Wire floor for bunny

Hello,
I just got a baby Cute Holland Lop bunny. The breeder I got him from told me wire floors (wire cage) for him is perfect. But now a bunch of my friends said that is really and for his feet, and said I need to put a card board in there for him to lay/stand on. I don't agree with them but I wanted to make sure.
Thank you!

Yes wire floor should be fine if you have other flooring for him to stand on. Whereabouts are you housing him? You can litter train him so you can have him on a solid floor without having to worry about cleaning pee off it.

Rabbits who only stand on wire end up getting sore hocks, I don't know much about it. But I'm sure other people on here will!

Wire flooring is really bad! It can cause many issues for rabbits. Sore hocks is the main one. Sore hocks can lead to death if not treated. I strongly recommend getting a strong hutch

You can use wire, but you need to provide your bun somewhere to sit off the wire. Cages with a solid base are preferred.
Hope I helped

It's a debated topic, but in my (and most pet owners) opinion, wire floors are not ideal. As mentioned, they can cause sore hocks, which are extremely painful.

Well, if you already have a bunny home with a wire floor, it would be pretty easy to just out some cardboard over it for your bunny's comfort. I realize it's a debated topic, but when a solution is so easy, I figure a "rather safe than sorry" approach is best.

The best option is always to have options! In other words, a rabbit should have at least two different floorings in a cage so he has a choice and can change from one flooring to another. Anytime a rabbit is forced to spend all of its time on just one type of flooring, the chances of sorehocks is increased.

Even in my solid floor cages, I always have options. One area may be tile, another area carpet or a soft mat or fleece. (Floor type depends on what a particular bunny will or won't chew.)

Might I suggest that you take a browse around my site that shows a variety of options for housing. The easiest way to go is to litter train (an easy process) -- this makes maintenance simple. As a new bunny owner, it is great that you found this forum. You will likely find that the way most of us house our rabbits is much different than the way breeders might. Breeders need to do what works for housing and caring for many rabbits at once. Pet rabbit owners have more flexibility and can do things differently.

@Blue Eyes...

How old is "too old" to potty train? We're interested in this for our pair, but both are approaching their fourth month and don't seem interested.

The people we purchased from did not litter box train. Can it still be done?

Forgot to answer OP's question: We use a solid floor in their hutches, but they have access off the hutch to their bunny run and that's solid grass. If you use a combination of wire and solid surface, I wonder if they would like bamboo mats too?

Jackalope said:

@Blue Eyes...

How old is "too old" to potty train? We're interested in this for our pair, but both are approaching their fourth month and don't seem interested.

The people we purchased from did not litter box train. Can it still be done?

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I answered this question for you on the other thread.

It is good to give your rabbit something solid to rest on. I have two rabbits, one kept outside in a hutch and another kept indoors. The one outside has wire but she has material to get off the wire as well as a cat carrier as a hidey hole, so she has places she can rest her feet. I was going to have my 2nd rabbit outside (before the entire family fell in love with him, haha) and build him a cage that was 5 ft long, 3ft wired and 2ft boxed in with wood with a stall mat (like for horse stalls) on top of it. Rabbits tend to litterbox train easily, depending on the rabbit (out of 3, 2 litterbox trained) so there is a lot of arguments for giving rabbits something substantial and solid to rest on. If you find that bunny makes a bunch of mess on the solid, then you could augment the area with something easy to clean or use shavings (such as Carefresh or other aspen bedding) to keep the moisture to a minimum.

Personally, my indoor rabbit's setup is currently a dog kennel with a pull-out plastic bottom that serves as the floor. He has a litterbox in the back of it where he chose his pee spot and I put a pee pad under that to catch any pee that goes over the side (He sometimes is lazy and hangs his butt off the side, haha) and then the other part of his cage usually has a baby receiving blanket spread out for him to either flip up and lay on the plastic below or to lay on the blanket itself. Not sure if my set ups give you any ideas for your new rabbit's environment but I wish you the best of luck getting things sorted out for him! Hollies are such sweet little babes.

Would we like to stand on wire? I don't think so. I am strongly against wire flooring. It causes sore hocks for rabbits and is very uncomfortable for them, regardless if they have a little bed on the side.

BaileyBoy said:

Would we like to stand on wire? I don't think so. I am strongly against wire flooring. It causes sore hocks for rabbits and is very uncomfortable for them, regardless if they have a little bed on the side.

Click to expand...

Sore hocks can be caused by ANY kind of flooring. It's more genetics and weight of the rabbit than anything else. A rabbit with well furred feet has no problem on wire, but it is always advisable to have a tile or resting pad in the cage also.