Last Updated on March 13, 2023 by Marjon Ramos
Covering your rabbit’s cage at night is not ideal. It could lead to less air circulation, a lack of natural light, your rabbit could get scared, and your rabbit could chew on the fabric.
If you need to absolutely cover your rabbit’s cage, you can partially cover it so that your rabbit can still have enough air circulation and natural light.
Just make sure that the hanging fabric is not reachable by your rabbit, so they can’t chew on it.
Now that I’ve given you the gist of the article, read on as I explain in more detail why you should not cover your rabbit cage at night:
Table of Contents
What are the dangers of covering your rabbit’s cage at night?
Contrary to popular belief, rabbits cannot see in the dark. Their vision in the dark is comparable to us humans. So, covering your rabbit’s cage at night is not ideal and can be dangerous.
Here are the dangers of covering your rabbit’s cage at night:
Lack of air circulation.
Rabbits are susceptible to heatstroke. Covering your rabbit’s cage at night might restrict the air circulation in their cage/hutch.
Rabbits can quickly die of heatstroke, especially in the summer when the air is hotter, even at night.
Heatstroke is not the only problem a rabbit can have when there is less air circulation. Respiratory infections are also possible, which can be fatal to rabbits if not treated.
Your rabbit might chew on the cover.
Another possible danger when covering your rabbit’s cage is the possibility that your rabbit might chew on the cover.
Rabbits are curious creatures. They like to chew on things like fabrics and other types of linens to test if they are food.
A little bit of fabric would not kill your rabbit if they accidentally ate some. But large amount of fabric eaten by your rabbit would likely lead to dangerous digestive problems like GI stasis or impaction.
Your rabbit would be scared.
Rabbits cannot see in the dark because they do not have a tapetum lucidum, which is what gives animals the ability to see in the dark. Their vision in the dark is comparable to us humans.
While it’s true that rabbits are not scared of the dark because they live in burrows in the wild, covering your rabbit’s cage at night would likely make their cage pitch black dark, which would scare a rabbit.
Rabbits prefer dim lights and would likely be more alert if their cage was pitch black dark.
Your rabbit needs their morning sunlight.
Covering your rabbit’s cage could ruin their body clock. Rabbits use the patterns of natural light to moderate their body clocks.
So if your rabbit’s cage is covered for long periods of time, it could ruin their body clock. This, in turn, could ruin their health because rabbits that are not seeing natural light could develop depression.
Can you partially cover your rabbit’s cage at night?
Yes, partially covering your rabbit’s cage is the best way to go if you need to absolutely cover it. Covering it partially would solve all the problems I mentioned above.
A partially covered rabbit cage would still have enough air circulation and natural light. Just make sure that your rabbit would not be able to reach the hanging fabric so they can’t chew on them.
Image credit – Ed Brey, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
