How To Clean A Rabbits Cage or Hutch

How To Clean A Rabbit’s Cage Or Hutch

One of the most important aspects of tending to your rabbits is ensuring they have a clean and safe living and playing environment, especially because rabbits can produce over 200 droppings per day

For example, we do a daily quick cleaning and then a more thorough cleaning of our rabbits’ hutches once every two weeks and are here to share all our best tips, tricks and how-tos when it comes to keeping your rabbit’s cage or hutch nice and clean. 

Cleaning your rabbit’s cage once every two weeks is one of the most effective ways to ensure that their living and playing spaces are healthy environments. 

How Often Should You Clean A Rabbit Cage

When it comes to cleaning your rabbit’s cage or hutch, it may not always seem necessary, especially if your rabbit is tidy and clean. 

Regardless, at a minimum we deep clean our rabbits’ hutches once every two weeks. 

Now for some of our younger bunnies who tend to be highly energized, as well as for our older bunnies who are messier due to age and limitations, we clean their living spaces once a week

How Do I Keep My Rabbit Cage Clean

While it is our experience that rabbits usually like to keep their sleeping and intimate living space clean and comfy, remember that domestic rabbits still have hardwired instincts and can act quite messily and wildly in spaces they feel comfortable.

Rabbits Sleep in Hutches

Daily Cleaning Of Rabbit Hutches

Clean your rabbit’s cage daily when they are not inside it and are instead playing in their outdoor enclosure or are otherwise safely monitored.

Daily cleaning takes about 15 minutes, and should include the following: 

  1. Clean out any old food from the day before (hay, pellets, veggies or fruits) and clean all food trays or dispensers with warm water and dish soap. 
  2. Rinse and refill their water bottle or water dish. 
  3. Use warm water with a bit of vinegar mixed in to spot clean any urine or poop under or on the sides of their hutch. 
  4. Sweep up around the cage to remove general dirt and dust buildup. 

The effort that you will have to put into this daily cleaning can greatly depend on the type of cage or hutch you opt for. 

For example, wooden hutches will naturally absorb more urine, feces, and other substances (even cleaning liquids!), and can quickly smell strongly and be difficult to get completely clean. 

Bi-weekly to Weekly Cleaning Of Rabbit Hutches

Every other week we go a bit more indepth with our cleaning, which looks like this:

  1. Remove any under-cage trays and wash them well with warm water and dish soap and/or vinegar. 
  2. Remove and replace all bedding and blankets from the hutch with fresh supplies. 
  3. Wash down the entire hutch with warm vinegar water to clean urine and poop buildup and remove dust, dirt and grime. 
  4. Clean the floor or surface under the cage well with warm water and dish soap where possible. 
  5. When possible, place the entire washed cage in direct sunlight to dry completely. When this is not possible, simply ensure the entire cage is dry before placing items and your rabbit back in. 

Remember, the type of cage or hutch you have for your rabbit will determine the time and effort that must be invested in cleaning. 

Think about this when looking for rabbit hutches, realizing that if you can’t easily access all parts of the hutch (as is the case with some large rabbit houses), it will be that much harder to keep your rabbit’s living space fresh and clean. 

Cleaning Rabbit Litter Boxes

If your bunny uses a litter box, it is critical to keep this space clean as one of the first ways to attract pests or unwanted guests is through unclean rabbit litter boxes. 

How To Clean Rabbit Litter Box

Cleaning rabbit litter boxes thoroughly must be done at least once a week. Here is our process when it comes to the cleaning rabbit litter boxes: 

  1. Empty out the box completely, washing it with warm water and dish soap and/or warm water with vinegar
  2. Dispose of the used litter in the appropriate place. If you use traditional litter it must be thrown out but if you use natural litter, such as paper-based or sawdust, you can place the litter and rabbit waste in your garden as fertilizer; also great for composting.
  3. Allow the entire box to air dry until it is completely dry. 
  4. Refill the box with clean litter and return it to its place in your rabbit’s living space. 

Read more on the benefits of rabbit poop for your garden in our post on rabbit poop as fertilizer

Keeping Rabbit Hutches Clean: What To Put In Bottom Of Cage

If your indoor rabbit does not use a litter box, you might be wondering what the best material is to put in the bottom of their cage for ideal cleanliness and comfort. 

When it comes to the bottom of your rabbit’s hutch, the first thing to ensure is that your rabbit has access to soft flooring, especially if their hutch has a wire floor. 

Bonus: both newspaper and straw are easy to clean out and replace! 

An alternative for the bottom of your rabbit’s home is to place a soft towel or blanket, this will keep your rabbit warm and comfortable as they hop around their space, but can be much harder to clean. 

Finally, for the space underneath your rabbit’s hutch, you can place alternating layers of newspaper, straw, sawdust, or paper clippings to help absorb any droppings and urine. 

Outdoor Rabbits: What To Put In Bottom Of Cage

For our outdoor rabbits we like to place straw and sawdust underneath their cage for ultimate waste absorption and make an area of soft bedding with straw and/or a towel for the bottom of their cage.

How Do You Clean Rabbit Poop And Pee

Cleaning rabbit poop and pee can be difficult if you don’t use the correct cleaner because rabbit pee naturally contains calcium salts that precipitate from their wet pee as it dries. 

You may be familiar with the hard, crystally urine stains in your rabbit’s hutch or litter box, especially if you have a male rabbit that likes to spray urine. 

Don’t worry, one of the most effective ways to clean rabbit poop and pee is with vinegar water. 

We have found that a mixture of 50/50 warm water and vinegar (white vinegar or apple cider) is most effective at cleaning up rabbit pee and poop as the vinegar actively dissolves and removes the calcium salts that precipitate out of rabbit urine!

However, if you ever notice sluggy, thick urine deposits your rabbit may have too much calcium in their body or have a urinary tract infection. If this is the case it is critical to schedule a vet appointment as your bunny could be suffering from deadly Rabbit Wet Tail

Clean Rabbit Hutch Helps Prevent Disease

How To Clean Rabbit Pen

Your rabbit’s indoor or outdoor pet pen should also be cleaned on a bi-weekly basis. 

Follow the same procedures as the deep cleaning of their cage or hutch, wiping down all surfaces and walls/fabrics of the pen with warm water and vinegar and allowing it to air dry completely. 

Any rabbit toys should also be soaked in warm water with a bit of dish soap and washed thoroughly, and towels or blankets within the pen must be switched out for new, fresh ones. 

We recommend washing the bedding, towels, and blankets that your rabbit may use with fragrance-free, pet friendly detergent

How To Clean Rabbit Enclosure

An outdoor rabbit enclosure should also be cleaned on a regular basis, about once every two weeks. 

When cleaning your rabbit’s outdoor enclosure: 

  • Be sure to collect as much poop from the ground as possible
  • Clean all toys with warm water and dish soap
  • Replace natural stimulants such as logs, rocks or leaves with fresh ones

We like to rotate the location of our bunny’s outdoor enclosure so as to offer fresh grass and a new mini-environment for our rabbits; we highly recommend this practice if you have sufficient outdoor space! 

Outdoor Rabbits: How To Keep An Outdoor Rabbit Cage Clean

Most of our bunnies are actually housed outdoors, which for us actually makes it that much easier to perform thorough bi-weekly cleaning of their living space.  

With outdoor hutches you can use a hose or large bucket and brush to give a good scrub down and clean once you have taken out old food, water and fabrics, and of course, your rabbit! 

As we talked about in our Top Rabbit Predators post, it is important not to place your rabbit’s outdoor hutch against an outdoor wall or object, which comes in handy when keeping it clean as there will be no extra buildup or stains from urine spray or feces. 

In winter time, cleaning the hutch with hot water will make the process go fast and drying the floor and walls of your rabbit’s hutch with a towel will prevent ice buildup. 

Finally, it is a great habit to remove all droppings from under your rabbit’s hutch once a week as well, making rabbit manure tea for the garden and avoiding heavy odors by your rabbit’s home. 

Rabbit Poop Composting

What Can I Use To Clean Rabbit’s Cage

As stated above, we have had great success with a 1:1 mixture of warm water and vinegar when cleaning our rabbits’ cages. 

Homemade Rabbit Cage Cleaner

We make the water and vinegar mixture at home, as well as using the following at home rabbit cage cleaners: 

  • Fragrence free dishsoap
  • Fragrence free Castile Soap
  • Accelerated Hydrogen Peroxide
  • 2:1 hot water to bleach mixture

What Is A Rabbit Safe Disinfectant? 

Most mild and fragrance free soaps or accelerated hydrogen peroxide serve as rabbit safe disinfectants that you can use to freshen their living space after cleaning. 

You can also try a few drops of naturally antimicrobial essential oils in the soapy or vinegar mixture such as lavender or oregano. 

Do You Put Bedding In A Rabbit Cage? 

Yes, rabbits love to have a bit of bedding to make their personal space comfy and safe. You can opt for natural bedding such as straw or a soft towel or blanket for your bunnies. 

What Are Some Rabbit Cage Cleaning Hacks? 

Our favorite rabbit cage cleaning hacks include putting your chosen cleaning mixture in a water bottle to allow thorough and quick washing. We also love to use a hot rag when cleaning our rabbits’ cages, which leaves them fresh and disinfected. 

Final Thoughts On How To Keep Your Rabbit’s Cage Clean

Keeping your rabbits’ cages clean is one of the most important parts of providing for the health and wellbeing of your bunnies. 

Daily cleaning doesn’t take more than 15 minutes and bi-weekly cleaning ensures your rabbit’s space is pest and dirt free. 

FInally, we suggest that you look for an easy to clean cage when thinking of getting a rabbit, remembering that wood surfaces will absorb more urine, feces and other substances easier and faster than a wired or metal hutch. 

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