New Hutch Ordered (at Last!)

Betsy

Betsy

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Well I have FINALLY saved up enough money for my piggies new home! It's only taken 6 months. I have ordered them a 6ft Chartwell double hutch and added the snuggle cover and the hutch hugger. I am so excited (is that sad?) that they will soon be enjoying their new home! When it has been built I'll post some piccies of the new piggie palace. I am now over 300 quid poorer!
 
Haha bless you. The only thing I would add to the hutch is a side to the ramp and something for grip on the ramp too as mine was very slippy when it arrived
 
Lady Kelly said:
Haha bless you. The only thing I would add to the hutch is a side to the ramp and something for grip on the ramp too as mine was very slippy when it arrived
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Just had a thought about this - would fleece be OK? I have some spare. If I stick some to the ramp (problem: what is gp safe glue?) and then sew some to the fleece then I can keep it in place. I'll have to have several so that I can change them and wash them.
 
Betsy said:
Just had a thought about this - would fleece be OK? I have some spare. If I stick some to the ramp (problem: what is gp safe glue?) and then sew some to the fleece then I can keep it in place. I'll have to have several so that I can change them and wash them.
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I should imagine fleece would work. From what I remember the ramp is covered in plywood so very slippy and anything would help. Not sure about safe glue though. I know some websites do ramp tunnels and you could use velcro to put these in place which might make it easier to change
 
Lady Kelly said:
I should imagine fleece would work. From what I remember the ramp is covered in plywood so very slippy and anything would help. Not sure about safe glue though. I know some websites do ramp tunnels and you could use velcro to put these in place which might make it easier to change
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Thanks I've had a look CosyCavies look good but the shop is shut at the mo. I will have another look when I know what size I need.
 
Oooh @Betsy can’t wait to see your new piggy palace. Look forward to seeing the pics when it arrives x
 
Swissgreys said:
Well done you - what a dedicated owner.
And of course it is fine to be excited.
I had to drive to Germany when I wanted a new hutch for the rabbits, and I was also super excited to finally be able to collect it.
Can't wait for pics - the piggies will love it.
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Could not find one locally? :yikes:

And @Betsy I look forward to seeing it when it arrived. You leaving it “as is” or going to attack it with some cuprinol garden paints?
 
No leaving it 'as is' as I've got a couple of covers for it. A hutch snuggle and a hutch hugger to go over the top. I may give the floors an extra going over with the old wood preserver before putting the piggies in though.
 
Well done, bet your no wine regime helped with the last bit of savings!
Many moons ago when I had a hutch I covered the floor and partway up the walls with lino offcuts, this made cleaning it out much easier and protected the floor. You can often get very cheap if not free small bits of lino from independant shops who also do fitting. Places like B&M bargins have stick on lino tiles for as little as £5 a pack.
 
I didn't have a problem, maybe we used silcone on the bottom join to seal it. I'm sure other people on here who use hutches will know, only one I can think of right now is @Lady Kelly ?
 
Betsy said:
I had thought of that but doesn't the wee find its way under the lino?
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I use lino on the floor of our rabbits hutch and can not recommend it highly enough.
We didn't stick it down (because I wasn't sure if I would like it) but it is quite thick (I can check the thickness) and I cut it slightly too big, so it is firmly wedged in place (if that makes sense).

Sadly we have an un-neutered doe who urinates everywhere during her phantom pregnancies, and the lino has stood up to this unbelievably well.
The urine doesn't soak underneath, and cleaning (most days) is a simple spray and wipe down with an old cloth.

6 months in and I am very happy this is the route we chose to protect our beautiful new hutch.
I will post detailed pics tomorrow if you like (but it's dark and snowing outside right now!).
 
Squeakz said:
Could not find one locally? :yikes:
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No - the biggest (non custom made) hutch we could find here was only 1.4 meters long, which is clearly not big enough.
The Swiss rely on people having a permanently attached run to meet the minimum space requirements, which we do (we have several permanently attached runs actually).
But I personally believe that their hutch space also needs to be as big as possible, because when it is pouring with rain they are not going to use the run area as often.
So I found a beautiful 1.8 meter hutch but only available in Germany, so that's where I went.
Plus it is really only just over an hour away, and I know of some people who travel that far to visit a large pet shop ;)
 
Swissgreys said:
I use lino on the floor of our rabbits hutch and can not recommend it highly enough.
We didn't stick it down (because I wasn't sure if I would like it) but it is quite thick (I can check the thickness) and I cut it slightly too big, so it is firmly wedged in place (if that makes sense).

Sadly we have an un-neutered doe who urinates everywhere during her phantom pregnancies, and the lino has stood up to this unbelievably well.
The urine doesn't soak underneath, and cleaning (most days) is a simple spray and wipe down with an old cloth.

6 months in and I am very happy this is the route we chose to protect our beautiful new hutch.
I will post detailed pics tomorrow if you like (but it's dark and snowing outside right now!).
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Yes please I would like pics! And of the snow too!
 
Betsy said:
Thanks I've had a look CosyCavies look good but the shop is shut at the mo. I will have another look when I know what size I need.
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Not sure about the sides but have you considered raised bed edging to make the ramp less slippy? You can often find some edging that looks like half sawn logs that I would imagine would be good to put on ramps. You could just nail it to the ramp. Might cause problems if it makes the hole at the top too small though.
 
You can glue sand paper on the ramp. That's what I did with mine so my piggies are not slipping. I also just used cardboard cut out to both sides of the ramp. Quite difficult to put the ramp up though when cleaning the hutch because the bottom part of my hutch's ramp is touching the floor of the 2nd flr. Oh and the opening of the 2nd flr where the ramp is, I also put cardboard cut out around it. My piggies then to bite it but I just replace it with a new one when it won't be safe enough.
 
Oooooh EXCITING, @Betsy ! :yahoo:Fab job saving up! :D

On another note, woah when did this new emoji pop up? :hip:
Gave me quite a fright at first........:)):)):))
 
Betsy said:
Good idea I know the sort of thing you mean. Thanks @BlueBird!
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It might be a better idea than fleece, as fleece would get dirty, and if you glued it on that would be an issue. If you decide to go with fleece, you could use Velcro to attach it, so that it could be changed.
 
anyar.dris said:
You can glue sand paper on the ramp. That's what I did with mine so my piggies are not slipping. I also just used cardboard cut out to both sides of the ramp. Quite difficult to put the ramp up though when cleaning the hutch because the bottom part of my hutch's ramp is touching the floor of the 2nd flr. Oh and the opening of the 2nd flr where the ramp is, I also put cardboard cut out around it. My piggies then to bite it but I just replace it with a new one when it won't be safe enough.
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I like the idea of sandpaper. That way they file nails down too! What glue did you use? Is it easy to clean?
 
Betsy said:
I like the idea of sandpaper. That way they file nails down too! What glue did you use? Is it easy to clean?
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I used super glue but it stinks so I made sure I did it hours before I've put piggies in. It was the only available thing for me at that time. If you have a glue gun or wood glue it might be better.

I only brush the stuff that gets on the ramp (hay, poo, food, shavings, etc.). I had a piggie, Meemee, who used to pee on the opening to the ramp and it goes there (I know she was naughty). I usually just sprayed it with that disinfectant cleaning thing we can buy at pet shops everytime I do a complete clean and just let it dry. I think I've only replace the sandpaper on the ramp once since having it for 6 yrs.
 
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