Several beginner questions

Hi everyone,

My wife and I are trying to get started with raising rabbits, and find we're a bit at a loss to know how to house them.

First, I have an opportunity to buy some cages, 36" long, 24" wide and 24" tall, made out of 14-gauge GAW wire, with 1x1/2" openings on the floor and 1x2" openings everywhere else. No baby-wire but I assume I can add that myself. For $25 each, is that a good deal? Also, does it sound heavy-duty enough to support NZW and American Chinchillas when hanging?

Second, is it practical to keep rabbits in our garage, without making the place into a smelly mess? We're talking about 3 rabbits and their offspring (for as short a time as possible). It's an attached garage and we do use it, but I never start the car until the overhead door is open and immediately back out, so I don't think the fumes would be too bad. Our main concern is keeping the place relatively nice in terms of smells and waste. Is that feasible?

Third, if we do end up having to house the rabbits outside, how can we go about protecting them from predators? We're in a neighborhood with a totally fenced-in yard, but cats can (and do) get in, and obviously there are squirrels, snakes, and I assume the occasional rat, etc. I doubt raccoons are a major problem (we've never seen any here) but they probably can't be 100% ruled out. Assuming good latches, should the wire cages described above be adequate protection? Do they need to be hung a certain distance from fences, retaining walls, etc.? What else can we do to protect our rabbits?

Thanks very much for any information on these issues. We have been reading a LOT online, but have been having trouble figuring out the best options our specific situation.

MidwestMatthew":12erqmro said:

First, I have an opportunity to buy some cages, 36" long, 24" wide and 24" tall, made out of 14-gauge GAW wire, with 1x1/2" openings on the floor and 1x2" openings everywhere else. No baby-wire but I assume I can add that myself. For $25 each, is that a good deal? Also, does it sound heavy-duty enough to support NZW and American Chinchillas when hanging?

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Yes, that is a good deal and a good size for the breeds. You can add baby saver wire if you wish, or even use plastic wall board (like you see in commercial restrooms) and cut that into strips 4" or so inches high and zip tie that to the wire. It is available in 4' x 8' sheets at hardware stores. Since you don't have that many cages to do, light fixture panels might be a more affordable choice.

MidwestMatthew":12erqmro said:

Second, is it practical to keep rabbits in our garage, without making the place into a smelly mess?

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Yes, but there will be some odor no matter how clean you keep them. I would use pelleted pine in their "pee corners" to absorb the urine and keep the odor down. It is sold for use in horse stalls, but wood stove pellets are the same thing. Just be sure no accelerants are used- I don't know if they ever are- here in California I have never seen them added.

Some rabbits will "spray" urine, so you might want to cover your walls with plastic. Drop cloths or dollar store shower curtains would work fine.

MidwestMatthew":12erqmro said:

We're in a neighborhood with a totally fenced-in yard, but cats can (and do) get in, and obviously there are squirrels, snakes, and I assume the occasional rat, etc. I doubt raccoons are a major problem (we've never seen any here) but they probably can't be 100% ruled out.

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It sounds like rats will be the biggest threat if you don't have coons. They can get into cages both through the wire and also will go through the J-feeders if the cages have those. Usually the population has to be pretty large before they start going after kits as opposed to feed though.

Racoons can and will pull even adult rabbits through the wire (piece by gruesome piece) and eat them.

Stray cats might also be a problem. I have barn cats and they leave the rabbits alone, so it really depends on the cat(s).

MidwestMatthew":12erqmro said:

Do they need to be hung a certain distance from fences, retaining walls, etc.?

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If you don't want urine all over your walls they need to be a few feet distant. You can cover the walls with something as described above though. I don't think that there is much benefit safety wise by having them away from a wall. It will also provide protection from sun, wind, and blowing precipitation.

Place them in a shady area outdoors.

MidwestMatthew":12erqmro said:

What else can we do to protect our rabbits?

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Build an actual rabbitry. You can see some examples here: gallery/album.php?album_id=8

The book Storey's Guide to Raising Rabbits also has a section on housing with some cute ideas.

MidwestMatthew":12erqmro said:

We have been reading a LOT online, but have been having trouble figuring out the best options our specific situation.

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You have come to the right place for help!

Welcome to RabbitTalk!

:welcomewagon:

Welcome to RabbitTalk, MidwestMatthew!!! :welcomewagon:

MidwestMatthew":32xvspv8 said:

First, I have an opportunity to buy some cages, 36" long, 24" wide and 24" tall, made out of 14-gauge GAW wire, with 1x1/2" openings on the floor and 1x2" openings everywhere else. No baby-wire but I assume I can add that myself. For $25 each, is that a good deal?

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YES, that is a good deal! 14-gauge GAW wire is nice stuff, and it's not likely you could build the cage yourself for that price. Those are nice sized cages, too.

I have added baby wire to mine. It's just a matter of clipping 4" - 6" of floor wire (and no need for it to be 14 gauge, cheap 16 and thin J-clips from the hardware store is fine) around the sides. It's a bit unsightly, and can make cleaning a smidge more difficult, but the protection for the littles is worth it.

MidwestMatthew":32xvspv8 said:

Also, does it sound heavy-duty enough to support NZW and American Chinchillas when hanging?

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Yes, that will support them just fine. The quality of the wire does matter, but I'd be willing to bet it's good and stiff. You can press on the floor and see what it does. It probably won't flex much, even with 15 lbs of pressure on it. I put floor spreaders on mine to help support them, and they ended up being completely unnecessary.

MidwestMatthew":32xvspv8 said:

Second, is it practical to keep rabbits in our garage, without making the place into a smelly mess?

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You would need to remove waste daily, I would think. Keep in mind that bucks frequently like to spray -- which means the walls, floor, and your car could all end up with rabbit pee on them. And rabbit urine is very strong.

MidwestMatthew":32xvspv8 said:

Third, if we do end up having to house the rabbits outside, how can we go about protecting them from predators? We're in a neighborhood with a totally fenced-in yard

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Something like this is probably sufficient, especially if you make the roof overhang more (don't forget the ability to tarp for bad weather):



If you flip through the gallery, you can see some neat ideas: gallery/album.php?album_id=8 (the album goes back to front, so I linked you to the last page)

Both of mine are in there, but my rabbits like the 2012 one better than the 2010... they feel more secure, and this was immediately obvious when we moved them in. So while the picture I posted above would probably be sufficient, and many people have hutches like that, you might opt for something more secure. We are very rural, and this is reflected in our 2012 Bunny Fort Knox. This still would not be protection against rats... I think you would actually have to have cages made of floor wire, with a second floor below the actual floor, to rat-proof your rabbits. I probably haven't seen rats because we have chickens living below our rabbits.

Annnnnnnnnnnd MSD beat me to the "submit" button. Again. :roll:

MamaSheepdog":32xvspv8 said:

If you don't want urine all over your walls they need to be a few feet distant.

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Pharaoh sprayed the visqueen some four feet across from him once. And he did it with red urine, too, so it looked like a chainsaw murder had occurred. :?

I say good deal on the cages!

We also house our rabbits in our garage, and as long as you keep up with cleaning the pans, and give them a good rinse after dumping them the smell in minimal.

Welcome to RT as well!!

Here is our set up.

Thanks for the quick replies - I can tell I've come to the right place already.

I would love to build a real rabbitry. Unfortunately, with the layout of our city lot and the accompanying city ordinances regarding rabbits, we don't have a lot of options for what we can do. We could possibly mount some hanging cages under our back deck, which might provide some interesting protection options from larger predators. At the moment, I'm thinking of just keeping adult rabbits outdoors, bringing pregnant does into the garage several days before birthing, and keeping the growout cages indoors as well. That might be a good happy medium between safety and cleanliness, given our situation.

Miss M":3rvgf55q said:

Annnnnnnnnnnd MSD beat me to the "submit" button. Again. :roll:

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Mwa-ha-hahhhh!!! :twisted: Victory is MINE!!! :happy2: :hooray: :tease:

MidwestMatthew":3rvgf55q said:

We could possibly mount some hanging cages under our back deck, which might provide some interesting protection options from larger predators.

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We have a member that originally had her bunnies under the deck! I'll see if I can one of her posts showing it!

MidwestMatthew":3rvgf55q said:

At the moment, I'm thinking of just keeping adult rabbits outdoors, bringing pregnant does into the garage several days before birthing, and keeping the growout cages indoors as well. That might be a good happy medium between safety and cleanliness, given our situation.

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Sounds like a good plan, except for the part about keeping the growouts indoors. A litter of bunnies make a LOT of poop, plus they don't have an established corner for pee, so you will need to scatter the pine pellets all over the tray.

MidwestMatthew":3rvgf55q said:

Thanks for the quick replies - I can tell I've come to the right place already.

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Indeed you have! RabbitTalk is without question the best place on the internet to come for excellent advice from very knowledgeable rabbit raisers, and you also wont find a more kind and helpful group anywhere. Our members have got to be some of the nicest people you will find.

I am late to this, but welcome to RT, Matthew!