Rabbit Rescue/ Educating People on Tiny Hutches

Beapig said:

Hi everyone,

Someone local to me is selling a large white doe. I went to view her and she's in a hutch which is only 2ft long. It's unbelievable. She has 4 kits who are being kept in a seperate hutch, but the same size. The father is just let loose in the garden because she doesn't want them to breed again! Which seems so dangerous, what if a fox took him in the night?

My heart completely goes out to the mother. She's clearly depressed and hardly has room to move. I'm almost definitely going to save her but I don't have a spare hutch. How can I put together something temporary for her which is safe? I have lots of spare slot together Bunny Business run panels.

The lady who has the rabbits seemed to be a genuinely nice person, just clearly ignorant as hell. How do I tell her, as nicely as possible, that her setup is completely unsuitable? She's planning on keeping 2 of the kits and also the father. I already told her that she needs to get him neutered. Is there like an RWAF PDF file or something that I could give her?

I shouldn't really be taking on another rabbit, but I already love her and I don't want her to go from one tiny hutch to the next. She needs to be loved.

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Beapig said:

Oh, an quite importantly, will it be possible to bond her with my duo Hamilton and Beatrice at a later date? I'm extending their accomodation this summer so space won't be an issue

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MightyMax said:

You can never tell with bonding so it's best to be prepared for all eventualities.

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Zoobec said:

Bless her and well done for rescuing her

There’s this you could show the breeder https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbit-housing/why-hutch-not-enough/

The set up you have made as you say is better than she had before. I wouldn’t leave her unattended in the open topped run area as she will be open to predators like foxes cats and dogs but I’m sure you already know this. Is the other run meshed under the grass? If not I would do, or put slabs down so she can’t dig out or predators dig in to it.

Not sure if you would be able to bond to make a trio, have you seen the trio bonding sticky? And mischief and tinkers mum has some trio bonding videos too. Rather than risk the bond of the other two it might be better to bond your new girl with another rabbit.

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CometLucy195 said:

Your set up would be better than what she has, I’d put bricks in front of the run to make sure she doesn’t get underneath? Ive just got a rabbit to bond with my pair, see the bonding thread, so you could give it a go? I guess if it didn’t work out you could rehome her if you didn’t keep her and get her a buddy?

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Beapig said:

Thank you for the advice. I keep wondering if the situation is bad enough to justify an RSPCA call, but I don't know. I'm most concerned for the buck who is just loose in the garden with no shelter at all. Should kits be away from their mum at 9 weeks?

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daphnephoebe said:

The buck will be of interest to the RSPCA due to no shelter. (Against the 5 freedoms to not provide suitable shelter).

The kits can stay with mum as long as needed but bucks would need to be neutered or separated by 3 months.

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Beapig said:

Thank you for the advice. Yes, it looked as if the buck was just let loose with no shelter at all. When I arrived he was just sat under a bush.

I'm thinking of the long term...if I rescued her, would mamma be happy with one of her female babies to keep her company? Or is this a bad idea since they're separated now?

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