Rabbits handle tiny confinement much worse than chickens and so the numbers are not necessarily inflated but their needs are different. Also rabbit sizes vary a lot.
A very small rabbit like a polish in a 18"x30" cage is going to be wildly different than trying to fit a flemmish giant in there (note; they won't even fit.) Rabbits range from 2-20lbs and their needs vary accordingly.
Most common hardy pet breeds like dutch rabbits are in the 5lb range which isn't too big. I feel comfy putting a rabbit that size in a 2'x3' cage as long as there is some stuff in the cage. I have overturned cardboard boxes (so they act as both elevation change and a hidey hole), I have hanging food bowls and bottles so they take up less floor space in the cage, and then I TRY to have one hanging toy and one ground toy, though that often results in just two ground toys as the rabbits pull them down or chew through them.... And then they also get some time in a cage on the grass sometimes to change things up. I also have bedding in the cage which is hay and the bunnies love digging through it. My bigger bunnies have bigger cages. (2x5, 3x4 and 4x4 are the sizes I built mine in... Though the 4x4 were a bit of a mistake, I can't reach the back corners.
Oops.)
I have a production setup though, my rabbits are not pets (though I consider them well cared for), and rabbits will always benefit from more space and things to do. The more space you give, the more joyful natural behaviors your rabbits will exhibit like binkying and zoomies and all those fun things. In a big space rabbits are more active, etc. and are more rewarding as pets as a result.
I would not free range a rabbit. Many rabbits are very active at night, they do not go back to their cages at night like a chicken does. I would put rabbits in a pen outdoors or with supervision on a leash that way you can return them to their home at night.
As for do rabbits need company, this is hotly debated. Studies vary on this and are deeply inconclusive. For example in this study, rabbits given the option between a larger cage with other rabbits in it and a smaller cage results in rabbits consistently choosing the larger cage with another rabbit. But given the choice between two cages of the SAME size where the only difference is other rabbits, the rabbits much more frequently chose the empty cage. This could mean that the rabbits are easily stressed if there's not enough space for them with multiple rabbits or it could mean that they have no strong preference for being around other rabbits or it could mean that the desire for a bigger space outweighs the desire for company.
Another study suggests that group penned rabbits express a larger variety of behaviors and less pacing and sleeping, but the cage sizes varied as well (bigger for the group) so it could be the result of a larger space rather than a result of more rabbits around.
Certainly we see a lot of positive social behavior in rabbits who ARE friendly together - shared grooming, cuddling, etc. But we also see a lot of anti-social behavior in rabbits who aren't friendly to eachother like violence and growling and refusal to interact. This really depends a lot on the individual rabbits involved. And we know that in the wild rabbits live as groups, but it's unclear if they genuinely prefer that or if it's just a survival strategy.
It's really a subject that needs more research, like is there a cage size where rabbits DO start to prefer having another rabbit around? We have no studies that actually tell us.
What we CAN definitively conclude is that rabbits REAAAALLY benefit from more space and lots of enrichment, whether you have one or three. And so the biggest possible environment you can manage is probably what's going to bring both you and your rabbit(s) the most joy.
And if you choose to get multiples that are not already friendly with eachother please be prepared for the possibility that they two may NEVER get along. Some rabbits just do better alone even if others do very well in groups.
My personal experience is that baby rabbits can integrate into groups very well, but adults (especially unfixed ones) get very aggressive and have a lot of trouble learning to get along. This was true even when I had non breeding pets and was my experience when I worked at a petstore with pet rabbits as well - older rabbits would attack younger ones if we tried to integrate leftover adults regardless of if the cage was a new and clean territory or not. And I prefer to keep my adults as separate individuals for the above reasons.
A very small rabbit like a polish in a 18"x30" cage is going to be wildly different than trying to fit a flemmish giant in there (note; they won't even fit.) Rabbits range from 2-20lbs and their needs vary accordingly.
Most common hardy pet breeds like dutch rabbits are in the 5lb range which isn't too big. I feel comfy putting a rabbit that size in a 2'x3' cage as long as there is some stuff in the cage. I have overturned cardboard boxes (so they act as both elevation change and a hidey hole), I have hanging food bowls and bottles so they take up less floor space in the cage, and then I TRY to have one hanging toy and one ground toy, though that often results in just two ground toys as the rabbits pull them down or chew through them.... And then they also get some time in a cage on the grass sometimes to change things up. I also have bedding in the cage which is hay and the bunnies love digging through it. My bigger bunnies have bigger cages. (2x5, 3x4 and 4x4 are the sizes I built mine in... Though the 4x4 were a bit of a mistake, I can't reach the back corners.
Oops.)I have a production setup though, my rabbits are not pets (though I consider them well cared for), and rabbits will always benefit from more space and things to do. The more space you give, the more joyful natural behaviors your rabbits will exhibit like binkying and zoomies and all those fun things. In a big space rabbits are more active, etc. and are more rewarding as pets as a result.
I would not free range a rabbit. Many rabbits are very active at night, they do not go back to their cages at night like a chicken does. I would put rabbits in a pen outdoors or with supervision on a leash that way you can return them to their home at night.
As for do rabbits need company, this is hotly debated. Studies vary on this and are deeply inconclusive. For example in this study, rabbits given the option between a larger cage with other rabbits in it and a smaller cage results in rabbits consistently choosing the larger cage with another rabbit. But given the choice between two cages of the SAME size where the only difference is other rabbits, the rabbits much more frequently chose the empty cage. This could mean that the rabbits are easily stressed if there's not enough space for them with multiple rabbits or it could mean that they have no strong preference for being around other rabbits or it could mean that the desire for a bigger space outweighs the desire for company.
Another study suggests that group penned rabbits express a larger variety of behaviors and less pacing and sleeping, but the cage sizes varied as well (bigger for the group) so it could be the result of a larger space rather than a result of more rabbits around.
Certainly we see a lot of positive social behavior in rabbits who ARE friendly together - shared grooming, cuddling, etc. But we also see a lot of anti-social behavior in rabbits who aren't friendly to eachother like violence and growling and refusal to interact. This really depends a lot on the individual rabbits involved. And we know that in the wild rabbits live as groups, but it's unclear if they genuinely prefer that or if it's just a survival strategy.
It's really a subject that needs more research, like is there a cage size where rabbits DO start to prefer having another rabbit around? We have no studies that actually tell us.
What we CAN definitively conclude is that rabbits REAAAALLY benefit from more space and lots of enrichment, whether you have one or three. And so the biggest possible environment you can manage is probably what's going to bring both you and your rabbit(s) the most joy.
And if you choose to get multiples that are not already friendly with eachother please be prepared for the possibility that they two may NEVER get along. Some rabbits just do better alone even if others do very well in groups.
My personal experience is that baby rabbits can integrate into groups very well, but adults (especially unfixed ones) get very aggressive and have a lot of trouble learning to get along. This was true even when I had non breeding pets and was my experience when I worked at a petstore with pet rabbits as well - older rabbits would attack younger ones if we tried to integrate leftover adults regardless of if the cage was a new and clean territory or not. And I prefer to keep my adults as separate individuals for the above reasons.
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