I’d just go for it-the fact that your keeping the old stuff (her towel, food and water bowl that are familiar to her) will comfort her SHe might want something with a roof to hide in though-maybe a cardboard box (with two or more doors) so she feels she has somewhere to hide. But I’d just jump right in

I think that it would be best if she had a place of “her own” such as a cage or a pen with her food and litter boxes. Some bunnies like feeling like they have a place that is entirely theirs. Also, some bunnies begin marking more when their little area is taken away. They do this because they feel insecure and feel like they need to mark and claim some area as their own.

You could just buy an x-pen, they come in handy in many cases so I don’t think it would be a waste. You could also make her a new, (more space efficient, if the one you have is not space efficient) out of NIC. You could make it a double or triple story home, therefore conserving space.

Well actually now that I think of it, there are a couple of people who have no pen or cage, but they still have a bunny designated area. If I remember correctly Binky Bunny the owner of this site, has just a bunny room with all their toys food and litter boxes. And also, if I remember correctly, another member of this site has just a bunny room, I think it is in the person’s work room. So a couple of people have had success, but I can’t really give you firsthand advice because my bunnies have a condo that is attached to a pen that they live in.

If you do decide to take away the cages, I would recommend you do it step by step. A little bit at a time, I don’t know what your layout looks like so I can’t tell you what taking it step by step is.

Lastly, Pictures of your bunny are greatly welcomed, (Forgive me if you put pics in another post).

I have a bunny room that Monkey allows us to keep our computers in… lol. We’re penned in by the window, have to climb over it to get to the computers lol.

I think you’re on to something having one area in a corner that is lined with NIC grids and that is where the litter and food/water can be. You might even have a scrap of linoleum down in that area just in case of spills to protect the floor. It’s very possible that your bun can be free-range, but I wouldn’t get rid of the cage… maybe just put it in storage…

Posted By ElleBunnyLove on 11/25/2009 07:30 PM

So my bunny Poppy, has been with me for about six months, I recently bought a condo and now Poppy has free reign.  In my apartment she would be locked up at night, but only at night.  At my condo I just use a baby gate in my bedroom door so she can’t get out but she still has free reign of the bedroom, and so my cat doesn’t whine at the door.  So I still have the odd cage setup I used when I first got her and I was wondering how I would go about getting rid of the cages and just having a litter box and food and water and such?  I haven’t locked her in her cage since I moved to the condo, well I tried when my ex brought home his new cat, but that lasted all of thirty seconds. Poppy shook the cage so bad the water and food fell off the sides and she bent a couple wires.  Her ‘cage’ is a combo of two different cages because I didn’t think either was big enough for her, so I pu teo together.  What I plan on doing is giving her the same corner of my bedroom, but getting some wire box making things to line the wall to hang her food, water, and hay thing, I already have a towel nailed to the floor (nailed because she would drag it away if it wasn’t).  I am just wondering if I should go really slow so I don’t freak her out or will she even notice?  She is only ever in her cage to eat drink or poop so I really don’t think she will care if the cage goes away.  So does anyone have any advice?  I plan on tossing one of the cages (It was broken when I bought it) and keeping or selling the other cause it is still in great condition.  So yeah do ya’ll have any advice about the pace I should go or if she wouldn’t care?  I just brought her up to my parents house for the weekend and last night a this morning she was a bit freaked, but she has been flopping and stretching out all day so she has relaxed a bit.  So yes my original question, should I go slow or will she freak out?  She isn’t possesive of her cage, the two cats I have go in and out and she doesn’t care, she has been fixed and it potty trained so any advice?

I say, give it a go. My bunnies have been free roaming from the beginning I got them (now however they have a room of their own at night and when we are not at home), but still I have had to keep their old commercial cage. It worked a while without the cage, but then they started peeing around the area where the cage used to be. Once the cage was brought back, it stopped. I have their food, water bowl, toilet et.c in the cage, but they can get in and out as they please.  It does also make it much easier when you have to clean the toilet. At least mine seem to drop a poop or two when they jump out of the toilet, but these poops are just inside the cage, so it doesn’t matter. Also, you know where the hay is instead of having it spread all over the floor.

So do keep the cage around for a month or so, before you decide to sell it

I used a “pet store” cage for Chubs when I first got him, but only as a place to keep his litter box and water and such. He never went in it except for those 2 reasons. After a while I figured out that it was easier for everyone if I took off the top “cage” part and just used the plastic bottom to keep those things in. So technically he doesn’t have a cage, just a spot that holds his litter box and water. However, he has hidey holes and tunnels all over my living room so really…the whole place is his My other bunny Comet has the whole dining room area which is “his” and also just has a corner of it designated for litter box/water. They do fine with those things so long as they have boxes to play in too.

Haha…just realizing after writing this that my bunnies have more space then me!