Using a dog crate for housing

After exploring many options I think using a dog crate will be our best bet. We are looking at adopting either a Dutch, or a Netherland Dwarf, we haven't decided which we'd like to have yet.


My question is, what can I put under a dog crate to keep our floors clean? We have laminate floors, so I worry about them getting wet, and I'd like to contain as much bunny mess to the cage as possible so it doesn't get all over our house. I thought of a mat to go under a dog crate, but didn't know if it would be tall enough to catch stuff that comes out of the cage?


Advice? Thanks!

They sell carpeting squares that you can place around and they're not usually very expensive! Also those would work for when your buns out for playtime as they can't run very well on laminate so you may get binkies with a bit of carpeting or a rug around!

AmberNikSee said:

They sell carpeting squares that you can place around and they're not usually very expensive! Also those would work for when your buns out for playtime as they can't run very well on laminate so you may get binkies with a bit of carpeting or a rug around!

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Thanks! I was actually wondering about that too, how to cover our laminate during play time.


We can have some laminate exposed for bunny to be on though, right? Just have some areas carpeted? The way we'd have the area set up, part of it would be the laminate floor, part of it we'd cover with a rug or something

what is the bottom of the crate? is it solid floor? are you sure your bun can safely walk on that floor? Also you may want to provide some kind of hideaway so that the bunny doesn't have to be exposed all the time

For sure! The laminate will be loads easier to clean but bun should be fine to be on it! It's always a good idea for them to have a variety of flooring to be on. It helps prevent sore hocks.

Just a tip for the times bun has an accident (or ornery attitude and does it deliberately) have a bottle of distilled vinegar and water (1/2 & 1/2) handy it removes stain and neutralizes/removes odor!

Good luck! We love pictures on here so when you get it you should definitely put some up!!!

Thumperina said:

what is the bottom of the crate? is it solid floor? are you sure your bun can safely walk on that floor? Also you may want to provide some kind of hideaway so that the bunny doesn't have to be exposed all the time

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We haven't purchased a crate yet, but I'm going to specifically look for one with a solid floor. If we can't find one with a solid floor, I'll buy one of those plastic liners for dogs to put in it. I also thought of getting a hidey-house type thing, and eventually building a ramp with a shelf of two, depending on how much space we have.

AmberNikSee said:

For sure! The laminate will be loads easier to clean but bun should be fine to be on it! It's always a good idea for them to have a variety of flooring to be on. It helps prevent sore hocks.

Just a tip for the times bun has an accident (or ornery attitude and does it deliberately) have a bottle of distilled vinegar and water (1/2 & 1/2) handy it removes stain and neutralizes/removes odor!

Good luck! We love pictures on here so when you get it you should definitely put some up!!!

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I love cleaning with vinegar, so this will definitely be my go to for messes! I thought of picking up smaller rugs for bunny that I can easily throw in the washing machine when they get dirty.


I'll definitely put pics up once we get him/her home...at this point we're looking at about 3 weeks out, that's when the adoption event is held through the organization we're going to adopt through.