DIY Rabbit Base

[krissie1234uk]

Hello, I joined this forum over a year ago when I had first planned on getting rabbits. My husband was originally going to build me a hutch, however he built half of it and then never got round to finishing it! We have recently moved house (well, 6 months ago!) and now do not have the same outdoor space as previously. This means that any buns we may get in the future would more than likely be house buns.

Which brings me to my question, has anyone converted furniture to an indoor base? If so, do you have pictures or any advice/tips? I have been looking at sideboards but I am struggling to find anything deep enough. I had thought about an old baby cot converted somehow, which would require more work but may solve the space issue?

We are going to be bun-sitting a mummy and two babies in the not so distant future so would like to have something sorted for them when they get here. They are currently completely spoiled and have the free roam of an entire house, but as we are in rented housing, own 2 cats and have a lively 3 year old I think they will need space to hide away and also may need to be shut in when we are not around.

I have looked at the NIC cubes and whilst these do seem ideal, I would ideally prefer something which looks nicer which is why I thought of converted furniture.

I look forward to any response!

Thanks, Krissie x

 

[Elena]

Chelle converted something and had it so they had an outdoor hutch with a tunnel to inside with the furniture base. (linky) Most furniture isn't going to be big enough though, you need around six by two at least and with at least eight hours a day in a bigger area for exercise.

Is it not possible for you to bunny proof a room? I've gone through all sorts of setups and this is by far the easiest for me. It doesn't need to be the whole house. I have two pairs who cannot meet or one pair fights so I have one pair, Mini and Mischa, in my bedroom, and the other pair, Nutmeg and Smudge in the spare bedroom/study.

 

[krissie1234uk]

They will have the run of the porch (very large!) and the living room when we are in so that they can be supervised, it's just something for them to call home and for when we are out of the house. We could probably leave them in the porch when we are out but I would be worried that they would try to get out when we come back in!

My other option is our spare room, but this has a bed in it which significantly reduces space. Maybe in the long run, if we were going to get our own rabbit we could get rid of the bed but it is handy if we have guests! For the ones we are looking after they would have to make do with the bed in there...

I wouldn't be happy to give them free reign of the house here, as I wouldn't want them to hurt themselves when I wasn't there.

 

[Linzielegs]

We have hinged doors for our bunny den, two wooden batons attached to the wall on either side of the corner and then four doors hinged together with piano hinges so that I can fold them flat back against the walls when not in use or when the buns are out during the day. We also made one of the doors a barn door so it's easy to open the den and drop in food and change water a couple times in the day without actually having to go in and also lets my son hand feed over the door so the buns get used to him and his quickish movements. We also put little wire mesh windows in all the gates.

 

[krissie1234uk]

Thanks for the reply - That sounds really interesting! What sort of doors did you use? How big is the overall space?

 

[Linzielegs]

The space is around 29 or 30 square foot, we used plywood sheets for the doors nothing fancy just lots of scrap wood that my Dad had mostly from old desks and used a jigsaw to cut out some squares to add in a couple of mesh sheets from wickes that are trimmed with some pine strip wood. Was really easy to make though, I'll try and pop some piccy's on tomorrow, would do it tonight but need my OH to do it since I'm technologically incapable.

 

[Elena]

I have a bed in my room too they are pretty good and although they did wee on it for a while they worked that out of their system. A tarpaulin over a bed keeps it protected. Mine love sleeping under the bed, it's a perfect 'burrow' for them.

 

[krissie1234uk]

Haha, it's a divan bed so they wouldn't be able to get under it unfortunately. I was only worried about the space left after the bed was in there, it's not a massive room!

Anyway, I convinced hubby that we needed to remove the bed, so this has been moved out along with more or less everything else out of the room. This will give them space but I'm concerned about my carpet and the skirting boards. We have an old rug which covers about a third of the floor but it will be just my luck they will wee on everything else! Any tips? Apparently mummy is litter trained but babies aren't yet.

Also, how can I protect my walls and skirting boards?

Final question, I promise (for now)! Will they get bored? Can I give them anything to keep them entertained whilst I'm at worK?

 

[Elena]

Haha, it's a divan bed so they wouldn't be able to get under it unfortunately. I was only worried about the space left after the bed was in there, it's not a massive room!

Anyway, I convinced hubby that we needed to remove the bed, so this has been moved out along with more or less everything else out of the room. This will give them space but I'm concerned about my carpet and the skirting boards. We have an old rug which covers about a third of the floor but it will be just my luck they will wee on everything else! Any tips? Apparently mummy is litter trained but babies aren't yet.

Also, how can I protect my walls and skirting boards?

Final question, I promise (for now)! Will they get bored? Can I give them anything to keep them entertained whilst I'm at worK?

Could you get an offcut of lino? Big enough to fit snugly over the carpet. I've seen people do a 'wall of cardboard' using big envelopes secured with bulldog clips to protect the walls. I use NIC cubes to protect anything specific, I don't find mine chew on skirting but mine are a bit older and neutered so it might be best for you to go overboard with protecting and then scale back once they are neutered as they will be a bit tidier then.

i don't find that mine particularly play with toys very much. They tend to spend most of their time eating hay or sleeping so I make sure the hay is topped up with fresh regularly. They like tunnels and things to jump on and hide under and sometimes play with those willow type balls or a treat ball. They also get apple sticks when its pruning season from Fluffers, she sells them on here.

 

[krissie1234uk]

Thanks, I'll look into the lino thing, or maybe just search ebay/freecycle for old rugs? We are just going to be looking after a mummy rabbit and 2 babies for a week or so, so I'll see how they get on with the skirting boards.

I have a couple of the willow balls from when we looked after my sisters rabbit, and luckily for us we have an apple tree in our front garden so I can always snip a few twigs off for them. We have a good few cardboard boxes from when we moved so I can stick a few in the room for them too.

Thanks for all the advice by the way, it's very much appreciated!

 

[Elena]

No problem, sounds like you have it sorted :thumb: