4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[redhotchick]

Hi all, I'm appealing for advice for a colleague of mine.

He has built a platform to put his 2 storey rabbit and Guineau Pig house on and now needs to make a secure run to go around it. I know the Rablu has a mesh floor to stop the rabbit from digging out. Has anyone got a home made run and have you put mesh down?

Also, how do you protect from foxes? I think the run may need to be walk in height with a roof, so that the children can go into the run to hold the animals.

If anyone has built something along these lines could you post a pic please?

[clootie]

Hi Cathy, I'm just about to do something very similar. Mine are in a rablu with a penned area on grass. We move it every week when we clean it out but our little female has been digging furiously and the garden looks like we've been bombed, craters everywhere. So, a walk in run is planned and we're thinking about putting slabs down at the moment for the base - also keeps claws filed down !! We would let them out onto grass on a regular basis too of course. I did approach Tony at Aviaries4U, see thread on walk in runs, but for the size we want it may be out of our price range.

[redhotchick]

Thanks Clootie,

I suggested my friend use slabs, understandably he wants to put them on grass. I think you are right to have the option of both though.

 

When I was little the family rabbit used to just be let out in the garden. It never went anywhere. My sister had a rabbit in recent years and came to the same conclusion. She lost the rabbit twice and found it the next morning on the front lawn both times.

For the rabbits own protection though, it's not necessarily a route I'd recommend.

(I know a few "deceased pet" stories which I won't post)

[FruitandNutCake]

here is is a walk in run that I built for my rabbits/chickens to share. It is about 20ft by 9ft and has a double layer if weld mesh around the bottom - foxes can chew through chicken wire and can chew rabbits through single layer wire.

 

 

 

edit: I forgot to mention that rabbits like to dig, and it is good for them, so an earth, or grass base is better that a slab base. The digging wears their claws down better than just running on concrete slabs, and if they digg too big a hole, it is easy to simply fill it in for them to start again!

 

Also, make sure the weld mesh cage is completely surrounded by concrete paths (as mine is) or you will have to sink strong weld mesh about a foot down into the ground to stop foxes digging under. Very small guage holes should stop mice/rats and also make sure the roof is secure as well - foxes can jump in if it isn't covered!

[redhotchick]

Thanks Fruit and Nut cake. My colleague has gone down his own route. I don't think it's a walk in run. He's used chicken wire. He's been working on it a lot! I think he'd have been better getting a rablu!