Finding rabbit-friendly apartments

[Kate Monster]

Has anyone found any good resources for finding places that are ok with rabbits?  My current apartment is weird, they are ridiculously supportive of cats and dogs, complete with ‘poop picker upper’ bags all over the property (that no one uses, .  When I found what I thought was a stray cat, the people in the leasing office tried to convince me to keep her! (Which I almost did until she turned out not to be a stray but rather she was kept as an outdoor cat by some stupid people who let her wander around busy streets grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr) But they don’t allow rabbits.  I convinced them to alter my lease so I could get Kate and Spence, but I couldn’t have moved in here with them.  So now it looks like I will be moving to another city which of course leads to all of the calling to find out who will allow rabbits.  Has anyone found a list or resource that helps narrow the field?

[Huckleberry]

Wow, they allow cats and dogs but not rabbits?! Amazing! They do know the bun isn’t going to be in a hutch outside you apartment, I assume. That is so strange. I am shopping as well. One man I spoke with told me he wouldn’t charge the $300 pet deposit for a rabbit because he felt she wouldn’t be as destructive or smelly as cats and dogs (mwahahah he clearly has never had a rabbit, but I wont be the one to inform him). I just ask if they allow pets and what the deposit is, if they ask, I elaborate on her being a rabbit. I haven’t found anything yet that is in my price range though.
Good luck. I hope you can find something.
That is just blowing my mind that they allow dogs and not rabbits. What the heck are they thinking?!
-Casey

[Kate Monster]

Some places classify rabbits as livestock. So it’s like asking to have a sheep or a cow in your apartment I guess. Sigh. On the other hand I think some places probably consider it like having a hamster or something that they assume will always be confined and so have no problem. Maybe it’s a state by state issue and I won’t have so much trouble in Illinois!

[BaileyBun]

My friends who have bunnies in apartments always ask if having a “caged pet rabbit” is okay (of course, their bunnies aren’t confined to the cage, but as long as your bunnies aren’t going to destroy the apartment, it’s probably fine to say they’re caged). Usually they don’t end up having to pay a pet deposit either. When my boyfriend was looking at apartments in the Boston area, he checked out Craigslist and most of the ads stated whether or not pets were allowed. Good luck!

[Kate Monster]

BaileyBun: That’s a good idea to say that they are caged, that definitely might help. And really they would be when I’m not home so it’s really just stretching the truth from caged when not at least sort of supervised.

[Elrohwen]

In our current place the lease said no pets, but we convinced our landlord to allow the rabbits (we didn’t have rabbits when we moved in). I guess I would suggest asking at places that don’t allow pets and see if there’s a way to convince them. In my experience, big apartment complexes owned by a company aren’t very flexible on rules, but a place owned by an individual is different. If you can talk to the landlord and show pictures of your current bunny set-up and how clean and good they are, the landlord might be willing to make an exception.

[bunnytowne]

Where I live they said no rabbits anymore.   I asked them it is either give him up or move out?   The lady asked if I would be willing to pay 300 I said yes if I have to.   So here he is

I printed stuff off the computer from house rabbit society and I think 1 from here about the importance of neutering/spaying   litterbox training

They were quite surprised that you can spay/neuter and itterbox trained.   I got a letter from the vet verifying he is neutered and bunnies don’t need vaccines   (in the US)

Perhaps some printouts of rabbit care n training and pictures as was mentioned earlier would help you in your endeavor.

Plus I am bipolar and i got my Dr. to send a letter stating it is in my best interest to keep him.   Cool huh? 

Hopefully some of these suggestions will help you

Saying they are caged is a good idea too.  In that case just mention litterbox training in the cage maybe?

[Michelle&Lolli]

I got to move into my place cause I told them that Eddie was in a pen all the time. But my place also allows cats and dogs. I would start first with places that allow pets and then ask about rabbits. Of course when you ask, you’ll say that yours are in a cage or pen. You may have to pay the pet deposit if they ok it.

People either don’t know anything about rabbits or they know that they can be destructive. Hopefully if they know nothing, they will be easier to convince. If they know they are destructive, that’s where the pen/cage part comes in. You might also want to go into how you bunny proof and what their setup will be.

I would also wait until you start looking for places if you can. That way you are not just calling up and asking. If you go see the apartment and talk to the person showing it to you, you are a potential renter and they may be more willing to work with you.

Where in Illinois are you moving to?

[LoveChaCha]

The apartment leasing manager said the rabbit is okay cos it is a caged animal.. haa haa… *snicker* she didn’t charge at all, and dogs and cats here have to pay a monthly rent.

I would call around and negotiate. Apartments want more renters.

[Kate Monster]

I will be moving to Champaign for school (probably, unless I get really good news from Michigan). And those are some good tips everybody. I might call around and see how many places flat out say that rabbits are ok, and make appointments with them first and then if that doesn’t seem to be enough places to see go the route of trying to convince people while being shown an apartment. I won’t have a lot of time to waste seeing apartments as I’ll have to get back for classes and such. I will definitely print out some info and rabbits and have a speech about rabbit proofing prepared. The city also has a really active tenant union and I asked them about rabbit accepting places, so hopefully I will hear something back from them.

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