How often to you clean out the hutch?

We got a rabbit 3 weeks ago and were told to clean it out once a week. So we decided that as we got her on a Thursday we would clean her out every Thursday.

A friend of ours who breeds rabbits said this was fair to often and we should do it once every 2-3 weeks. Apparently it can confuse them as they mark their terroity and cleaning them too often will lose the smell.

So just wanted some other opinions really.

Thanks.

 

I dont have outdoor buns but im sure that you are supposed to do it at LEAST once a week, probably twice a week! But im not too sure so maybe somebody else will be able to let you know. Two to three weeks is too long, it would stink! It will do even after a week.

 

I clean mine once a week. But I have knwoen breeders who have alot of rabbits that only clean them out once every 2 weeks or so.

 

Its best to do it 2 or 3 times a week in summer as its flystrike time
in the winter its okay to go down to once a week, however if they are toilet trained you should clean the toilet out every other day.
well thats my theory anyway.

regardless, my lot get cleaned out every thursday and sunday all year round
and toilets changed every other day

 

I have an indoor rabbit but he gets cleaned out once a week even though hes only in there at night. We clean out the litter trays daily though.

 

I clean mine once a week, my girls live in a huge shed & run. At the moment, Im cleaning them out 2 or 3 times a week, as its very hot and their doodoos are attracting flies, and I dont want them getting flystrike!

 

I empty the hutch and toilets every day, wash the eating utensils (bowls, water bottles) every day too, and thoroughly clean everything once per week (using warm water, a very small amount of bleach, and flushing everything out with a pressure hose for a LONG time so the bleach is fully off).

I change the water in the bottles twice per day.

 

I clean mine out once a week, but clean bowls and bottles etc. everyday cos they need to be kept clean.

 

i clean my pens out roughly every 2-3 days but the litter trays are done daily and when i clean there pens i mainly only clean the corners as dexter tends to poop and wee to mark the girls as his i do the whole pen weekly tho sometimes every 10 days if they have been good and used the litter tray.

when they have kits i clean them every 2 days as they toilet everywhere!!

 

Your friend is not looking after her bunnies well at all by the sounds of it. If ytou leave it 2-3 weeks they can get flystrike because they are sat in their own poo or end up with urine burns.

Mine are cleaned out every week without fail and litter trays are done every 2-3 days depending on the weather and how much the buns have been inside and how dirty they are. What your friend has told you is a load of rubbish the cleaner you keep your buns the better.

 

I clean my litter trays daily. In this weather, they have no bedding, just some rugs, and those are changed every 3-4 days.

In the winter, the litter trays are still daily, everything else once a week.

 

Mine are done every monday and thursday without fail during the summer, in the winter I might leave them a week, but tend to stick to the routine, I check the litter trays in between and if they need doing I empty them, depends how much they are in the hutch/runs.
I had a blind rabbit and even he didnt have a problem with being cleaned out so often.
*Heidi*

 

I thought rabbits cleaned themselves out!!!!! Better get to their hutch asap 2mrw!

 

lol xD i need to buy some big bales from work tomorrow!
Expensive bunbuns.

 

Sorry just kidding prob wasnt very funny but im in a daft mood lol!

I empty out their litter tray every day and if they have spent alot of time in their hutch and run during the day i may empty it out again in the evening depending on how wet/full it is.

As for teh whole hutch at least once a week but I usually do end up doing it around 2 times a week!

 

I clean my rabbit out every day. He only wee's in his tray so thats washed every day too. I do keep all clean bedding but the whole lot is cleaned out and washed twice a week. His bowl for his pellets is washed each day and his bowl for his fresh fruit and veg is washed as many times as its full!! His water bottle is re-freshed twice daily to. (if you put dry rice in it and shake it up with some water it keeps any green nasty algae away!) i used to breed dutch rabbits for show and pet and every hutch got cleaned every other day. Trays/wee corners were cleaned and washed daily. But thats just my way! Oh and i only got my first bunny (i haven't had one for 7 years!) a few weeks ago too. Good luck with yours. Xx

 

Think of it this way, would you sit in your own excrement?

No!!

I have around 20-30 rabbits here at a time and still clean hutches every other day and litter trays daily!!

Just as breeder may have multiple bun households, does not mean it has to be done any less.

 

I clean my hutches and the run twice a week (the hutches are in a fenced off bunny bouncing area so they only use them to sleep in).

I notice that many of you use litter trays. Is this for indoor buns? Mine are outdoor but there is room in the hutches for a litter tray and I could then clean that out daily, as with the cats. Does anyone do this or is it a totally impractical idea?

It would keep them much cleaner, but not sure if they would use trays, although they do tend to use the same area to toilet in.

 

Yeh i have litter trays for outdoor buns, my buns are only in overnight they are out all day, i do put a litter tray in the run if they arent free ranging and clean that everyday. Otherwise they have the garage with littertrays in, i am bonding four at the moment so they are in a hutch/run outside so am cleaning the litter trays everyday, i can tell you it is soooooo much easier, they are easy to disinfect instead of scrubbing a hutch down and safer for the buns. The two newer rescue buns still poo outside the litter trays abit so sweep it out everyday too, doesnt take long, they are getting the hang of the litter trays.

Just pop them in their usual pee areas, if they poo outside if you are around pop the poos in the litter tray too so they get the idea thats where they aree supposed to go. My two original buns are spotlessly clean, they did start off as housebuns though.

 

Totally agree with Crofty here. My 2 when I first got them from the rescue they were not litter trained so I was literally dissenfecting their hutch every single day although they are in their for the night only they do like to go and sleep in the during they day as I leave it open for them. Every day the wee and poo was so bad and eventually I have managed to get them to use their litter tray which is so much easier now all I do is clean that out every day and now and again there maybe 1 or 2 poos under their bedding which I do look under every day and I just pick them out lol!

If you can litter train your out door buns do it.... its so much easier!