Housing Plans for my New Babies

:wave:

Newbie to the forum here!

After fifteen joyful years of being a mum to giant buns (Frenchies and Contis) I sadly lost my last Frenchie boy a month ago. I didn't last long as a bunny free zone, though; I've adopted a pair of baby English Spot bucks

This is my first time having "normal sized" rabbits and one thing I have noticed straight away is the difference in energy levels. My big buns were usually older rescues so very chilled out; my new boys are absolutely bonkers! I've never seen so much racing and binkying...it's super cute but makes me tired just watching.

They're outdoors as I plan to get a dog next summer, and I didn't want to get them used to being indoors full time, only to move them outside or shrink their territory when Fido arrives. At the moment they're in a 6x2x2 hutch and the run isn't attached; I appreciate this isn't ideal, but since they're both bucks I wanted to avoid spending a fortune on a complicated setup until I know that they'll be OK together as adults. I've had bonded males before but I know it's riskier than male/female.

My fingers are crossed for this pair as they are littermates and will be neutered ASAP (my vet has said she'll do it at 14 weeks as long as their plums have dropped) - however, I have a spare hutch ready in case of issues, and have kept the run separate for this reason also. If all goes belly up and they can't live together as adults, my plan is to attach the run to one hutch, get a second run to attach to the other hutch, and find both boys a compatible female.

However, assuming all goes well, I'd like to write off one side of the garden to the buns so that they have maximum running area - I'd like to have one hutch at one end of the garden, the other one at the opposite end, the run in the middle, and tunnels linking the three main areas, maybe with a few other smaller enclosed areas or a top box on the run. The easiest way to do this looks to be the runaround system - has anyone got experience using this? Is it easy to link up the mesh tunnels and top boxes and things to an existing run, or is it easiest to do it with one of the runs they sell? Any other thoughts on how I could max out running space for my boys? (Bearing in mind that I already have two hutches and a run, so ideally don't want to be starting again with a shed or similar!)

All thoughts much appreciated

I have no experience but I think there's a company called Runaround that specialise in those kind of tunnels / boxes

Runaround of the Welfare Hutch company both do systems for linking things with tunnels. It sounds like those two will need a lot of space :lol:

If you've already got good hutches, you might like to look at aviary panels - that way you can build additional run space in whatever shape you like - even walk in so you can spend time with them.

If you'd got a big bit of garden, another option is to pop in some fence posts, and wrap mesh around them to create a run. Again you can go big/small and any shape you like.

Second hand is worth a look too as you could use smaller runs as 'boxes'. Obviously you do want a big run space too so they can get up speed and have room for the jumping/playing.

Thanks for the responses, guys I've had a look at Runaround, this seems like a great option as they will even design a layout for you!

Yes, these two are nuts and will need lots of room...it's so much fun watching them play, though <3