Does this sound ok for bunnies?

[The Dalek Diva]

Hi, I’m new!

Ok, so my house is going to have an extension that’s going to be my bedroom. Half of the room will be for me with my bed, desk, closet, etc. The other half will be for two buns. There will be a cat flap, so they can go out and run around in their outdoor rabbit run if they wish, or they can come inside. At night I’m going to keep them inside, so they’ll be safe from foxes and things (the foxes only come out at night, though the extension will be blocking their access to the run anyway). I’m going to have a window so I can look out and watch them while I work in my room. The only animals in my area are birds (and no birds of prey, the biggest birds are aussie magpies, but they rarely come and when they do come, they don’t go to the run, because the grubs and the stuff they use for their nests are all in a different area), a few foxes which only come out at night and will have a hard time getting to the run, and a possum who lives in the jasmine bush above the run, but he only comes out late at night and he runs out of the garden to go hang out with the other possums. There are no cats, the dogs in my area aren’t very loud and are unable to come into the run, the rats and mice have all been poisoned, and there are hardly any mosquitos, not even in the evening, though the rabbits will be indoors at that time anyway. So what do you think, do you think this will be good for bunnies? I haven’t gotten them yet, I’m getting new ones after my old ones died (they went to pet boarding while I was on holiday, and I don’t think they were looked after well at all while they were there ).

Also, what do you guys do when you go away? Do you get someone to come and look after your bunnies? Or do you just not go away?

[Azerane]

Hi there and welcome

Your set up sounds like a good idea however I personally would be concerned with a run that isn’t fully enclosed.Bunnies are notorious escape artists and even in suburban areas there can be large birds of prey. They can soar over very quickly so you never see them unless you’re looking up at just the right time, I’m a birder as well so I’m frequently looking out for birds and have seen 5 different bird of prey species in my suburb (though only 2 would probably tackle a rabbit). Cats are obviously another concern, you’ve said there’s none but sometimes the smell of a rabbit may bring a cat wandering to check things out. As you said, foxes are mainly a concern at night time. You will need to make sure that your cat flap is lockable. My other main concern is the reason my pair don’t go outside, and that is disease. Flies and mosquitoes etc carry myxomatosis and calicivirus, the cylap vaccine protects for the original strain of calici, but not the “2” strain. Of course I do still know people that let their buns outside and haven’t had an issue, but it’s simply not something that I risk, that choice is of course up to you

Otherwise, it sounds like an amazing set up. As a general rule, we don’t go away much because the pets make it hard, and when we do I prefer to have someone drop in to look after them so that they are in their normal environment (plus we have a parrot as well and she’s difficult to move so it’s just easier for her to stay at home). I’m sorry to hear about your previous buns at the boarding place, unfortunately I think many places that are happy to look after rabbits, aren’t exactly rabbit savvy.

EDIT: Also if magpies are common, I wouldn’t get a very small breed, like a netherland dwarf. Magpies are opportunists and will eat small mammals given a chance. A full grown rabbit is obviously too big, but a kit or a young dwarf breed might be enticing.

[The Dalek Diva]

With my previous buns, who lived outdoors, I always checked for burrows and blocked them up. They never got mozzie diseases, I think this was because I put them in their hutch before it began to get dark, which is when mozzies come out, and I covered the hutch with tarpaulin and insulation to keep them warm and dry, but that must have also kept out mozzies. I’ve decided to have house rabbits now because my previous buns weren’t very tame – they liked exploring and would sometimes come up to sniff me, but they did not like being touched at all, and generally just avoided humans. Also, it will mean I can always be there to watch and supervise them. Another thing is, the run is on the sid of the house. They only really burrowed on the fence side where the soil is soft, so I think what I’l do is put some soft soil on the house side, so they can burrow there without escaping, and I’ll put some rocks and things on the fence side to discourage them from burrowing there.

Another thing is, I’m getting them from a shelter and all the buns in the shelter are really big anyway. I guess what must’ve happened was people bought a tiny, cute rabbit and it grew into a big, non-cute rabbit that they didn’t have room for, so they just dumped it in the shelter

I’m never going to put my buns in boarding again, I think I’ll just have people who I know come over and look after them.

Anyway, thanks for your reply, it was very helpful!

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