Wooden or wire rabbit hutch floor?

[FurryFiasco]

Hi! I'm building a rabbit hutch and I'm not sure what kind of floor to use. Would it be better to give them a wooden floor throughout (with hay in the nesting area and wood shavings in the run area), or a wire floor in the run with a tray filled with shavings under it? I've read people saying different things about this. What do you think? Any advice is appreciated!

 

[Tale of Tails Rabbitry]

I am assuming the ones advocating a wooden floor are either not really raising rabbits, except as pets, and/or are warning you about sore hocks. .5" x 1" galvanized AFTER weld wire is durable, allows waste to pass through, and does not cause sore hocks for the majority of rabbits. I have a doe that came to me with sore hocks, she healed on wires. However, having a resting area off the wires is good. We had warming pads for winter that are left in all year and floor tiles are good for cooling for summer as well as a resting pad.

I would NEVER raise a rabbit on a wooden floor. For one, you will end up having to clean it throughly EVERY DAY and then it will still get urine soaked, which can be quite unsanitary and will make your rabbit have permanent urine stains on its fur. However, if you plan to use a litter box, you still have to clean up the floor because while rabbits will urinate in a particular spot, they are not as specific when they poop. They poop while they eat and just hop around. You will still have to clean it every day.

 

[FurryFiasco]

Thanks for the reply!

That does make sense to me. I'm planning on giving each rabbit a wooden-floored nesting area either way, which I don't mind cleaning out every so often. I'll give them some tiles too.

For the wire, is there any source you can recommend? I tried to look it up, but to no avail. And does it need to be exactly .5" by 1", or would .5" by .5" work alright too? That dimension seems more common, just from what I've seen.

 

[Tale of Tails Rabbitry]

Nesting boxes can, but I still do not advise it. We use wire only when the weather is warm and lined with cardboard in the winter. Cardboard is replaced with each kindle.

I forgot to add 14 gauge.

As to the .5 x .5 wires...depends. For a small rabbit possibly. What breed or adult size (weight) of rabbit?

 

[Bunnylady]

For the wire, is there any source you can recommend? I tried to look it up, but to no avail. And does it need to be exactly .5" by 1", or would .5" by .5" work alright too? That dimension seems more common, just from what I've seen.

1/2" x 1/2" is most likely hardware cloth. While that might work OK for some people with really small rabbits (Dwarfs or Polish, for example), it is much more likely that the smaller wire of hardware cloth will sag, creating an unlevel floor and a much greater chance of the rabbit developing sore hocks because of the uneven pressure.


It really isn't hard to find 1" x 1/2" welded wire; a lot of the sources even call it rabbit wire or cage wire. There are some online sources that sell rabbit or small animal supplies that will even sell it by the inch, if you want to order "the good stuff" (i.e, Galvanized After Welded) and don't want to buy a whole roll. If you don't mind replacing the floor after a couple of years, you can get cheaper wire in small rolls at a lot of hardware stores and home centers.

 

[Tale of Tails Rabbitry]

If you don't mind replacing the floor after a couple of years, you can get cheaper wire in small rolls at a lot of hardware stores and home centers.

Actually, my rabbits would pull apart the wire floor galvanized before the weld in as little as one day and bad enough that a 2-week old kit could get out, not to mention it is a hazard for them also. We ended up replacing flooring every few weeks, so the cheaper stuff was no bargain in the long run.

 

[FurryFiasco]

Ok, I'll stick to the "good stuff" then! I'll have to look into where I can find it locally/online. Do you ever still end up needing to replace quality wire floors? My rabbits are Holland Lops.

For the nest boxes, I had planned to line them with hay, so I thought it wouldn't make a difference whether the floor was wooden or wire. Do you think it would?

Thanks again!

 

[promiseacres]

Ok, I'll stick to the "good stuff" then! I'll have to look into where I can find it locally/online. Do you ever still end up needing to replace quality wire floors? My rabbits are Holland Lops.

For the nest boxes, I had planned to line them with hay, so I thought it wouldn't make a difference whether the floor was wooden or wire. Do you think it would?

Thanks again!

wire would be fine, would let pee and poop fall through. If you've any rabbits that use them as litter boxes.

 

[Baymule]

Make sure you build removable nest boxes. If you build a permanent nesting area, it is just another poopy pee soaked place to clean up-daily. Nest boxes need to come out when litter is several weeks old.

 

[FurryFiasco]

I should have been a little clearer about what I meant by "nest box"...I'm building an enclosed 24" by 18" area into the hutch for the rabbit to sleep and hide in, and if/when there are babies, I'll just add a bit of a rim and they can stay there too. Now that I think about it, they will be making quite a mess and it will have to be easily clean-able...so maybe wire flooring would be helpful in there too! Would I still need to remove anything this way, or can it be a permanent setup?