Product: Rose Cottage Hutch for Rabbits and Guinea Pigs

No longer available on Pets at Home website. Please take a look at the one below. 

Size: Double tier hutch measuring (H122 x W152 x D61cm)       

Only available in the UK

I use my hutch inside, so I can’t comment what it’s like outside. It has plenty of space for your little guinea pigs and has a removable tray upstairs fitted with plastic to really be able to give the hutch a complete clean. There are four doors altogether with metal catches which can be stiff to open and close, but at least they are strong and secure. It is a well made hutch with good quality wood and the instructions are quite easy to understand on how to put it together.

There are rubber feet protecting the wooden legs and this makes it easier to move about without lifting the whole hutch, depending on the surface. The tray can be easily moved out with two slotted handles inside the wood. With this hutch I like that there are the strong wires that fit the windows of the hutch, it’s easy to hang up the water bottles. Upstairs there is the darkest area where the guinea pigs can sleep and hide away from any noises, with a complete wooden door.

The thing that is a bit annoying, is where the wires filling the windows fixed from the wood, the gaps show and hay falls down in these combined with little hairs, meaning it is not easy to clean them out. It would have been good if they had wood covering over.

There are two major problems and they are the ramp is just a wooden one that has a wall on the other side. This is dangerous for guinea pigs as they need more grip instead of the wooden steps. This is why there needs to be a ramp with green felt, you may be able to order online somewhere or ask a local pet store to order one from the supplier. Perhaps making one up with buying the supplies. The other problem is that there is no walling to stop the guinea pigs from possibly falling down from the upstairs area, so I bought a small sheet of plywood and then measured and cut to fit the gaps.

So there is some work to do on top to make this hutch more friendly for guinea pigs to use, but it is a nice hutch. It is a question of whether you want to buy something that already have these included. It is a shame that these weren’t thought of when it was manufactured.

Pros and Cons 🙂

Pros

• Well made
• Instructions are quite clear to understand
• Rubber feet
• A spacious 5 by 2 foot double tier hutch
• Easy to clean

Cons

• Will need a bit of DIY done with installing a felt ramp and walling upstairs
• Hay falls into the gaps where the wires are fixed from the wood

I really would recommend covering the whole hutch with a sheet of tarpaulin or a plastic cover to protect it in wet weather, otherwise it will wear and possibly leak in rain. Although wood is good at insulating, there still needs to be enough other materials, if the guinea pigs have to be kept outside when it’s a bit colder, but when it’s too cold, they must come inside or a garden shed for example.

If you are in a situation where you can keep your guinea pigs inside and using a hutch would suit which ever room you will have them in, then this is ideal, bar the extra work needing to be done. It has amples of space and the more important part is you are able to easily access all areas of the hutch to be able to place inside hay and bedding as well as cleaning out.

If using the hutch inside, place it on a Lino or tiled flooring like mine is on. The hay will take more effort to clean off a carpet and then you will have poops maybe falling out from the hutch and marks from cleaning and they can spray out quite far leaving marks outside, which is a warning to another guinea pig to stop annoying it. A smoother flooring will work better with hutches, as it is much easier to clean up.

Ratings:

Quality         10 out of 10

Size         10 out of 10

Practicality       7 out of 10

Overall           8.5 out of 10

Thank you for reading my review, please feel free to leave a comment below and I will reply back as soon as possible.

Sharing is caring!