The Importance of Clean Rabbit Pens!

A dirty, unclean environment puts your rabbits at the risk of developing physical health problems. An unclean environment breeds diseases and could lead to very harmful and life threatening issues for your rabbits.

10 Risks if Rabbits live in dirty cages/pens.

1. Harmful bacteria such as pasteurella spp or staphylococcus spp.

2. Snuffles. A chronic bacterial infection in the nasal sinuses and tear ducts. If left untreated it can lead to pneumonia which is often fatal.

3. Sore hocks. Which can be very painful for the rabbit

4. Dirty bottom. This is a sign of an unhealthy and unhappy rabbit. It can develop into urine scald or other skin infections.

5. Flystryke. Soiled bedding attracts flies. They lay their eggs and when the maggots hatch they can burrow into a rabbit's fur eating away at their skin. This can be detrimental in only a short amount of time.

6. Unhappy rabbits. Rabbits like to be clean. If they live in a dirty environment they can feel stressed, anxious, and will be very unhappy. They might not eat enough and will lose weight. They may not be able to breed or be bred, and they may not take care of their babies very well.

7. Parasites. Coccidiosis can spread very easily from one rabbit to another in a dirty environment.

8. Encephalitozoonosis. A parasite infection affecting the kidneys, eyes, and nervous system.

9. Worms. Including pinworm, roundworm, whipworm, stomachworm, and tapeworm.

10. Fleas and mites. Can get out of hand very quickly and can be passed from rabbit to human.

How to Clean Rabbit Cages.

If you have had any of the health issues mentioned above you should deep clean all of the affected cages and those nearby just to be safe. Clean out all the soiled hay, feces, and urine. Everything that was in with the rabbit also needs to be cleaned; food dish, water containers, hayrack, nesting box, and any toys. Disinfect everything! A good natural home disinfectant is 50/50 water and white vinegar. Vinegar is mildly acidic which kills bacteria and neutralizes odors. Vinegar is a safe disinfectant for even food dishes and water containers because it does not leave residue behind when it evaporates.

Keeping Rabbit Cages Clean.

Depending on how you raise your rabbits there are different ways to keep you rabbit's pen clean and your rabbits happy and healthy. Keeping your rabbit pens clean will help prevent diseases and problems among your rabbits.

1. Hanging wire cages. Make sure hay does not build up on the wire in the bottom of the cage. Clean out from under the cage regularly to keep flies from breeding there.

2. Rabbit Tractors. Move the rabbit tractors once or twice a day. It depends on how many rabbits are in the cage as to how often you must move it. Normally the bigger the rabbits are the more often you will have to move them.

3. Colony. It depends on how much space you have and how many rabbits are in the colony. We have a 8'X16' space with the average of 2-3 full grown does that have litters every 2 months. We put fresh bedding down as they need it and every 3-4 months clean it out completely.

4. Nesting boxes. Sometimes it is necessary to clean a mamma's nesting box so the baby bunnies stay clean. Take all soiled nesting material out but make sure to save as much of the mamma's fur to put back into the clean nest so the baby bunnies can stay warm.