Most rabbit housing problems aren't about bad intentions — they're about following outdated assumptions that were never corrected. Here's where the gap between common practice and current guidance actually shows up.
01Trusting the size printed on the hutch box
Many commercially sold hutches were designed to outdated assumptions and are smaller than current welfare guidance recommends. The box says "suitable for rabbits" — it doesn't say suitable for how much space they actually need.
Fix: Measure the actual footprint and compare it against a current guidance figure, not the manufacturer's own claim.
02Keeping a single rabbit
Rabbits are highly social, and a solitary rabbit is now widely considered a welfare problem in its own right — official space guidance is written for a pair, not one animal.
Fix: Plan for a bonded pair from the start, introduced gradually and correctly.
03Treating the hutch as the whole enclosure
Current guidance covers a shelter plus a permanently attached exercise area combined — a hutch alone, with occasional supervised time out, doesn't meet that standard.
Fix: Attach a permanent run or exercise area the rabbits can access any time, not just when you let them out.
04Underestimating predator risk in a "secure" garden
Foxes, dogs and birds of prey are a real threat even in ordinary gardens, and standard chicken wire is easier to breach than it looks.
Fix: Use appropriately rated fencing and mesh, and check the enclosure regularly for signs of digging or tampering.
05Skipping the hiding places
Rabbits are prey animals and need somewhere to retreat when startled — without it, they can develop chronic stress even in an otherwise spacious enclosure.
Fix: Provide one hiding place per rabbit plus a spare, each with more than one entrance so a rabbit can't be cornered.
Three of these deserve more depth than a single paragraph: see our guides to bonding a pair correctly, step by step, rabbit health and vet care, and predator-proofing a run.
Work out the exact figure for your rabbits
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Want to see what keeping rabbits is actually like?
Try My Backyard — a simple interactive simulation. Adopt one, feed it, play with it, keep its bedding clean, and see how it gets on.
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