Bunny has visitors in outside hutch/Please help

[SmokeysMomMom]

My daughter was giving her bunny some food theother day and said there were frogs jumping in her rabbits outdoorhutch. I know the weather has been pretty warm for winter and I wasthinking maybe the frogs were in the hay. Tonight my daughter said shefelt something jump on her arm and she said it was bigger. I amwondering what it is???? She has a lot of hay in the cage and someonetold me that isn't good. Our rabbit has a cardboard box filled with hayand she loves to sleep in that. For some reason she loves it in there.My daughter laid hay all over the floor of the cage outside. Now I amwondering if there are mice in her cage? It has me worried. Has anyoneever had a problem like this?

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

I have never had this issue myeslf but my cages are inaccessableto anything larger than a wasp.

That being said, it is very possible. Mice love to burrow in hay, Iremember often times opening bales near the ground at a horse stable Irode at and they often had mice burrows in them.

Is the hutch on the ground? I prefer to have my hutches on a stand, itkeeps them a little safer from predators. If it has to be on theground, is it possible to attach a much smaller wire mesh over it tokeep any critters out?

Hay is not necessarily bad as beddingas long as it's clean,the problem is that rabbits soil it and then they eat it which is notvery good. It's probably a better idea to only put hay in a box to keepit as sanitary as possible.

 

[Bunnys_rule63]

Isthe hutch raised off the ground? Ifit isn't I would try and put it up somewhere higher, even if you placeit on a garden table or something. I'd also move it from any dampground, in the winter I move my rabbits hutch onto concrete because mudand grass get so damp in the winter.

I'd also take out all the bedding in the hutch and thoroughly disinfectit if other animals have been in there as they can pass on diseasesonto rabbits. I'd then wait for it to fully dry and fill it up withclean bedding. There is nothing wrong with using hay for bedding,however some rabbits will only go to the toilet where there is hay soit might be best just to give hay in the litter box, this will alsomake the hutch easier to clean.

 

[SmokeysMomMom]

the cage isn't on the ground. it is on highlegs. We have plexy glass up on two of the sides and plastic coveringon the other. There is an open area to attach a water bottle.

 

[megandawn]

I had this same problem in the fall. My bunshave a three story outside hutch the 1st being level with the ground,leading out into a large run. While taking empty dishes from the hutchI noticed that there were some mice droppings onan emptyplate. I cleared the hay out all levels of the hutch and left it emptyfor the day and since haven't had a problem. We too have had a verymild winter so far and with the inevitable spillage of pellets Ithought it was going to be a huge problem but not so far. My buns don'tspend alot of time in their hutch anyways but I doubt that mice andbuns could co-exist. I did a search on this forum looking for someonethat this might have happened to and was surprised that I couldn't findany posts on this topic. I do know that mice are detere by moth balls.Maybe if you could stick some somewhere that the rabbits couldn't getthem that might help.

Good luck!

 

[SmokeysMomMom]

They would have to climb to get up there. Mydaughter put hay all over the cage so she wouldn't get cold. But we arecleaning it out today after school. I told her to just put hay in thebox where she sleeps. It is funny but when we were litter training hereshe always peed and pooped in her hay in her sleeping area on the otherside of the cage. But now we ut a box with an open doorway in therewith hay and that is the only place she didn't pee or poop so that iswhere she sleeps. So we change the boxes every so many weeks and make anew one. My mom sells avon so we tape the box lid on really tight andcut out a door way exit and she sleeps in there with hay. I am glad Ididn't have the mouse jump on me. I would have died. So dobunnies and mice get along? OH my I hope there aren't any mice in thebarrel of hay we bought. But my daughter pulls it out and puts it in abag. We would have seen a mouse when she pulled strands of hay out.Don't you think?

 

[SmokeysMomMom]

Now I am here at work thinking about the dirtymouse being in there. If that is what it was. First we thought theywere frogs and now my daughter said whatever it was that jumped on herarm was bigger than a frog. Would a mouse jump on her arm in the dark?Well she did have food in her hand?

 

[JimD]

SmokeysMomMom wrote:

Would a mouse jump on her arm in the dark? Wellshe did have food in her hand?

They might....especially if her arm was in the way of their escape route.

We use to have our computer in our finished basement. One night I had a mouse run across my feet and scare the poop out of me.

You'd also be very surprised at how well they can climb, too. Even ifthe hutch is off the ground, they may be able to climb up the legs andget in.
You can fashoin "leg barriers" to keep the little critters out. Similarto what you would use to keep squirrels out of the birdfeeder.
Some steel wool wrapped around each hutch leg mightdeter them.

 

[Starlight Rabbitry]

It could have been a bull frog. Theycan get as big as your hand. We get a lot of them in our yardas we have a little man made pond...however, never had one jump in thecage.

I don't think a frog will bother the rabbit however the mouse may carrydisease in its urine and feces. Let us know what you find.

Sharon

 

[ani-lover]

i had the same problem. it was last winter wheni found out that domino had two visitors. i caught the rats pokingtheir heads out of the hay. also another time when my rabbit wasrunning around and i was cleaning his cage ou t a rat flipped out ofthe cage while i pulled the hay out. the rat was ok, he took offrunning.

i set some traps to get rid of some of the rats and we caught some andwhen spring came around again i checked all around the cage and foundsome holes in the wire. so, i closed them off and havent had thatproblem in awhile.

my suggestion to you is to close off any area that thecritters are getting in. also about having too much hay in the cage,there is nothing wrong with that as long as it is clean daily. myrabbit is in an outdoor hutch and one whole half of it is filled withhay so he can make a burrow if he wants. and of course to play andmunch on it. it is okay to have a lot of hay because thats the mainpart of a rabbits diet.

hope this helps
ani-lover

ps maybe you could have your daughter bring out a flashlight to help see in the dark

 

[SmokeysMomMom]

My dad and my daughter cleaned out the cage andthe mice or rats were in the box of hay that was in the cagethat our bunny goes in. They took all of the hay out and cleaned outthe cage really well. I am putting our rabbit in the spare cage in thegarage for awhile. I am so worried about her catching something fromthose darn rodents now. My dad said two of them jumped out ofthe cage and he couldn't tell if they were rats or mice. Butthey ran in the woods. I am going to clean out her water bottle reallywell and she will be safe tonight. I worry about this rabbit like sheis one of our children. Thanks everyone for all of your help.I don't know what I would do without this website. You are thebest.:bunnydance:There were rodent pellets in her cage. Ihope she doesn't get anything. What should I do? Should I take her tothe vet? Or just keep an eye out?

 

[JimD]

I would disinfect the hutch with a bleachsolutuion just in case. Then try to figure out where they're getting inand take care of that. Mice can get through incredibly small holes sodon't leave anything that you think they may not be able to getthrough. I also think that the leg barriers would be a good idea.

Unless Smokey (is that her name??) is showing any signs of illness, Iwould just keep a close eye on her. You might want to call the vet tosee if they have any advice on what to watch for.

I found this on another forum:
"peppermint oil sprayed every couple days makes them go away... we did
it!! works great."

~Jim

 

[SmokeysMomMom]

Thanks so much. So the bleach won't harm Smokeythen? I will have to clean out the hutch this weekend. She is in thespare little cage in our garage. I feel bad leaving her in the garage.I would bring her in, but they say you shouldn't bring them in a heatedhouse and then throw them out in the cold. It has been a mild winterthough.

 

[JimD]

When using bleach just make sure you rinse throughly and let the hutch air out for a while.

Bunnies handle the adjustment from warm to cold better than cold to warm.
You could probably bring her inside as long as there's not a bigdifference in temp between the garage and the house. And then do thesame thing when transfering her back outside....put her in the garageuntil she adjusts there, and then move her outside.
We've been having pretty mild temps too.......in fact it's going to be in the 60's on Saturday.
Did she grow in a good winter coat?

~Jim

 

[SmokeysMomMom]

We got her two Decembers ago and she stayed outin the hutch all winter long. She was a few months old. She had a lotof hay in there though.

 

[Carolyn]

Sorry, I didn't read all the replies so I mightbe repeating someone else's comments.If it is amouse, they can squeeze through a hole the size of a dime.You might need a smaller mesh, for example, half-inch galvanizedhardware cloth. That would solve the problem. Makesure the door fits snuggly closed.

The mice won't necessarily hurt the rabbit although they are dirty, butthey're after the pellets. I would doubt it's frogs unlessyou live in a very warm climate. A mouse would jump on yourdaughter's arm in the dark. How big were the rodentpellets. Based on the size, you could determine whether theywere mice or rats. Rats are pretty big. I'd thinkyour dad probably would be able to tell the difference. Iwould think a mouse but you can tell by the feces.

There's little you can do about it at this point other than keep aclose eye on the little punkin. After a while rodents zero inon the smell of the food and they will get to it one way oranother. Make sure all food is sealed tight as is the cage.

That is one precious little pumpkin in your avatar. If that'sthe little one, you're sure lucky to have such a Beauty! GoodLuck!

-Carolyn

 

[SmokeysMomMom]

Yes, that is our little bun. She is soooosweet. A little ham. I hope she is alright. I feel so bad forher. I wonder how long they were in there. If that mouse/rat would havejumped on me, I would have had a heart attack. My daughter said itjumped towards her face. EWE.

 

[Jace]

I used to have mice in the closet where I had tokeep all my rabbits supplies and they used to love digging holes in thepellet food ect. It was a mess. Then I started leaving the door openfor the cat to get in. No problems since.

 

[SmokeysMomMom]

Here isour rabbits hutch or rabbit mansion winterized withthe plexy glass over the wiring and a piece of plastic over the back ofthe cage. . You can see where the opening is on the otherside in the back where the plastic is sothat is where theyare probably getting in at.

My husband built this cage for my daughter. There isn't a bottom floor.

Her first winter outside I don't think we had this problem. Last wintershe was inside since she was spade. So we had her in her other indoorcage in my daughters room. It was a cold winter last year so we justkept her in till spring since she was used to the warm house.

 

[SmokeysMomMom]

We went outside and there were droppings in thecage again. Maybe it was because the food was still in the cage. Smokeyisn't going out there for a long time. I am worried about her catchingsomething. We are going to clean out the outside cage with bleach andthe one she is in now. Give her a nice bath and set her up in mydaughters room for the rest of the winter.

Thanks for everyones help.