Multi-storey rabbit hutch

[DomGreco]

A three-storey timber rabbit hutch painted with Cabot's Deck and Exterior Stain.  

• The project
• Before and after
• More inspiration for your pet project

The project

A friend needed a home for her little bunny rabbit that would help keep all her food and straw dry and make a nice warm home in winter and a cool home in summer. It has a self-closing, self-latching gate. It's a three-level hutch which allows for storage underneath. There's also a separate hatch that can be opened to allow the bunny to wander outside during the day and eat the grass and enjoy the sunshine. 

Site before any work started.

Hutch was kept indoors and daily outdoor periods in fenced area.

The clutch had 200mm treated Pine sleepers buried underground to discourage digging.

The approximate size is 3 x 2.4m.

I built an extra storey on the hutch for underneath storage.

Slight modifications were done to the store-bought hutch.

Most materials were bought from Bunnings in Thomastown, Victoria.

It's been painted with Cabot's deck and exterior stain in Australian Red Cedar.

Opal the Bunny, happy in her new home.

A solar sensor light has been installed.

Opal kept escaping from the previous mesh barrier so interlocked heavier ones were built.

Before and after

More inspiration for your pet project

Workshop member patorodriguez built this dog kennel with ramp and rooftop, including vents and synthetic grass on top.

Community member Shannon built this indoor to outdoor cat tower using scrap mesh.

Get more inspiration from our collection of D.I.Y. projects for pets.

[mich1972]

Good morning @DomGreco  This is AMAZING !!!!!!! It’s a beautiful mansion for the rabbits. Gee whizz I love it and well done. 

[Dave-1]

Good afternoon @DomGreco 

Now that is a hutch and a half! Love the rabbit hutch door on the side

How long did it take you to put it all together? I think that bunny must have a good life  

As to it being an escape artist Well that just makes us work harder to "fix" those escape paths! 

Dave

[DomGreco]

Thanks for the feedback @Dave-1 and @mich1972    Its been a little while since I built this Bunny Mansion and Wendy the owner is euphoric at how it has performed keeping all the Bunnys food and bedding dry in the rain and giving her lots of outdoor time.

I have since built a floor in the base as the little darling was making holes everywhere and although the sleepers are all deep underground to stop her escaping, Wendy has a disability and was afraid she may trip on the holes. The floor was made of 150x25 plinth boards with a small section in the middle still exposed to soil so bunny could still have some digging area but making it safe to walk around.  

I am now about to build a longer ramp with safety sides to go across the back of the mansion as it seems the little bunny walks up the current ramp fine but seems a little afraid to walk down. A rabbit afraid of heights, who woulda thunk. My logic is that if i build it like a U shaped tube, bunny cant see the ground she wont be scared.

I will also be building a cover for the large outdoor area as Wendy is concerned that a couple of stray cats in the area might decide to attack the bunny. I thought hard about how to do this but decided using heavy duty nylon bird mesh in black with a rope around the edges and hooks you get on an elastic trailer net to hold it in place. Its inexpensive and flexible and easily taken out and stored. It will still allow Wendy to easily take off a section and pick up bunny if she wants to and wont stop the grass from growing by blocking too much sun like shade mesh might do. Its a lot safer than using galvanised mesh as well.  I will post photos if I can after the latest renovations.

[Dave-1]

Morning @DomGreco 

I really like that outside the box thinking with the trailer netting! I am always trying to think of ways to cover my veggie gardens so birds dont use it as a buffet lol I have gone down the track of bird netting but dont use it anymore as I worry about tangle issues for birds/bats.

I have considered posts with a chicken wire roof and sides (most likely option)

But now you have me thinking about what else I could use!

lol to the Bunny not so happy with heights.

Dave

[DomGreco]

My 89 year old mum still keeps busy in her vegie patch, although these days I have to go and dig it up for her at the change of every season. Its our Italian heritage....the home grown vegies are part of our lives. She had a problem with birds and so I built a frame around 90% of the area. The back is protected by her fence and I put galvanised mesh on the sides. she then plants cucumbers along the sides and trains them to grow up the mesh. When the vegies are most vulnerable to the pesky Indian Myna birds, she attaches a bird net to the fence (I put hooks in to make it easier for her) and rolls it over the top and lets it fall across the front. Problem solved. When she wants to go inside to tend to the plants she just rolls the netting up and sits it on the top.  She has used the same netting now for years and because its built lower than the top of the fence its not an eyesore for the neighbors.