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Tunnels for 8kg+ giants

echolouise

Young Bun
I'm in love with the run around burrow pipes and wanted to kit out earnest shed/run/garden with as many as possible in the hopes it would cheer him up whilst we find him a new lady friend.
Tried passing him through cut out holes of the larger sized run around tunnels and its seriously not happening.
Found some bendy drainage pipe online which has a 12" diameter. Has anyone ever tried these?
I know it wouldn't be the same quality as the runaround and I wouldn't use it to connect things, I just want a tunnel he can fit through to play with. The pop up kids play tunnels you get last about 5 mins outside.
 
ive only used runaround, that was standard size runaround pipe. But it differs to most drainage pipe in that it is ribbed inside for traction, and has ventilation holes. I know other RU members have used other pipes, hopefully they will see this :thumb:
 
There are 2 types of drainage pipe, lined and unlined. Unlined gives you the ribbed surface and both have "ventilation" holes as thats where the water goes into the pipe to drain the land.
From what i can see, runaround pipes are land drainage pipes with bunnies painted on the side but I am happy to be corrected. The runaround connections are bespoke though as land drainage pipes are connected using a push fit sleeve.
However to buy 300mm land drain is not cheap, about £40 for 3m plus shipping. You could try begging at a building site for unused lengths or ask guys doing road repairs etc.
 
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Yep, I concur - looks like land drainage pipe. The other option is to go for square 'pipes'. Much easier to DIY! Just like building a very long skinny run. So long pieces of wood, with some cross bars every couple of food for support and then plywood or mesh cover. Or if you just want a short piece, look for a bucket or barrel you can cut the end off. Beer fermentation buckets around about 45 across and 2' tall and don't have a taper like some buckets.
 
As Tamsin says, simple wood tunnels are easy to build and can be fairly rough and ready.
Mine use 6" lid and sides with thin supports for the lid, but obviously any size can be used depending on need and naturally you can use 4 sides and not 3 like me. Cost for my 3 tunnels was less than £5. Get your timber, I used tannalised as it lasts for 10yrs outside without further treatment, it is also very cheap. Just make sure you get it from a sawmill or timber merchant and not B&Q. My sawmill will even cut your wood there and then at no extra cost which is worth thinking about both for ease of transporting home and less cutting at home.

IMG_1209_zpsepffxu42.jpg
 
However to buy 300mm land drain is not cheap, about £40 for 3m plus shipping. You could try begging at a building site for unused lengths or ask guys doing road repairs etc.
If it's just play tunnels, most building sites are happy to give you offcuts. I was really lucky that there were major highway works all round here, so got all mine for free, but the 6mm stuff is very common. The 12mm stuff is much rarer and you need to be prepared to take it there and then :) They're easily cut with a saw though.

Good luck!
 
As Tamsin says, simple wood tunnels are easy to build and can be fairly rough and ready.
Mine use 6" lid and sides with thin supports for the lid, but obviously any size can be used depending on need and naturally you can use 4 sides and not 3 like me. Cost for my 3 tunnels was less than £5. Get your timber, I used tannalised as it lasts for 10yrs outside without further treatment, it is also very cheap. Just make sure you get it from a sawmill or timber merchant and not B&Q. My sawmill will even cut your wood there and then at no extra cost which is worth thinking about both for ease of transporting home and less cutting at home.

IMG_1209_zpsepffxu42.jpg

These look great. Everything our boy has has been either handbuilt or modified from something else - can't believe we never thought of this. We have 5 16ft lengths of 6x1 left over from another project and I'm sure if we made them 2 boards high and 2 boards wide he wouldn't know the difference. Looks like my weekend has just been planned for me lol.
Did you use green decking screws or just normal ones?
 
Bog standard wood screws plus proper, foaming, waterproof woodglue. Thats waterproof not water resistant, Gorilla make one, its brown not white, impossible to wash of hands and clothes and actually needs moisture to help it set.
 
Robin Is about 8kg and fits through a 12 inch tunnel .
He actually fits under the sofa which is about 4 inch :D
 
Robin Is about 8kg and fits through a 12 inch tunnel .
He actually fits under the sofa which is about 4 inch :D

They are weird aren't they. We have those green plastic tunnels which have an 8" internal diameter and he will only put his head in but the huge bucket with 8" holes cut into the sides he will happily play with. Runarounds large bunny pipe only has 7.5" diameter so it's smaller than what we have. His bed is a big wooden box full of straw and hay with 12" holes in the sides and he has space to spare when using them. I'm pretty sure the tunnels he digs in the garden have a much smaller diameter.
Where did you get your 12" tunnel?
 
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