New Member = Northern Ireland

[Chloe Woods]

Hello, as the title suggests I.. am a new member..
I was recommended he's to potentially ask about some ideas for separating up temporary or even permanent outdoor living conditions for rabbits. I'm into rescue so I have ideas for Quarantining then vet check, then slowly introduce them to be outside and see by body language who seems to be doing well then have a the bigger setups with a smaller space to put newer individuals to hopefully have a safer introduction?

But, basically I'm curious about enclosure setups, and maybe what breeds would potentially work best outs and what ones may not work the best, like ones bred for looks seem (like any other animal) to have higher chances of issues.

Thanks in advance! And I can't wait to enjoy my time here and to learn a lot!

***Also it'll more than likely be a good few years before I can move out and be comfortable enough with my earnings and situation to get animals, but I just wanna research, make ideas and plans in advance as it's a nice thing to do imo in my free time***

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

Hello and welcome to RabbitTalk!

 

[hotzcatz]

Aloha Chloe,

If you're into rescue, it may be a good idea to learn how to do a health check on a bunny without a vet visit? Unless visiting the vet is less expensive in your country? In the U.S. it can be quite expensive so unless it's necessary it's best to avoid it. There's an online Merck Veterinary manual which is in tech talk but does have definitive answers.

Bunnies are a prey species, which means they always like to be able to either run away or hide. If they had an outside area which had some hiding spaces, they'd probably be happier. However, as a prey species, they don't usually want to come up and interact with humans if given a choice in the matter so giving them a space where you can reach them is a good thing. A hutch which is less than a meter deep is good since then you can reach reluctant bunnies. It can be longer than it is deep so they have run around room, but having all of the hutch or bunny space reachable is a good thing.

Mostly the bunny enclosures are to keep the bunny safe from predators. What are the predators in your area? I'm on an island in the middle of the Pacific, so we don't have a lot of the ones other folks have to deal with. But, rats can eat baby bunnies, even ants can kill baby bunnies! Most of the predators which we have to deal with is a stray dog, though. Much easier than what other folks have reported.

Bunny diet seems set somewhat by what their mum was eating. If you're doing rescue, you may not have any idea of what that may have been. If a young bunny is brought up on nothing but pellets, it may not be able to eat veggies. So, with an unknown bunny starting with small portions of foods will let it get accustomed to a new diet. Hmm, or give them a choice and let them figure it out?

I would guess the ones bred as pets would have the most issues. Bunnies bred as meat have a tendency to be healthier since the breeders can cycle through a lot more litters and they choose by general health, speed of weight gain and size of litters. All of those would be from healthy rabbits where as someone breeding for a specific color or small size could be choosing less healthy breeding stock.

 

[Nibbles]

Welcome to the forum, and enjoy.

 

[MsTemeraire]

But, basically I'm curious about enclosure setups, and maybe what breeds would potentially work best outs and what ones may not work the best, like ones bred for looks seem (like any other animal) to have higher chances of issues,

The UK has different breeds to the USA, so any recommendations may not be available as most of the members here are in the US. I believe the British Rabbit Council recognises around 75 breeds including many European breeds not found in the US.
This site lists the breeds in the UK -
https://furandfeather.co.uk/breeds/

 

[MuddyFarms]

Howdy- Enjoy RT!