How to clean your rabbit hutch
I personally don’t like mess, I am not a clean freak or anything, but I do like a little bit of order in my living space. I am sure you do too. Most people do, there is nothing worse than having a messy place to live. Well there are lots of things worse, I mean last week, my Duran Duran LP managed to somehow make its way into the washing machine with my karate kit and was ruined after 2 hours on a slow spin and rinse.
Anyway, rabbits don’t like mess either. Their hutches are small enough as it is so make sure you keep their living space nice and clean so your rabbit can enjoy life to the max.
Before I give you my secret on how to clean your rabbit’s hutch here is a list of things you will need.
• An exercise pen or crate
• Some hay
• Some shavings or straw
• A water bottle
• A food bowl
• A hay rack
• An old cloth
• Some animal friendly disinfectant
• An old towel
• A bucket or washing up bowl
• Some rubber gloves
• A brush and dustpan
• Some old newspaper
So here is my guide on cleaning out your rabbit’s hutch:
1. Move your rabbits from their hutch into the exercise pen or crate. Basically you need to move them away from you whilst you are cleaning but keep them somewhere where other pets cannot get to them.
2. Now you need to scoop up all of the old dirty shavings and put them in a bin bag, ready for disposal. Then, if you have put down newspaper beneath all the wood shavings and hay, all you have to do is roll up the newspaper and all of the debris on top. Then grab your dustpan and brush and get rid of all the remaining loose bits of hay and any other debris.
3. The next bit is my personal favourite, now you have to wash and disinfect the floor of the hutch. You need an old bucket and a cloth. All you need to do is fill it with some warm soapy water and some animal friendly disinfectant; we don’t want another dead bunny on our hands now do we? Always avoid bleach or household cleaners, these are bad for rabbits. Once you have cleaned the floor of the hutch give it a nice dry with the towel.
4. You should now put fresh newspaper down covering the entire floor of the hutch. You should make sure that it is a few layers thick so that it won’t disintegrate the next time you clean the hutch.
5. Next up it is time to put some new shavings down. They should cover the entire floor by about 1cm. Think of this as the ‘new sheets’ on your rabbit’s bed. Everyone loves fresh sheets, even rabbits! Trust me.
6. Give the food and water containers and the hay rack a good clean. You should replace their water, food and hay in the process. Maybe even treat them to some lovely grass or some lettuce.
7. Now you have to add a layer of hay, this is preferable to straw as your rabbit will eat it, play in it and sleep in it.
8. The last stage is great. All you have to do is reintroduce your rabbit or rabbits back into their hutch. They should be happy to see that their home has had a lovely clean and that they now have fresh food and drink. If they aren’t happy then you have one ungrateful rabbit.
Here are a few warnings that I feel I should let you know about:
• Make sure there are no thistles in the hay, as they can kill rabbits
• Never use pine or cedar shavings as these can cause your rabbit to have respiratory problems or liver disease
• If your rabbit is pregnant then you should leave her nesting in the box and clean around it.
Happy cleaning!
Picture courtesy of Normanack.
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