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Living in style

Bishop Brennan said:
The hutch is built onto an extra large pallet, about 5'4" wide and about 4'2" deep. The whole thing is just under 4' high.

The previous hutch I built was about the same width but only just over 2' deep inside. I gave that one away on Freecycle a few weeks ago.
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Is that 5'4" halved? It looks like it is separated down the middle? Does it have a run attached?
 
helgalush said:
Is that 5'4" halved? It looks like it is separated down the middle? Does it have a run attached?
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Yes it is halved down the middle. It may sound small but it's still much larger than the rubbish people pay £100+ for from Pets At Home. Plus they have the upstairs gallery as well.

There is no run as yet, I'm waiting on a good spell of weather so I can re-build the retaining wall and re-turf the 1st layer of garden for them, hence the 'rabbit doors' fitted in the rear upstairs off the gallery. There will be a completely enclosed run for them so they can come and go as they please. Each of them will have a run area of around 35 sq. feet.

I do have a temporary enclosed run I can use if I need them both out for some reason but it's only 6' x 2' and divided. I'll be taking this one apart and using the materials to make the new run.

At the moment they are sharing garden time on alternate days, providing the weather isn't too bad. As long as I am around to keep an eye on them and next door's cats (who think they own our house lol) they are fine and enjoy investigating the borders and potted tubs. They're not too keen on my potted Agaves though :lol:
 
Wow you've gone to a lot of trouble! You will def need to shade the roof in warmer weather and it will be great if you can get an attached run asap :)

Are you not going to bond the bunnies together than you could take the divider out and double their space?
 
*lily* said:
Unfortunately, it is far too small.
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???????


I've been keeping rabbits for about 15 years, including a lot from the RSPCA as rescues and I've never been told that before :?


In any case, once the run is completed they can come and go as they please.


As a side note, their home is still at least 4 times the floor area of the so-called hutches you can buy in the shops.
 
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I want you to build me one :O

I'm quite creative and good at DIY so I may try myself ;) Probably faily though....misserably...where did you get the paneling from? Thats must cost you a lot!
 
Bishop Brennan said:
???????


I've been keeping rabbits for about 15 years, including a lot from the RSPCA as rescues and I've never been told that before :?


In any case, once the run is completed they can come and go as they please.


As a side note, their home is still at least 4 times the floor area of the so-called hutches you can buy in the shops.
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I can't be bothered to argue.
 
LauryStevens said:
where did you get the paneling from? Thats must cost you a lot!
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It's plastic and I get it from a trade supplier called EuroCell. It's 300mm wide boards (divided into three planks) and comes in 5m lengths. The white costs me about £8 per length and the foiled (woodgrain finishes) cost about £20 per length. I tend to use a lot of the stuff so I get it cheaper than most people could.
 
*lily* said:
Unfortunately, it is far too small.
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*lily*, I thought the same thing when I first noticed it was split in half, but then if it's four feet deep and has the levels, I think it has about the same floorspace as a 6X2 hutch :)

With a nice big run aswell, I think it'd be fine. :):wave:
 
5ft 4ins divided in 2 is 2ft 7ins each. Is that right? So 2ft 7ins x 4ft deep is about 10 sq ft ish. Too tired to work it out exactly :lol: Are there 2 floors? Bit smaller than a 6 x 2 - 12 sq ft but the run they are going to have sounds fantastic!! :D
 
Bishop Brennan said:
It's plastic and I get it from a trade supplier called EuroCell. It's 300mm wide boards (divided into three planks) and comes in 5m lengths. The white costs me about £8 per length and the foiled (woodgrain finishes) cost about £20 per length. I tend to use a lot of the stuff so I get it cheaper than most people could.
Click to expand...

Ooooooooooh! *dribble* I like the sound of those :D
 
*lily* said:
I mean that I can't be bothered to argue as to why the hutch is too small :roll:
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There's no need to argue. If you explain your point of view in an adult manner I shall take it on board, whether I agree or not. Conversely I would expect you to do the same regarding my opinions. It can all be discussed calmly and without starting a housing war.

Wouldn't it be a boring world if we all agreed on everything? ;)
 
I have to say I agree with Lily. I do think it is very creative and you clearly have gone to a lot of work on it. Unfortunately I dont think it is quite 'good enough' in terms of space - see RWAF guidelines below - yes it may be bigger than lots of other 'hutches' but that doesnt mean it is big enough. I do think with all the glass and the clear ceiling and insulation that it could heat up quite quickly, so would be worried about it when the weather starts to warm up in the spring. It is also quite enclosed and not much open viewing space - there is the teeny tiny window at the bottom and the glass one at the top - but the top doesnt look quite big enough for bunny to stretch right up on hind legs - which ok may not so important as they can do that downstairs but then I thought that they periscoped so that they could view things - so if they are doing this on the lower levels there isnt really anywhere for them to see while doing so - they cant see outside.

Size guidelines from RWAF:

Hutches should be a minimum of 6ft x 2ft x 2ft, and preferably with an attached run to allow the rabbits to exercise at will. The run should be
6ft x 4ft x 4ft as a minimum. Hutch size and runs can never be too big, so don't skimp, and rememberthat a baby rabbit will grow so never be
tempted by the ‘starter hutches’ as they are a false economy.

I dont want to argue either and this is all I want to say, you will either agree or you wont but maybe you could think about adapting it (we've had to do that a few times) and I really hope that you can arrange a run asap for them.
 
helgalush said:
I have to say I agree with Lily. I do think it is very creative and you clearly have gone to a lot of work on it. Unfortunately I dont think it is quite 'good enough' in terms of space - see RWAF guidelines below - yes it may be bigger than lots of other 'hutches' but that doesnt mean it is big enough. I do think with all the glass and the clear ceiling and insulation that it could heat up quite quickly, so would be worried about it when the weather starts to warm up in the spring. It is also quite enclosed and not much open viewing space - there is the teeny tiny window at the bottom and the glass one at the top - but the top doesnt look quite big enough for bunny to stretch right up on hind legs - which ok may not so important as they can do that downstairs but then I thought that they periscoped so that they could view things - so if they are doing this on the lower levels there isnt really anywhere for them to see while doing so - they cant see outside.

Size guidelines from RWAF:

Hutches should be a minimum of 6ft x 2ft x 2ft, and preferably with an attached run to allow the rabbits to exercise at will. The run should be
6ft x 4ft x 4ft as a minimum. Hutch size and runs can never be too big, so don't skimp, and rememberthat a baby rabbit will grow so never be
tempted by the ‘starter hutches’ as they are a false economy.

I dont want to argue either and this is all I want to say, you will either agree or you wont but maybe you could think about adapting it (we've had to do that a few times) and I really hope that you can arrange a run asap for them.
Click to expand...

Agreed - plus you mentioned the panelling is plastic - that heats up quickly too.
 
Bishop Brennan said:
There's no need to argue. If you explain your point of view in an adult manner I shall take it on board, whether I agree or not. Conversely I would expect you to do the same regarding my opinions. It can all be discussed calmly and without starting a housing war.

Wouldn't it be a boring world if we all agreed on everything? ;)
Click to expand...

I didn't mean a full blown argument!

Just that I would state my reasons why it's too small, you will disagree etc and it will just go backwards and forwards with no one changing their opinion, and the thread will more than likely end up locked as we would be going round in circles!
 
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