MelissaPenguin
Well-Known Member
I plan on having hutches as well as an outdoor pen for my rabbits to be living in. I have had rabbits before, but they were in rather small hutches, and in order to maximize my room for my buns, I have a few questions.
My aunt breeds rabbits, and she has hers in basic wire cages, outside. She puts them under trees, and have a very well shaded backyard, but sometimes during the summer, she sets up a pen, or just lets them roam the backyard since it's a giant yard and she keeps it very well fenced in for her ducks and the dog (who knows the rabbits are his babies!) I've been told that rabbits need 100% shade all the time, and HAVE to be in hutches with covered tops during sunny days. But I was also always told by my aunt, that rabbits can do fine in fairly hot weather, as long as it's not sudden, and they are given a frozen water bottle once, sometimes twice, a day. I've never heard her, or anyone else in personal experience, say anything about rabbits dying of heat in my area, and I know I never had a problem with it when I was younger.
I have a 8' x 8' dog kennel that I plan on converting into a rabbit pen, with 4 sections, with a tarp over the top. Would this provide adequate shade for them? Would I need to block off the sides that are exposed to the sun with a tarp as well so they don't get ANY sunlight? I was very excited about finally being able to use the dog kennel for something, and giving my buns a fairly large area to play, then my mother said she talked to her boyfriends neighbor who used to breed rabbits, and he said they can NEVER be in any sort of sun light.
Is there a way I can make a dog kennel (chain link) work? I have no problem tarping it all off, but then I wouldn't be able to see my buns. And I just don't think it'd be fair to them to have them in a tarp box.
My aunt breeds rabbits, and she has hers in basic wire cages, outside. She puts them under trees, and have a very well shaded backyard, but sometimes during the summer, she sets up a pen, or just lets them roam the backyard since it's a giant yard and she keeps it very well fenced in for her ducks and the dog (who knows the rabbits are his babies!) I've been told that rabbits need 100% shade all the time, and HAVE to be in hutches with covered tops during sunny days. But I was also always told by my aunt, that rabbits can do fine in fairly hot weather, as long as it's not sudden, and they are given a frozen water bottle once, sometimes twice, a day. I've never heard her, or anyone else in personal experience, say anything about rabbits dying of heat in my area, and I know I never had a problem with it when I was younger.
I have a 8' x 8' dog kennel that I plan on converting into a rabbit pen, with 4 sections, with a tarp over the top. Would this provide adequate shade for them? Would I need to block off the sides that are exposed to the sun with a tarp as well so they don't get ANY sunlight? I was very excited about finally being able to use the dog kennel for something, and giving my buns a fairly large area to play, then my mother said she talked to her boyfriends neighbor who used to breed rabbits, and he said they can NEVER be in any sort of sun light.
Is there a way I can make a dog kennel (chain link) work? I have no problem tarping it all off, but then I wouldn't be able to see my buns. And I just don't think it'd be fair to them to have them in a tarp box.