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Forum BEHAVIOR let out without supervision

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    • Eva_M
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        I just wanted to share my expereince with you and if some suggestions appear it would be appreciated.

        My hudsband and kid were not home over weekend and I decided to leave Eva outside her cage entire night. She was outside entire time for three days.

        For precaution I lifted the plants so that she couldn’t reach them and waited to see what will happen. Nothing got destroyed At 6 am she jumped on the bed and started to lick me. She’s quite a persistant little bunny – ignoring her is not a possibility when she wants to wake me up.

        Anyways, I’m not sure if it was just my luck or should I try countinuing this…

         


      • Monkeybun
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          It could be worth a try, if kids and husband don’t mind


        • TaraMichele
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            Ive been doing he same thing with Cady and he has been great! i think they try to prove a point by behaving well, like “look mom Im being good I dont need a cage!”


          • Eva_M
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              I think I’ll try working something out to leave her outside entire time. I feel so guilty for putting her in her cage this morning when going to work. She was so good and I locked her in I have to admit I was melting of joy in the mornings when she hopped next to me and started licking me – even on my eyelids when I tried to ignore her. She was just looking for some attention. Enough to forgive her for the early wake-up.

              I decided to put her in the cage when working cause I was afraid she would go on a mission of decorating my curtains or carpet since the visibility is better during daytime I need to buy a repellent and see how it goes


            • TaraMichele
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                Ive been using the bitter apple and it seems to ward him off, lol I actually also re-arranged my entire bedroom so its now bunny proofed also all the molding is covered!


              • Eva_M
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                  I did a little quick search and it seems there is no registered repellent for rabbits on our market I found one for dogs (amici e felici) but I need to go there and see on the product if it can be used for bunnies. I couldn’t find product info on-line.


                • Lagomorphic
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                    My buns are out 100% of the time in the entire house except for one room (I always like to keep one room bunny-free). So yeah, it is possible to bunny-proof enough to let them out unsupervised.


                  • LoveChaCha
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                      It takes a lot of.. well, er trust, to allow a rabbit out a lot. That is just my opinion She doesn’t chew on baseboards.

                      My rabbit is free range of the living room, dining room, and hallway when I’m at work, or out running errands She usually is asleep during those times. When I am at home, I sometimes will let her into my bedroom. She is under my bed right now, sleeping. She LOVES being a bed troll

                      I put Chacha into her condo when I’m sleeping at night, but otherwise, she is out and roaming. Her grandpa let her out this morning, since I was sleeping in until 10 am !!


                    • peppypoo
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                        Both Tammo and Remi were/are 24/7 free-roaming bunnies. From my experience, it’s possible but probably better to wait until they are older and their behavior is stabilized. A younger bunny might be perfectly good then one day hit those dreaded teenage years and turn super destructive. It looks like Eva has been spayed for at least a month, so as long as her good behavior keeps up you can carefully keep letting her have her freedom!


                      • RabbitPam
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                          That’s a good point, peppypoo. Free range bunnies do seem to be well behaved as mature adults. I tend to lean toward the free roam as long as you’re in the house with her, but different members have had totally free range buns with success. Don’t feel too badly about using her cage while you’re at work. If it’s about an 8 hr. day job, you are confining her to a very safe place for her deepest sleep period of the day or night. Spockie used to put himself back into his cage when it was his deep nap time, and Sammy will often hang out in there as long as I leave her door open. If you think of their cage as more like a teen’s bedroom rather than a cage, you can understand its appeal as “their space” where it’s got their stuff, arranged their way and comfy and safe for resting.


                        • Elrohwen
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                            I agree with Pam about not feeling sorry for them being in a cage/pen most of the day. We’re often home all weekend, but the bunnies choose to stay in their cage for the majority of the day while they sleep. Hannah will make a couple trips out to the living room to see what we’re up to, but she turns right back around and goes back to her cage for naps.

                            Pam, I like your analogy of a teen’s bedroom! That’s a perfect way to think about it.


                          • LoveChaCha
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                              Chacha sometimes will go back into her condo and sleep during the day She feels comfortable and safe in it!


                            • Tate
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                                Fievel still has to be caged when I’m not around, but Velvateen sleeps on my bed at night and is free all other times during the day except when it’s Fievel’s turn to be out (they can’t play together yet). V still has his cage set up with pellets, hay, and water but he is rarely in there. He usually brings out a few strands of hay at a time and brings them on to my bed or under it.


                              • mossling
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                                  i’m really paranoid. ALL of my animals (rabbits, dog, cats, rats) are confined when i am not home and at night. i worry about emergencies, and not being able to find my animals. if there is a fire, or a tornado, my daughter is my absolute priority, and i don’t want an animal to get left behind because i had to move my child to safety, and couldn’t go back to search for it.  emergency workers would be able to rescue an animal in a cage, but probably aren’t going to be able to find a terrified rabbit hiding from the chaos.


                                • Joyfull_music
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                                    My hopes with Momo are to let her have free range when we are home to watch her, but have her in he pen when we are gone or in bed. Still working to that point. Until her overall behavior and litter box habits improve, she is in her pen and only out on supervised runs. It is a big work in progress.


                                  • Eva_M
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                                      I need to share this. I was rolling on the floor this morning We had a talk last night and since my husband sees there’s no point in arguing with me Eva stayed out all night. This was the first time we were in our bedroom (couple of nights before I stayed in the living room). Anyways, she came strolling in the room around 5.30 am. She assessed the situation and found it would be better no to jump on him to get to me and made such a leap I was amazed. I saw her in the mirror as she was preparing and when she hopped it was incredible. A flying rabbit She landed right on top of me. It would probably be easier if she went around the bed but this was more of a dare I guess

                                      As for the cage, I was thinking the same thing yesterday. She does stay either under the couch or in the cage for most of the day when I’m home. She really is a calm little creature except in the evening. And I do worry about what could happen if she decides to rearrange the furniture while nobody’s home. At night at least I know I’m there and I’ll hear if she starts something up, I hope.

                                      I wont push it. Maybe we’ll get to the point when I’ll have more faith in her. She’s still young.


                                    • jerseygirl
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                                        Ditto RabbitPam on the caging during the day – try not to feel bad about that. Her cage should feel like a safe place for her. Also, as addressed above – if you had to come home and remove her during an emergency, you’d know exactly where she is.

                                        For when you’re at home though, it’s generally pretty easy to find where they are. My rabbits seem to have habits of migrating between different favoured areas. I laughed at her morning wake-up call. 6am on the dot! She’s a funny girl. : P Hopefully this has sorted out the cage bar chewing and will work long term for you. I wonder if she’ll make night time visit to other members of the family when your a full house again? Keep us updated.

                                        You might like to try some straight vinegar or an essential oil as a chew deterrant.


                                      • Huckleberry
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                                          Posted By LoveChaCha on 05/23/2011 11:10 AM

                                          It takes a lot of.. well, er trust, to allow a rabbit out a lot. 

                                          Well said! I dont really sleep at night because my job has made me a freak of nature, so I lay on the couch at night, tv on, playing on the laptop and allow Huckles to run around. She doesn’t destroy the actual apartment, nor does she touch the one and only nice piece of furniture I have, but she chews on anything else she can find. I have to keep my shoes on the back of the couch or I will wake up without laces. For the most part, everything I dont want her to get into is out of her reach. Thats not to say that she hasn’t found ways around that. I doze off and let her continue to run around free-range. I wake up to the sound of chewing or something being pushed off the coffee table. 

                                          I think you are very lucky to have a bun that respects your property!! Congrats!!!


                                        • Eva_M
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                                            Eva is also easy to locate but not easy to reach when she decides she doesn’t want to be bothered.

                                            As for the chewing on bars I hope that’s history now. Although she did rattle them yesterday during lightning storm, she got frightened and forgot how to enter so she tried to break in from the side. I felt so sorry for her, her heart raced so fast.

                                            I’ll try and take a picture of her if she decides to jump over the bed again and keep you posted how things develop.


                                          • jerseygirl
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                                              Sorry Eva_M, didn’t see your last or 2nd to last post. I think we are posting at the same time.
                                              Glad to hear it’s working out so far.

                                              @livingonfaith, sounds like me, I don’t sleep at night much these days either. It’s working out ok as that’s when J&R seem to be down for the count (until 4am at least) and TimTim seems pretty active so I can spend time with him then.


                                            • Eva_M
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                                                I have to admit I think there’s maybe something unusual about Eva.

                                                She really doesn’t do many of the things I see other bunnies do reading forums&books and on the other hand displays some behaviors I would attribute more to dogs than rabbits. I have 80% wooden furniture in my apartment and she never tried biting into it. She bit into the Internet cable once and lost interest for cabels. Her only targets are curtains, carpets and whatever I’m wearing. But she also never really did any real damage to those things. She tugged a bit, made a couple of punctures on my sweatpants and tried pulling a thread from the carpet – she doesn’t seem to be doing it any more. The curtain was left missing a half an inch corner.

                                                Plants are not so easy to resist but I lift them at night

                                                I feel I should be on the lookout because I expect her to turn devilish on me.


                                              • Lagomorphic
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                                                  Posted By jerseygirl on 05/24/2011 01:59 AM
                                                  For when you’re at home though, it’s generally pretty easy to find where they are. My rabbits seem to have habits of migrating between different favoured areas. 

                                                  My rabbits migrate between different favored areas, too, and it depends on the time of day.  They’re totally creatures of habit.  In the late morning/early afternoon, they hang out on the dining room table chairs.  In the late afternoon/evening, they generally hang out in the living room by the fireplace, although Alex will often take some “alone” time back in the dining room at that point.  If I’m working in the room that’s my office, they’ll hang out there with me.  When I go to sleep, they’re back on the dining room chairs.  They also have spots they tend to go to when they’re not feeling well.  I’ve never not been able to find them.

                                                   


                                                • Lagomorphic
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                                                    Posted By jerseygirl on 05/24/2011 01:59 AM
                                                    For when you’re at home though, it’s generally pretty easy to find where they are. My rabbits seem to have habits of migrating between different favoured areas.

                                                    My rabbits migrate between different favored areas, too, and it depends on the time of day.  They’re totally creatures of habit.  In the late morning/early afternoon, they hang out on the dining room table chairs.  In the late afternoon/evening, they generally hang out in the living room by the fireplace, although Alex will often take some “alone” time back in the dining room at that point.  If I’m working in the room that’s my office, they’ll hang out there with me.  When I go to sleep, they’re back on the dining room chairs.  They also have spots they tend to go to when they’re not feeling well.  I’ve never not been able to find them.


                                                  • Lagomorphic
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                                                      Oops, double post! I really meant what I said!


                                                    • MissPinUp
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                                                        Lucy has her own room at the new place, but here she’s free except for at night. And that’s her doing. We keep her pen open, but she sleeps in it anyway. Bless her little soul


                                                      • Eva_M
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                                                          Just a quick update. We are doing well being let out all night. Eva is behaving real good – only casualty was an apple from bowl of fruit I left on the table. And this morning my nipple She got the hang of walking around the bed instead of trying to jump over everyone to get to me (my daughter also camps out in our bed). My mistake was ignoring her persistent licking of my hand. I guess she decided that there’s no excuse for not petting her when she want’s to so I got the best 6 am wake-up call of my life. But nothing a cold ice patch didn’t fix


                                                        • Tate
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                                                            Posted By Eva_M on 05/26/2011 12:04 AM
                                                            Just a quick update. We are doing well being let out all night. Eva is behaving real good – only casualty was an apple from bowl of fruit I left on the table. And this morning my nipple

                                                            Bunnies HATE nipples.


                                                          • MelBell
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                                                              Luigi has free-range of my room all day, but at night he stays in his cage. Or at least most nights. He is so hard to catch! I really wish he could roam free around my entire house, but my three dogs are hellbent on making him snackfood.

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                                                          Forum BEHAVIOR let out without supervision