Cage Considerations

I am always being asked about housing for rabbits and I wanted to post about what I like and dislike. I hope this is helpful for someone that is looking into purchasing cages.

As far as the cage material, I prefer galvanized wire. I have found it stands up the longest to rabbit waste, is the safest, and the easiest to clean. I tend to do a heavy-duty cleaning on the stackers seasonally, but I spot clean with a BBQ scraper, hand torch, or sometimes a wire brush. One thing I've learned with cages is that some companies like to cut corners by offering thinner wire on the bottom panel. I do not like this because the thin wire can be hard on some of the larger breeds. The wire itself is also more flimsy and can't stand up to as much abuse- it can be prone to bowing in particular. I'd recommend nothing smaller than 14g if possible, especially for larger breeds.

Aside from galvanized wire, I recommend a MINIMUM cage size of 24" X 24" for something Mini Lop sized, though I prefer to give them more room in something like a 30" X 24". I won't go in anything smaller than 36" X 24" or 30" X 30" for larger breeds like Harlequins or New Zealands. I know a lot of people say that bucks don't need as much room, but when I moved Apollo and Spock into the biggest cages, I found they used the extra space like crazy for binkies and playing with their toys. Here is a page from one of my favorite suppliers (KW Cages) with stacker examples:

Urine guards can be helpful for sprayers, though some rabbits make it their life's mission to remove the guards from the walls. I have a doe like that now and finally gave up and pulled them out. Even for does I will still use them though to help prevent the loss of a baby if they should get out of the nestbox too young. There are babysaver wire options available for cages, but I have never opted to purchase them so I can't comment on their use.

As far as trays, if you need them for your set-up, I can't stress this enough: Dura Trays. Dura. Trays. Dura Trays! Are you starting to see a trend here? I have some metal trays from stackers I purchased used and let me just emphasize what a huge pain they are. They kill my back because they are so large and heavy (these are 36" trays) and they eventually corrode through. One of my metal trays broke this past week (which is one reason I am so adamant about this, lol) and it was a HUGE mess. It was the cage with the Harlie babies and I didn't realize there was a crack in the metal right away because it was under the wood pellets. So the floor under the rack was just flooded with their waste mixed in with the substrate and fines that had fallen through from their feeder.

I prefer water bottles for cages because I can easily tell if someone is drinking more than usual or less. I use the 32oz water bottles from Tractor Supply. They are cheap if I need to replace one for whatever reason and have always been reliable for me without a lot of leaking or anything. I have a mix of feeders and crocks, but I prefer the J-feeders. So much easier.. less digging, automatically sifts fines out, etc. Here is a picture of the exact water bottles I like. I have some of the other brands like Lixit, but I hate them. Truly, I do. Much prefer these personally:

I hope this is helpful. I have tried a variety of cages and I will never use the pet store kind again. For anyone with more than a couple rabbits, it just isn't practical. Right now I use stackers, but in the future I hope to move the rabbits into a protected outdoor setup where the waste can fall through to the ground and I can use the manure easily for the garden's needs. I think I'll make a post soon about why rabbit waste is gold for your crops. Thanks for reading!