Rabbit runs - Affording Your Rabbit More Fun and Exercise

By William Gabriel

Do you keep your rabbit inside your house all the time because you fear that some harm can come to it? There is not so much to fear, there are rabbit runs available in stores or you can make one, so your rabbit can have more fun and exercise and be the rabbit that it is.

Why not consider a rabbit run

Those who have rabbits for pet know that rabbit need exercise, sunlight and plenty of fresh air. Keeping the pet rabbit in the house or in a cage, without so much human interaction and without a companion almost always leads to boredom and destructive behavior such as chewing anything they can get near.

Letting the rabbit in the yard, on the other hand has its risks. For one thing, because your rabbit is basically a herbivore, it could chew leaves of poisonous plants and cause it to be sick or die. Even the grass or non-poisonous plants could have been sprayed with herbicide or chemical fertilizers could have been placed at the base of the plant.

All these are hazards to you're per rabbit. In addition, their might be spots in your yard infested with fleas.

Those hazards could create more problems for you and your pet than just keeping it inside your house or in the hutch.

Not just a run

If you have made your yard safe for your rabbit, your potential problem does not stop there because rabbits are animal preys and so it has to contend with their natural predators like dogs and cats, foxes, opossums, weasels, and raccoons. If they are loitering in the yard, they are also easy targets for hawks and even owls.

Pet rabbit owners usually go around this problem by providing rabbit runs for their pets. They either buy one from the shop within the vicinity where they live or go shopping online.

Selecting which of the rabbit runs you find is best for your pet can be easily done if you know what you are looking for in a rabbit run. For one, it should provide a wide space for your pet to run around and play. At the same time, it must be small enough to be able to move it when you need to.

A standard run is one which is made of wood and wire mesh which usually are made of materials that can easily destroyed and gnawed by the rabbit. Fox proof runs consider the possibility of the rabbit being attacked by predators, especially a fox.

To a fox, a rabbit is perhaps one of the most delicious meals it can have. In the first place, a rabbit run made of less sturdy materials can easily be destroyed by a fox. Foxes have been known to be able to jump over a six foot fence or wall, can dig easily and make a tunnel to a rabbit run or even under a fence of a yard just to be able to enter the place where your rabbit run is located.

People think that if they have a chicken wire for their rabbit runs, their rabbit is already safe. Foxes have strong and powerful jaws so that chicken wire and plywood are easy jobs for them.

Only if the run has the flooring made of strong welded wire that cannot be destroyed by a fox and at the same time one which will not cause injury to your pet's feet. At the same time that kind of flooring will allows your pet to run on the grass.

Nor could they be assured that just because they are there supervising their pet while inside the rabbit run, no predator can approach the run.

If they are in the city for example, urban foxes have been accustomed to people so that when looking for their prey, they are not scared by the presence of people. If they see their targets, they would not mind the people present.

In the face of such a determined predator, what use will your run have, unless it is made of say strong welded wire mesh properly and firmly attached to the wooden frame and the door secured with metal locks or bolts?

How about a raccoon which is known to pass through the drainage canal to go places in hunt for their food.

The more so if your home is located near a forest. The predators are many and of different kinds.

Additional requirements for a rabbit run

The run must provide some shelter for the rabbit if there is a mild precipitation. This will also serve as a resting place for the rabbit where also it can hide when it sense some danger approaching.

Rabbits have sensitive ears and sense of smell. Their eyes can see over a wide angle so that it can even scan the overhead for threats to it. When danger is detected, it can immediately run for cover or hide in its shelter provided for it. This shelter serves also as a shield from the scorching heat of the sun especially during the summer months.

But it is not intended as a permanent dwelling

A rabbit run is not intended to be the permanent dwelling of your pet rabbit. It should only serve the purpose of play and exercise and having more sunlight and fresh air. It is not advised that you leave your pet there even at night.

Rabbits tend to be safer inside the house at night, and for socialization with the family and other occupants of the house.

So after all it has its limitations

Yes, rabbit runs serve many useful purposes for the rabbit but it is not the cure-all to some problems generated by having such a pet.

About the author

For more details about rabbit runs ans rabbit run, please visit us online at http://www.the-rabbit-hutch-shop.com

Rabbit Runs: Pamper the Inner Wanderer in Your Rabbit

By : Christopher Lunsford


Do you feel that your pet rabbit is feeling down with the weather? Does he look withdrawn and unable to respond to your calls and petting? Maybe he is feeling overweight and heavy. And that contributes to rabbit obesity and other complications.

Has he been getting enough exercise land fresh air lately? To make sure he gets enough exercise needed to keep his body feeling in tiptop shape, Rabbit Runs are a necessary part of caring for your dear pet.

Rabbits by nature are used to wandering acre upon acre of woodland, searching for food. They cover great distances and are not the least bothered by the long trek.

Their bodies are equipped with the proper equipment to tackle long and arduous journeys over rough terrain.

Then suddenly, turned into a household pet, he is a pampered domesticated creature, given all the food and sustenance he can eat and drink, and he does not need to anymore roam vast distances to satisfy his hunger.

Being a natural wanderer, he will definitely start to look for physical activity.

Rabbit Runs provide much-needed physical activity for a rabbit feeling cooped up in his hatch. Imagine being cooped in cramped quarters seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day.

Even humans feel cabin fever after mere days trapped inside their house. Think about how your rabbit feels.

Set him free in a controlled environment. He needs to exercise to prevent atrophy in those muscles. Just make sure he does not get out of his play area, as some predators may be around.

You just cannot keep him indoors for long periods of time. You need to get him outside for some fresh air and a chance to commune with nature and memories of his former habitat. It can do your rabbit good to once again feel and nibble on grass.

Rabbit Runs are intended to give your pet bunny rabbit ample space for running and jumping, to keep him from developing sores and life-endangering aches and pains resulting from lack of moving space in his hatch.

Feeling cramped inside his cage, a rabbit can develop muscle and bone problems, Rabbit Runs can prevent that by giving him a playground to run and hop to his heart’s content!

A Rabbit Run is an enclosed cage that keeps your pet rabbit inside, but permits him to roam around, feeling the soft grass on his tummy. A rabbit needs these to keep him healthy and immune to sickness.

Several hours a day on grass can do wonders for the health of your rabbit. He gets to sniff around hop all he wants

His powerful hind legs were made for running and jumping, not crawling and basically feeling cramped in a tight space. A rabbit run can give him a breather from all that.

Rabbits not able to roam around and jump and play are found to become aggressive and withdrawn. All this due to lack of exercise that could easily be avoided by placing them in a Rabbit Run everyday.

Also, rabbit obesity can result from too little exercise and too little time inside a comfortable rabbit run.

Give your pet rabbit a treat today and place him in a Rabbit Run. You owe it to him to give him much needed exercise, and a little fresh air.

A Guide To Rabbit Hutch

By DL HOH

There are generally two types of housing for your pet rabbits - a rabbit cage or a rabbit hutch. If you intend to keep your pet rabbits outdoor, then likely you would need a rabbit hutch.
The size of your rabbit hutch should be at least 4 times of your rabbit's stretched out length. Some rabbit breeds are larger than the others and this should be taken into consideration in designing the size of your rabbit hutch. Bear in mind also that your bunny rabbit will grow larger in size. The hutch should be high enough to enable your rabbit to stand upright.

You should not house two rabbits together unless they have been neutered or spayed. A male and female rabbit will pro-create few times in a year with as many as 7 bunnies. Two unaltered rabbits of the same gender will fight.

You may buy or build your own rabbit hutch. Building your own hutch for your pet rabbits are not necessary difficult. You may need some carpentry skills. Start with the rabbit hutch by sketching out your design with proper dimensions.

There are two types of rabbit hutch that you may choose - the all-wooden enclosure or the all-wire cage enclosure. The all-wooden enclosure is usually the more common rabbit hutch. In building your rabbit hutch, consider using good-quality plywood. You would want your rabbit hutch to last for a long time to come, probably for the entire lifetime of the rabbit.

One section of the rabbit hutch is usually entirely enclosed. This section may have a wooden floor. The other section of the hutch should be twice the size of the first section and should have a wire bottom. The door should be wired as well. This allows sufficient circulation throughout the hutch.

The roof of the rabbit hutch should be built sturdily. This is especially true if where you are staying encounters snowfall. You would also want to ensure that the roof is water proof. This can be achieved by providing sufficient sloping angle for the roof. The rabbit hutch should also be at least 3 feet higher from the ground to prevent predators such as snake to crawl into the hutch and also to allow better air circulation.

The other type of rabbit hutch that you can consider is the all-wire cage with wooden frame. This is actually the easier rabbit hutch to build on your own. For the all-wire cage rabbit hutch, you are actually building a wooden frame to hold a typical rabbit wire cage. The rabbit wire cage may be bought from any pet shops. Ensure that the wooden frame is built with legs which set the rabbit hutch to be 3 feet higher than the ground.

You may also want to build a dropping pan which can slide in and out of the cage. The drop pan should be regularly cleaned. If you do not want to build the drop pan, then just allow the rabbit's droppings to fall to the ground.

The all-wire rabbit hutch may be the better option than the all-wooden hutch as there are easier to clean and maintain. Your pet rabbits may urinate at the corner of your all-wooden hutch, and the accumulated ammonia can be very unhealthy to both your pet rabbits and you. It is also damaging to the rabbit hutch.

RABBIT AT OUTDOOR

Some outdoor rabbits avoid death by predator or the other risks mentioned. But what is the quality of life for an animal living outdoors all the time? And what sort of relationaship can you build if your bunny is out there and you're indoors? A life spent confined to a hutch is boring, depressing, and stressful for a sensitive creature such as a rabbit. A life spent unconfined but outdoors is simply too dangerous for domestic animals. By domesticating them, we have deprived themof whatever natural ability they had for survival on their own. If your rabbit currently lives outdoors, we strongly urge you to bring her in a least during the night,when predators are most commond. Even if she's confined to a smaller cage, or a bathroom or utility room, she's safe, and she's making a first step to being part of your family.

What Is The Greatest Outdoor Risk For Rabbits?

Photo by mikey1541

The greatest threat is attract by predators. These occur primarily at night, but can also happen occasionally in the daytime. Hutches or cages do not provide enough protection to make it safe to leave the rabbit outdoors 24 hours a day. With her acute vision, hearing, and smell, a rabbit can sense the presence of a prdator such as a cat even in your neighbor's yard. She my panic and injure herself, or she may die of shock. If your bunny cannot stay in your house at night, make sure that he's enclosed within solid walls and behind a solid door, a garage, shed, or basement with a good lock.