My eco solution to rat problems

[pagesguineas]

Hi

 

I've been looking into the prospect of rabbit/guinea pig fostering and noticed they have very strict rules about housing and that they come and inspect. I know that the Eglu has not always been the favourite in terms of rescuing a rabbit and I was wondering if anyone had any experience/been declined because they had the Eglu.

 

Thanks

 

Catherine

[FruitandNutCake]

I don't actually own an rablu, as my rabbits are house rabbits in the winter, and in the summer they have 24 hour access to a 20ftx9ft walk in run with free range access to lawn and garden during the day when I am around. So very rarely are they confined to a small space.

 

So I would look at what overall living conditions the rabbits will have - ideally you would need a bonded pair, so was you planning to keep them confined to rablu and the run it comes with? Or were you planning to use the rablu as a 'bedroom' within a larger walk in run so they have space to run around? If you can show that the rabbits will not be confined to the rablu, then I'm sure you should be OK.

 

Maybe someone with actual experience of attempting to foster with a rablu may come along later, and give their thoughts.

 

It probably also depends on the person who is inspecting your set-up. If they like the look of your overall rabbit accomodation, they might not worry about the actual size of the rablu.

[pagesguineas]

It would be mainly the Eglu they would be living in, and the garden when we are home and watching as there are two nasty terriers that have torn down the fence (don't get me started!) and broken into our garden on numerous occasions and I just can't trust leaving them for long periods of time unsupervised.

 

It's just most rabbit owners I know have their poor rabbits in tiny little hutches with little or no access to a run, so if they refuse to let me foster rabbits in an Eglu with it's big run I would be amazed!

 

I'll contact a rescue centre and see what they say, the worst they can say is no!

 

As for what kind of rabbits, I would only foster smaller rabbits and would take on bonded pairs and single rabbits, whatever they give me really! Big rabbits are not suitable to live in an Eglu in my opinion.

 

Thanks for your reply

[FruitandNutCake]

I would be very wary about leaving a rabbit in an eglu run if you have terriers around. I would suspect that a terrier could get in an eglu run, or be able to grab the rabbit through the mesh. It has been known for foxes to get at rabbits and guinea pigs through mesh ( that is how I lost my first rabbit and guinea pig 20 years ago in a very secure walk in run). Also rabbits are very good at burrowing and really need to be able to dig naturally to keep their claws down and may be able to dig out of an eglu run if it is on grass -given time!

[pagesguineas]

Thanks for your concern, but the terriers are on the OTHER side of the fence and only try and break down the barriers we have put up when the rabbits are running free. When the rabbits were in the old hutch (which was much inferior safety wise than an Eglu) they never even bothered, and the buns were in that hutch for 2 or so years. So I know it is safe. I would never endanger my rabbits by putting them out in a run which I deemed unsafe.

 

Regards

Catherine

[FruitandNutCake]

All you can do is approach the rescue centre and ask them about fostering/adopting. If they do a home check, they will let you know what they think. Have you been to the place where you were planning to get the rabbit from? Maybe talking to the person in charge of the rabbit section may give you an idea on their views about eglus for rabbits and what their minimum requirements are.