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- This topic has 11sd replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 6 months ago by
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The thing is, my setup indoors is not that great – 120×60 cm “cage”, which I leave open during the day (closed at night and when I’m not home), but she only has acces to hallway, which is small and she mostly just lies around her “cage”. I try to make it as pleasant as possible for her. She has a lot of different toys (I use pellets as treats) but she doesn’t really play with them – she just sniffs the toy and goes away.
Toffee seems rather bored inside, but when I take her to the garden and let her jump around in the grass, she binkies, flops, digs and just generally seems happy. You have to understand I want the best for her and since she obviousely loves being outside I want her to be able to go there.
X-pens – I couldn’t seem to find any suitable ones, the dogs ones aren’t high enough (she can jump over it) and rabbit ones seem far too small.
I even thought about rebuilding new fencing – I’m just 17 but suggested paying for it on my own (I would spend all my part-time jobs money on it but if it could make Toffee happier…), but the neighbours wouldn’t agree.
I would love for both me and Toffee to enjoy time outside and have good bond…
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Are you sure she’s binkying out of happiness when in the garden? If it’s as scary for her as you said (her running away/thinking you’re chasing her) she may be binkying as a defence method. Bunnies in the wild jump and binky to confuse predators. Altho flopping is obviously a good sign!
Your indoor situation doesn’t really sound suitable at all but you can’t put her outside every day when it’s not safe and she’s scared, to compensate.
I’m a little confused as to why she only has her tiny cage indoors and a small hallway? What about having her in a bedroom or living room? You could attatch a pen to her cage (if free roam isn’t possible) Get a dog pen and cover the top with a sheet to stop bun jumping out
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I’m sure that binkying was pure happiness – for example: she had leash but just dragging it behind her (is basically free) and was nomming on some grass and found some delicious greens… And sometimes she’s binkying on one place (without running) like 6 times in a row
To the indoor setup: her cage is right next to my room’s door. I sometimes leave the door open when I’m inside. Right next to the door is my bed, which has a little space under it (25cm or so) with some boxes. I would let her go there but she tends to leave poops to mark her territory (she will be spayed in about 1-2 months, when it’s not so hot). So I blocked the space under the bed with some more boxes, but all she tries to do is to get under the bed. She doesn’t really go anywhere else within the room (it is small anyways – about 2×1 meters, the bed is in an embrasure). She sniffs the leg of the table and hops away back to the boxes which block the bed.
As the room is really small I don’t have the space to move her cage in here (trust me, I thought of all the possible ways but it just wouldn’t fit
) I live with my parents and I don’t think they would agree with Toffe going to the living room (there’s carpet and fairly new furniture)…
The hallway floor is easy to clean which is the only reason I could make my parents agree with Toffee running around. I have to scrub the floor everyday, but I don’t mind because I wouldn’t leave her in the cage all day. Any advice?
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Ah okay. It does sound like she’s happy but as you mentioned before, it’s not safe when she gets spooked and starts running. I’d avoid putting her outside for now. Or as Sirius suggested, you could use an xpen in the garden. Just cover the top with a blanket or sheet. That might be enough to stop her attempting to jump out. Obviously she would need to be supervised still though.
It really would be best if Toffee could be in the living room. Of course it’s understandable that your parents don’t want the carpet and furniture ruined but there are ways around that
As I mentioned before, an xpen would be great. She’d be somewhat confined so she couldn’t get to the furniture (just remember to put a sheet as a roof!) But she’d have a little more space and maybe a little nore human interaction? Bunnies are very social To protect the carpet, you could use a sheet of chloroplast as the floor and put a blanket or two over it so she has some soft spots. Chloroplast is really easy to clean (if she has any accidents, just mop it up with some kitchen roll and use a little vinegar to remove any odours) and it would stop anything from getting onto the carpet. -
Okay, thank you very much for your advice.
For now I think I will leave Toffee inside as it is too hot outside anyway these days. I know rabbits are very social, but I wouldn’t worry about that – I literally go there every 10 minutes (from one room to another) and I try to play with her (when she’s in the mood ), pet her and sometimes give her treats (but ofc very, very little and natural ones – tiny piece of banana/apple or a pellet – she has Oxbow and she loves them). I am actually there more than in the living room. Right now she is trying to get under the bed again and chinning everything in my room. I don’t have any x pen right now because they are very expensive where I live (60×60 cm for +-60$) and I found only small AND expensive ones I’ll keep looking though. For now I will just improvisely rabbit proof my room so Toffee can safely explore it.
Once again, thank you very for your numerous advices! 
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You’re welcome
I think the pen in the picture might be okay but it’s hard to imagine what it would be like with a litter tray, hidey box, bowls and toys in there. It might be a little small still bit there are things you can do to make the most of the space. I just thought – do you have access to nic grids? Lots of bun-parents make an enclosure out of multiple grids as it works out SO much cheaper and can be customised to suit your needs. You can add levels to maximise space too. If you Google ‘rabbit nic grid cage’, there are lots of ideas.
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I know exactly what you mean, I fell in love with the grids (cheap and highly customizable)! The sad part is that where I live (middle Europe) there is no such thing (eshops and hardware stores, I asked the workers there if they would know where I could get them but they never heard of them before).
It would be possible to get them shipped from Amazon, but the shipping would cost me 80£.
I was searching for like two weeks now with no success. So my plan right know: leaving Toffee indoors for now – I open all the windows in the morning and when it starts getting hot outside I close them and shut the blinds, which makes the flat cooler. I will collect some grass and leafy greens from the garden in the morning and evening. During the day her cage will be open and she will have acces to the hallway and my room (the door is open). I am currently working on bunny proofing the cords (there’s a ton of them, they are pretty hidden already but you know – just to be sure). I have barricated the space under my bed with some crates. She loves her pellets so I bought the ball which you can put treats inside – she loves it and rolls it around the flat while nomming on the pellets. And when she’s done she takes a little nap right next to me.
She even seems to like me now! 
Thank you once more for the wonderful advice.
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Ah okay, it’s a shame about the nic grids! But it sounds like her set up is brilliant now!
Good job with the bunny proofing. It sounds spot on. If you’re unsure, you could get down on all fours (lol) and look at everything from the perspective of a bun. Just to see if there’s anything you’ve missed. It doesn’t sound like thats a problem tho. But bunnies can be surprising!
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