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I need to build a vertical rabbit hutch that has enough room for two pet rabbits. In order to do this I need to find a material (or construct something) that will be friendly to their feet since traditional cages can't be used for non-meat rabbits. We need their poo to still fall down to the ground.

Are there friendly options that rabbits won't chew? For example, I was thinking about something like this, but I'm guessing the rabbits will destroy something that's not sufficiently substantial:

mesh

Another thing that's crossed my mind is to figure out a proper diameter of holes and then drill through some thick plastic sheets with proper spacing.

Any ideas?

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In short: Every material with holes big enough for poo to fall through has holes big enough for the rabbits toes to get stuck in them. This is a high risk to get trapped and struggle to get free and to break the bones in the paw and legs.

Rabbits do not like to sit up on mesh or surfaces with holes. They like to sit on straw and similar. In this material they could build a nest/scrape to lay in like in nature.

If you like to use mesh bottom and straw on top, it'll have to be much straw for the poo to fall trough anymore. In this case you need no mesh bottom anyway.

I assume your reasons are less effort when you need to clean the rabbits space?

In nature rabbits are able to make their toilet outside their sleeping space. They have a special point where poo and pee get. If you give your rabbits enough space to live (place to sleep, place to make toilet, place to run and jump...) you could encourage them to use the toilet only. Then you have much less effort to clean the enclosure.

For example my rabbits have a hut (30x30cm) with straw in it for cold time and security feeling (i.e. if a cat walks by). And then they have a tub (40x30cm, 15cm high) with wood pellets in the bottom and straw on top. It has enough space for both rabbits to lay fully outstretched in it. This is where they chosen two edges to make poo and pee. The pellets store the fluid and I use a shovel to get all dirty parts out and refill them every 14 days. The second part in cleaning is to broom the other parts clean.

My rabbits are outside rabbits. For inside rabbits you could find a lot of questions (with good answers) here for "toilet training". Because rabbits could learn where they are allowed to make poo and pee, and where NOT.

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