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Finally made progress on the shed (picture heavy)

Moonstone

Warren Scout
When you last saw the shed it looked like this:



Now, the wood treatment is complete (Lakeland paints totally chewable and waterproof), the balcony is on and I've secured wire to the bottom to deter rodents from going underneath.



The inside is almost finished. It has a ramp going up on the left and all the way round to the balcony on the right.

 
I've added a little day hutch to the far left corner, which has been painted, reinforced and had lino added to the internal floor. I added a bunny tunnel entrance so make it more secure inside.



There is also a tunnel going out of the back and into a hole in the wall of the shed. I want to join this to their run area eventually so that they have a back door exit but it's currently just acting as a window.



The far right corner has a large litter tray from Smart Cat.



I've attached it to the wall with brackets to stop them moving it around, to do this I had to make holes in the little tray with an electric drill and jigsaw.

 
You can see I've added steel strips to the chewable edges to try to make the shed last longer. They're from Screwfix and they weren't cheap but they were handy as I could bend and break them as required.

A shelf on the left is holding up the normal bunny stuff. I was a bit paranoid about it falling down and used three brackets plus I added a little lip so things are less likely to fall off.



There's an old horse rack next to it for the hay etc.



It was much heavier than I expected so as well as screwing it into the wall, I added an upright piece of wood to support it and screwed that into the bottom of the ramp.

 
I let the rabbits into the shed a few days ago and discovered three problems.

- The ramp is too slippery for them, they were alarmed by it and I need to add roofing felt to it I think. Not sure whether to remove the wooden struts. Are they uncomfortable for hocks?

- They are only little rabbits and they wanted to jump onto the day hutch but it was a bit too tall! I'm going to make a little shelf to go next to it.

- The front right corner isn't working. The end of the ramp is too near the edge of the hutch and the entrance hole is too high off the ground, one bunny couldn't manage it without a leg up. I'm planning to resolve this by shortening the ramp and adding a little table type thing at the end to raise the height of the ground in that corner.



This is my attempt at stopping the rabbits running out when the door is opened. The top right part is on hinges. Woodworking is not one of my skills (the shed was bought)!



I did say it would be photo heavy!
 
Crikey, you have been busy !! It looks to be a very professional job.

Re the ramp, I'd probably not use roofing felt on it as Bunnies will chew that. I know of a case where one Bunny made himself very poorly by doing so, he had to have gut surgery. What about using non slip safety flooring ?
 
I let the rabbits into the shed a few days ago and discovered three problems.

- The ramp is too slippery for them, they were alarmed by it and I need to add roofing felt to it I think. Not sure whether to remove the wooden struts. Are they uncomfortable for hocks?

- They are only little rabbits and they wanted to jump onto the day hutch but it was a bit too tall! I'm going to make a little shelf to go next to it.

- The front right corner isn't working. The end of the ramp is too near the edge of the hutch and the entrance hole is too high off the ground, one bunny couldn't manage it without a leg up. I'm planning to resolve this by shortening the ramp and adding a little table type thing at the end to raise the height of the ground in that corner.


I did say it would be photo heavy!



Your photos are amazing, and I love all the work you've done!

I personally wouldn't put roofing felt down, but you could attach pieces of carpet, or else this kind of thing?

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/...slip-underlay-art-80227877/?cid=gb|ps|pla||||

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Top-Home-S...d=1504442473&sr=8-2&keywords=rug+non+slip+mat

I got loads of this at the Pound shop, and it's great for bunnies who aren't confident going up ramps.

A lot of my ramps have wooden struts, but maybe more struts than yours have? The buns are fine on them but you can adapt to what makes your bunnies comfortable :)
 
Thank you, both.

Jack's Jane - it mostly was a professional job as the shed itself came from Boyle's.

MightyMax - that non slip stuff looks great but wouldn't they chew that too?
 
Okay, thanks, I'll think it over. I think whatever I use, the important thing will be covering up the edges with some wood.
 
It looks lovely :love: you could maybe lift the bottom of the ramp onto a block of wood so that it isn't as steep, then they might be able to manage the wooden ramp. You could try non slip vynil, carpet, or some sea grass matting on the ramp if they can't manage it.
 
Pretty please can I move in? :D
It looks amazing!! I absolutely love the balcony!

When Kirsty struggled with his new ramp, I cut squares of carpet to size (maybe try a carpet shop for off cuts?) and slotted them in the spaces. If you use a carpet with a high enough pile, the steps should be level so wouldn't be as easy to chew.
 
I was just thinking that they generally are more likely to chew the edges of things. They have a Trixie ramp in their current shanty town with a ramp that has roofing felt on it and they haven't chewed it but maybe it's because they can't get at the edges?
 
Thank you for your feedback and advice, Zoobec, Lagomorphlion, Lisa and The Three B's.

I'm tempted to move in too! The house is in such a state as we recently moved, I think the bunny shed is the only place with no boxes.

Zoobec, I like the idea of pivoting the ramp. Decided to go with putting in a ledge though as then I can put somewhere else to hide underneath it. It would be good to have somewhere they can peak out from as the day hutch doesn't have a window.

Thanks all. Will continue with it this week, as they've now seen inside they keep scratching at the door that leads there!
 
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Ha, your anti-egress gate is a lot straighter than mine! :lol: Let's just say mine does the job ;P It's great, and I agree on the carpet front (we have tons of old carpet and I use it for everything!).
 
Looks fab!

If you look at the housing sticky under improving an old hutch fluffers has put carpet on the ramp to help grip - there is a really good photo which might help.
 
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