Tunneling

[Oxankle]

I've never kept rabbits on the ground before. I put a buck and two does in a 20 foot square pen a week ago and the does are already digging. I saw two tunnel entrances this morning and a third this afternoon. All the tunnels start at the edge of a small A-frame pig shelter that was already in the pen. Insofar as I know the rabbits were not bred when I put them in the pen.

Is this normal behavior for rabbits on the ground?

 

[MaggieJ]

I'd say so. The does were likely bred within hours - maybe minutes! - of being put in with the buck. They instinctively know that they need a place for their kits and given the chance to dig they usually go at it with enthusiasm. If there is a structure of any kind in the colony, they usually prefer to start their holes under it. I would imagine this helps prevent cave-ins... or maybe it just feels safer. You likely won't see any sign of the kits until they are about three weeks old, but I would suggest making feed and water available near the entrances for when they start poking their cute little noses out.

 

[Jack]

So, how do you keep the rabbits contained if you have above ground fencing/caging

 

[Oxankle]

Jack: My fencing is all on the ground, 2x4 horse panel surrounded by electric wire. I am told that rabbits are not bad about tunneling OUT if they hve something inside to contain their tunnels. As Maggie said, they are tunneling next to a small shelter.

My wire will NOT hold kits; I will have to do something about that but I have some time yet, at least six weeks, perhaps longer.

 

[akane]

Rabbits loooove to dig. Even bucks will run around digging pits. It's somewhat hazardous to walk through our horse stall colonies when the bedding has gotten deep and the bucks are down digging pits and trenches all over. I saw a vid of a rabbit digging a tunnel in one afternoon that ended up being more than 8' long. They couldn't measure it beyond 8'. Most either bury the fence several feet down or lay a skirt of wire around the edge of the fencing to keep them off the fenceline. They prefer to dig next to something so if you can prevent digging right against the fence and give them something else to dig next to and under they will usually not dig toward the outside of the pen. We laid down 3' chicken wire around the edge of the stalls to prevent digging out but I would not suggest chicken wire unless you happen to have a ton on hand from other projects like we did. Rabbits can tear through chicken wire if they feel like it. It does work well to hold back kits and kept the litters separate for the past 6-8months until I put a young buck down in one colony and he decided he wanted to breed the does of the colony next door.

 

[Jack]

Ha, I have normal chain link for my dog run, and I had my rabbitry inside it 12x18 (I use it for my guarantee and 'cold camp' (and no they aint dead, just I have to set it up different cause its COLD in the winter vs. my insulated shed that has water bottles etc.

Anywho I found out the hard way that my wifes polish can fit through the 2" mess... that a VERY long thanksgiving eve, mostly from sitting out side waiting to pull the string to deadfall a section of 1x1 to trap her brand new from the lower 48 bunny.

 

[Oxankle]

Jack; I have some cages that are so deep I cannot reach rabbits if they get against the back wall. I made a snare catch; a long aluminum arrow tube with a loop of insulated flexible copper wire through it. One end has a loop, the wire is tied in a knot at the other. I can push the wire through, make a larger loop and slip it over the head of a rabbit, then pull the wire and close the loop just tight enough that the rabbit cannot get its head loose. When I have the rabbit pulled within arm's length I just reach in and get it, slip the noose off and we are done.

I made a much longer catcher like this for snakes; I made that one of half inch PVC pipe and rebar tie-wire. The wire was soft and flexible enough that I could pull it tight around a snake's body, bend it over under my hand and have one hand free to deal with the snake. Snakes did not like it, but I sure did.