One might suffer from cuteness overload upon petting an adorable rabbit, but there is more to keeping these domesticated rodents than solely experiencing the unquestionable pleasure they deliver. Namely, rabbits require more care and attention than it might seem at the first glance, and new owners often get flabbergasted when they realize how demanding they can get. Surprisingly enough, even the experienced rabbit caregivers struggle to provide ideal care to their pets, regardless of how much they try. One of the most important things, when rabbit keeping rabbits are in question, is maintaining their hygiene, thus, read the following lines and find out how to clean an outdoor rabbit hutch properly, so your furry little friends can enjoy their staying at your place.
The More Often, The Better
Surprisingly enough, rabbits are considered to be tidy animals, but you should be aware that they are not the type of animal who is supposed to spend their whole life in a cage. Therefore, it is reasonable why they require additional assistance from their caregivers.
In a nutshell, the more often you clean your rabbits’ hutch, the less time you will spend tidying it up. It would be optimal if you would find time to clean after your furry friends once every day, but nothing crucial will happen if you decide to perform cleaning once a week. Still, we urge you to schedule cleaning sessions more often, since you will only facilitate the process for yourself if you do practice sanitizing their hutch more often.
Food Leftovers
Rabbits enjoy eating veggies and will eat happily whatever you put in from of them, as long as it is fresh and green. Surely, they will not eat every single piece of rabbit food you feed them with, so it is reasonable that they leave something behind them.
Unfortunately, the excess food will not go away on its own, so it is up to you to pick it up once your pet is finished with its meal. In a nutshell, the longer you let it stay in your rabbit’s hutch, the higher is the risk of potential issues your pet could be exposed to. Therefore, we advise you to devote yourself to cleaning the leftovers once a day if you intend on keeping the sanitary standards high.
Considering the rabbits eat either raw food or granules, it is reasonable for the remains from the meal to disintegrate over time. Failing to attend to your rabbit’s cage condition for too long might cause serious consequences for your pet’s health, thus, make sure you clean after them as often as you can.
Water
A rabbit is an animal with a fast metabolism, so it needs to be adequately fed and hydrated, which implies you must recharge its water bowl now and then. Considering they are animals, it is reasonable that they contaminate the water bowl from time to time, while occasional spillage is also considered a customary thing.
The standard rabbit hutch provides different conditions than an extra large rabbit hutch, and guys from aivituvin will gladly explain the key differences. The catch is that you have to pay extra attention if the hatch is in the open since the moisture will only accumulate over time and potentially cause unwanted problems if you do not act in a timely matter.
Weekly Disinfection
Even though you do not have to clean the litter as soon as your pet does the trick, we advise you to attend to the litter box as often as you can. Leaving the leftovers could cause nothing positive, not to mention the stench that would come as a result of poor hygiene.
Thus, make sure you disinfect your rabbit’s cage at least once a week. It would imply you either use products that are safe for rabbits or alternative natural means of disinfection, such as apple vinegar.
What you should do is carefully remove your pet from its hutch until you are done with the process. Now, even though it is important to take out all the impurities from the hutch, it is of utter importance to leave a single corner untreated. This is vital because your rabbit would feel as if it is in a new environment if it would not be able to detect its smell. Unfortunately, it could cause your pet animal to feel stressed, which would compromise its wellbeing.
After you are done with the cleaning, you should cover the naked bottom floor with fresh materials you usually use to provide comfort to your loving friend.
Toys and Paper
If your pet enjoys playing with its toys, make sure you wash them with fresh water from time to time. Even though it would not harm them to treat the toys daily, treating them twice a week should be enough for your rabbit to feel safe.
Yes, we know rabbits enjoy playing with paper and similar rustling items, but we should warn you not to let them play with objects with paper elements. Namely, the chances of paper getting in touch with water from your pet’s bowl are major. Not only will you have trouble cleaning everything, but the smell you will have to deal with will only make it worse. Thus, think about prevention.
Stains
If you maintain your rabbit’s hutch regularly, you should not experience difficulties. On the other hand, if you do not, you might struggle to clean everything the right way. Still, you should know what to use if you fail to get rid of stubborn stains that can occur for various reasons.
Namely, one of the most effective products that will not compromise your pet’s wellbeing is sodium bicarbonate, also known as baking soda. Just mix it with some apple vinegar and disinfect the area using an old toothbrush, and make sure you do not repeat the same mistake of neglecting your rabbit’s hutch again.
Hopefully, you will put pieces of advice from the rows above to good use and make sure your rabbit’s hutch is always fresh and clean. Your furry little friend will know how to appreciate your attention and will respond to it with unconditional love backed up with pure cuteness. Isn’t it enough? We are positive it is.