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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum THE LOUNGE why indoors? info for rescue article.

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    • Roberta
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        Hi guys, 

        Firstly this is not about chastising or looking down on people with outdoor buns, it’s about gathering info for an article I need to write addressing some of the FAQs we get at WASAR.

        I want pros and cons, why you keep your bun inside. Our mission statement clearly states that we rehome to indoor homes because in Australia it is the safest option especially as we are unable to getbthe myxo vaccine. We stress this with fosters and adopters alike and yet we still find our buns being put outside despite assurances that this would not happen. As a result animals have died from flystrike, shock and injuries that would not have happened had the humans done what was asked of them. 

        So please help me gather as much info as possible and as many reasons to keep your bun indoors as you can think of. 

        One of our committee that does house her buns outdoors has already come up with a story that would have most of us locking our buns inside without hesitation. “One night her father woke to the sound of pavers moving in the back garden, unbeknownst to them a person in the neighbourhood had seen bunny paraphanalia on the verge collection and watched the parents gathering grass and herbs from the front garden and taking them through thevside gate. This same person had come back and looked over the fence and discovered the buns in their outdoor enclosure. This person then came back intent on scoring a couple of fresh rabbit dinners. Fortunately the father is a light sleeper and heard the pavers anchoring the night tarp move as the hutch was being accessed and went outside just in time to find the intruder preparing to take the rabbits from the hutch and break their necks so she could clean and freeze them”. This is a secure back yard with a high fence yet it did not stop the intruder and had the father taken a few minutes longervto investigate the results would have been tragic.

        I would really appreciate your stories and reasons.


      • Sarita
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          Roberta here is a link that a vet wrote about this in Texas – I don’t know how applicable it will be for Australia in all respects, but give it a look at:

          http://www.ntrs.org/the-indoor-bunny.html


        • kirstyol
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            I had an outdoor bunny over 20 years ago when I was a young child. He had a massive hutch and run and it was all very secure. One morning when I went to feed him he had disappeared, just completely gone. We couldn’t figure out what on earth had happened but did eventually find a hole where a fox or something must have dug through to get to him, I cried for weeks after that.

            I think that when Bramble was ill a few months back, I would never have noticed had he not been indoors. I was writing an essay and had Bramble in his pen in the hall so I could concentrate and try to get my work finished. I had put his salad down for him and just left him to do his own thing while I did my work. A while later I got up to go make a coffee and noticed that he hadn’t touched his salad, very un-Bramble like. I left him for another wee while and when I went back to check on him he was sitting in his litter box and the salad had not been touched still. If he had been outside I would never have noticed that he hadn’t eaten his salad but because he was inside I noticed and was able to check on him several times before deciding that there was definitely a problem and calling the emergency vet. Thankfully Bramble was fine in the end but I honestly think that’s only because I noticed there was something wrong quickly and was able to care for him appropriately.

            Bramble would be very unhappy outside because he is a total attention seeker, if someone comes to the house he goes mad wanting pets from them. Also many of the neighbours have dogs it would absolutely not be safe to keep him outside. One of my friends from uni had two bunnies in a huge enclosure for her children outside and a fox got one of them (the other is now a happy indoor bun), it doesn’t matter how secure you think their enclosures are, foxes seem to be able to get in.

            With all the bugs and spiders you guys have in Australia I wouldn’t sleep outside so I certainly wouldn’t expect my animals to.


          • emm_renn
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              I had a couple of rabbits that were outdoors when I was younger. I would let them roam around the yard, but my dad is a gardener. He plants different flowers, shrubs and veggies in and around his garden. I did not know what flowers were poisonous and which ones weren’t. Well turns out… we have tons of poisonous plants. I live in the suburbs where there are coyotes, raccoons and the occasional feral cat spottings all around us due to the nature trail in our neighborhood. I hear raccoons carry nasty diseases and parasites and those can transmitted if one happens to poop in your yard and a rabbit happens to eat the grass where it pooped. When my rabbits were outside, they weren’t handled/played with enough. I was an awful pet owner as a child which I really regret. Fuji who is my indoor and newly caged free bunny is a lot more friendlier and loves pets and comes up to me every time I or anyone else enters my room. My outdoor rabbits were always afraid of me and I could never figure out why. Where I live (Indiana) the weather can be crazy! It can fluctuate from being 80 degrees F to 40 degrees F in a matter of a day, even sometimes in a matter of hours. Im sure that kind of temperature change cannot be good on a rabbit.

              To sum it all up, I love my rabbit indoors! she is more active, more loving, and just by keeping her inside, I know she is healthier.


            • Deleted User
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                I don’t have any stories to add, my Henry is my first and only bunny. For me, a pet is to be enjoyed and appreciated – how do you enjoy it if it’s outside in a hutch?
                AND I’m a great one for treating other’s as you would like to be treated yourself. I think it would be a miserable existence being locked up for the outside world to overwhelm you.
                Most importantly, how do you get the joy??? As annoying as what it is to be woken by a bunny doing binkies on your bed at 4am, but gosh, what a treat/pleasure! Isn’t that the idea of owning a bunny???
                I’ve owned Henry for 2 years now and I still gush at his antic’s and cuteness. If he was outside, he would just be a chore that I’d have to feed daily….
                What fun is that???

                Simple!


              • colleenbunny
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                  Pepper is so spoiled, and he hates being alone or in smaller spaces. Most hutches don’t have enough space for a bunny to binky, and they are isolated outside where you can’t see your bunny. Also, if your bunny is sick, then when you have it inside, you notice behaviors that mean it is sick. Also, with the foxes here (and the bugs and spiders there) I wouldn’t trust them with a bunny. It seems like we see a fox or two run across our yard everyday. Good luck with the article!


                • Little Lion Head
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                    I’ve never had an outside bun; only indoors. What’s the point of a pet you just keep outside? I just think of such a sad lonely life. I would also constantly worry about insects, ticks, diseases, etc. Not to mention the threat of other animals and people! I couldn’t imagine leaving for work everyday wondering if my bunnies would be there when I got home. I mean, I wouldn’t leave my TV sitting outside for someone to mess with would I? Well bad example, but animals are such helpless creatures; it wouldn’t be fair to leave them in that position.


                  • Elliriyanna
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                      well I have never had an outdoor bunny but I have had outdoor dogs, and cats and of course our goats and chickens were outside.

                      I think part of it is there tends to be more space outside than in. Plus you don’t have to worry about smells.


                    • JackRabbit
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                        The men in my house make much worse smells my bunnies ever have.


                      • JackRabbit
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                          The only thing negative about indoor bunnies is that we *want* to give them more and more space and they tend to take over the house . . . but they’re so cute when they do!


                        • Stickerbunny
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                            When I was a kid, we had two bunnies and they lived outside and neither lasted very long. Really, should not have had them, as my mom didn’t want them inside… but I was like 5 and didn’t know any better. The first, lived outside in a hutch and she ended up covered in ants (we lived in Florida), no matter how my mom tried to treat her, it didn’t work. The ants were just drawn to her food and her fur. She had to be taken away from our property, or be eaten by fire ants, which would be an awful way to die. The other one ended up having a heart attack due to dogs barking, we think. He was a skittish lop and was frightened by everything.

                            Indoors: My buns are there and I can stop in for a quick second to say hi, if I am busy. I’ve been able to notice their tummy upsets early enough to not need a vet. And I don’t have to worry about predators or other risks that the outdoors carries.


                          • Kokaneeandkahlua
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                              I like this!

                              Safety-other animals are not going to get near my rabbits-no matter how safe an outdoor pen, it’s not safer than my home. No stranger is going to get a hold of my rabbit. If my rabbits escape their pen, they will be loose in the house and come to no harm

                              Comfort-the temperature is always more comfortable in my home than outside.

                              Compassion-why get a pet and keep it outdoors? Get a picture of an animal if you don’t want it in your home. They want to be part of the family -they can’t do that if they live outside.


                            • tanlover14
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                                Roberta, I just did a blog post about this. Here’s a copy and paste of the 8 reasons I chose:
                                1. The average lifespan of an indoor rabbit has increased to a whooping 12-15 years, while their outdoor counterparts have an average lifespan of 5-7 years.

                                2. Rabbits are incredibly social animals that thrive on constant interaction with their human family members — they are happier and healthier with frequent interaction that can only happen indoors.

                                3. There is a misconception that rabbits do not interact with their family members like a “typical” family pet would. Though bunnies have many personalities, it is amazing how often this is totally untrue! There is nothing I love more than snuggling up on the couch with Simba or Tucker for a long nap or a few TV shows.

                                4. Outdoor rabbits are more susceptible to illness and predators. Rabbits can literally “scare themselves to death” by becoming frightened by a noise or the sight of a predator.

                                5. Rabbits can only handle temperature ranges varying from 60 degrees to 78 degrees Fahrenheit. Any range outside of this can cause illness, shock, and even death. Keeping your rabbit inside is much easier than attempting to manage your bunny’s exposure to varying temperatures outside.

                                6. Illness and odd behaviors can be spotted much quicker when you develop a knowledge of your rabbits daily routines – something that is much harder to do if you are only able to spend a 1-2 hours outside per day.

                                7. Litter box training is much easier than you may think. Most rabbits can develop and learn great litter box habits within just a few days of training.

                                8. A hutch is not enough. Hutches are the typical go-to for outdoor housing as they normally stand off the ground. Hutches are rarely ever big enough for even one rabbit. Rabbits require at a minimum a 4×4 foot enclosure to run and binky with the ability to stand straight up on his hind paws.


                              • emm_renn
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                                  tanlover- My rabbit was litter trained in just a few minutes. Kind of like a cat! I only clean the litter box about every other day and I don’t really smell anything and my parents don’t complain so I guess that is a good sign haha!


                                • Deleted User
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                                    I’m the same emm, for everything cheeky Henry did/does, his litter habits are exceptional and by cleaning his litter tray every 2nd day it doesn’t smell and nor does Henry! I still don’t get how people say bunnies smell??? Their litter maybe??? So clean it! But Henry doesn’t smell, ever.


                                  • tanlover14
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                                      I immediately have bad litter box training experiences thanks to my Tans………. they are still not litter trained. I”ve officially given up with them. Nothing I have done had fixed the problem & it’s been THREE Years! All my others are very good. Nora, Tucker, Zoe, Lacey, & Simba I never had ANY litter box problems w/! Even Nora was perfect before being spayed!


                                    • emm_renn
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                                        Andhenry- I love how my bunny smells! I give her so many kisses on her face, on her ears and on her back. I just wish she would let me snuggle her all the time!


                                      • Stickerbunny
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                                          Posted By AndHenry on 4/28/2015 7:04 PM

                                          I’m the same emm, for everything cheeky Henry did/does, his litter habits are exceptional and by cleaning his litter tray every 2nd day it doesn’t smell and nor does Henry! I still don’t get how people say bunnies smell??? Their litter maybe??? So clean it! But Henry doesn’t smell, ever.

                                          Urgh. Yeah, I don’t think they smell. But, as you  know, my partner thinks a freshly cleaned litter box smells if they use it one time! And he thinks it “stinks up the whole house” … it’s a 7 room house and the bunnies are behind TWO doors from his areas. I swear it’s in his head. lol


                                        • Little Lion Head
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                                            emm_renn I love the buns smell too!!! When Rocky first came home and actually appeared to enjoy being held (sneaky guy suckered me right into loving him!) I would hold him non-stop and stick my whole face into him to smell him!

                                            Now strangely it’s Pumpkin who doesn’t mind being held and gosh she smells good. Like the sweetest hay meadow!

                                            It’s just when their poops start to smell–like the phase they were going through recently!


                                          • Anne's animals
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                                              lots of kids get pet bunny they will come out to play with is the fist few days and then forget about it. the rabbit will not get lots of free-range too. what is there is a bad storm? what about cold weather? what will the rabbit do? i don’t think it is far for a rabbit to be kept in a cage all day. loud nosies will scare the rabbit. it is not far for the rabbits to be in a cage out side for 10 years out side for its life.


                                            • Anne's animals
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                                                lots of kids get pet bunny they will come out to play with is the fist few days and then forget about it. the rabbit will not get lots of free-range too. what is there is a bad storm? what about cold weather? what will the rabbit do? i don’t think it is far for a rabbit to be kept in a cage all day. loud nosies will scare the rabbit. it is not far for the rabbits to be in a cage for 10 years out side for its life.

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                                            Forum THE LOUNGE why indoors? info for rescue article.