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Worried about overnight predator issues?

TonyT1988

New Kit
Hi all

First time to this forum, Although have read a few threads ramdomly every so often! I am hoping some May be able to lend their advice.

I have built a very large rabbit encloshre in the garden. It is over 2m high so that me and my wife can access without bending and it is approx 8m x 3m in size.

At the moment our rabbit has his cage inside the run and we put him away at night time. However when I have finished it, he will be living inside the shed with a tunnel leading to the run.

Our plan is to have our bunny freely roaming inside /outside 24/7 without restriction. However we have concerns.

The run was built with the mesh going approx 1.5 feet into the ground, as well as there being newly laid slabs around the perimeter of the run. And all the mesh is proper welded steel mesh, 50mm square holes and cost a fortune - so fox intrusion is not something I am worried about.

However honestly I am worried about rats. I know that they would most likely attack a rabbit and this has concerned me. I don’t expect rats in my garden but I guess you never know!

What are people’s thoughts? Is it safe and is the rat issue a minimal one? I was thinking about putting clear Perspex on the outside of the run up to waist height to stop them climbing up if they saw the bunny - again, any thoughts on this?

Thanks all :)
 
Hi Tony, and welcome!

It sounds like you have built an amazing set up for your bunny - no mean feat!

...personally, I wouldn't be overly worried about rats so long as my bunnies were fully vaccinated (most rats have far better stuff to eat than hay, and there's never any pellets or food left around long enough in our house that a rat would even have time to contemplate...), and the one time my Honey Bun found a rat sat in the aviary, she went for it :lol:

I would still be a little bit wary of foxes though - I can't quite tell from your description whether you mean the mesh goes 1.5 feet in to the ground as part of the perimeter/sides, or, whether it is entirely enclosed underneath...? Foxes are astonishingly good diggers, and would easily dig a tunnel to get under and round if it isn't enclosed underneath. The other thing to consider is your bunny getting a big scare if she/he came face to face with the fox through the bars -- I don't know if it's just heresy, but I have read stuff about bunnies going in to shock on sight of predators, so may be best not to risk it?

...I like to put my bunnies away in to the shed for the night and they tend to retreat there naturally at about 11pm in any case (other than the really hot weather or if they are really being obnoxious and refusing to go in! :roll:).

I hope that helps a little bit, even just to have a think - there's probably no right or wrong answer, so long as they are safe!
 
Hi there. Thank you for your detailed reply!

I read somewhere that rats will attack and kill a rabbit for food. Is this not true?

Also - it isn’t enclosed underneath however the mesh goes 1.5 feet into the ground and then along the entire perimeter on both sides of the mesh are concreted in slabs. (Well on one side at the moment but that’s because I haven’t finished it yet!). A fox would have one hell of a job getting in there. He’d have to dig at least a metre down, and then around 2 metres inwards and then another metre back up again to have any chance of getting inside, as well as hoping that whole time that the concrete above doesn’t cave in on him!

I just remember seeing somewhere that rats would attack kill and eat a rabbit which is my biggest concern with leaving them out at night

Thanks!
 
Hello Tony and welcome. Squishes has given you excellent advice. Rats will only come in if there is food for them and there would need to be a few of them to attack your rabbit but I can understand your concern. Weasels might if they can gain access. Are you thinking of getting your rabbit a friend?
 
Thanks again for the replies it has helped my worries!!

Our garden is pretty fenced off and secure but you never know what could make it’s way in I guess!

He did have A friend but tragically he died a few days ago. Heartbroken ��

When the run is completely finished we will be looking at finding a new friend
 
Hi :wave: Welcome to the forum :)

It sounds like you've done an amazing job with the enclosure and taken the right precautions. I'd love to see photos when it's all done.

I'm not sure about lengths rats might go to, but I don't think I'd be concerned.

Sorry you lost one of them x
 
If a rat wants in, nothing will stop them, they could eat through perspex. But honestly I wouldn't be concerned, even if a rat were to enter the enclosure, they aren't malicious, and would only bite if threatened. In such a lovely sized setup neither are likely to corner each other.

I have heard of rats harming a rabbit, but it was confined to a 4ft hutch and fed ad lib so there was constantly rabbit food around which is what attracted the rats in the first place.

If you feed properly your rabbit will eat their pellets in seconds so there wont be any to share with any rats.
 
The run sounds fabulous.

If you know you have rats, I would look at ways of getting rid of them. Otherwise, don't worry. As long as there isn't excess food around - either in the hutch / run, or bulk storage - rats probably won't be interested. Keep things clean and tidy and all stored food in secure containers and you should be OK. Rats don't like things being moved or disturbed, so good housekeeping and no readily available food (ie rabbit pellets) should be enough to deter them.
 
Hi all
Really appreciate the replies thank you!

Regarding food - how often do you feed rabbits? To be honest we just keep his food bowl topped up all the time! I guess this is bad!

I will try and attach a photo - the run is currently in two as you can see, as the recently deceased Dennis did not get on with thumper yet it still seemed like they enjoyed each other’s ‘non physical’ company!

Poor thumper seems very sad last few days.
 
Regarding food - how often do you feed rabbits? To be honest we just keep his food bowl topped up all the time! I guess this is bad!

Mine get an eggcup full of pellets once a day, a selection of herbs/forage/veggies once a day and then unlimited hay 24/7.
 
Rabbits should be eating mainly grass or hay. I give mine a handful of pellets on an evening. They get random greens and forage (from the allotment mainly) during the day, and constant access to fresh hay (in hanging baskets in the run and trays in the hutch). The pellets are eaten quite quickly - the rabbits see it as a treat. There is some useful information on feeding rabbits by Frances Harcourt Brown (renowned rabbit specialist / vet). There are a few pages linking on from this one:

https://www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/articles/free-food-for-rabbits
 
Oh! Well that’s not quite what we have been doing lol. We always make sure their pellet bowl is topped up. And we give them fresh veggies every day and they always have hay. Maybe we will cut back on the pellets lol!
 
Okay can’t figure out how to attach a photo from my phone ! Lol

I think you have to use something like Imgur. I am really sorry you have lost a rabbit and although the 2 boys didn't get along they probably would appreciate another rabbit "next door" as it were. When you feel ready to look for another friend (is your boy neutered?) he would prefer a lady, preferably spayed. It's difficult to get 2 boys to get along, even when they are neutered. Yes you are feeding far too much by the sound of it, hay is the main food with a small amount of pellets and veg, forage or herbs. When rabbits become overweight they start to have health issues so it's up to us to keep them nice and slim. I wonder why your rabbit died, do you know? Was he vaccinated? Anyway I do hope your remaining rabbit stays healthy.
 
Hi again !

I will check out imgur now and see how it goes!

Yes our two were boys. We bought them from PAH at the same time, however we found out later that thumper was Almost a year older than Dennis! Which might explain why they were never that compatible. They were both neutered however Dennis was always very aggressive and trying to hump thumper all the time. We actually asked a vet recently to check he has been ‘done’ and she said he has, and that it’s rare for a rabbit so still have these tendencies but is possible. Nethertheless they seemed to enjoy each other’s company as neighbours!

Thumper is very placid so I’m hoping that any new rabbit we get in the future will be compatible. I’m sure a lot easier than Finding a match for Dennis had it been thumper who had passed! He was a right sod lol - will miss him loads.

He had such a character.
Basically he had breathing problems when we first got him and he had to have an operation on his nose. This was 3 years ago. Basically on Sunday of last week I noticed he was very sad and completely placid / uncaring about being touched or picked up which was so unlike him. I didn’t know what was wrong with him but thought maybe he just didn’t feel very well.

I went to check on him on Monday morning and he was the same but Also had not touched a drop of his food or veg etc (which is very unlike him).
I took him inside to give him some love and I noticed he was making a weird noise when he was breathing. I had a closer look at his nose and he had what looked like a tiny twig slightly hanging in his nose. I tried to get it with some tweezers but it seemed pretty wedged in there and was clearly affecting his breathing.

It was 9:05 and the vets opened at 9. I was trying to get through but they had their automatic machine on saying ‘we open at 9’ etc, which was rather annoying!
I kept trying to get through, with no success. Then about 5 minutes later I realised Dennis had died while sitting on my chest. Heartbroken :(

I’ll try and post a picture of him too. I took a 10 second video of him struggling to breathe while I was trying to get through to a vet. Little did I know they were most likely his last breaths :(
 
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