Daylight needs for buns

My girls currently live outside. They have a spacious hutch and large run, and are free to "please themselves" in this safe area during the summer months, between 8am when I open the hutch door and 9.30pmish when they get put to bed.

When my children were younger, we "converted" the back of the garage into a playroom, the door is off the kitchen. We did this ourselves, so a floor and ceiling was put in and the walls were plasterboarded. The space is about 8ft by 9ft and it was great for painting and play doh etc but we never sought planning and unless we converted the whole garage we couldn't put a window in, since the side overlooks next doors front drive and this would breach planning regs. The lighting is flourescent lighting in there. As such, the kids never spent all day in there!

I keep looking at it and wondering whether this would be a great place for my two bunnies. Certainly, am not precious about anything and the sockets were all put very high up because of the children, so apart from the fact that the carpet would need replacing with lino and the wallpaper will get chewed, I think it's pretty much bunny proof already. They would go out in their run as usual, when the weather permits, obv.

The issue is with the lighting. I am worried that the lack of natural daylight will be a problem. Am I right?

It is pitch black in there with the door closed and the lights off. Thoughts and advice would be appreciated as it is a great space and I feel that, especially in the winter months, it would be better than outside but I am not sure such artificial lighting is healthy?

Natural light is certainly important - I think it's vitamin D as in humans. My previous dear old Dylan had a problem with his calcium levels and thus needed more of it. Given he was a house bun and apparently hated sunbathing if he went out anyhow, I ended up with a UV lamp (the sort you see over reptile tanks) to help him out (although he avoided that too!)

So, whilst the accommodation sounds brilliant, you may need to either make sure they go out or do something with the lighting. Depending on where abouts you are, you can have mine.

Natural light is certainly important - I think it's vitamin D as in humans. My previous dear old Dylan had a problem with his calcium levels and thus needed more of it. Given he was a house bun and apparently hated sunbathing if he went out anyhow, I ended up with a UV lamp (the sort you see over reptile tanks) to help him out (although he avoided that too!)

So, whilst the accommodation sounds brilliant, you may need to either make sure they go out or do something with the lighting. Depending on where abouts you are, you can have mine.

Edit: if if read t properly, I see you are in Reading!

Thank you.

I wonder whether we could get away with replacing some bricks with glass blocks, though that wouldn't necessarily give them much sunlight, and from what you say about your house bunny, not enough Vit D. I can't offer a sunroof either, as our bedroom is above it :roll:

hmmm... back to the drawing board. For now, anyway. Just thought it might save hubby from building me the ark I'd like :lol:

Vitamin D is not absorbed through glass, only via direct contact with the animal. But I do think animals need natural light, probably for other reasons that we don't understand.

Would be an option to have a run permanently attached to the space? They could then use it as a giant hutch and go out in to the run with a shelter there is case of rain... I have seen a thread on here where a hole was made in the wall to allow such access. Also natural daylight bulbs may help. Sounds such a great space it would be a shame not to use it.

tulsi said:

Would be an option to have a run permanently attached to the space? They could then use it as a giant hutch and go out in to the run with a shelter there is case of rain... I have seen a thread on here where a hole was made in the wall to allow such access. Also natural daylight bulbs may help. Sounds such a great space it would be a shame not to use it.

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The garage runs from the front drive to our kitchen at the back. At the side is a walkway (not very wide) so attaching a run directly would not work. However, I have just invested in my first Runaround tunnel. It is rigid, but I believe they do flexible ones. I may be able to attach one of those, running along the walkway and into a run on the patio by the kitchen window...worth considering. I am happy to transport them to and from the garden but they get daylight from sun up to sun down, even in their hutch, at the moment so even that arrangement would mean a drastic decrease. It is such a great space, it seems criminal to not have the girls able to use it. I will keep musing...and will research natural daylight bulbs, too.

Could you replace the garage door with one the has windows? My garage door has windows and it really lights up the room. I too plan to have my bunnies in there once I get a shed for the tools. X

It's not as important as you might think. thousands of people have indoor buns, myself included, who very rarely see the outside. You can get vit d through good quality hay, so its not that necessary.

Absorption of vitamin D isn't really a major problem, as as GrahamL says there are plenty of bunnies who've never been outside who are fine. What is a problem though is the affects that no natural light would have on buns circadian rhythm, and I personally don't feel it's fair to put them in a space that's entirely dark with no windows - even if it's only in the evenings. Replacing the door with one with a window would be ideal, and as you've said replacing some bricks with glass ones. This'd allow enough daylight to not mess with their sleeping patterns or cause any psychological problems. Just a little is fine since they're not shut in 24/7.

Dandelion Den Bunnies said:

The garage runs from the front drive to our kitchen at the back. At the side is a walkway (not very wide) so attaching a run directly would not work. However, I have just invested in my first Runaround tunnel. It is rigid, but I believe they do flexible ones. I may be able to attach one of those, running along the walkway and into a run on the patio by the kitchen window...worth considering. I am happy to transport them to and from the garden but they get daylight from sun up to sun down, even in their hutch, at the moment so even that arrangement would mean a drastic decrease. It is such a great space, it seems criminal to not have the girls able to use it. I will keep musing...and will research natural daylight bulbs, too.

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Not sure which runaround tunnel you have atm. The plastic ones are very rigid when they arrive, but they soon loosen up. You might have to use the pipe hoops to hold them down while they're still stiff. Or alternatively you could easily make the same setup with mesh boxes, as I'm not sure if you could make a very very tight turn from the enclosure to run down the side, which it sounds like you might want? Since you probably don't want the tunnel to cross your walkway!

http://www.runaround.co.uk/products/small-cornering-box From the enclosure to turn 90 degrees, then a series of these http://www.runaround.co.uk/collections/mesh-products/products/mesh-tunnel. Alternatively, to save money, you could use the cornering box to create the turn and then run some of the runaround pipes straight along the ground. When you need to turn again, just use another cornering box Might be a few hundred pounds depending on the size of the space but probably cheaper than creating a whole new shed or something for the buns!

Runaround's customer service is great, I thoroughly recommend them. They're also doing purple and pink doors atm instead of green!

I have the Bridge Tunnel Link at the moment, and it is solid. Actually didn't do the job I had in mind for it when we had a closer look, so it is a play tunnel at the moment.

Thank you for suggestions, I shall measure up at the weekend and see if we can come up with something. It seems a pit to keep fishing tackle and hoovers in there when my buns could be benefitting.

Other alternative is that I move all the shed stuff into the back of the garage and give the shed (8x4) over to the rabbits. Now, there's an idea.

Hubby will be thrilled when he gets home tonight and sees his little weekend "list" :shock:

But, the animals come first and all that

Dandelion Den Bunnies said:

I have the Bridge Tunnel Link at the moment, and it is solid. Actually didn't do the job I had in mind for it when we had a closer look, so it is a play tunnel at the moment.

Thank you for suggestions, I shall measure up at the weekend and see if we can come up with something. It seems a pit to keep fishing tackle and hoovers in there when my buns could be benefitting.

Other alternative is that I move all the shed stuff into the back of the garage and give the shed (8x4) over to the rabbits. Now, there's an idea.

Hubby will be thrilled when he gets home tonight and sees his little weekend "list" :shock:

But, the animals come first and all that

Click to expand...

Ah yes the bridge link is the thicker, more sturdy tube. The standard tunnels (4 or 8 ft lengths) are much more bendy. They really are pretty damn bendy.



This is just a pic I took out my window just now - you can't see it well but the connection is in the middle of the side of the run that you can't see, so it makes quite a sharp turn there and it manages fine. It can really become very bendy! I've also had the run closer to the shed and had to snake it backwards and forwards :lol: It starts off a little stiff but soon loosens up, much more so than the thicker tube which is much less bendy.

The only thing the long tube is can't do is make very very sharp turns because the walls don't cave at all, which is why I think a cornering box might be helpful so you don't end up lying the tube across your whole path!