Placing on concrete.

We are getting two new baby bunnies next month. We unfortunately do not have any grass areas on our back yard and the whole yard is concrete.
When we had rabbits previously we just had a standard wooden hutch that was off the floor and then a run on the grass.
I’m looking at buying a friends rabbit enclosure off her which is open bottom. Is this fine to have on concrete all the time? Will I need to line the floor with anything? Or would I be best getting a wooden hutch that is off the ground and then getting a run that I can put them in through the day round the front of the house?
The front isn’t secure so can only go in a run on the grassy area when I am around to supervise. Thanks.

Hello and welcome to the forum :wave: My rabbits live outside in a shed with an attached enclosure which is on concrete. I've never had any problem with this for any of my rabbits. It is also more secure for them to be on concrete as predators will not be able to dig into their run. The main part of their diet should be hay, but you could also cut some fresh grass for them to eat, introducing any new foods slowly at first.

There is a lot of information on this forum and if you have any further questions, then please just ask. This site is also very informative: https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/ especially the section on vaccinations, which are very important for your rabbits.

Do you mean the rabbits will just be in the enclosure all the time ie outside in all weathers?

What sort of enclosure is it? I can recommend either a shed with attached run, or a child’s playhouse with attached run. You can usually pick a playhouse up on a selling site for £50 x

tonibun said:

Do you mean the rabbits will just be in the enclosure all the time ie outside in all weathers?

Click to expand...

No, there is a covered area for sleeping, cold weather etc and this can be closed off when needed. Although we will likely move them into the garage during the winter which is also concrete flooring. They will also be allowed in the house during the day as long as one of us is home to keep an eye on them.

TheBee said:

What sort of enclosure is it? I can recommend either a shed with attached run, or a child’s playhouse with attached run. You can usually pick a playhouse up on a selling site for £50 x

Click to expand...

It’s an enclosure that my friend had specially made.

I like my rabbits to be able to get off the ground especially in wet or very cold conditions as they are not as hardy as wild rabbits.

tonibun said:

I like my rabbits to be able to get off the ground especially in wet or very cold conditions as they are not as hardy as wild rabbits.

Click to expand...

Yes: concrete is very heat-sapping! Mine have their run on concrete: it's also open-bottomed so we weigh it down with bricks. I'm not sure it would stop a determined fox but they haven't ventured into the garden in the 6 years we've had rabbits. They also have a playhouse, hutch and mesh cube dogcrate, connected by tubes: this picture shows the run, playhouse and hutch, but it wa before we got the dogcrate which connects to the hutch, plus they're out on the lawn in this picture (tube comng out of the hutch) which is something we do when we're home all day as the pen is open-topped.

tonibun said:

I like my rabbits to be able to get off the ground especially in wet or very cold conditions as they are not as hardy as wild rabbits.

Click to expand...

I agree :thumb: Mine have the shed where they can go to keep dry, warm up or get out of the wind.

We actually call our adjoining runs their 'enclosure' and so I took OP's original post as meaning their run and that there was an additional area.

Thanks for everyone’s replies. My partner has suggested getting some kind of plywood or something similar to attach to the bottom so it is no longer an open bottom. Not sure why I didn’t think of this myself. Will probably be expensive for the size of it but my partner can get a discount so hopefully won’t be too bad.

Anyone recommend what type of plywood etc we would need? Thanks

You could always put something on the concrete (or part of the enclosed area) - soil, play bark, etc. Or cover a section with decking (wood or plastic). If the enclosure is not secure, it can be meshed first to stop bunnies digging out / predators getting in. If you use ply, it needs to be marine ply or OSB sheet so it doesn't fall apart when it gets wet. Very thin ply won't be rabbit proof, either, and won't offer much in terms of insulation.

Remember that rabbits need quite a lot of room to run around. Concrete in the main area is fine (and makes cleaning up much easier), as long as they have a warm, dry shelter off the floor.

The Rabbit Welfare Association has minimum housing recommendations:
https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/rabbit-care-advice/rabbit-housing/