you always leave the door open.
A toy and blanket enriched environment will help keep active buns healthy and happy
These xpens are setup for bonding. They are already friendly through the bars, otherwise it would be advised to separate xpens by at least 6" because rabbits can and will bite each other through the bars and noses and lips are often lost this way.
This is the perfect example of everything you shouldn't do. This cage is WAY too small for even one bunny, let alone 3. It is dirty. There isn't even room for a litter box in there, they have designed it so the whole cage is their litter box, and they are keeping them in the garage. Rabbits should always have their housing inside, in a spare room or off a main room so they can have plenty of interaction. Rabbits are as social as cats or dogs and do not do well locked away in a basement, garage, or outside. Note: We did rescue these bunnies, they are no longer living cramped in a tiny cage.