The golden rule is that your bunnies’ accommodation can never be too big!
Rabbits love to run loose in the garden – many of you will have seen the sheer pleasure your bunny gets from running full pelt down the garden, twisting and jumping and kicking their back legs in the air. However this access should be supervised as rabbits are at risk from many predators, most obviously from foxes and other known predators but also from neighbourhood cats.
Safe and secure accommodation must therefore also be provided. The minimum recommended hutch size for two average sized rabbits is 5 foot long x 2 foot deep x 2 foot 6 inches high. The height is particularly important to enable your bunny to sit up on its hind legs.
One advantage of this type of accommodation is that you can sit in with your buns and enjoy their company (and carry out essential cleaning) without braving the elements! It also allows your buns to come to you and form a friendship with you on their own terms.
Not only does providing larger accommodation keep your bun active and entertained and therefore happier and healthier, but I cannot emphasise enough how much more pleasure you can get from your buns by allowing them to express their natural behaviour and curiosity.
Where it is not possible to provide daily exercise in the garden, a large exercise run should also be attached to the hutch. Again the exercise run should be a minimum of 2 foot 6 inches tall and be as large as possible to allow your bunny freedom to move around. Rabbits are most active at dusk and dawn when most of us are tucked up in bed! This run should be placed on concrete to prevent your bunny digging out or predators digging in.
If access to the garden is not possible, you might also consider providing a larger separate exercise run which can be placed on the grass. This run should be large enough to allow your rabbit to run rather than just amble from one end to the other. Alternatively if your run is designed for the hutch to stand in side, that run can simply be lifted off and moved to a grassy area on days where your bunnies activities can be supervised!
Sadly many standard hutches and runs sold by pet shops do not meet these requirements. This is particularly true of the two-tier hutch and run combinations. These may look fabulous but unless your bun is very small, it will not be able to stand up on its hind legs on either level.
Often the best solution is to design and build your own accommodation. This way it can also blend in with, or become a feature of your own garden. Possibilities include summerhouses, play houses and my own personal favourite, converting a garden shed into a bunny home. With a bit of imagination, you can add shelves and ramps to provide your buns with space, exercise and stimulation. An aviary or run can then be built on the side of the shed (bearing in mind the 2’ 6 height recommendation). The run can then be accessed by either a sliding wooden door or a cat flap.
Anyone else have any other ideas to add or piccies, feel free
