What size hole can rabbits fit in (entry for hutch/enclosure)?

[mmbunnysanc]

I am planning on rescuing rabbits. I have a medium sized suburban backyard with tall slat wooden secure fencing around it. The perimeter of my yard is cemented, and there is a patch of grassy/planted area in the middle. Rabbits cannot escape. However, I do have raccoons in my area.

I am building a hutch for the rabbits, and I would like for them to go in and out as they please (i.e. go in at night, or when in danger). I was planning to build a tunnel type entrance using 4" diameter heavy duty drainage pipe and cementing it into the dirt, with the other end of the pipe leading to the inside of the hutch. Furthermore, the tunnel will have an 90 turn (using a 4" 90 degree elbow hub of pipe), so even if a raccoon is narrow enough to squeeze its head through the 4" diameter pipe, i doubt it would be short enough to slither through and make a 90 degree turn midway throguh the 4" tunnel.

Are any experienced rabbit owners able to assess how successful my plan will be? Are my measurements off? Or will the plan not work altogether? Unfortunately, the next smallest pipe would be 3" and I'm not sure if a rabbit could squeeze through that. I COULD add extra hubs in the tunnel (4" to 3" connector then attach immediately after another 3" to 4" connector) so that they would only have to squeeze through a tiny section of 3" diameter (rather than, say, a foot long section of 3" diameter pipe). But I'm hoping my original plan would be sufficient.

Also, I plan on training the rabbits to learn to seek refuge in the hutch through the tunnel.

Here is an example of the type of pipe/tube I plan on using.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...Id=10051&catalogId=10053&superSkuId=202904949

 

[Bossroo]

I know that your intentions are good in a quest for rescuing rabbits, but the reality is ... female rabbits are VERY territorial, especially with new female intruders. They will fight to the death or incur heavy $$$ Vet bills. Add an intact male to the female mix and your population will be 10 fold in about a month. Vet fees for spay and neuter are astronomical compared to the value of a rabbit. One can feed dozens of rabbits for the price of one operation. I seriously doubt anyone would adopt a single rabbit for the huge adoption fee that one would have to charge to recoup $$$ costs. As for a 4" pipe... aint going to happen for a full grown large rabbit. As for your yard... rabbits dig long, deep tunnels under seemingly solid walls, so they are great at prison breaks. One will soon resort to individual cages to keep fur from flying and population explosion under control as well as limit operating costs.

 

[mmbunnysanc]

haha thanks I appreciate your honesty

 

[mmbunnysanc]

however, the rescue rabbits are fixed. doesn't that prevent the fighting?

 

[hoodat]

however, the rescue rabbits are fixed. doesn't that prevent the fighting?

Not necessarily.They are still territorial. Surprisingly you will probably have less fighting among the bucks than the does. Once they work out which one is the Alpha male the other bucks will submit. It is more complicated with does.

 

[DianeS]

however, the rescue rabbits are fixed. doesn't that prevent the fighting?

I worked in rescue for a number of years, and can count on probably one hand the number of spayed female rabbits that came in - out of the hundreds of unspayed ones. It was much more common for the males to be neutered than it was for the females to be spayed. It just costs SO MUCH to spay a rabbit - where I live it's approximately twice the cost to spay a rabbit as to spay a dog. So owners don't get that done, and if you're running a rescue with all the other associated costs of feeding and caring for the rabbits you will not have the finances available to spay them after they come in.

And as another poster pointed out - the females are the most territorial. Pretty much if the does are not raised together, they will fight if introduced as adults. (And sometimes they'll fight even if they were raised together and previously got along! Especially once they reach sexual maturity.)

Now, it IS possible to have a large enough area that you can have a limited number of rabbits in, and because each has their own territory they won't fight (at least not much). But if you truly want to rescue rabbits do you want to limit yourself to the 5 or 10 or 12 you could have completely loose (depending on the size of the area and your finances, because each will still need their own hutch to go into in danger, they won't share), or do you want to be able to do more and rescue 15 or 20 or 30 or more rabbits that have nowhere else to go?

And ditto to another poster - rabbits dig like nothing you've ever seen. They can dig under your fence, even if it's cemented solidly for several feet down. Plus they can chew through the wood. Those people who do run small groups of rabbits in a colony style have them live on cement floors so they can't dig, and line the wood walls with wire.