Welcome to the second part of my look at the Omlet Eglu Go, where we’ll be taking a look at my experience with assembling our new bunny mansion. If you haven’t already, make sure you read Part 1 to see how easy the Eglu and walk-in was to order. We’ll be finishing up on Friday with a look at what the Eglu Go is like to use!
Assembling The Eglu
Our kit arrived in many boxes and the boxes were labeled A, B, and C which helped so we knew which ones to open first. One possibly large oversight from Omlet is the instructions were in (what felt like) random boxes, so we did have to open every box to find them and we even found a page of instructions once we had built everything at the bottom of a box! It would have been better if the instructions were attached to the outside of a box and all kept together so you could read them all before starting to build. Luckily, all of the documentation is easily downloadable on Omlet’s website.
The instructions are very clear and easy to read with lovely diagrams to help you understand the process. You just need to go to the right page for the exact kit you got, as the instructions are for all the Omlet products. Although easy to do, it was fairly time-consuming and took my husband just over a day to finish. The clips are a little tricky to snap on as they are quite stiff and my husband’s fingers were quite sore by the time he was done, however, you could put the clips in warm water first to soften them to make this a bit easier.
The panels do look similar but do be careful as some are rectangular and some are square. You need to look really carefully at the instructions to see what panels go where. Although it doesn’t say in the text, the diagram does show this if you look carefully. I would have preferred the instructions to be a little clearer here.
Perhaps another oversight by Omlet is the main instructions don’t tell you how to attach the Eglu to a walk-in run, just their smaller run which resulted in Lee having to undo several pieces of the Eglu to be able to attach it to the run. Another issue was we purchased the roof cover and the instructions didn’t tell you where to put the door, meaning the roof cover went over the door. This meant that after putting the whole thing together and adding the finishing touch of the roof, Lee needed to move the door. Although the run is easy to take apart and move the door, it would have been nicer if we were aware of this to save time as it was a little frustrating as we thought it was finished.
How Strong Is The Eglu Go Walk-In Run?
Living near woods and having a fear of foxes around my bunnies, I wanted something tough and safe and I feel the Omlet offers this. Although the run arrives in panels, it all clips together, and Omlet are very generous with the clips. There is a wire skirt which I love as this will prevent predators from digging in (the skirt comes as standard to all Omlet products).
We also opted for the underfloor mesh to stop the rabbits from digging out. Although our rabbits aren’t diggers, I didn’t want to take any risks and the underfloor mesh does give the overall structure a bit more stability. The clips for the underfloor mesh are plastic, so I am hoping the rabbits don’t nibble these, but only time will tell.
The actual Eglu is solid and strong. There is a twist lock on the back to allow access, but due to the design, I don’t think a fox would be able to open this, no matter how hard they tried.
The door to the run is a stable door, meaning you can just open the top or bottom if you want to. The lock is a sliding lock, and again, I don’t think a predator would be able to open this either. The lock is vertical and due to this, locks automatically when you close the door meaning you don’t have to remember to slide the bolt across. Luckily, you can unlock the bolt from inside the rabbit run, so there is no worry about being stuck in the run forever!
The actual panels are tough, and even if you push them, they don’t give at all and the structure feels well made.
Steady As You Go!
Our garden is quite uneven, so we purchased the Omlet Screw Pegs with our run. The pegs are marketed to be used for the smaller runs to keep them in place, but not only do they offer more strength to our run, but they also help keep the mesh flat against the ground.
The holes in the mesh are large, which I like as they won’t cause sores on little bunny feet, but due to our uneven garden, I was worried about the rabbits getting their feet stuck and hurting themselves (the underfloor mesh comes as standard for the Eglu Go when purchased as a bundle with the smaller rabbit run, so again it feels a little unfair that we had to spend an extra £50 for mesh when other models have it included). The pegs flattened it all out so there now aren’t any trip hazards, but there are plastic pegs inside the run which I will monitor to ensure the rabbits don’t nibble on them!
I will be honest, I was worried about putting the pegs in the ground, but they actually come with an adapter for your drill, so installing them and taking them out if no effort at all.
How Does The Eglu Look?
I guess this is a personal preference, but I wasn’t too keen on having a big wooden structure in our garden as our outside space isn’t huge, and we do already have a large shed. I didn’t want to block the light entering our kitchen either, and although our Eglu is right by our kitchen window, it doesn’t block visibility at all and I can still see all the way to the back of my garden. The run itself only comes in green, but I like this as it blends it with the garden. The actual Eglu comes in green or pink and the insulating covers come in either green or blue. I went with green for everything because I wanted it all to match.
Looking out of our garden from the top window, the run (even with the cover on) doesn’t look any different to a gazebo.
Too Hot? Too Cold?
The Eglu is specially designed to keep the rabbits warm in the winter. Its twin-walled insulation system works in a similar way to double glazing, trapping a pocket of air between layers to keep the house well insulated. It is also designed to keep them cool in the summer due to its draught-free ventilation system that allows air to circulate whilst preventing air from directly blowing over the bedding area.
We purchased the Extreme Temperature Blanket for the Elgu Go seeing as we live in England as it’s cold more than it is warm. Although it was an extra £51.99, it is incredibly thick and well made and is filled with a heat-trapping recycled material that is breathable too. It’s easy to put on; there is a strap that goes around the bottom, ties on the end, and bungee cords on the front to hold it in place. The cover doesn’t go over the back of the Eglu, meaning you can still access the inside compartment without removing the blanket each time.
You can buy covers to go on the roof – we opted for the heavy-duty green cover to keep them dry and in the shade. The covers can be overlapped to stop the rain coming in (we had to buy two of these to cover the whole roof.
You can get clear covers too and we bought two of these to go round the sides of the run to offer them protection in the winter. I didn’t want heavy rain to get in through the sides and I wanted to make sure they stayed warm, whilst still having access to the run. All the covers attach with bungee cords which again, have plastic on the end so I am hoping the bunnies don’t nibble these. I think at least one cover should come with the run as standard because the Eglu Go rabbit hutch and run and Eglu Classic rabbit hutch come with a cover included.
In conclusion, as long as you are good at building IKEA furniture, you should be fine putting this together. You don’t even need two people to build it, as Lee managed it on his own. Make sure you this blog to see how I got on with the Eglu Go when the inhabitants move in, as well as my thoughts on how the move has gone! I have also written about how it coped over Winter.