I have had several rabbits in my life time. My bunnies have not always had nesting boxes which are more important in wire floor cages and outside to help protect the babies from the element. As I have kept my smaller bunnies inside in sold floor cages or aquariums for the smaller dwarfs who had babies they do not need nesting boxes just nesting material though they prefer the privacy of a nesting box if you provide plenty of nesting material like clean old angora sweaters cut up into pieces, cotton balls, dry soft sweet grass hay, shredded soft clean newspaper or paper, soft old cut up cotton socks in small pieces use caution as to type because of strings being dangerous(no material as strings can cut newborn bunnies. I have made a variety of resting places and boxes that all work well if they are provided with enough nesting material to help cover the babies and keep them in place. One of their favorites is actually a tunnel like box they run through and hop on top of. The important thing with a nesting box is to make sure it is big enough for the mommy to sit up as she sits while nursing over the babies and for her to move around in. It is better a bit larger than a bit too small in my opinion as long as she can get around the cage. A variety of boxes are suggested on the internet but my suggestion is after awhile when the mother feels more secure and stops trying to bite you when you put your hand in the cage change the nesting material and cage asap because the babies tend to mess where they stay and the mothers urinate more because they eat and drink more. I try to clean the cages close to when they are about to give birth and then within a week or sooner if it seems safe. As we had a bad rain after one gave birth outside I took her and the babies inside the next day as it is very cool outside now and they are for now in a large warm aquarium as they are dwarf sized but they do not like it as much as the cage which has more space so I am going to put them back out soon when the babies have some fur. Just try to clean around the areas where the babies are not at and put in new nesting material because a good well fed mommy will change the nesting material herself regularily which means it is time for me to go to provide new material for them as I am looking around to see about designing a better rabbit hutch than I can buy for outside that is considering the rabbit more so than the ease of the human that suits me along with the rabbit and rabbit nesting boxes. Rabbits are not stupid if you give them enough nesting material and a good place to have the babies in general they will select to have the babies there I have learned I had a three sided box that was open on one side and I did not realize the mother was pregnant she had 3 babies which she snuggled up in a corner of the box with cage sweet grass soft hay and her fur for them to survive a wet rainy night just fine to my surprise. She is a good mother a poor quality mother will not take care of them regardless of what you provide them but having them on bare cage wire may kill the babies who may get legs caught in the wire or even fall through it to get trapped and killed when the mother tries to extricate them. I did not know my rabbit was pregnant for this to happen and she only had one which was sad as when they have one often they lack interest she just did not breed well and it was her only pregnancy the baby did not survive. As they do not look pregnant just get fat slightly right before they give birth always suspect they are pregnant I have learned.

Yes, rabbits need a nestbox as they really need to feel safe and secure to give birth and a safe place to leave their young during the daylight hours when the doe is not with them in the box. You can buy nestboxes made of metal, some are open topped (especially where it's hot weather) or you can make them from wood. This place sells some:http://www.petblvd.com/cgi-bin/pb/WMF01571.html This is a link to a photo of a homemade one:http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2565233890093463120KFhAoy Here's a website with some box plans:http://www.rabbitweb.net/nestbox.asp Put the box in for her on the 28th day, unless you see her pulling hair before that time. Do not put the nest box earlier or she will sit in it and poop in it, destroying the good environment it was meant to be. A nest box can be made of 1/4" plywood. The best dimension for it is: Dwarfs: 12" long x 8" wide x 8" tall Medium: 15" long x 10" wide x 10" tall Large: 18" long x 12" wide x 12" tall Do not come down too far, though, because the babies may escape. Put alfalfa or another good hay in the box and hollow out a hole in the hay that she can get in and put the young. When you put a nest box in, the doe will start taking up hay in its mouth to prepare her nest. Watch carefully to make sure that she is putting it in the nest box and not spreading it on the floor of the hutch. If she is spreading it on the floor, she is intending to have the litter on the floor instead of the nest box. This would be disastrous. I find that if you move the nest box to where she was spreading it on the floor, she may then prepare her nest in the nest box instead. Make sure you watch for this because if she has her litter outside the nest box, the odds of their surviving are very slim. Usually, the doe will pull her fur from her upper abdomen and around the shoulders just before she is to give birth. However, on occasion, I have seen them pull fur one week before they were due. Make sure that there is enough fur pulled for the nest or the little ones may freeze (depending on the temperature). Occasionally, if a doe does not intend to take care of the litter, she will pull no fur. I always keep a box of fur on hand from earlier litters in case I need to add some or take some away.