I haven’t ever gone free range, but Samantha’s out time and territory has expanded to include the entire apartment. Technically she was free range earlier this week since she wouldn’t come out from under the bed when I went to work. But she has an aversion to tiles, so is never in my kitchen or bathroom by choice.

My apartment took a lot of careful thought and arranging to bunny proof first. ie, I have lots of NIC cube fences around furniture she can get under, blocking off computer and TV cords, etc. At the moment there’s only one piece of wooden furniture I consider bad for her, but she avoids it. I don’t intend to go free range with her, but on my days off, I am less concerned about her being out for much longer periods of time, or even all day if I plan to stay home.

I guess my long-winded point is to make your home thoroughly bunny proofed first. Get down on the floor and look for small openings, access to weird opportunities like chewing the bottoms of couches and box springs to create holes for climbing up into. You won’t fit, but a bunny does this easily and can be hurt by stuffing ingested or pointy springs. Look for cords, items that can be pulled and fall. You want to avoid harm to a curious bunny through eating something bad, getting clunked in the head, or trapped somehow.

If you want to start slowly, consider an x-pen that can be set up just outside a room door, so it creates a larger space extending into a second room. They move easily, can change shape, and really provide a nice barrier. Most of our bunnies can get past a baby gate eventually unless it’s clamped to the walls firmly. I watched Spockie move one with his teeth and squeeze by like it was a car door.

I think bunny proofing is key. Then consider their needs: can they get back to the litter pan quickly and easily? Will they if in another room? Water too?

I think a lot of free ranging has to do with the personality of the bunny too. Some bunnies are quiet and non-destructive, while others are extremely curious and destructive no matter how well you bunny proof. If you think your bunnies could handle it, I think starting out in one room is a great idea to see how they do – using a hallway and kitchen is a great idea. Good luck! I think free ranging even in just one or two very bunny-proofed rooms could be great if you find they can’t be trusted in the whole house.

I did this with Eyore. On the weekends I would let him out of his pen in one room with the door to the bedroom babygated. And once I saw he didn’t eat anything I worked up to longer periods out of his pen. He has been free range in the room all day and night now for 2 wks. He seems to be happier and I even got rid of my xpen. But I have to say the adoption center told me his is unusual bc he does not chew stuff and is immaculate in his liter box. I stilll protected the two wires so he couldn’t get into trouble if he tried but it has worked out well. So I agree with Elrohwen it would probably depend on habbits and personality of bunny. I hope it works out well for you.

A month or two ago we finally took that step with Ash. Luckily for us though he hates our wooden floors, so he confines himself to the living room by choice. It made the whole bunny proofing thing a lot easier. We have a few fences up, one to block off our computer area, and another to keep him out of the entertainment center. It took us a while to work up the courage to leave him out overnight, but he’s proven himself. He pretty much chews only on the things that belong to him.

The biggest problem we’ve had was this last weekend when we left town. He got lonely and bored and chewed a hole in his litter bag. He was quite proud of himself I heard, but our roomate was less than pleased.