Becoming indoor bunnies: An update

[Bianca]

Hi all,

I thought I would post an update after moving my bunnies indoors a month(ish?) ago after them being outdoor bunnies all their lives.

I sectioned off part of my study for them – it’s approximately 1×2 meters, with a little hidey corner at the back that I put their litter tray in. At first they were great about litter training. Picked it up very fast actually. Now they have decided that they will poop in their litter tray, but they prefer a different corner for their wees. Okay, no worries, they can have a second litter tray for that, I don’t mind. It kind of amuses me though.

Once they became good at using their litter tray I started giving them supervised play time in the study. Then unsupervised play time. They aren’t chewers (except for soft cardboard, that stuff is the best) so I don’t need to worry about things being chewed up. Ogg loves rearranging everything in the waste paper basket though, so I need to empty it regularly before she does! Weatherwax has become a lot more confident with people now, but still isn’t keen on pats or cuddles. That’s okay, from what I understand, most rabbits aren’t. Ogg on the other hand now loves a bit of a pat and a cuddle after a play. If I sit on the floor she will come up and nudge me when she wants a head scratch, and will almost fall asleep while I pat her. If I stop, I get more nudges. Demanding much? 

After another week of study privileges, I decided to give them half house privileges. They got given free access to the kitchen, dining room, bathrooms, and laundry. Weatherwax doesn’t really leave the study though, she is happy just staying in there. I guess she feels safest there? She still plays a lot, just doesn’t feel the need to explore. Ogg on the other hand loves exploring. The cat litter tray in the laundry is pretty fun, so I have to keep the laundry shut now so she doesn’t keep using it as her personal digging box. She has her own some days when it is on the toy rotation! 

Now they have full house privileges. Well, Ogg does. Weatherwax has no interest in leaving the study. Ogg loves exploring the house. She found an old peg behind a cupboard, and has a play with that every day. She loves the dog toys too, and she loves to sniff the dog, who has proven to be very good with her. Funniest of all is how she and one of the cats interact. Said cat (Scamper) is fascinated by Ogg, and follows her everywhere. She stalks her like she wants to catch her and often tries to ambush her. But then Ogg will run up to her and sniff her, and she has no idea what to do. Ogg LOVES Scamper’s fluffy tail, and it is really funny to see Scamper hide somewhere to watch Ogg, only to have Ogg sneak up on her and pounce on her tail! They are actually very good together and never hurt each other. Scamper is pretty old now and has had some health issues lately, so seeing her follow Ogg everywhere has been brilliant. She hasn’t been that active or interested in something for a long time. I think it is doing her the world of good, and Ogg loves it too.

Now that the weather is warming up I have been putting them in their outside play pen sometimes during the day. Except Ogg can escape a full enclosed play pen with high sides. Great. She got loose in the backyard today and when she saw me trying to catch her sprinted back inside the house. Cheeky bugger! Still, I’ll be giving that play pen a thorough examination before miss escape artist is allowed back in it!

Sorry for the long post, but I just wanted to share with you all. I’m not an active member here, but I do a lot of reading on this forum and it has been super helpful for me to learn how to take care of Weatherwax and Ogg properly, so I really wanted to share all their progress (and mine as an owner!). I wish I could take some photos to share, but my phone has had a few too many falls and doesn’t do photos. I’ll see if I can get my fiance to take some photos when he gets home later. 

One of Ogg’s other favourite things is to run under the clothes horse when it has low hanging clothes on it. We conveniently have an old broken clothes horse lying around, so I am planning on fixing that up and tying lots of scrap fabric to it for her. Maybe some paper for her to shred too. And right now today’s game is sprint around the lounge room and jump the cushion on the floor. And then run circles around it.

I’ll stop typing now. Thank you everyone for your help – even if you don’t realise it because you haven’t talked to me directly, I have learnt so much from reading threads on this forum. You are all amazing!  

[Q8bunny]

It sounds like Ogg and Weatherwax are naturals at the whole being a house bun thing.
And it’s quite sweet about your old kitteh and Ogg.

[Author]

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