Are there days when your rabbit has to stay caged all day?

[Ruffles&Daisy]

I’m just curious to know if anyone keeps their bunnies caged all day?  Normally, we let the bunnies out early in the morning (from about 6am to 8am), then again in the evenings (from about 5pm to about 9pm).  Lately though I’ve had to skip their morning running time due to the craziness of the mornings, it will die down once summer kicks in.  And since it gets darker later, it feels like we are outdoors until later.  So I’m wondering how guilty I should feel if they HAD to be in their cage all day?  Does anyone keep their bun caged all day on occasion?  What’s everyone’s bunny schedule?  Lots of Qs, hopefully lots of As!!

TIA!!

[TARM]

I have two bunnies who stay caged pretty much all the time…not because I’m mean but because they like their condo. When I take them out they spend most of their out time trying to get back in (It’s the second level). My bottom level bunnies have a pen in front of their cage and they act like they’re dying on the rare occasion that I close them in. I think it really just depends on the rabbit.

[Cake]

My bun loves his NIC condo and would rather be inside even though the door remains open. He has a small run attached but he rarely goes to it unless I put his favorite fleece there and then he is forced to check it out.

I would think if you had a nice big cage that would be fine, but like Tarm said, it depends on how active your bunnies are.

[flippersmom]

I have a similar situation – our bunnies are able to be out for a couple hours in the late afternoon and then again most of the evening. But as family life sometimes has to dictate their play time, they occasionally have days they don’t get out!!! If we know this is going to be one of those days, we have a set of extra time consuming toys we give them!!! Small boxes filled with orchard grass and a token raisin or two tied up with rafia or sisal is always a hit. We also will put some of their greens in a hay ball (I think that’s what it’s called) and some sturdier greens/veggies on those treat ka-bob thingies. they seem not to even notice that they missed out on playtime!!!!

[Adalaide]

I feel so much better after reading this thread. Freya isn’t litter trained per se, but she at least always makes it to the bathroom or her play box in the living room where we keep some toys and hay. My husband and I work evenings, him full-time and myself part-time. I’ve been feeling so guilty about the 3 or 4 days a week that she’ll need to stay in the bathroom for about 7 hours straight. Then there’s the bad bunny time in there like now. She’s been good for a few days but suddenly decided that carpet is delicious again this morning. She totally ok with me holding her til we’re in the bathroom, then she struggles like a little devil and tries to ninja her way back out, she knows when she’s been a bad girl. Although shorter and shorter punishment times have been working. Anyway, it’s good to know that it isn’t really the end of the world if she’s in that room for a few evenings a week. She always looks at me with eyes that seem to radiate guilt when I come home from work.

[RabbitPam]

My only suggestion would be to remove the “bad bunny time” association with the bathroom. If there’s another way you can give her a time out, or train her not to chew the carpet, I would try it. If you can give her some toys and good associations with the bathroom time, she won’t struggle as much and have a better experience in there. Make it a restful, rewarding place for her.

My Sammy leaves her cage to go immediately under her hidey basket to nap or watch the sun come up. She will go in and out of her cage voluntarily when she’s out, but when I shut the door, she fusses for a bit. Then settles down.

[Ruffles&Daisy]

Now that Ruff has a friend and we have him in an xpen, it doesn’t seem so harsh on him. I don’t think they really mind. But it makes me sad when I come in their room to turn on the computer and they are both pathetically waiting by the door to be let out. Rabbits are def creatures of habit. It’s funny and cute. I make sure to open their cage and pet them and give them an extra big salad. It seems that life got all of a sudden hectic. Once my daughter is out of school, they will have tons of extra time in the mornings to play and be cute. ….. awwww…. Ruffles just flopped. He flopped so hard that he made a big thump-y noise. I wuv them….

[Elrohwen]

My bunny has a cage attached to an xpen and he gets the run of both while we’re gone, but I guess you could say that he’s still “caged”. On the weekends we remove the xpen and let him do whatever he wants, but he has yet to go more than 5-10ft from his xpen area anyway . On weeknights we leave the xpen up and open one side of it, but he won’t come out of his area unless we totally remove the pen. So long story short, my bunny is more or less caged all the time if you call a cage plus xpen to be caged. But that’s really his choice as he’s a big chicken  Once he figures out how much fun exploring is, he’ll be out for a bit in the morning and all evening, similar to your schedule.

[Adalaide]

Our “morning” is between 10ish or 11ish to about 4 in the afternoon. Then I’m home by 11 at night usually ans she’s free to play until bed time which is between 2 and 4 in the morning. She’s always cool about going back when it’s time for work or bed and never struggles at all. But when I get up first thing in the morning and open that door, she’s a sneaky little devil and insists that it’s time to come out right now, even if it’s 6 am and I just had to pee haha, silly bunny.

[MimzMum]

Sadly, due to my senior husky who has chronic health issues being indoors since around the beginning of the year, my bunnies are lucky lately to even get their few hours out of their pens per day. It really bothers me because I normally only have them out in an xpen anyway, and I’d rather they were free range…but until the household animal quota decreases a bit (two housecats as well, and my husband has back issues that make him unsteady on his feet as well-so I really don’t want him to fall and flatten my rabbits!) or until I can designate their OWN room for play, We kind of have to make do with what we’ve got.
It’s getting real nice outdoors now though, so I’m hoping to shift the xpens to a secluded area in the yard that has been prepared exclusively for their enjoyment! ^_^

[MarkBun]

Unfortunately, Maryann and Dono seem to have more time in than out of their condo. They don’t seem to go too stir crazy though.

[bunnytowne]

Cottons door stays open all day til about 10:30 at nite when he goes to bed.  If I have company and it is several people I keep him in his house so he doesnt’ get stepped on.  Normally he stays in his house move of the day while I am here.

He comes out to play for an hour or so in the morning unless I have to go somewhere. And he comes back out at around 6 Very seldom do I have to leave them both inside cages closed doors for a day but when I have to I do.  I let them have nite playtime til we go to bed if I can.

Ruby  has a larger cage.  She is less active regardless.  I let her out in the bathroom for a couple of hours a day til supper time.  Again if I had to leave them inside locked cages all day I let her out too at nite til we go to bed.

[Hedi]

We have a finished basement where our 4 buns stay. Two are bonded and the rest arent. The two days I work in the morning at breakfast I take turns depending on the day and let one bunny (or the pair) out and they stay out to play downstairs where its been bun proofed while we are at work. When I get home we switch them out. Because the days I work I work 2nd shift kinda (I teach at a college so it might as well be 2nd shift) the 1st of buns would have been out for most of the day so then I let out another bun out and then bring the last bun upstairs to play until bedtim that is typically 2-3am.

On days I am off I get them more manageable times out that makes more time. But my buns love their basement and their NIC pens. So just like others, thats where they like to be. Or their Maze. lol So instead of being up here w/ me they are down their snoozin during the day.

[Beka27]

You know my buns’ set-up (4×8 foot double-wide xpen in the designated bunny room). They are allowed out everyday, sometimes thru the whole house, sometimes only in the bunny room. Even if they do have to stay penned up the entire day b/c of us not being home or other stuff going on in the house, I really don’t think they even notice or care.

The most important thing I can recommend is to have a large enough living space for the bunny. Whether that’s an xpen or a condo with multiple levels…

[Binkles]

Little-Bit has full run of my room 24/7, but she spends a LOT of time in her condo.

Oh, these bunnies and their condos..

[lilmizzsnickerz]

my bunnys had to movee out as the rent agreement changed so i bought them all massive outdoor cages and during the day i let them run about and i sit in the garden on my much loved laptop the backdoor is open and they come in and out as they please during the day (dnt let the landlord know) lol im finding they love it outside i put netting over the top of the area the run runs along so no birds ect can get at them =D

[BinkyBunny]

Since my bunnies don’t have a cage – they get alot of exercise. (well right now they are in pens since I am bonding) but normally they have access to one full room and the house at all times – though we do have a gate that keeps them in the bunnyroom if we are out and also at night.

However, when I did have a cage (nic condos) if I couldn’t let them out, I would just set-up an xpen and attach it to their cage so they could at least get that on days that I couldn’t supervise.

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