# Hutches and cages are not suitable environments



## Guest (Aug 16, 2013)

I often find that hutches are cages are WAY too small for rabbits and guinea pigs.

I don't think they are suitable environments for such animals as they don't provide anything to let the animals behave naturally and express themselves propperly.

I often see that rabbits become bored very easily inside such environments pacing from side to side or showing signs of stress.

How do you feel about that? I would rather see rabbits and guinea-pigs in much larger walk in environments what allows them to express their natural behaviours.


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## Miyavi (Aug 17, 2013)

I agree

My 5 cavies have 18 square meters now, and i can see how happy they are now.
Much more than my first both in a cage.


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## Guest (Aug 17, 2013)

Wow thats amazing! 

Very impressed my last Rabbit lived in an aviary (their were no birds) 
She lived to about 8 but it was 6ft by 3ft and walk in so she had a lot of head space she liked to sit on her hutch and look out side but if ever I had rabbits or Ginnea-Pigs again I would have them in a walk in setting probably not as big as yours though ^^''


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## Marycat (Jul 29, 2013)

Totally agree. I often want to stick the owners in one and see how they like it! I love that run on the pic.. amazing! Lucky rabbits xx


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## HazelandDan (Apr 22, 2012)

Wow! That cavie run is incredible!

I couldn't agree more... for any animal kept in confinement, the bigger the better. And it's so important to have any environment decked out in toys/substrate etc which enables the animal to exhibit natural behaviours as much as possible. It pains me to see gerbils shoved in a tiny cage with a thin layer of bedding... they're a burrowing species!

I think a lot of the problem is caused by people just doing what they did when they had pets as a child... our knowledge of what pets require has advanced since then, yet it takes people a while to catch up and implement the necessary changes in their animal husbandry.


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## Guest (Sep 13, 2013)

I think the main probablem is that pet stores sell very small hutches and runs and people think their appropriate because the label says.

Many are bought with good intentions but without knowing about forums like this to tell us otherwise many owners just don't realise their pets are in accomodation thats too small them.


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## Hanwombat (Sep 5, 2013)

It disgusts me how some pet shops can sell at 80cm cage labelled for a guinea pig or rabbit


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## StormyThai (Sep 11, 2013)

Prowl said:


> I think the main probablem is that pet stores sell very small hutches and runs and people think their appropriate because the label says.
> 
> Many are bought with good intentions but without knowing about forums like this to tell us otherwise many owners just don't realise their pets are in accomodation thats too small them.


I agree that this is part of the problem, but you can not lay 100% of the blame at a businesses door, they are a business, out to make profit so will sell what makes them that profit...

The blame lays at the feet of the people willing to take on an animal without fully researching what they are letting themselves in for...These people do not have to impulse buy the cute lil fluffy, they are not forced to buy unsuitable accommodation for their new fluffy, and in this day and age everyone has access to google to be able to conduct proper research..

If people stopped buying these products then shops will stop selling them 

We can not keep trying to shove the blame at someone else's feet, the blame lays firmly with the person that chooses to be ignorant :nonod:


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## Colette (Jan 2, 2010)

Totally agree. My last 2 piggies lived under the stairs in a c+c cage that was 4 x 2.5 grids (about 4.5 x 3 feet). Looked huge when I built it but once the pigs were in I started to think even that looked too small - though I had no way of expanding it by then. The idea that pet shop guinea pig cages are less than half that size disgusts me.

I think there are plenty of people to blame - the manufacturers producing such crap caging, the pet shops that sell it and claim its suitable, all the books on the market that encourage the use of crap caging (one GP book actually claims that piggies NEED a small cage as they are too scared of big spaces!!), various websites etc that give out crap, outdated care advice etc. 
Even legislators - lab and farm animals all have COPs stating minimum housing requirements; but pets have nothing. There are plenty of rabbit hutches / cages on the market for example that wouldn't be legal in a UK lab!

Plus of course the owners themselves... I have no sympathy for those that don't bother to research - but for those that do it comes down to luck. They might read several books and a dozen websites, ask vets or pet shop staff, etc that all tell them that a basic hutch or cage is perfect. 

What we need is a whole culture shift.


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## StormyThai (Sep 11, 2013)

But the thing is that many of these cages and hutches do actually have a use...Small hutches in a larger enclosure, or small ham/rat cages for transporting or hospital cages (for example)....

It all boils down to the sort of person buying the pet, if they only want to hear "Ohh yes that £15 cage is perfect for housing rats" then no matter what other people/sites say they will not take it on board....

If people actually conducted proper research (one or two books and or websites do not constitute proper research) with their eyes open and willing to learn then they will be able to look properly and take on board all advice from knowledgeable people.. And that way are less likely to go out and get an unsuitable cage.


You can not pass the buck back to the sellers/makers of the cages, they are businesses that are out to make profit, not care about animal welfare.. Obviously it would make life easier if these businesses did care, but the reality is they just worry about their purse strings.

The fact that people put their trust and faith into a salesperson is sad IMO, it's not like sales people have been known for being 100% truthful when it comes to selling their product now is it?

I would like to see some form of test for people that wish to purchase a new animal, catered to that specific species (also stopping the sale of live animals in petshops) so that it is clear that the person buying has done appropriate research...but then I live in the real world and realise that is just a pipe dream


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## LouLatch (Jul 2, 2012)

I agree people should do more research on the needs of the animals accomodation.

Ive seen many rabbits in small hutches and they look so miserable.

I have recently upgraded my rabbits enclosure and although they dont have a 'walk in' set up they have plenty of room.

They live in a 6ftx3ft childs playhouse with an upstares level and a 6ftx6ft run which is also 3ft tall so they have plenty of head room.

Take a look - http://www.petforums.co.uk/rabbits/319917-my-rabbits-new-house-pics-included.html

There should be better guidelines for companys selling such small housing as people see it for sale so think its suitable.


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## happysaz133 (Jun 5, 2008)

Depends on the size. Some hutch & run combos are very large and bunnies and pigs can be very happy in them. There are also a few decent sized pet shop cages on the market.

It all boils down to people buying what they can afford and not exactly what is best for the animals.


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## Neelam (Oct 24, 2013)

I always saw a cage or hutch only as a place if you have a sick pet that needs to be separated from the group for better control or for the short time of bonding to a group. Even for my Gerbils I kept for about 10 years I never stopped enhancing their place and space to give them as much pleasure as possible.

I think, many people only see the pet and how cute especially the kits look like but never think of the follow ups you'll have to consider. Mostly they do not even see that even a small pet brings a lot of expenses even without vet needed. As so many hutches and cages nowadays a two or even triple ... o... what where they called, just forget the word, those with more than one level, storey?... However, looking at their ramps I always wonder how a guinea pig or rabbit should go up and down without falling off the small and steep ramp or hurting their paws. A bigger rabbit would not even be able to use it without bending itself in all shapes as mostly the ramp starts at one side of the hutch or cage.

But it is, too, because pet shops want to sell their stock so they hardly ever give you the advice that such a thing should be only used for safety at night or if you are not in and have no room for a covered run (even those are way too small). And checking and reading so many books since my first pet I did not find one that says clearly: "Do not get this pet if you cannot provide at least such and such measurement of space for it!" They might say, the bigger, the better, but even this you hardly will find in a book.

It's just a shame.


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## Emma32 (Jun 21, 2009)

I will admit that I used to have a rabbit and she lived in a hutch for her whole life. I did let her free roam round our garden while I was outside though, and she did have a run for when I wasn't out.
However that was years ago, when I was about 6 years old. So of course I believed what I was told by the pet store when I got her that the hutch was fine. My mother also had a rabbit when she was little and had the same sort of setup, so she didn't know different either.

Now though I'd never keep a rabbit in a hutch, I'd have an enclosure for it, or a very big hutch with a safe outside run around it. If I hadn't joined up here I'd never know that rabbits should have that much space, no book or pet store ever tells you! (In my personal experience.)


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## sskmick (Feb 4, 2008)

I do think Manufacturers and Retailers have a responsibility. Manufacturers should make animal housing suitable for a specific pet and Pet Shops should only sell housing specifically designed for the pet being sold.

I did know to get the largest accommodation I could get, but our daughter and son-in-law didn't and requested a 4' hutch for Barney (a rabbit). The shop refused to sell one stating that it was not suitable for a rabbit. That was over 4 years ago. 

Yes of course people should do their home work, sadly this isn't always the case, small animals are readily and easily available in Pet Shops and are bought with very little thought as to the animals long term needs.

This is why Barney now lives with me.


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## Phoenix24 (Apr 6, 2013)

Wow that is one incredible set-up for those lucky guinea pigs! 

When I used to keep rabbits (which started out as keeping a guinea pig, which we lost, and progressed to a series of rabbits) we had a hutch but only for nighttime. During the day the rabbits were allowed to roam our whole garden (which was fully enclosed) and were even allowed into part of the house. Mum worked from home so there was always someone in to keep an eye on them, and at dusk they were locked away safely for the night, and the hutch covered to keep out frost in the winter (the water in the bottle never froze).

I have seen people keep rabbits and guinea pigs in all manner of ways, ranging from a terrible existence in a hutch, allowed out into a small run for a period each day, to being kept inside as house rabbits (not seen this done with guinea pigs personally). Even the RSPCA (at least our local shelter...) keep rabbits/gps in incredibly tiny cages, and the day time runs (which aren't always used) are hardly spacious. I know they are limited on space but come on - not a good example to set to potential adopters!!!

As for pet stores - in the words of one store owner I spoke to about bird cage sizes - the small, cheap cages from china will sell, the big, well made cages won't. In other words, the customer doesn't want to spend money, but wants a pet. I was absolutely disgusted, of course, as if people didn't HAVE the option of a cheap tiny cage then they would think twice about getting a pet. I don't think it is a person's right to own a pet, especially if they are not prepared to do as much as they can to make its life fulfilling. As for my birds, I couldn't afford a larger enough cage so I re-homed them to someone with an aviary.

My first hamster lived in a depressingly small cage, this was way back, and i'm sure that size cage doesn't even exist for hamsters anymore. The floorspace was little bigger than an A4 piece of paper - how horrible! If I was to get a hamster now I would probably get one of those amazing gerbil habitats, as hamsters are burrowing animals too (something I think cage designers sometimes forget, with the exception of rotastak style tubes).


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## bizzybeeee (Nov 7, 2013)

Miyavi said:


> I agree
> 
> My 5 cavies have 18 square meters now, and i can see how happy they are now.
> Much more than my first both in a cage.


I agree with Prowl, wow those are lucky furries indeed.

I also hate small hutches, they are just not suitable. Your set up is fantastic, and my only wish that every rabbit and guin.pig lived like yours do. x


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## redroses2106 (Aug 21, 2011)

I will admit my guinea pigs where not in a suitable cage for a long time the cage was 120cm by about 70 cm this was the biggest cage I managed to find, they did get floor time and out but it really wasn't great - they are now in a c&c cage which has 3 sections - one section is 3 cubes by four cubes - there is then a small feeding are which is 1 cube by two cubes and another little area the is a tiny one cube by one cube - and it has their hay in it at first it looked huge now it's shrinking and I would love to extend it unfortunately there is just no possible way for me to do this as I don't have the room - BUT the difference in them since getting this much bigger cage is unbelievable they run and popcorn about much more, they have fleece snuggles which they love and I hear cooing coming from their cage often now, where as before they used to do most of that when out of the cage so yes I would agree pet shops and pet sites are very misleading - they have you believe that you have bought the biggest possible cage so it must be fine but that's not quite true - I wish pet shops would sell the c&c supplies with full instructions, I think a lot of people would go for them if they were easily accessible


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