turning a shed into a rabbit house

[Jurassic Wolf]

I have an 8x10 shed that i really want to turn into a rabbit shelter. First off, it is very dark inside. Then the main problem is that it is warm in the winter, but SUPER hot in the summer, spring, and fall. Any ways to get this shed in shape without going over $200?

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Warm in the winter is probably irrelevant unless you are housing very small indoor-type pet rabbits. Most commercial or multi-purpose varieties handle cold well. Mine are in a 2.5 walled hutch outdoors with a solid roof and they are cozy in the winter.
On the other hand, many rabbits suffer from heatstroke and die in the summer. I knew one person who had a shed with her rabbits in it and it got so hot while she was away for 2 days on an emergency that when she came back they were all dead.

To make a hot shed cool you're going to have to cut out large swaths of space from the walls to create ventilation which would also fix your light problem. There's no way to make this renovation without ruining the shed as a shed, really. A secondary roof of canvas to shade the primary roof isn't a bad idea and on hot days you can wet this down to create a swamp cooling effect.
Shade is also critical so if you can locate the shed in a place that it is shaded from sun from 11-4pm that would be ideal.

 

[Jurassic Wolf]

Ok thanks would a fan left running all the time help keep it cool without cutting up the shed?

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Ok thanks would a fan left running all the time help keep it cool without cutting up the shed?

Probably not but that depends in part on how many windows the shed has on it's own and what your environment is like.

Given how many rabbits I've seen die of heat and how I've never seen any but the youngest kits die of cold, I would take extreme precautions to keep the shed cool.

How hot does it got for you on the hottest days in the summer? Is the shed in full sun? How many windows does it have and how big are they?

 

[Jurassic Wolf]

i live in new jersey, so it is usually about 75-85 every day. The shed is half in the shade. It has one tiny window that is just a little over 1x1

 

[ChocolateMouse]

i live in new jersey, so it is usually about 75-85 every day. The shed is half in the shade. It has one tiny window that is just a little over 1x1

Then no. It gets fairly hot in jersey summers - similar to the weather where I live according to national climate data - and there will be weeks that will likely kill your rabbits if they're not in a cool location. A 1x1 window and open doors are not enough to provide sufficient cooling for the rabbits even with a fan. You'd have to be in-and-out constantly on hot weeks trying to keep them cool with frozen bottles.

Where I live my rabbits are in wooden, deeply shaded cages with 2 open walls in the dampest and coolest part of the lawn. On hot weeks I still have to keep a close eye on them and provide frozen bottles during the hottest parts of the day to keep them from over heating. Sometimes I even go out and gently dampen ears or paws if they're calm and let me. You would be doing that several times a day every day for most of the summer even with a box fan. Your rabbits health would suffer from it even with extra effort.

If I was unwilling to cut apart the shed and make it more open then I would just take the $200 and build some outdoor hutches with it in a shadier location.

 

[Jurassic Wolf]

OK thanks for the advice i think I'm just going to turn a greenhouse frame i built into a little rabbit run. It is about 10x2 and i will add a box as a house at one end (and put hardware cloth around the rest) would this make a nice home for a rabbit?

 

[ChocolateMouse]

OK thanks for the advice i think I'm just going to turn a greenhouse frame i built into a little rabbit run. It is about 10x2 and i will add a box as a house at one end (and put hardware cloth around the rest) would this make a nice home for a rabbit?

Rabbits dig. You may need a wire bottom. They can easily dig 3' deep and 8' across. As long as you use a light shade cloth for the roof on the top instead of greenhouse plastic it should be great. It's a very good size for a couple rabbits.

 

[Jurassic Wolf]

okay I'm going to take down the plastic and put on hardware cloth, and bury some hardware cloth underneath so they can dig a little bit if they want

thank you so much for all your help

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Ok, if you don't put a full wire bottom on it expect them to try dig out over the course of a couple weeks, just FYI. Rabbits can excavate a rabbit sized hole 3' long in a day if they feel bored.