Rabbit Web Discussion Board

Hello! Everyone
This Forum is wonderful and I\'m a newbie so please forgive me if I use the wrong terminology in discribing my new settup!

I\'m new too the whole rabbit biz but have been reading and learning everything I can for 4 months now and in Dec. or Jan. I plan on getting my first Rabbits. I\'ve chosen Holland Lops because they are the most adorable and sweetest little Bunnies (to Me) that I\'ve found in my area. Ive been to many Rabbitries and breeders,some facilities where form \"Pet Quality Only\" breeders others where primerealy \"Meat\" breeders and a few were for \"Show & Breeding Stock. The breeder I chose has Pedigree Show & Breeder Holland Lops. I plan on buying 2 Does & 2Bucks in Chestnut Agouti & Brown to Fawn Tort.
My cages are 24\"W x 24\"D x18\"H 1/2\"x1\"floors & 1\"X 2\" sides,Back and Tops and they will be hung(6ea.side)on two walls of a 16\'x22\' eclosed Leento next to my Shop. They will have splash boards hung from the back of cages slanted down to the front at a 35 degree angle with a 4in. pvc pipe cut,slanted and attached to act as a trough to catch and drain all waste matter in to 5gal. buckets for easy disposal in our garden.

I Plan on closing of the front of leentoo with walls and a door istead of the Heavy duty tarp that now hangs like a curtain but I want it more permanent and lockable.There will be heat in the Winter and A/C in the Summer and it does have running water in my shop so water is not a problem and my tiny rabbitry will have a automatic watering system before rabbits arrive. If all things go well I will Breed them in about 6 months hopefully and I have 3- 32\"W X 24D X18H cages for This.
P.S These Bunnies are for me and my little girls.
Does This settup sound OK? and is there any need for LitterBoxes?

Any suggestions Would be Appreciated And Helpful!
Sorry for the long Post and The tacky drawing!

Thank You!

I live in Minnesota and have two rabbits in an outdoor shelter, no heat in the winter, and my rabbits like to play in the snow so I don\'t think you need the heat in the winter unless you want it for yourself! I don\'t breed rabbits, so I am not going to address that. I think the best part of having rabbits is watching them run and play. My buck likes to map out an obsticle course, running around things, under things and jumping over things and through things. My doe likes to run fast for about six feet untill she reaches the corner of the fence, and then she will jump straight up in the air and spins, and lands facing another direction and runs off, only to come back and do it all again. Bunnies love to jump and spin and dance, and so I would suggets that you put in an exercise area where you can watch your rabbits run, our you will be missing out on a lot of great entertainment! Also, the exercise will be great for the health of your rabbits.

No ,you dont need litter boxes if you have pans or something under the cages.I like your setup.as too heat unless you breed in the winter its not necessary.I like too keep it warm enough too keep the water from freezing.i think my rabbits like the cold weather better than the heat.bluebird

harplady

I didn\'t really think I needed the heat,It\'s more for my beehind and the frozen water on those very few bitterly cold days that we have here in Texas.
My daughters and I are building A foldable and movable 10\'X10 run with 4\" Pvc tunnels to run thru, fake mounds for them to jump off of and lots of toys for them to toss around and play with,... on second thought I think I\'ll just stick my daughters in the run for the Bunnies to bounce off of.

Bluebird

I knew I disn\'t need the heat for Bunnies, It\'s more for my hiney on those few and far between bitterly cold day we get here.
Thanks for the compliment on settup, I\'ll post real pics when it\'s all set up.

Sounds to me like you\'re more prepared than you thought you were! You should have very happy bunnies! Keep us posted with pics too

Thank You! Peties Friend
I love your Bunny Petey he seems like such a character!
I just want to make sure thing\'s or done the best that I can so as not to disappoint my little girls.(I\'m their Hero) and make sure I have as few fatal mistakes as possible even though I know it\'s inevitable.

tenacrewoods,
Let me know how your rabbits like the pvc pipes. I have been using cardboard concrete forms for tunnels, but I end up replacing them about once a year as I am always leaving them out in the rain. I haven\'t gone to pvc yet because I was thinking they might be too slippery for my rabbits to run through.

harpLady

I sure will, but like I said I won\'t get any Bunnies till January so it\'ll be after that.

Considering you\'re in Texas I wouldn\'t think heat would be a concern either. Not for the rabbits, most animals stress less in the colder weather. I\'m in SD so it\'s cold and I have 4 cages outside in a \'cage rack\' and 4 cages in various areas in my hay/feed barn along with my banty chickens. Last year they were all outside and it was a pain in my behind to say the least. Especially with a few feet of snow.
We already have frozen water and I have retired the bottles till Spring -just using cups I fill 3x a day.
Just be careful with the exersice runs -although they are great, I stole mine from my hubby that he bought for his pups *grin*. Rabbits dig and if no one is watching some can make quite a hole. My doe digs deep and I\'ve literally tripped in them when moving the pen around! LOL Also dogs love to eat bunnies -mine drool at the sight of them. I did lose one to an over rambunctious bird dog (worst part was it was MINE!)
Your set up sounds efficient, workable and will be enjoyable for your family. One more consideration is if the sun streams through on the side the rabbits are on, you may want to make sure that they are well shaded in that huge Texas sun. Rabbits can stroke easily and not a sight your girls will want to witness.
Wish you the best of luck with your bunnies. I have mini lops. They sure are sweet!

Lorelei
Thanks for your reply, The bunnies will never be in the run unsupervised and we don\'t have any dogs except for the occasional stray running thru and \"I Sorry folks but Loose Dogs roundhere get SHOT if they try to harm anything on my property. My Wife and Girl\'s have 6 cats and they\'re our best defense against the many snakes we have!
Some people around here have no respect for other peoples property and let their Dogs run loose day & night. At times we may have as many as 10 stray (wild) dogs running thru our place at one time. They have Killed 3 of our cats over the years and use to chase my Horses constantly. The Sheriff has even come out with deputies and shot a couple in this area themself but these dogs are very quick and elusive. Sorry for the Rant but they really P.M.O

P.S. I DO love Dogs and own 3 Bishon Frise\'s but they are never out side unsupervised,
(cause their too dang expensive to keep groomed) the Wife\'s fault.LOL

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