Inside and outside bunny

[Peapod026]

Hey all!
I’m new to bunny ownership, and just adopted the sweetest little baby bunny! She’s wonderful and I’m so excited to have such an awesome new pet!
We currently are keeping her inside in a smallish cage, but the landlord wants her to be a mainly outside bunny. So, for her health and safety, I was planning on keeping her outside during the day in a large, two story hutch, where she has space to run around and not feel cooped up (we also let her run around the house and play while we can supervise her, the hutch is just for when we are at work).
Then, at night when it get chilly, we could bring her inside to her smaller cage where she can be warm and safe. I’m very worried about raccoons, there are tons around here and I am scared to leave her out at night.
I’d have the big hutch inside but our landlord doesn’t want that!
She’s already defined the small cage as her space, and feels comfy there. If we acclimate her to the big hutch too will she be ok having two separate living spaces like that? Will it really stress her out being moved in and out every day?
She’s very outgoing and so far she easily adapts to new things.
I just don’t want to cause her long term stress!
Thanks for reading my novel of a post!

[JackRabbit]

Hmmmm, aside from the bunny, the landlord can dictate what you have in your house (hutch)? If you have tons of raccoons, I would be worried about having the bunny outside at all. Raccoons are notorious for being able to find ways into things, including hutches. If you have the space for a large hutch inside then you likely have space enough for an xpen. A piece of plywood with vinyl flooring on it to put under the xpen would keep bunny contained, provide adequate bunny space when not out for supervised time, and protect the floor, etc. You might propose this to the landlord — if bunny can’t harm the dwelling then the landlord shouldn’t have any complaint, particularly if you recognize that as a renter you are responsible for other than normal wear and tear anyway.

[Peapod026]

Thanks for the info jack! We are moving soon and will definitely keep her inside all the time when we do! But in the meantime, we have roomies and said landlord who aren’t ok with a hutch indoors, nor so much space dedicated to the bun.
I think I will keep her outside while I’m around, and make sure she’s safe. I’ve never seen raccoons around during the day, but they are Wiley little bastards and I am sure they may get into no good no matter what time of day!!
Thanks for your response!

[JackRabbit]

Glad you’ll be moving soon!

We used to have raccoons around our old house. One in particular would sneak up on our back deck every afternoon to try to check out the trash bin. I wouldn’t have believed it, but I watched it unlatch a thick rubber bungee cord, snatch a bag of pretzels and sit at the edge of the yard eating them. When I opened the sliding door it took off, pretzel bag in tow. I could hardly unlatch that cord!

[Pipje]

It’s not advised to bring a rabbit indoors and outdoors because the sudden temperature differences can apparently be fatal, and if not then bad for their respiratory systems.

Also constantly being picked up (or put in a carrier) to be moved in and out can be very scary for the bunny. I know when mine were having to live in the shed for a month because of the landlord (same problem as you) they grew to dislike me and distrust me because I was picking them up or luring them into a carrier twice a day to bring inside for exercise. Now they are inside always we have bonded again and they don’t shy away from me anymore! Our relationship is 100% better and more rewarding now.

Also you say a 2 story hutch, is it the standard one like this style? http://www.pet.co.nz/images/cache/product_zoom/images/products/5165e2f0817534.05367625.jpeg
If so then it isn’t anywhere near big enough. If you really can’t keep her inside right now (I understand because I went through the same) and you don’t have an option like a shed or car free garage, then I’d suggest keeping her outside 24/7 but by adding a large and sturdy run to the hutch. It’f far from ideal but ping ponging between outside and inside could be worse.
The indoor xpen would be the best idea by far, but yeah if that’s not possible then I don’t know, I’ve only ever heard bad things about moving rabbits between indoors and outdoors in terms of their health, stress, and their relationship with you.

[Hazel]

Posted By Peapod026 on 6/24/2014 10:42 PM

 

I think I will keep her outside while I’m around, and make sure she’s safe. I’ve never seen raccoons around during the day, but they are Wiley little bastards and I am sure they may get into no good no matter what time of day!!

You also have to keep in mind that rabbits can die from fright. So even if the hutch was bomb proof and you don’t leave her out there alone for very long, a raccoon just TRYING to get in there could give her a heart attack and kill her. Same with cats, dogs and so on.

[Peapod026]

Alright, thanks guy! I’m glad I asked! I was pretty ignorant in assuming she could be an outside bunny, and now that I researched it, it seems like a bad idea. She’s also becoming a sweet little companion who is friendly, and I don’t want to strain our relationship, so I’ll try and keep her inside 100% of the time, screw what roomies and landlord say!
I will definitely upgrade to an xpen when I can too guys, thanks for the tips!

[JackRabbit]

Good for you!

[babybella]

I have a similar situation, minus the raccoons (although we do have a few neighborhood cats roaming around) and it’s actually worked really well for us. I was nervous about it at first too because a lot of people are super judgmental about having an outdoor rabbit even if it’s only part time. But my bunny is 100% happy and healthy. I leave her outside overnight (it never gets cold where I live), and when I’m not home during the day as well, if weather permits. She has her own little space in the backyard where she can be unsupervised, and whenever possible I have her either in a decent-sized pen in the house, or on my lap . She also gets free reign of the backyard for a couple of hours every evening. She doesn’t seem to mind going back and forth between “living spaces,” and stress about being carried back and forth has not been an issue. In fact she seems to love being held and will jump onto my lap whenever I sit on the floor near her. So as far as that goes I’m guessing it depends on the personality of your rabbit.

There have been some minor challenges – for example, making sure she has a place to hide from the cats – not just where they can’t get to her, but where she can really feel safe from them, because as someone else mentioned bunnies don’t deal well with fear. It also took her a little longer to figure out the whole litter box thing since she doesn’t have one outside, but that’s worked out too now and she does very well with it. Anyway, my point is, don’t feel too guilty if you have to keep her outside part of the time – with a little extra work you can make her just as happy as an entirely indoor bunny – if not more so (bunnies LOVE fresh air and sunshine)!! 

[MissGabbster]

Could you rabbit proof your room? That way she’d have plenty of space, she wouldn’t be left outside, and your roommates wouldn’t have to deal with her. Only problem would be the landlord but if you left the hutch outside you could just say she was in for a visit. Moving would solve all your problems though.

[SpottyBunny]

I’m unsure where you live, but here, a landlord cannot dictate what you do with pets after you’ve signed a contract. So, if you sign a contract that says no pets and bring in an animal anyway (so long as it’s not dangerous or bothering other tenants with allergies), the landlord can’t do anything. I highly recommend NIC cages which cost between $30 and $60 depending on size and configuration. I seem to remember seeing 12 sq ft as the general basis for having a cage (2 x 6 without a level).

[BigJudeBunny]

I have the same situation as babybella. My rabbit spends the majority of her time outside and loves it I have her in a chainlink dog run that’s enclosed on all sides, provides a ton of shade, an insulated dog house that’s cool in the heat and warm in the cold. I also laid down wire on the bottom of the pen and wired the bottoms all together so that there is no chance of her escape through digging. The neighbour has indoor cats that literally don’t leave her yard (if they did, they’d be really dumb cats as my dogs roam the backyard and get reallllly excited about cats lol). She’s all set up with a litterbox so when I do bring her inside, she knows to use it as well (I was amazed how fast she figured it out!). It’s good that you’re moving soon though and can bring yours inside. I’m lucky in that we don’t really have raccoons in Alberta and that my bunny is a flemish giant so she’s already as big as a scotty dog at 3 months The only thing I really worry about are birds of prey, but since her enclosure is blocked on all sides and the only birds of prey we have are kestrels in the city- I haven’t even seen any. Good luck!!!

[Peapod026]

Hey guys!
Wow, rabbit proofing our room is a good idea! But we set her up in our “garden” room which no one really uses! She has a two story hutch and a large xpen attached. The landlord doesn’t know she’s inside and the roommates keep insisting they see bunny poo everywhere (even though she is litter box trained and doesn’t leave the garden room!), but at least the wee bun is happy! I would attach a pic of her in her xpen but no idea how!
Anyway, this forum thread has great ideas for when we move, we could maybe give her an outside play area too!! I am slowly becoming addicted to binkybunny forums, haha! An awesome resource!

[Stickerbunny]

A few things to remember if you do get her outside at any point

1) Buns do better with cold than hot weather. They need ways to cool off if it gets warm outside. Also, fly strike is a risk for outdoor buns.

2) Predator birds and even rats and weasels can be dangerous to buns. Protective measures can be made to keep them away, but there have been hawks that have attacked peoples pets even with the human sitting a few feet away, so don’t trust the “human area scares them” idea. I know someone that had their pet sitting right beside their working table and a falcon swooped down over the table and attacked it, even though the human was within arms reach (he was able to save his pet, though got a few scratches).

3) If you use fertilizer or any lawn treatments, the bun shouldn’t ingest those. Also, be aware of what plants are in the yard, as some native species can be toxic and buns won’t know any better.

Here, I would never keep my buns outside because it hits 114F in summer and they would die from the heat. We also have bad flies. And I am paranoid now, because last time I kept a pet outside, two chocolate labs broke into our fenced in yard and destroyed her cage and killed her. The cage was a sturdy wood / fence structure, but they were determined and we weren’t around to stop them.

But, I do know some people that keep their buns outside and it works for them. They live in cooler climates and not so many predators roaming about.

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