Basement housing

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HOWsMom

HOWsMom

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I live in a townhouse, and am trying to make better use of the limited space (and poor layout) of my home.

This means I will be moving some of the animals to the basement.

It's a semi-finished basement - paneling on the walls, and a concrete or cement floor.

NO natural lighting. None. Zero. Zilch.

I'm also going to be moving my sewing stuff down - so I will be working with increasing both the amount and the quality of lighting.

But, what else will I need to keep in mind with animals in the basement ?

Fans ?
Air purifier ?

Laundry area is down there, so we have access to water on that floor.

Something to keep odour down and out of my fabric (and the bunnies noses!)

It won't be many animals - a doe and litter, maybe a guinea pig.
 
I have no experience with indoors rabbits, basement or otherwise, but from the housing we've done in shed and barn I'd say that ventilation would be important for controlling odors and for health. I hope someone with house rabbit experience will reply.
 
FIRST issue SMELL!!:
I found that Hydrated Lime (or stall dry) helps with smell a bit.
I also experimented with using peat moss instead of shavings.
(I sprinkled the litter pan with hydrated lime and topped it with peat moss. )

Pros: Litter can go right in the garden
I found that the litter didn't smell as bad

Cons: Peat moss (PM)is more expensive than shavings.
Hydrated lime(HL) from the feed store comes in 25kg bags.
the HL dust gives me a headache if I breath it in. (I suggest those paper masks and sprinkling outside)
HL shouldn't come in contact with your critter, so only useful if your rabbit is on wire with a pan beneath.
PM makes your hands dirty

SECOND issue Lighting:
(my critters started off in the garage, so I understand the lighting issue)
There is bulbs that say DAYLIGHT - they have a slightly different tone to them to mimic sunlight
Get someone in and wire up a bunch of regular light sockets (or a few well placed lamps with lots of wattage).... use daylight bulbs and keep them on all day and shut them off at night.

Hope that helps!
 
Thank you.

Bunnies will be on wire with pans below - I find it easier (and less expensive) to keep clean that way. And Thierry paws aND bottoms are cleaner too.

We always ensure there is a non-wire area for resting on as well.

I'm not familiar with hydrated lime - right now we use puppy pads and newspapers under the wire. It's not perfect, but it works for our bedroom rabbits :)

Doing any wiring is completely out of the question- the electrical in our house is "interesting" at best. We are hoping to have it fixed eventually but the condo board refuses to allow the power to be shut off for it as it would affect 3 other units as well.

I use daylight bulbs as much as possible, I love the clear colour from them.
 
What about vitamin D deficiency from lack of sunshine?
 
Nika":1sl7wut8 said:
What about vitamin D deficiency from lack of sunshine?
Click to expand...


It can be supplemented if needed. But most people keep their in the shade I dont if they ever get enough from indirect sunlight.
 
When I have them indoors I use indoor cages with plastic bottoms. I find an inch layer dried rabbit poop does a great job eliminating the smell as long as you don't overcrowd the cage. It does smell when I have to empty the waste as the urine that soaked down to the bottom still stink when exposed. I use a garden tool to shovel the stuff into a 5 gallon bucket. Takes 5 bucket loads to empty. The other thing is urine spraying out above the urine guards.
 
a7736100":p7458lov said:
When I have them indoors I use indoor cages with plastic bottoms. I find an inch layer dried rabbit poop does a great job eliminating the smell as long as you don't overcrowd the cage. It does smell when I have to empty the waste as the urine that soaked down to the bottom still stink when exposed. I use a garden tool to shovel the stuff into a 5 gallon bucket. Takes 5 bucket loads to empty. The other thing is urine spraying out above the urine guards.
Click to expand...


Lol when I have to shovel poop out of mine it requires a 40 gallons garbage can on wheels. This is done once a week.
 

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