My eco solution to rat problems

[harinder]

Hi. We have just bought an eglu hutch for our new bunnies (7 months old) I am having great difficulty getting them to go into the hutch at night. Everytime I try and pick them up, they run further in and I can't get to them!! Any advice?

 

We are bunny novices! We have had them for about 3 days.

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Also should I be cleaning the eglu out everyday?

 

Thank you.

[Evergreens]

if you look further down this board you will see that some has had the same problem harinder...mine are in 6ft hutches so i dont have this problem

[bigmommasally]

Mine aren't in an eglu, they have a wooden hutch and run, but they don't like going to bed at night. So I make this the time that they have their pellet ration, they are always desperate for their pellets so are happy to go in to get them.

[harinder]

THANK YOU! that is a great idea about putting the pellets in at that time in the evening!

 

today they went inside at about 6-ish and i quickly went out and closed the door, much to their surprise!

[victoriabunny]

I wouldn't shut them in at night. There is no need to - the eglu and run are fox-proof so your rabbits will be safe. They are well suited to coping with the cold (unlike guinea pigs) and actually cope with cold much better than they cope with heat, and if they choose to spend the night in their run rather than the eglu they will be fine. If you like you could put them a cardboard box with straw in it in their run, but chances are they will choose not to use it. As long as the run is covered (a shower curtain can be a good addition to the standard cover) they will be fine - the damp isn't good for them. Shutting them in will probably distress them and the space is much too small for them to be confined in - if you measure the actual interior space it is not big at all (certainly not big enough for any but the smallest breeds to fully stretch out with legs to the side as rabbits like to do). The RSPCA minimum hutch size for rabbits is 5 feet long to enable them to stretch out fully - the eglu interior is less than half this. If you don't want to leave them in the run all night you would be better buying a standard hutch and putting them in that at night, then transferring them to the eglu in the morning.

[harinder]

thanks for your reply victoriabunny.

 

we no longer shut them in at night - they just were not happy. so yes we do leave them out and they do seem ALOT happier.

 

we are total beginners at looking after bunnies . . . this forum has been an AMAZING help to us - i seem to be on here all the time reading up on advice.

 

i guess i just expected them to be like us and 'go to sleep at night' but we have quickly learnt that they don't and prefer it outside at night.

 

we will invest in a shower curtain of some sort - the ground has been quite damp with the rain over the last few days. i do have a cardboard box in the run too now and they love sleeping under there . . . as long as they are happy and i know i'm doing the right thing for them.

 

[achhean]

Hi,

 

I have the same problem with my bunnies. The thing is I can tell they're cold because their ears are; but even when the sprinklers go off, my rabbits just sit there and get soaked.

(They're not living on the grass anymore though).

 

Do you think that in this cold weather it is really ok for them to run around all night?

[harinder]

hi achhean

 

yes i think the cold is ok for them. they seem ok and happy. they do seem to be going into the when the weather is really cold. we have put loads of newspaper and hay down - they seem fine.

 

i've stopped worrying now - they are happy.

[franklyrabbit]

Oh that's great news!

 

Now that it's colder, I'm stuffing the eglu with straw too and it's well trodden by the morning, so I know they go in there. It's always a worry isn't it, that they might not be warm enough but I think that the little fellas are more resilient than we think!

[Mrs AVP]

I get mine in it every evening by putting a carrot or an empty box of maltesers in there and this soon makes him run in!!

 

I then remove the box.

[franklyrabbit]

That's interesting ... do rabbits particularly like maltesers do you think

 

I'll try them with an empty box of tea bags.

 

Bonnie and Bandit are at the moment squeezed behind the rake in the garden - they think they're hiding

[Mrs AVP]

My bunny seems to love chocolate which isn't particularly good for them but mine seems to like the smell. He was a full time house bunny and once I found him in the lounge attacking the maltesers!!!

 

This works every time!!

[franklyrabbit]

Forget the tea bags then, I'll see what they think of a bit of Galaxy. I much prefer Dairy Milk but don't buy it - or I'll eat it. OH consumes Galaxy like there's no tomorrow and is still as slim as you like.