Rabbit Runs
If you want your rabbit to enjoy the great outdoors without fear of getting injured or escaping, you may want to consider buying or building a rabbit run. When built correctly a rabbit run can provide hours of safe entertainment for your rabbit and plenty of exercise which will help keep them healthy and prolong their life span.
Most standard rabbit runs are made either or wire, wood, or a combination of both. However, when using either of these materials there are considerations that must be made. First of all any wood that is used must be thick and durable to keep a rabbit from gnawing though it. The thicker the wood the better chance that you have of keeping your rabbit contained.
Wood is often chosen because a rabbit cannot squeeze out of it, but keep in mind that if you buy a wood hutch or construct one you should inspect it each time before you place your rabbit inside to make sure there are no potential holes building. In the case that the wood is growing thin in a location thin holed wire is an excellent and easy solution that you can tack over the weak spots.
Wire is also an excellent choice for rabbit runs because it allows a rabbit to catch the natural breeze of the outdoors while keeping them safely inside. Rabbits can also gnaw through wire so be sure to use a firm wire that is chew proof. Also, rabbits are notorious for squeezing though holes that are twice as small as their natural body size. Therefore, any wire that is used should have very small holes and tightly woven.
Wire is also an excellent choice for the flooring of a rabbit run to keep the rabbit from digging out. However, wire can damage a rabbit’s paws or cause cuts, so if a wire is used to line the bottom of a run then hay or straw needs to be placed inside the rabbit run for its protection.
Finally, even the best rabbit run cannot offer complete protection from outside predators, so they should be constantly inspected to make sure they are secure.
