If you're getting your household ready to welcome your first pet rabbit you have undoubtedly been researching all you need to know to provide an appropriate environment for your newest family member.
One of the first things you should have learned is that unlike cats, rabbits should not have the run of the house.
You're going to need a well equipped cage for your rabbit.
Hopefully, you've also learned that rabbits enjoy the outdoors and most devoted rabbit owners have both indoor and outdoor quarters for their furry friends.
An outdoor house is generally referred to as a rabbit hutch while an indoor house is known simply as a rabbit cage.
If you're searched the Internet using either "rabbit cage" or "rabbit hutch" you know many commercial pet web sites use the terms interchangeably.
All commercially available indoor rabbit cages are made of wire and although some owners make use of larger cages both indoors and outdoors, special precautions need to be taken if you do.
If your home is a single story with minimal stairs, some wire cages have wheel casters mounted to their bases for easy portability, and transforming the indoor cage into an outdoor rabbit hutch is a simple matter.
However, wire cages are completely open and even though you might be able to place the cage in a shady area of your yard to protect the rabbit from the sun, the pet will also need to be protected from the wind.
At best, wire cages used outdoors have their place if you prefer to space out major purchases and want to wait before investing in a rabbit hutch.
For long term use, you really need to get a commercially available rabbit hutch created specifically for outdoor use.
Outdoor rabbit hutches are available in a wide variety of styles and price ranges.
There are single story and two story and even three story styles.
They're typically constructed of wood treated with weather resistant preservatives.
Some of the better ones have asphalt shingles on attractive sloped roofs.
What should you look for to get the best hutch for your new rabbit? The average life span of a domesticated pet rabbit is 8 to 9 years, although smaller rabbits well cared for have been known to live as long as 14 years, so you're going to need to pay careful attention to the quality of construction.
Saving a little money in the initial purchase of a cheaply made rabbit hutch almost guarantees you'll need to replace it within the time you can expect your pet rabbit to share with your family.
Size is also a primary concern.
Rabbits like to run and the best rabbit hutches have large enclosed exercise areas along with the living quarters.
Exercise yards can be found on both single story and two story models.
Generally speaking, the bigger the better, with a minimum size of 1.
5 - 2 meters a better rule of thumb than the standard advice of four times the size of the rabbit.
Many very attractive commercially available rabbit hutches are simply too small.
Rabbits love to chew, so make sure any wood components the rabbit can get at are safe.
Cedar is a special concern, as it contains harmful resin oils.
While many rabbit hutches have wire floors in the living quarters to make owner clean up easier, they are uncomfortable for the rabbit to walk on.
The better ones have split floors, with a section of solid surface on which to walk.
The final and perhaps most important consideration is safety from predators.
If you live in an area of free roaming predators, you may need to take additional measures to secure the hutch to the ground so it can't be tipped or so that predators can't dig under it to get at your precious pet.