I’ll try to answer all of your questions!

1. I think letting them have the run of a whole room would be fantastic! Things to think about – you need to make sure you’ve fully bunny proofed and you need to make sure they have great litter habits. If you adopt an older bun or pair from a shelter, they can hopefully give you some info on the bunny’s ability to use a litter box. If the bun is from a foster home, they may be able to tell you if the bun is destructive or not. If I had a bun who chewed all of my furniture, I wouldn’t be ok with giving them run of a bedroom. But many buns are very polite and will behave pretty well (especially those over a year of age). You would probably want to start with an xpen or NIC pen first and gradually give them more freedom. If you buy NIC grids, they will come in handy for bunny-proofing too in addition to a quick pen set-up.

I’ll say that my bun is extremely well behaved and always has been. He’s never chewed furniture, he can be contained by a one NIC-grid-high fence, and doesn’t dig. However, I still don’t trust him alone at night, so I lock him up. He’s just too busy at that time, and I’d be afraid he would get bored and decide to destroy something. During the day, he really sleeps most of the time, so I’m more ok with trusting him to have free roam because I know he really isn’t doing anything (I know this because I’m now unemployed and am home all day, so I know his habits).

1(a). 7am to 3pm really isn’t bad – your bun will most likely sleep the entire time! As long as you spend time with your bun when you do get home, there really shouldn’t be an issue with only having one. However, you won’t be a student forever, so at some point you may want to get your bun a partner if you can’t spend enough time with him. I’ll add that before I lost my job, no one was home from 7:30am until 6pm, and our bun was fine. He wouldn’t even wake up until 7pm and we spent a lot of time with him when we got home.

2. I only have one, but from what I’ve heard (and what I can imagine) two is not more work than one if they’re living together. It’s more expense for food and vet care, but the actual work is the same. You only have to change one litter box, clean one cage, etc. I would say this is much less work then getting one bun and deciding to get a second a few years later. Then you’ll need two cages until both are bonded. Getting an already bonded pair is a great idea.

3. Once again, I can’t really say, but if you’re really worried about your bun being alone, I’d go with a bonded pair. If you get a single, I assure you that one day you will want to bond him with another bun. Getting a pair at the begining takes away a lot of work.

I’ve only been a bun owner for less than a year, but I’ve owned a lot of animals in my life. My bun has the absolute best care I can provide and is extremely spoiled (in the size of his cage and his lifestyle). I’ve also very recently started volunteering at a rescue to learn more about buns. So that’s where my information is coming from.

Are you able to volunteer? Sometimes you need to be over 18 and I’m not sure if you are, but it’s worth looking into. Even in one session I got to meet so many different rabbit personalities that I had only heard about. Though meeting a rabbit once is so different from owning one – I have such a special relationship with my little guy that I couldn’t have with the shelter rabbits after just spending a few minutes with them. But that’s the joy of rabbits!

Rabbit ownership is at least as wonderful as I had hoped when I was researching a year ago. My husband and I both adore our bunny and he’s truly our little baby. I think it’s awesome that you’re doing so much research and even if you can’t get a rabbit soon, whenever you do I think you’ll be a great bun-parent.

Owning a rabbit is the best decision I ever made :]

So here is what I know:

1. If you let your room be there cage you have to make sure you bunny proof EVERYTHING. They are intelligent, sneaky animals that will find everything you forgot to “fix”. They love cords, they will eat through any lamp cord you may have lying around, which is not good for them. They coud dig at your carpet, knock over trash cans, eat cloth, and they will chew on stuff. Its part of being a bunny.

My rabbit is housed in an NIC cage. It is a cage that you build yourself (dont worry its SUPER easy and relatively cheap for a rabbit house) using these wire shelving cubes. They are called different things (organize-its, storage cubes.. etc) I’ll attach a link to a website that sells them, so you can see what they look like. So far I’ve found the best deal at K-mart. You can get 23 cubes for 15$ (you usually need two boxes for a decent sized cage). I posted an ad on craigslist and freecycle and got 70 grids for free, so thats also an option. For the bottom of the cage you can use linoleum or vinyl, but most people use something called chloroplast which you can get at sign stores or sometimes home depot or stores like that. It’s basically like plastic cardboard, if that makes sense. Its pretty cheap to! With an NIC cage I think that something 3 panels by 2 panels is a good size, and then you could let them free roam your room when you can supervise or during the night. Total cost I think is around 60$ for a huge cage! You can also customize it anyway you want, as much as you want! You can make it have multiple layers (I use cardboard to cover the grids on all the upper levels and then put carpet dorrmats on that.. which you can get at walmart for 3$ for a pretty large one).

MULTIPLE RABBITS

This I’m not entirely sure on since I only have one rabbit, but Ive done a lot of research because I am getting another one this week.

1. My rabbit is left alone for several hours a day while I’m at work and/or school and he seems to be okay, but I think he would be much happier with a friend! I wouldnt like being left alone for hours at a time. But I think its really up to you, tons of people have single rabbits and they are perfectly happy :]

2. Everything I’ve read says that two rabbits are not harder to take care of then one, and maybe even easier because they keep each other entertained (and a bored rabbit is usually a naughty rabbit!) and give each other company when you cant. And, with getting a pair that is already bonded you dont have to go through the long and sometimes difficult task of bonding them, which is really nice! The only concern I would have is getting them to bond with you. People say that rabbits that are bonded usually have a different relationship with their human, because they rely on their mate.

Rabbits can be a lot of work, but a lot of fun. They can also get expensive!! Changing litter boxes, cleaning and preparing vegetables, and cleaning cages can be time consuming, but looking at the happy buns afterwards makes it all worth it! They really are amazing creatures :]

3. I believe buns are happier in pairs. In the wild they come from warrens which can include lots of bunnies. However, some can be perfectly fine being single (and may even prefer it). Other people may disagree, but I like the idea of bonded rabbits. And they are usually a blast to watch! Other members should have better info though :]

I hope this helped, and if you have any questions, please ask!! I would love to help

http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/NIC.shtml

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5005199

http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_10151_10104_3030000000015850P?keyword=wire+storage+shelving

These are the ones from kmart that are better– http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_10151_10104_010W435219990001P?mv=rr

Sorry for the long post!!

Coco was a single Bun for well over a year. I sometimes joke that while she seems to be all right with her bonded partner, Jackson, she wasn’t all that unhappy being the Queen Diva. She had been a single gal for quite a while and I honestly do think she would have been fine staying single.

However, if you find a pair you Love – they come as a team. I would never think of breaking up a Bun-Bond once it is established. Plus if you adopt from a Rescue, you may defer some costs of the Spay or Neuter and the first Vet Visit, as this may be part of the Rescue’s adoption fee and policy.

As to a Room – yes. The more room the better. Coco and Jackson are free roam, but their home base is my bedroom – about a 20 by 10 foot square. Their litter boxes are in my room and they don’t wander out too often. If we absolutely don’t want them out of the room, we either shut the door OR place a NIC grid across the Door.

I am frequently home all day ( I am a PhD candidate, so most of my reading and writing is done at home.) I can tell you that not too much goes on – Some Hay munching. Various position changes, but LOTS of sleeping. They are most active between 5-9 a.m. and they have a couple of times at dusk..then about 11 p.m. that they both kick it into high gear and race around.

I do have the Two. The food ration went up quite a bit, but Jackson is nearly double Coco’s size. He also Pees a LOT more than she does. As to work, I make HUGE salads, and use up more litter – But now that they are bonded, my “Work” per se isn’t increased. The Bonding process was ALOT of work.

I became a Bun owner by accident – complete fluke. I am not sure I will ever be without a Bun again, as I find them so lovely as members of our family. They are satisfying in a very different way than a cat or dog. And I just love watching them.

Saffron has my entire room at his disposal, and he seems to be doing pretty well. I have a cage for him. But the cage is more like his bedroom – a place he can go where he won’t be bothered. One thing to think about is that everything in your bedroom will become your bunny’s. Everything within bunny reach is fair game to be chewed. Just last night, Saffron completely ignored his brand new phonebook, but went straight for House of Mirth… ugh. I haven’t had a problem with chewing furniture, but he did dig on my christmas blanket – so now that’s out of reach. And wires are a huge fear of mine. I buy the spiral cord wrap to put on wires. I also block off wires and use zip-ties to help hide them.

Instead of shutting the door to your bedroom, I recommend using a baby gate. I’ve never had anybunny jump over it. And it doesn’t shut your room off from regular household activity like the door would.

I’ve only ever had one rabbit at a time. But adopting a pair sounds lovely!

Saffron also has an xpen at my parents house in the suburbs, but I prefer to give him my bedroom.

One problem with just shutting your door is that sometimes it isn’t shut. Once in awhile, half asleep, rushing due to being late… door gets left open. Bun runs out. Bun chews on stuff, humans get mad at bun… not bun’s fault! I definitely suggest a baby gate at the VERY LEAST.

As to you not wanting a “Be Patient” remark.. I have to say… half of owning a bun is being patient! You have to let THEM decide when stuff happens, you rarely ever control a bun relationship lol. I got Monkey in June, and I’m STILL waiting for her to acknowledge me as more than her food bringer. You have to make sure you know what to feed, how often, where a vet is, how much vet costs, litter training, what to do in an emergency, nail trims, anal gland checks, bun proofing, bun bonding, bun toys, bun no-nos… there’s tons to learn before you get one!

You mentioned you aren’t sure if you even want a bun.. I suggest fostering one to start if you don’t know if you want to keep one. It wil give you a taste of what it is like owning a bunny, with the option of not adopting one, being able to give it back. hate to make alot of it sound negative, but if we only told you good stuff, we wouldn’t be very good bun people

I know we’ve answered some of these questions in the other threads you have posted.

The biggest thing regarding the one versus two debate is not going to be the amount of work, but the amount of money. Double food, hay, veggies, double litter, double vet care. Caring for one rabbit is expensive… are you providing for the rabbit or is this a family endeavor? If you are still young, depending on what your college plans are going to be, I would recommend you wait to get a rabbit. If you can’t wait, you have to make sure your parents are 100% on board with caring for your bun in your absence. It is a family decision whether you decide to get one or two.

In terms of free-range in your room, I would not recommend this if it is not your house and your belongings (i.e. you live in your parent’s house). Even with the best bunny-proofing, they can find things to destroy, especially when faced with hours of no supervision. You’ll want to have a safe location for the bunny, either an xpen or a NIC condo you build yourself. You can use this when you are at school and sleeping, and allow your bun free-range the rest of the time. Some rabbits can be trusted to be free-range EVENTUALLY, but you would not want to start off that way. In a year or so, you may be able to do total 24/7 free-range, but doing it too soon can cause a bunch of problems.

I absolutely agree with Monkeybun that you should look into fostering first.

Welcome!!!

1. I might house my rabbit(s) in my bedroom with the door closed. Is this a good idea? I would have an area for their litter box, toys, food, etc., it would just be in my room instead of in an x-pen.

I think that would be fine. Lots of rabbits are free range. If you have other pets-namely dogs or ferrets-you have to ensure that door stays shut at all times though.
Also you’ll want to bunny proof your room https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/BunnyProofingYourHome/tabid/61/Default.aspx

One thing I’d suggest is not letting him/her loose in the room at all times at first-unless you adopt a bunny who is litter traind and spay/neutered there will be accidents until they are fixed and litter trained-so if you have carpet in your bedroom-that could be a pain

Also, what would be the best way to house a rabbit? Which do rabbits seem to find more comfortable? Everything you know about housing, please tell me!

Here are my questions about one rabbit vs. two:

1. I was thinking about adopting a rabbit that WANTS to be single. Since I’m at school from approximately 7 am till about 3-ish pm, I was thinking that a single rabbit would get lonely or bored. Is this true?

It all depends-really rabbits are most active late evening and early morning-that’s when most of us who have school or work are home anyways. Your bun would likely sleep during the time you are gone. Many buns prefer a buddy-but you can certainly be that buddy even though you have school

2. I have never owned a rabbit before, so I want to adopt an already bonded pair instead of bonding two rabbits. My beef with adopting a bonded pair is that I’m not sure that I’m ready for double the work as a single rabbit. I’m not even sure that I can handle one rabbit! So my question is: how much work is a single rabbit, vs. a pair?

Well everything is essentially doubled. Also for the first rabbit-well I ejoyed having just one so we could bond and figure everything out together. On top of the work the bills are doubled-and that includes what could be pricey vet bills.

3. In your experience, was a bonded pair better than a single? Or vice versa? Which do you encourage more for someone who has a schedule that’s kind of busy?

I like having my two pairs-but one single bunny was a lot of fun too. I think if you have just one-that’s just fine. In pairs I find they pay a lot less attention to you. But that’s my opinion

Anyways-definitely check out the forum but also check out the other info on this site-it’s really good info. The other good rabbit site that is worth a read is http://www.rabbit.org