I wrote a bit ago about welcoming a rescue rabbit into the household. Cappuccino has been a joy to have in the house but he is a smart little guy so for reasons you will read below we have bought him a cage to sleep in at night. We are using a cage for short term stays like overnight or when we are gone for a few hours as rabbits need to be able to run around and exercise. Currently Cappuccino has a pen that takes up a good portion of the living room. We affectionately call it Cappuccionoville. He just needs to be safe when we are not there to supervise him.
He had everything he needed in there. Hay, water, food, a hidey hole and plenty of things to munch. If you ask me this is a bunny paradise. But here is the problem – Cappuccino did not think it was bunny paradise. Now he is only put in here at night or when the hubby and I were not in the house. When we are home he has free range in the yurt. But then he learned how to escape. We thought we had blocked his egress, but he figured that out so we decided we had to do something.
Why Get a Rabbit Cage
Needless to note, when we told Cappuccino about his new deluxe rabbit abode he was less than impressed. We told him that it was only for at night but this is what we got:
as they say, disapproving rabbit is disapproving.
He did not think he needed this “extra” place to stay. He thought Cappuccinoville was just fine. But we asked, if that was the case why did he keep escaping?
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He had no good answer. So a rabbit cage erm, deluxe rabbit abode it was. We looked at several and chose the PawHut Metal Bunny House. We just wanted to be sure we had somewhere safe we could leave the bunny when we left the house. He has a protracted record for chewing things he should not. Current count is 5 laptop cords, 2 headphone cords and 3 phone chargers.
He is not a cheap bunny. But we love him.
Building a Rabbit Cage for Short Term Stays
The big box came and the hubby set to work putting the rabbit cage together. We try not to call it a cage around Cappuccino – we call it the deluxe rabbit abode. I don’t think he’s buying it, but hey. It was very easy for the hubby to put together, just watch:
Another rabbit friend has this same cage and her bunny likes it. The cage came together in about 15 minutes. The bigger trick is now trying to get Cappuccino IN to the deluxe rabbit abode.
Will Cappuccino Use the Rabbit Cage?
We are going to have to make sure he does. So my thought was to bribe him in there with one of his biggest motivators – food. I put a couple of rabbit treats in and some of his bunny kibble.
Given a bunny’s sharp sense of smell he noticed right away. Maybe this cage thing isn’t so bad after all! He hopped in and settled in to munch.
Now we just have to hope we can get him in there on a regular basis! We are going to outfit it with a rabbit litter box, a programmable feeder for his kibble, a water bowl, a hay feeder for rabbits and he should be as comfortable as a rabbit can be.
Rescue Rabbits Add Joy
I am the first person to admit that I never gave rabbits a second thought as pets. I have had cats for the bulk of my married life and I grew up with dogs. What did I know about rabbits beyond Bugs Bunny? Then Cappuccino hopped into our yard. We knew he would never survive the winter or the animals that prey on rabbits so he became another member of the family.
I cannot begin to tell you what a learning experience it has been and how glad I am to have him here. He’s smart, curious and a little love bunny. We still can’t pick him up but when he decides, he will sit in my lap and cuddle. The first time he did that it was magic.
He is not as easy as one of the cats but he is a joy. If you would like to welcome a rescue rabbit into your home there are a world of support groups on facebook and by all means read my 5 Tips for Welcoming a Rescue Rabbit into Your Home. Cappuccino gets along fine with the Farm cats, in fact he rules them. Many of the people I have chatted with when I have bunny questions also have cats so the pairing is not in the least bit unusual. Rescue bunnies make great pets.
If you would like to see more of Cappuccino’s exploits (and the Farm Cats’) be sure to follow me on Instagram. I post there regularly and have features called “conversations with cappuccino” and “conversations with cats” Here is one so you know what you are missing:
