This is a specific conversation about Rabbit housing — space and setup that works — ask about yours and get one honest answer for your exact situation.
inparticular.ai
Most rabbit hutches sold in pet shops are genuinely too small — rabbits need room for at least three full hops, the ability to stand completely upright on their hind legs, and clearly separate areas for sleeping and toileting. A bonded male and female pair adds another layer of complexity, because even neutered pairs can get competitive around food. Before I point you in the right direction: are these rabbits living indoors or outdoors, what space do you have available, and are both rabbits neutered?
They're outdoors, both neutered but the female is dominant and steals his food. We have a decent-sized patio — probably 2.5 metres wide to work with. They're standard Himalayan size, so medium rabbits.
inparticular.ai
That's a classic bonded-pair feeding problem — she'll eat her share, then muscle him away from his before he's finished. Neutering removes the breeding risk but it doesn't touch resource-guarding behaviour, especially with a dominant doe. With 2.5 metres of patio space you've got real options. Can you tell me roughly how tall the space is — are you happy with a two-storey hutch, or do you need something low-profile?
Two-storey is fine, we actually like the idea of them having levels to explore.
inparticular.ai
Perfect. Then I'd point you straight at the Kerbl Natura Extra Large Two-Storey Rabbit Hutch. It's a double-section hutch — two completely separate enclosed sleeping compartments side by side, connected by a shared run below. That layout is exactly what you need: you feed each rabbit in their own enclosed compartment, latch the doors while they eat, and let them back into the shared run once the bowls are cleared. No more stolen dinners. The upper level gives them the exploration and exercise space Himalayans need, and the footprint fits comfortably inside your 2.5 metres. It's solid wood construction, weather-treated, and the separate compartments mean you can also isolate one rabbit temporarily if a health issue comes up. It's available on Amazon UK and sits in a sensible price range for the size you're getting.
That sounds ideal actually. Do we need to add a separate run as well, or is the built-in run enough?
inparticular.ai
The built-in run is a solid start but for two active rabbits it should really be the base, not the limit. Himalayans are lively and they need room to genuinely sprint, not just move around. I'd attach a freestanding pen — something like the Eglu or a simple modular metal pen — directly to the hutch run door to give them a larger roaming area during the day. The hutch becomes their secure sleeping and feeding station, and the attached pen gives them the space to properly stretch out. That combination is much closer to what two medium rabbits actually need day-to-day.
Makes sense. One last thing — will the separate compartment feeding routine actually stop the food stealing or will she just bully him once they're back together?
inparticular.ai
The routine will solve the actual food theft reliably — if she's locked in her compartment while he eats, she physically can't steal from him. Once they're back in the shared space there'll still be the usual low-level dominance behaviour between a bonded pair, but that's normal social interaction rather than a welfare problem. The key is sticking to the feeding routine consistently so neither rabbit learns that rushing back out first leads to any reward. Within a week or two it tends to become a non-issue. The Kerbl hutch's individual door latches make that routine genuinely quick and easy to manage.
