i think if you wanted her to free roam i would do it slowly. like the first day watch her for less than an hour or so then the next day watch her a little longer ect. until you feel safe to leave the room and do chores and stuff then just keep extending the time till you are completely confident that she will be ok. depending on how big your house is you might have to add a few litter boxes around the house so she doesn’t go on the floor. if you notice she keeps on going potty in one corner then add a litter box there and put any poos around the litter box in the litter box. you might have known some of this already but i just wanted to make sure.

Definitely start slowly. Bunnyproof a new room, then let her in and see how she does. Spend time watching her to see if she goes for areas you didn’t bunny proof well enough.

I also recommend leaving your bun alone for the first time in the afternoon. Buns sleep most of the afternoon, so it’s pretty easy to leave their cage open while you run some errands. They’re most awake in the evenings and mornings, so trusting them with time out and about during those times is the toughest. I trust my bun for a few hours in the evening if we go out to dinner, but I still don’t leave him out all night and he’s never gotten into anything or even left a stray poo around.

are you taking her with you?

Starting after spaying might be a good idea. I find habits are very hard to break. If she gets into the habit of carpet chewing or something, even if it starts out for hormonal reasons, she might keep doing it. If you wait until she’s spayed, she’ll have settled down and be less likely to get into things.

I think the main issues are:
1) Getting past bunny proofing. Some buns will just let the bunny proofing be and others are dead set on getting through it. If you have one of these ninja bunnies, you may never be able to trust that they won’t find a new way to get at your tv cords.
2) Carpet digging/chewing. Some buns just love to eat carpet and there’s not much you can do other than try to block the areas. I wouldn’t let one of these buns have free roam while I wasn’t home.
3) Furniture/baseboard chewers. I’m not sure how common this one is. You can block you off baseboards with 2x4s and things, but I don’t know if I’d leave a bunny out during the day if it was a known furniture chewer.
4) The marker. Nobody wants a bunny who pees all over outside of his cage. This one can be worked with though.

I may be forgetting something, but in general, if she doesn’t do any of these behaviors, you’re probably pretty safe with sufficient bunny proofing.

I find NIC grids are great for bunny proofing too. No way I was going to put plastic on all of the tv wires, but I was able to set up a fence around the edge of the living room so he can’t even get behind the tv. Or at the books. Putting up a fence is so easy to set up and take down (like when we have people over).

That’s a good sign that she’s more into her stuff then your carpet. You really do have to be careful to pick up everything on the floor when you have a roaming bunny. If it’s on the floor, it’s the bun’s. My husband accidentally left his work bag within reach of the bun and now it has a hole in it 😛 Any magazines he can reach are also fair game.

Aww, who can not love a binky! Does he get up early? Maybe he can catch some binkies then. Otto binkied like crazy when we visited my parents and they would let him out at 7am (I wasn’t up til at least 8).

I would also probably wait to do a lot of free ranging until after she’s spayed. With buns, especially females, you just never know when those hormones are going to kick into high gear… it can be anywhere from 4-10 months and it varies from bun to bun. I’d hate for her to start a “naughty bunny” project as soon as you leave and then 8 hours later when you get home, the house is destroyed.

I agree with waiting until after the spay to go the full free roam. You will be able to make sure her litter training is spot on after she heals.

Now, when both Coco and Jackson started free roam, they were shy. Well behaved Buns. No nibbling on cords. By week 2 ( when they got comfortable) the true rabbitude came out. Everything I hadn’t thought to rabbit proof needed to be rabbit proofed and FAST. I also find when they are “bored” that they get quite naughty…Coco especially. She has taken to chewing on the side board of my bed to wake me up if her Breakfast is Not promptly served. If I ignore her, she goes to the other bedrooms and tries various ways to wake people up….including scratching on doors.

I also know that the binkies are less “frequent” now that they are out all day. I know they are happy, but they seem to binky less.

I also ditto waiting until she is spayed. (it takes about a month for the hormones to die down) Also, it is normal for even spayed/neutered bunnies to mark up a “new” place, for the first couple weeks after a change, so you will want to really keep an eye on things in the beginning and the slowly allow freedom.

Not all bunnies can be completely free range and unfortunately you find this out through trial…and then error. (Error can mean — peeing on furniture, peeing behind furniture, chewing on things that you never expected like furniture legs, side board, couch pillows….whatever). Now if you were living alone, that “error” aspect may not be a big deal. You know your dad and what he would be okay with him. Also, at night you do have to be careful that you don’t accidentally kick your bunny on the way to the bathroom etc. Bunnies can get under foot– especially in the dark.

For actual bunny proofing tips— check out the Bunny Proofing section under “Bunny Info”

If you decide it’s best to limit freedom, you could offer more space but not full free range by just blocking off rooms etc with the xpen.

Keep us updated!

Posted By BinkyBunny on 03/21/2010 12:07 AM
. Also, at night you do have to be careful that you don’t accidentally kick your bunny on the way to the bathroom etc. Bunnies can get under foot– especially in the dark.

I have to second that  Take it from someone with black free-roaming bunnies and a black carpet in the hallway..at night time when the light is off, we walk slooooowly down the hallway .

Other than that, I agree with the rest. Wait until she is spayed. And make sure she has lots of toys, so she doesn’t start looking for something to chew in the living room.