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

[Scotty]

HI Chaps,

 

Just a quickie, Would our bunnies be ok if we left the door "hutch" door not the run door open for a night? Its generally been very warm at night but wondered if bunnies might get cold? (god do I sound like a bimbo?) Otherwise I fear I may have to ask my elderly mother to crawl inside the run to get the babies in whilst we are out on the tiles!!!

 

Scotty!

[beach chick]

no, as long as they are shut in the eglu run they will be absolutely fine. in fact, they will prefer it!! - they are not good at putting themselves to bed at dusk like chooks, and they do like to be up early in the morning too.

[Scotty]

Phew what a relief! - saying this they have both just skipped into their hutch. So tonight they are nice and snug... but its good to know that If we can't get to shut the door then all will be well.

 

Thanks for the quick reply!

[victoriabunny]

If you're talking about an eglu, please never shut them in - the house itself is far too small for rabbits to be confined for any length of time (hutches in which rabbits are confined should be a minumum 5 feet long). The eglu and run together are designed to be foxproof so there is no need - and most rabbits prefer to camp outside at night time anyway.

[Scotty]

OK thats a valid point, I guess if its thick snow on the ground??? or would you still recommend to leave the door open?

[beach chick]

we will leave ours open all year round: bunnies are late to bed and early to rise. as long as there is plenty of hay/straw for them to cuddle up in they will be fine - after all, they do wear fur coats!!

[victoriabunny]

Still leave it open 24/7, whatever the weather. I think it's a definite design flaw of the eglu - it looks huge from the outside, but if you measure the dimensions of the actual littertray (which is after all the only part the rabbits actually sit in) it's really very small. There was barely room for my 2 mini lops to stretch out fully when I had one, and I would think it's too small for any rabbit bigger than this to stretch out. So they must certainly never be locked in - you wouldn't shut them up in a little box, which is the equivalent! If you're worried, get a 5-foot hutch and shut them in there at night before transferring them to the eglu in the morning.

[beach chick]

and what victoriabunny said - they need more space to stretch out in than the eglu allows.

[Scotty]

Coming back to this subject.... leaving the door open for them to hop in and out has proved to be a nightmare,... Fox attacked Peppa last night and bit her foot off through the wire mess of the run. It might be small in there but at least they are safe!

[beach chick]

oh god, that's awful, I am so sorry to hear that. is she ok?

our rablu/run is inside our electric fence, and when we get our act together the bunnies will have the run of the WIR all day and all night, so I hope they wont decide to stretch out next to the walls...

apart from the space issue, the other reason I dont shut mine into the eglu at night is because they go in there for the pellets/hay, and mostly otherwise seem to use it as a toilet!!