Hidey Houses, Tunnels and Tubes.

[SxAint]

It looks like the cage I ordered will be here today, which means I can begin making the alterations and start getting it set up for my Holland Lop baby that I'll be bringing home in 2-3 weeks. I was looking online at some hidey houses and looking in the pet store at some of the giant cardboard tubes. My questions are:
For a hidey house, how large should I look for my girlie? The one I found is marketed for rabbits and is 15 1/2 inches long by 8 1/2 inches tall by 10 inches deep with no bottom for easy cleaning. Should I look for something bigger or is that okay? And with the tubes, what would the ideal diameter or size be? I was also looking at the grass tunnels and saw they come in small and medium, yet to find a large. Which size would work best for a Holland Lop?
Closing question lol...Could I possibly create a tunnel system out of something like PVC pipe? I'm not sure if they even have it large enough, but I thought if they did and PVC was a safe material, it'd be a cool addition to my house when I start rabbit proofing.
Thanks! Looking forward to all the great replies.

 

[Tauntz]

Lowe's, Home Depot & other hardware stores carry the heavy cardboard concrete tubes. They come in many sizes according to other members (I still haven't gotten to my local Lowes to buy one for my girls.). They are about 4 foot long. That is what I'm looking into for bunny tunnels for my two Jersey wooly girls.

I get the heavy cardboard boxes at my local Walmart for a couple of dollars for a big size (sorry, can't remember the measurements). I fix the box with its initial cutout designs (doors, windows, etc.) & let my girls do their own decorating which they love!

Sorry, I can't help with Holland lop sizing but I'm sure out Holland lop members will soon be along to help you. Just thought I would share a few inexpensive but good bunny ideas!

 

[SxAint]

Lowe's, Home Depot & other hardware stores carry the heavy cardboard concrete tubes. They come in many sizes according to other members (I still haven't gotten to my local Lowes to buy one for my girls.). They are about 4 foot long. That is what I'm looking into for bunny tunnels for my two Jersey wooly girls.

I get the heavy cardboard boxes at my local Walmart for a couple of dollars for a big size (sorry, can't remember the measurements). I fix the box with its initial cutout designs (doors, windows, etc.) & let my girls do their own decorating which they love!

Sorry, I can't help with Holland lop sizing but I'm sure out Holland lop members will soon be along to help you. Just thought I would share a few inexpensive but good bunny ideas!

That's actually super helpful. I didn't know Lowes would carry some tubing that I could use or I'd have went by today while I was out and about. Thank you!

 

[whiskylollipop]

In my experience bunnies like a snug fit for a hidey house. It mimics a burrow they would be dig themselves in the wild - so I think they feel more secure in a cosy, tight space. I leave out the little pet carrier I use to take my bunnies to the vet, and it's become their little hidey spy nest. The one you've got sounds like a good size

 

[Imbrium]

It looks like the cage I ordered will be here today, which means I can begin making the alterations and start getting it set up for my Holland Lop baby that I'll be bringing home in 2-3 weeks. I was looking online at some hidey houses and looking in the pet store at some of the giant cardboard tubes. My questions are:
For a hidey house, how large should I look for my girlie? The one I found is marketed for rabbits and is 15 1/2 inches long by 8 1/2 inches tall by 10 inches deep with no bottom for easy cleaning. Should I look for something bigger or is that okay? And with the tubes, what would the ideal diameter or size be? I was also looking at the grass tunnels and saw they come in small and medium, yet to find a large. Which size would work best for a Holland Lop?
Closing question lol...Could I possibly create a tunnel system out of something like PVC pipe? I'm not sure if they even have it large enough, but I thought if they did and PVC was a safe material, it'd be a cool addition to my house when I start rabbit proofing.
Thanks! Looking forward to all the great replies.

4'' ID PVC pipe would actually be big enough for a Holland up until around 12 weeks old (that's when my girls started to seem a bit too big for the 4'' flexible plastic tunnel I had for them)... that size is really expensive, though, plus it would be outgrown in a hurry (which is a pity, because a tunnel system sounds hilarious and awesome!). PVC *is* safe, though, if you ever have an idea for a DIY toy that you want to use it for... provided you use a smaller pipe diameter or cap off any ends so they don't try to squeeze in and get stuck.

You could make frames and such with it, like for a play castle or something. I have a half-finished project in that vein going for our cats - the frame is 1/2'' PVC pipe, then I cut 1/4'' untreated hardwood plywood to fit wherever I wanted floors (on upper levels) or walls [MDF, OSB, particle board and soft woods like pine plywood (which is pretty much never kiln-dried) are all unsafe; cedar is ALWAYS toxic, all other soft woods are *only* safe if they've been kiln-dried] and bolted it to the frame. Another option would be to make a tunnel frame with 1/2'' PVC pipe and attach fleece to the sides and top, or you could use fleece to make a tent.

As far as actual tunnels go, the cardboard forms from hardware stores = win, though you may need to block off the sides so it can't roll for your bunny to want to play in it (some bunns don't care, others do). I've only seen it in two sizes; the smaller one is 8'' which is more than large enough for an adult Holland (even a false dwarf like my Gazzles). Ideally, I think a 6'' tunnel would be the best fit... but neither pet stores nor hardware stores seem inclined to sell them in that size.

For a hidey house, I recommend one or more cardboard boxes (no colored inks, remove any tape if your bunny chews at it). They're free and your bunny gets the fun of "remodeling" them, lol.

For rabbit-friendly enrichment items, the best advice I could possibly give you is this: don't shop at pet stores. You'll end up paying way too much for stuff your bunny won't even play with half the time. My main sources of toys are hardware stores, dollar stores, infant/toddler toy sections, "found" items and my own imagination .
​

 

[PolishRabbitmama]

For a really cheap tunnel I staple poster boards together and it makes a great tunnel for the buns. Plus it's paper so they can chew it!

 

[Imbrium]

For a really cheap tunnel I staple poster boards together and it makes a great tunnel for the buns. Plus it's paper so they can chew it!

Definitely a good/dirt cheap idea... I would look for poster board that's not glossy, though, as I believe glossy paper is unsafe to chew on .

I forgot to mention in regards to tunnels that I saw a tip on a website recently about triangular tunnels being better than square or round tunnels because they're less likely to collapse (like square ones) and don't roll around. All you'd have to do is cut up one or more cardboard boxes and reassemble them into a triangular tunnel.

I just got off my butt, went to my absolute favorite rabbit website and located the master "index" for toy and enrichment articles. [Only one article is listed in the page that link brings up - click on "next entries" and there are five more pages of great cheap/free DIY toy ideas.]

One of the articles is about making mini agility course jumps out of cardboard tubes and rabbit-safe tree branches... if you like the agility course idea and are interested in taking it a step further by building a true agility course, you might want to check out the tutorial I wrote up in my blog when I made mine. [As a note, I've been told by members of a jumping club that jumps higher than 12'' should NOT be used for rabbits under a year old (the age at which most breeds go from "young adult" to "adult"; since giant breeds are considered "young adults" for a few months longer than small-to-mid size breeds, I'm guessing they should be even older before jumps get over 12'').]

On a cardboard box note, it's been a bit since I've given my girls a cardboard box house to play with... and the only one I've ever given my newest rabbit, Normie, was a box set on its side with the top (now a side) wide open; he didn't find it too interesting. Yesterday, I decided it was time for a final marathon bonding session. A few hours in, I felt like this was probably it - ie we were switching from a bonding session to a permanent living arrangement. Now that they were pretty much bonded, they looked like they were wondering where all the toys were so I brought some into the pen... including a cardboard box with the top and bottom flaps overlapped to hold it shut (so there wouldn't be tape).

I normally only cut one entrance/exit hole and let the girls decide where to add the second, but since it was a fairly small box (tried to use a bigger one but Nala got on top and was threatening to use it to jump out of the pen) and there was still the occasional minor skirmish, I put a hole in two different sides of the box so that no one would ever get "trapped" in the box if there was a chase.

They went absolutely nuts over that box, like little kids with a brand new "clubhouse". A day later, they're still obsessed with it! It's pretty much just big enough to hold all three rabbits with enough room left over to shuffle around in there... I'm pretty sure when two or more of them are in there, they're plotting naughtiness!

 

[Nancy McClelland]

There is a posting here titled "Box Kingdoms" with pics and how to's about making your own palace from cardboard boxes. I save up all the boxes we get and then fit them into a big box--then remove and cut tunnels and place them back inside. Sometimes I make a three story or put the box on it's side and make a two story play house. They also love a sealed box and will make their own entrances and just love playing with and in grocery bags. One note on boxes--the ones with photo quality pics are coated with plastic so they are a no no, but the others have soy ink, so just like newspaper they are okay for them to ingest. We also take a couple of gigantic litter pans and fill them with hand shredded newspaper--they love to tunnel and dig and just hang out.