Work in Progress

I have set up the rabbits temporary home, she will be here for a few months until her sanctuary is built.
We will be building a run with custom rabbit garden inside the run and a multi story house/hutch and play area.

But for now we have set her up in the empty granny flat as you can see there is a wall next to the crate, I will be creating a tunnel that leads to the other side of the wall where all her cardboard tunnels and boxes will be for her to cause havoc in.

I havent got her pellets yet I will be ordering that soon, I have used a bio degradable cat/pet litter, not sure if this is ok but the guy PetBarn said it should be fine for now.

I will be giving her a drinking bowl and as you can see her food bowl is near her litter.

The ventilation isnt the best in that room so I have a fan set up next to her crate and frozen water bottles ready to go.

The big teddy thing is her bed, not sure if it will be too hot for her we will see how the first night goes.

Let me know if i have done anything incorrect or what can be improved on ... ow I also wiped down the whole crate with vinegar just to neutralise any past odours.

Move your hay rack wheel thingy over the litter box. Buns love to eat their hay and use the litterbox at the same time and I've found it's really helpful for litter training! Also, make sure he can't pull that fan cord through the bars of the crate and nibble on it.
I'm confused about the tunnel description.

missyscove said:

Move your hay rack wheel thingy over the litter box. Buns love to eat their hay and use the litterbox at the same time and I've found it's really helpful for litter training! Also, make sure he can't pull that fan cord through the bars of the crate and nibble on it.
I'm confused about the tunnel description.

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Ow thanks I will do that, I am going to make a tunnel going from the front door to the other enclosure (its yet ot come)

I'm a little confused at the pics too. Is the 2nd pic showing the area that she will be free to roam? If she has access to that cord, she will likely chew that up.
I'm not a big fan of the hay wheels except for use as a hay-filled toy. It's just too much work for bunny to get the hay out. One of my rabbits would eat enough hay in one day that I would have to refill that wheel about 5 times. But of course, if they have to work so hard to get the hay out, they probably wouldn't eat as much. The more hay, the better.

Blue eyes said:

I'm a little confused at the pics too. Is the 2nd pic showing the area that she will be free to roam? If she has access to that cord, she will likely chew that up.
I'm not a big fan of the hay wheels except for use as a hay-filled toy. It's just too much work for bunny to get the hay out. One of my rabbits would eat enough hay in one day that I would have to refill that wheel about 5 times. But of course, if they have to work so hard to get the hay out, they probably wouldn't eat as much. The more hay, the better.

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She wont have access to the cord, as I am creating the tunnel to come out of the door and to the right on the other side of the wall where I am setting up a puppy pen, that will have cardboard tunnels and boxes for her to play in.

every time the wheel turns quite a bit falls out, I will see how we go the first few days and adjust things as necessary, at the vets she didnt have access to much food at all, a few celery sticks 1/2 cup of mix feed so she might take a while to start eating large amounts? I'm not sure what her previous conditions were like either, I dont want to over whelm her, she is also being spayed on Monday so maybe I will get rid of the wheel for now as I dont want her reaching up or anything.. obviously she wont get to play a lot either until she has made a full recovery.

Looks pretty good, and with a play area it will be even better A few things that you will want to keep an eye on or change is the little puppy bed. Some rabbits like to pee on soft things, so that may or may not become an issue. Also, if your new rabbit is a chewer and decides to start chewing on the bed, you will want to take it out, as injesting large fibers can cause a GI blockage. With the cat litter, if it is clumping litter, get rid of it immediately, as that kind of litter can create a GI blockage and possibly kill your rabbit. Clay cat litter can cause respiratory problems in rabbits, as can cedar and pine shavings. A few rabbit safe litters are compressed wood pellets, compressed paper pellets, aspen bedding, kaytee soft granule bedding, and carefresh bedding. I'm not sure what you are going to have available to you. Lots of us use the wood pellets as they are cheap and usually readily available. Here in the US there is a pet version, large bags for horse stalls, and large bags for wood burning stoves(non accelerant, plain wood pellets). You're getting a flemish giant aren't you? That litter box may end up being way too small. Large rabbits sometimes have a difficult time using a small box like that and sometimes won't use it, or end up peeing over the edge. A larger retangle cat litter box may be a better option. I've got one that is about 14x18 inches. I put a layer of wood pellets in, with a layer of hay over that, with a pile of hay on the end opposite from where my rabbit pees. I put the layer of hay on top of the pellets cause my rabbit doesn't like stepping on the hard pellets, so the hay is softer under her feet(I know, spoiled). Then having the pile of hay in there, helps keep the pee and poop in there cause she will do it just while she eats hay. She also likes to nap on her pile of hay You may need a bigger one than that size as your rabbit is most likely 3x the size of my rabbit who is 5 lb.

I think I already mentioned in another one of your threads, about transitioning to new food. Also, fleece makes a good blanket for rabbits. Towels and other fabrics have strings that can be swallowed and create problems, but fleece has shorter fibers, so is less dangerous if injested. If your rabbit is a carpet chewer, then you won't want carpet in her area either as carpet is dangerous for them to swallow too. You can kind of get the idea that most rabbits like to chew things and you have to be careful about what you let them chew. They have their little quirks, but are such interesting animals, and lots of fun to watch play.

Oh, and she may be able to reach that fan cord through the cage bars, so you'll want to either put a protective cover over it, or move it out of reach. Can't wait to see your new bun settled into her new home

Hahah JBun thank you very much for the detailed analysis just what I needed.
I will make some adjustments and post updated

Litter wise, look for 'Breeder's Choice' which is a recycled paper litter, you don't need a lot and it can be thrown onto the garden or into the green waste bin, I also use cat litter trays and it'd probably be a good size for a Flemish Giant. For food and water look for heavy ceramic bowls (I picked mine up from the local cheapy shop) as they just love to move them around and plastic ones are just too easy to flip over. And anything cardboard will be chewed

Toady said:

Litter wise, look for 'Breeder's Choice' which is a recycled paper litter, you don't need a lot and it can be thrown onto the garden or into the green waste bin, I also use cat litter trays and it'd probably be a good size for a Flemish Giant. For food and water look for heavy ceramic bowls (I picked mine up from the local cheapy shop) as they just love to move them around and plastic ones are just too easy to flip over. And anything cardboard will be chewed

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Yeap the litter I got was pet barn equivalent of breeders choice so few! so cardboard isnt a good entertainment option??, I also have a kong and some rolly balls with bells in them, I will change the bedding I had a feeling she might chew on it, I have a puppy hahah I have gone threw the whole chewing everything stage so im prepared. I thought I saw a toxic food list somewhere but I cant find it again, can someone please direct me??

I have the pellet bowl attached to the crate so she cant flip it over.

Oh no, cardboard is a great toy for buns. It's something they can chew up and destroy, and won't get in trouble for doing it My buns are in the process of destroying their box. So far they've chewed a hole right out the back of it. Cardboard toilet paper rolls are also a good bunny toy. You can even stuff them with hay for a little extra enrichment.

You don't necessarily need to get rid of the puppy bed. Not all buns are big chewers. It's just something to be aware of and watch out for.

All great advice. I have a cushion exactly the same as that, they have had a chew but have stopped doing that but they do like peeing on it so if you leave it there, you may be washing it quite a lot. I have large litter trays even for my small bunnies as they do spend a lot of time in there eating doing toilet. I suggest you maybe get an additional one if their play area is quite large so they don´t have to keep going back to the cage. I have one in their cage and one on the other side of the living room as well. Cardboard is a great way to keep them amused and chewing on things you are OK with with, mine also have a phonebook which also love.

I'd suggest a larger litter pan, a rectangular one like the one in the original pics of her. Since those show she already likes lounging in it, I don't know if she'd be as likely to want to potty in a corner pan. My Monty doesn't lounge in her litter, but she does enjoy eating her hay from the rack right in front of it and making a mountain of poo at the same time. And if she's getting spayed, I'd remove the soft bed for now and give her something more washable, like a piece of fleece or a towel. Just watch to see if she chews on it. Monty doesn't chew on blankets, but she picks them up with her mouth to move them around in a way that doesn't cause any damage. The reason I'm thinking you should move the bed for now is that while she's recovering from her spay, she might just pee on the floor of the crate wherever she's standing until she's comfortable enough to hop into her litter box. I've heard of it happening for the first day or two of recovery, and I'm going to adjust things for when Monty is recovering from her spay at the end of this week.

I'm so excited for you to get your bunny! I'm always excited when people get giants of course I can't help it, I'm biased!

hahaha, well the litter must look small in the photo but its actually nearly double the size of the lunch box she was sitting in at the vets, so I thought this would be big enough for her.... yes good Idea about the bedding.

I'm really excited too, I hope the spaying goes all ok, by the sounds of it the super expensive vet have no idea what they are talking about....I have to give them a call this morning to see how many rabbits they have spayed in their life time

I was telling my mother the tale of this 'prestige' vet not been able to tell the difference between a male and female. It also got us wondering... it's not a particular vet clinic that has it's own tv show, is it?

Toady said:

I was telling my mother the tale of this 'prestige' vet not been able to tell the difference between a male and female. It also got us wondering... it's not a particular vet clinic that has it's own tv show, is it?

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Hahah nah I know which one your talking about, but it wouldn’t surprise me that they don’t know Arthur to Martha!,I usually take my dogs to a vet in Canley Heights or Austral, because theycharge next to nothing for consults and surgery especially if its a rescue theynever charge.

Classic example of the NSW Vet industry, we had to get our dogs kneeoperated on, (both needed to be done but we did one at a time) the first onecost us (my partner and I) $5,000.00 all up not including follow up x-rays to see if all way goingwell, the following year we got the exact same surgery done, by a more experiencedvet who has been in the industry for 46 years this price included 4 weeks offollow up appointments and physio $1,050.00 how gross is that!!

I heard from someone (on another forum) that they took their sick animal to one of the clinics on this particular TV on a day they were filming and were told that the case 'was not interesting enough', I can't remember if they were able to get their pet seen to that day or not.

I know what you mean about costs, I enquired at my local vet about rabbit desexing... they told me to spay a female was $259 and could only be done from 6 months of age, I contacted a vet 2 hours north who does work for a rabbit rescue up there and have a lot of experience with rabbits, they quoted me $179 and from 4 months onwards... needless to say you can guess who I went to. Same with the calici virus vaccine, $76 locally and $50 at the 'bunny vet', I took my two girls up there for their spay last month, they were just over a kilo each and 17 weeks old. With 3 bunnies it's a saving of $75 just to take them up there for their vaccination

yeap, it pays to shop around!!

Before we moved here from California, I had an air conditioner in the rabbit room--with 17 it was a bit too much to try frozen bottles. Ours love cardboard and brown bags. The is a heading here someplace titled "Cardboard Castles" which shows several different constructs. Good luck.