How to Set Up a Rabbit Hutch

Once you have your rabbit hutch, the first step is deciding where to put it. Indoors or outdoors is down to personal preference, but each has different considerations. Anywhere you decide to place it should allow for lots of attention from you. Rabbits are social animals and love to spend time with their humans, so it needs to allow for plenty of time together.

Where you place in indoor hutch in your home will depend heavily on your preference, but it’s also worth taking your bunny’s personality into consideration. When you first get them home, they might be quite shy so placing them in a busy room where people are often in and out can disturb them too much. Giving them a quiet space like a spare bedroom where they can feel safe and get lots of sleep can help them relax into their new home.

Some rabbits remain quite shy and appreciate the quiet while other more confident pets will prefer to be in a room where you occupy most of the time. Rooms such as the living room make for a great hutch placement if your furry friend likes to spend time around you.

The size of an indoor hutch will also vary depending on how big your new pet is and how much time they spend in there. If they’re going to be spending a lot of time cuddling up with you or free running around whatever room you’re in, a smaller indoor hutch like the Ferplast 120 Complete Rabbit & Guinea Pig Cage is enough space to comfortably house their food, water and bed area. If they’re going to spend more time in their hutch, bigger is always better.

The RSPCA recommend a minimum size of 6ft in length by 3ft in width and height for an outdoor hutch. Again, if you can get a bigger hutch, it’s always better for your bunnies to have more space. If you have multiple levels, then each level can be a little smaller as the guide is for a single level hutch.

If you choose to place them outside, the weather is an extra factor to consider. They need somewhere that will be shaded in the summer, so they don’t get too hot but also away from draughts in the winter, so they don’t catch a chill.

Rabbits love grass so if you’re going to have them outside, giving them access to grass is a great bonus. You can either provide them with a run for time outside of the hutch or some hutches allow for direct access like the Aintree Derby Rabbit Hutch.

Your rabbit needs everything in their hutch that will make them feel relaxed and comfortable. Access to rabbit food and water are just some of the basics and somewhere to go to the toilet.

It can seem quite daunting when you’re first making your shopping list but once you have everything set up to keep your beloved pet happy and healthy, they’re incredibly low maintenance to keep after the initial setup.

All smaller critters need comfortable bedding for their home and rabbits are no different except sometimes their bedding can double as a light snack. Rabbits need plenty of hay to be available to them at all times. Not only is it a nice warm and safe bedding material for them to get comfortable in but they also enjoy eating it.

Roughage like hay helps to keep their teeth worn down since they continuously grow through their lives. It’s important to have the hay that’s meant for eating in a different location to their bed like in this Rosewood Hayrack to keep it clean. They may have a munch on, but it’s good to have options.

Rabbits have strict diets and can’t have too many sugars so hay is a perfect, healthy addition to their diet. Along with hay, they also need pellet type food which is usually in nugget form to provide the rest of their sustenance.

A complimentary food like Excel Rabbit Adult Tasty Nuggets provides extra nutrients and support to keep your pet happy and healthy. Nuggets that are all uniform prevent selective feeding to make sure your beloved bunny gets all the vitamins and minerals they need.

Once you have their diet, they need somewhere to eat it from. A bowl will enable you to measure how much they’re eating every day and make sure they’re getting what they need. Rabbits love to move their house around and test what they can fling in their hutch so this Cheeko Non Tip Rabbit Bowl is great for keeping their food in one place. Drinking bottles like the Classic Mini Deluxe Water Bottle keeps their water free from any hay or being spilt and are great to make sure they have plenty available every day.

Once you have their food and water sorted, making sure they have enough toys to keep them busy when you can’t give them attention is the next important step.

Rabbits love to explore new things and having lots of things to test out and explore can keep them active for yours. The Super Pet Giant Igloo Rabbit is good for climbing and they can even make a little bed inside of it to curl up and have a nap. The Rosewood Rabbit Activity Tunnel is great for bunnies to practice natural behaviour. In the wild rabbits have burrows which is why pet buns love tunnels to run through. You can even buy multiples of these to link together into a network of tunnels for them.

The Rosewood Boredom Breaker Natural Hay N Hide is another tunnel your beloved pet can enjoy exploring and it has the bonus of being safe for them to have a nibble on too!

Keeping on top of cleaning a hutch should be a daily task. That doesn’t mean you have to do a full clean every day, but spot cleaning their toilet area, picking out the old food and changing their water should be done daily. A full clean should be done once or twice a week depending on how often it needs it. If you have multiple bunnies or a smaller hutch, it may need it more often than once a week.

The most vital part of cleaning a hutch is making sure you have pet safe cleaning supplies that will kill bacteria but not be toxic to your pets. Keeping their home clean will make sure they stay healthy and happy without the risk of getting sick.

For all your rabbit essentials when setting up a new home or even just sprucing up a hutch they already have, take a look at everything we offer online and in store.