Burrowing

[Tango]

Hi all.

I'm wanting to build an outdoor running area for my bunny to use during the day. I know that rabbits burrow and i was wondering if anyone knows how deep i'm going to ned to bury the sides of the cage in the groundto prevent the rabbit burrowing out and escaping? was just wondering whether it'd be more feasible to bury, or just lay the cage woring on the floor as well so he can't burrow out?



any ideas or expereicen woudl be appreciated... thanks so much



May

 

[Bunnys_rule63]

What I did with my permanent run is buried the sides about2 inches into the ground but i also covered the ground with wire, but I then put turf over it so that they wouldn't be walking on wire. You could also lay strong wire orconcrete slabsaround the edges of the runto stop them burrowing out or put the run on concrete.

 

[cottontails]

I would say about 5 inches but then it really depends on how much your bunny likes burrowing .My guyonly seems to want to burrow on fleece and doesn't try at all when he is out on the grass!:bunnydance:

 

[Bassetluv]

I too would recommend laying a ground wire, as some rabbits tend to tunnel quite far. When my rabbits are outside I have to keep an eye on Anna, as she is a digger. She dug a tunnel under my raspberry bushes at the beginning of the summer that went down and in on a slant; it probably went straight down for four or five inches and then curved and slanted, and ran for a good six or seven feet under the ground! :shock:So if she had been digging within the confines of a run, she would have easily gotten out. :?Danged bunnies! :bunnydance:

 

[pamnock]

As Bassetluv pointed out, the rabbits canburrow at leasta few meters deep, so you'll need to keep an eye on their daily digging progress and bury the wire rather deep under the ground.

As you mentioned, you can also just lay wire on the ground. Some people use a movable enclosure so the rabbits can graze on fresh grass.

Pam

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

Well I have a lot of experience with this because my bunnies were little escape artists and my bucks were really bad for digging.

What I noticed is my only dug against something like a fence, never in the middle. So we bent the bottom 8" of wire over the ground. This stopped it completely because they could no longer dig right against the fence so they no longer wanted to dig. You can also attach chicken wire near the bottom of the fencing and bend it over the ground as well.

I do not suggest just insetting it in the ground a few inches because my rabbits always burrowed 3 feet or more under ground and even then I don't think they were aiming at coming up.

You can dig up the whole run and lay wire under the grass but I don't suggest it because the wire corrodes and it's hard to replace.

 

[naturestee]

Although I think MBB is always outside when her rabbits are in the run. If you'll be letting your rabbit have access to the run while you're not around, you will need to put wire over the whole bottom.

Also, if you won't be there make sure you have a sturdy cover on the run. Some rabbits can climb like you wouldn't believe. Hawks are an even bigger worry.

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

You should NEVER have your rabbit outside without you anyways. I'm always outside when mine are out. I might not be right with them, but I am around the yard working near them.

My little 4.5 lb rabbit jumps 3'6" but when she was younger (and only 3.5 lbs at the time) she would jump 4' easily. You really need to make sure that can't happen. She also used to climb the wire. And when one of my bucks was a baby, he would actually scale plywood and get over it.

If you aren't with them at all times (which, again, I am strongly against) then I suggest both covering the ground and having a sturdy, top on it as well.

 

[NZminilops]

My outdoor bunny has dug a bit of a hole in the ground (right by a fence, of course!). I let her do it as she seems to have so much fun, but every evening when she goes back into her hutch I fill the hole back up again with the dirt and the next day she goes and digs it out again. I think it's great exercise for her. Her hutch has a wire bottom with a wooden rest area, but she has free run of the yard during sunny days when I can keep an eye on her. She's about the size of a cat and they never seem to hassle her but I still keep a very close eye on her anyway.