Rabbit hutch difficulties

ripplyuk

My rabbit's hutch was bought from a pet shop less than 3 years ago. Most of the wood is tongue and groove, but the back is just plywood or something, and it always leaks, despite regular ronseal applications. The roof has felt which also leaks and both are now rotting.

I've been trying to find a good quality hutch but it's fruitless. The pet shop ones are junk. I've found some good ones online. They are expensive (around £200-£300) and because I'm not on the mainland, delivery would be another £80-90. :eek:
I then tried to find a handyman to come and repair the hutch, replace the back, roof etc. But no one is interested in such a small job. My partner is more useless than I am with DIY, so I'm stuck.

What should I do? I'm tempted just to buy him a small dog kennel, but I do like the way the hutch means I can still see him when he's inside. He only uses the hutch to rest in when the weather is really awful. Most of the time he's outside grazing.

PasturesNew

Just use what you've got as the framework - and get some "no nails for wood" and get yourself some wood and a saw and make a jolly good go at it. Stick the new stuff onto the old, for ease. Then slap some waterproofing stuff on that.

For £10-15 you could at least get another X years out of what you've got.

You can refelt the top too - it just means taking off what you've got, buying a bit of felt, then nailing it down. It's a rabbit hutch, not a garden shed!

And/or if you're scared of trying to use wood and a saw, you could even bodge it and get some waterproof membrane/vinyl flooring/whatever and nail that onto the outside.

Yes, it might look like a pig's ear, but the rabbit won't leave home because of it - and it won't cost you more than a few quid.

POPPYOSCAR

Get a waterproof cover.


http://www.cagesworld.co.uk/p/Hutch_Cover_for_Lazy_Bones_4.5ft_Rabbit_Hutch_with_Solid_Base_Run_LB-335.htm


(type in waterproof hutch covers)


Just an example, lots of others available online.

ripplyuk

The roofing felt isn't easy to remove. It doesn't go all the way out to the edges. It's sort of tucked in, behind the edge of the frame. I'd have to remove the wood first. Though, I could just nail some on over the top.

For the back, I'm wondering about going to b&q and seeing if they could cut some wood to size. I could nail it on, and waterproof it with some sort of paint or sealant. Though, I've no idea what sort of wood to ask for.

The hutch covers look great, but they seem to be made for specific brands of hutch, and the flaps/doors won't line up with mine. I'd have to remove the whole thing every day. I'm sure he'd soon chew it to pieces too .

Fosterdog

Most pet shop hutches are not big enough for rabbits, same as most cages sold for hamsters are nowhere near big enough and fish bowls that should be banned, pretty much most of the housing sold in pet shops is completely inadequate.

It's not cheap getting a hutch the right size and to get one that is good quality is even harder and more expensive. We wanted to replace ours last year and for the exact size and style I wanted it was going to cost £250-£300 so we decided to build our own out of very good quality materials. We set ourselves at £150-£200 but by the time we had to keep getting extra bits that we'd forgotten or replacing wood that had been mismeasured and cut short we ended up spending closer to £350 on building it.

In some ways we would have been better buying one from somewhere like here https://boylespethousing.co.uk/product-category/rabbits/single-large-rabbit-hutches/

Or here http://www.welfarehutches.co.uk

Here http://www.rehutches.com

There was another site that had the hutch I really wanted but can't remember what it was now sorry.

We did attempt to patch our old one up first but none of the fixes lasted very long so it was costing more in the long run with lots of temp fixes.

takethatfan1978

We have two rabbits that we have had for around 5 years, when we were first looking for suitable hutches - everything available was too small. I refuse to pay £150 from pets at home for a small box. We actually ended up with 2 childrens wooden playhouses and adapted them slightly to add the run. The windows have been meshed, have a bunk/box inside each one and have the run at the door.

A lot cheaper and larger than standard pet shop huts I bought 2 very large metal runs from ebay

sheramber

Roofing felt doesn't just need to go on the roof.

I don't know if B& Q cut wood but our Homebase do. Or ask a local joiner.

Get a piece of plywood- exterior ply is better- of the size required. Nail it on and then

cover the roof and back/sides with roofing felt. If you need to use separate bits for each part cover the back and sides first then the roof, overlapping it over the edges so there is no join at the edge.

ripplyuk

sheramber wrote: »

Roofing felt doesn't just need to go on the roof.

I never even thought of that . That's a great idea.

I've ordered some felt, and found B&Q do some exterior plywood in the size I need. I'm not sure how tough plywood is to nail on so if all else fails, I'll try to stick it on with gorilla glue. I was going to paint it with fence paint but I think I'll go with the felt instead for the back as well as the roof. I imagine it would be more durable and saves me painting.

Hopefully I'm not just being optimistic about being able to do this myself, but I'm now determined to have a go. If it works out, it'll save me an awful lot of money.

DoodlePip

Have you thought about getting a chicken coop? That's what I have. There's a little inside bit, which you can access easily through a lift up flap and a door, and then the rest of it is all outside and sits on the ground. It's bigger than standard hutches and tall too so they can stretch. I've had mine a few years but think I paid about £120 for it. Seems ok and preferable to pet shop hutches which I agree are a bit rubbish (and far too small).

purple_x

Sounds like it's time for an upgrade.
I don't know of any pet shops that sell hutches that are large enough for rabbits.
Remember that the minimum space for a rabbit (or RabbitS, as they should live in pairs, especially if they live outside as they are VERY social animals) is a 6x2x2ft hutch with a permanent run of at least 6x8ft.
This would be ideal and meet the minimum size requirements
http://www.welfarehutches.co.uk/product/6ft%20rabbit%20hutch%20with%204ft%20under%20run

However these days a lot of people are using cheap sheds/wendy houses instead of a hutch with a run/aviary attached as rabbit accomodation, you could google for some ideas