Multi level hutches--rabbit loft apartments

[eco2pia]

I have heard some of you have multi level hutches, so that you have increased floor space. I want to know more. I have the height to add a level, but I have not been sure how I want to design it. Solid floor? Cleaning issue. Wire floor? Pee on rabbits below. How do rabbits move between levels? Jump or Ramp? How do you reach them if you need to get them all out of the cage? Show me pics if you have them and let me know what works/doesn't.

Thank you!

 

[MnCanary]

You can see how far your rabbits can jump by putting a bench in there. Watch for a while, and before long the curious rabbits will try to get up there. Mine are medium-sized rabbits and hop up to a layer that is 14" above the floor. I put a ramp there, and sometimes they use it and sometimes they just hop up.

 

[Rabbits by Accident]

Our rabbits came with the closet shelf hutches.. it's okay for the smallest doe but the second Doe is huge so I added a second story using a bird cage. I mostly did it so she could stretch her back and to get away from the babies at the same time. Well that didn't work long - the babies have figured out how to get up there within 48 hours LOL. Since she is now able to hop up there without the bucket step, I may remove it and let her have her own space again although all the babies end up on the top and she just lays around in the bottom so it works either way. I have not had an issue with anyone going to the bathroom up there.

 

[northernnevadahollandlops]

I've seen my rabbits jump as high as three feet. I like ramps though for the little ones, and the idea of a platform that the mamas can get to that the kits can't as a place to escape to. The two story hutches I have are prefab and have solid floors on the upper level and an open bottom that I have on a solid floor covered in waterproof vinyl. I go back and forth on wire bottoms. In my area, it seems like the thicker gauge wire mesh is super expensive right now.

 

[eco2pia]

my cage floors are currently very heavy duty Uline steel shelves. They are like the bars on the bird cage above, spaced closer. I love that they are sturdy (I can climb into the cages!), but I still provide resting mats and boxes that the rabbits rest both on and in.

I like the idea of a shelf that is run the length of the hutch for ease of cleaning, and reaching rabbits--I had not considered that. Maybe less of a "loft" at one end of the hutch and more of a ledge along the back....I could use more shelving or use wood.

Thanks!

 

[hotzcatz]

The bucks here have a small table which fits in their hutch and makes a shelf for them to hang out on when they want. The nesting boxes all have solid tops, that's a doe hang out space. So I guess our 'multi-level' is more from hutch 'furniture' than anything actually built into the hutch. The hutches themselves are multi-level, but that's individual holes so the buns aren't supposed to wander from one level to another.