Are you looking for an enclosure or pen for your rabbit?
We have reviewed the most popular types of Indoor cages, Play pens and Enclosure setups and tell you their good and bad points.
We explain how easy they are to set up and keep clean as well as how much they will cost.
Don't waste money on an enclosure that may end up being unsuitable, take a look at our round up below so you can choose the enclosure setup for you or your rabbit.
A relatively cheap and simple solution to keeping your rabbit safe and secure when unsupervised is to use a large dog cage. These are far better than a smaller plastic animal enclosure and will give your rabbit ample room to stretch and bounce around. Make sure you get a Folding metal dog cage. They can also be easily transported and store away as they fold up neatly. If you leave it out when you rabbit is roaming make sure you cover the top with a board in case your rabbit jumps on top and its paws slip through the wire mesh where they can become stuck. The trays can be a little shallow which can lead to a bit of mess if you use wood chip bedding however, you can get guards for the sides.
We use one of these with a pet pen attached to it to make a larger area with an inner enclosure that has the litter tray and hay in. The plastic tray in the dog cage makes it easy to sweep out and wipe clean. We simply cable tied the fencing to the cage.
Some bunnies are natural born escape artists, so if you want to make sure your bunny is safe and secure when you are away then a heavy duty puppy pen can provide a solid solution. They often come with doors that can make them more convenient and come with a base that can stop the floor being damaged. They don't come with cover so it's worth getting one with high sides like a Heavy duty foldable pen as its surprising how high bunnies can jump when they put their minds to it.
Although they are a bit more expensive we prefer these to xpen or sheets of as pet pen as they look nicer in our home and don't wobble around like pet pen. This makes the gates are more sturdy and easier to use.
If you can afford the space in a room then a good setup can be create an enclosure with Pet pen. They come in a variety of sizes and it's best to get one with high sides or a cover as its surprising how high bunnies can climb and jump. They typically clip together using plastic clips which can be a bit flimsy, however they are easy to replace with something sturdier such as cable ties. You can also break the pens up into a number of sheets and use them as a fence to cordon of part of a room, or make a larger pen. Make sure it's secure as your rabbit will always be testing out it's boundaries, trying and escape either by chewing through the plastic ties or hopping over the top. These can be set up on your floor or carpet however this can get messy so you may want to add a base such as a rug or matting.
We have broken up a number of these pens in out home as they are also useful to fence of areas of a room we don't want our bunnies to play in.
Transparent fencing is quite a new product. It is made of sheets of plastic sheets that can be clipped together to make a fence. Some people prefer this to wire fencing. It would be better at containing the mess but would need cleaning itself or it could start looking tatty.
This would be good in the sides of a large enclosure which would allow better air circulation.
Bunny roomIf you can afford the space, then you can turn a spare room into a bunny proofed room for when your bunnies unsupervised. It will need to be completely bunny proofed to make sure it's safe. You should expect some damage to the door, skirting boards, carpet and even walls.
Probably the best setup you can get. It can be helpful to install a pet gate so you can leave the door open. This way you and your rabbit can keep an eye on what's going on. It will also stop you opening the door on your rabbit and trapping it's paws if they are waiting for you on the other side.
If you are a practical person and have a good imagination you can construct your own bunny condo out of Wire grids These neat sections of wire grid can be purchased from a office supply store or on-line and consist of a series of small wire sheets that can be held together with cable ties. Using this system you can create any shape of pen you want. You can even make a condo with more than one level. Make sure any floor surfaces have a solid base so paws cannot slip through and get hurt.
There are lots of examples of these on-line which are great inspiration however, what you find is they take some time to put together yourself.
As well as basic rabbit cages you can also get Multi level bunny cage with ramps running between the levels. These can give your bunny some extra room if you don't have much floor space and can keep your rabbit occupied as they will enjoy climbing between the levels. These are suitable for smaller rabbits as the ramps and the landing platform do actual take up a lot of the space inside and they don't give much room for stretching upwards.
Always consider you bunny when getting this sort of setup, the ramps can be quite steep which may be a problem for a larger or older rabbit and if you have two bunnies it would be hard for both of them to move about in comfortably.
Upcycled bunny enclosure A quite unique way of fitting a rabbit into your home is to take an old piece of furniture and convert it into a rabbit enclosure. This can be a sideboard or cabinet where the doors can be removed and the front covered with wire mess. Holes can be cut between the internal walls to allow access between the spaces. If you have the time and imagination then this could be a fun project however it is important its big enough to let you bunny stretch up and bounce about inside.
This can make a great way to enrich a larger enclosure however does not offer enough room to house your bunny. You may also find the wood may be chewed and soiled which can leave a permanent and unpleasant odor in the room.
We understand how important it is to get the right enclosure for the times when you need to make sure your bunny is safe when you are away, for instance when you are at work or at night. This space needs to be fully bunny proofed so you can relax knowing no damage is occurring to your home while you are away, and it needs to have space for all the things your rabbit will need.
We created this review because we know choosing the right type of enclosure for your rabbit can be difficult. Every rabbit is different and there is a wide range of litter fences and cages available that all have their good points and bad points to be aware of.
In this guide we review the most popular types of enclosure and discuss their good and bad points as well as the benefits they bring to help you choose the best one for your rabbit.
Our reviews put the benefits to your bunnies wellbeing first. We think the best enclosure is the best setup for your rabbit. We discuss the benefits and issues with each type of pen and cage setup to help you choose.
We know that every rabbit is different and everyone's home has its own limitations so we also try to match these different needs with different types of enclosure so you can make sure you are getting the best one for you.
We do not focus on how convenient a setup is for bunny owners to use. We would not review any environments that we think would cause harm to your rabbit, for instance due to a lack of size or poor construction. We would not review any enclosures that are constructed from materials we consider harmful.
We have been house rabbit owners for over 20 years and have tested out many of these enclosures here at Bunnyproof HQ with our own bunnies. We share how our rabbits behaved around them and tell you how they performed over time.
We know every rabbit is different, so we have gathered lots of advice from our rabbit proofing Facebook group which has over 50K members at the time this article was written. This has helped us to discover what environments seem to be a success and which ones have caused unexpected problems.
To help you compare each enclosure we have given them a rating on three criteria, Value for money, fun and mess.
Value for money - How expensive they are compared to how long they will last
Fun - How much time your rabbit will spend with the toy compared to its other toys
Mess - How much mess may spread about and how hard it is to clean up
We created these reviews to help other likeminded rabbit owners with help and advice. We are not affiliated with any other companies or organizations. We would not promote a product for any reason other than we feel it is a suitable choice based on our own experience and the experience of the members of our bunny proofing facebook group.