“Free Range” House Bunnies

[MimzMum]

I just have to say, that I am so jealous of all of those Binky members who are set up to allow their bunnies free roam of their homes! It sounds like you have the best lifestyle to keep your bunnies happy and healthy, the interaction factor alone must be terrific!

Besides the fact that I have two cats in the house and a husband with a bad back who is always taking a tumble here or there, plus two rambunctious teenagers, the sad fact is it may be awhile before my two bunnies can have the chance to run free in their home. This makes me sad.

Of course, I try to afford them as much of their xpen time as possible, and now that summer is on the way I can have them outdoors (with supervision) and they will be able to while away the hours in the sunshine and fresh air…but I droop when I think of those of you who can have your bunny jump up on you to wake up in the A.M., or visit you at the refrigerator, or give you a bump with the nose if you are in the way. This for me would be the ideal arrangement!

I am thinking of eventually making one room of the house their personal “Binky 500” room, complete with their honeymoon condo (when they are finally bonded properly) and toys on the floor and places to eat and potty. It won’t be a large room by any means, but it will be safe for them as no intruders will be allowed and they can feel less confined as they seem to be now.

It’s funny, when I got them their “SuperPet” cages, I thought, ‘Wow, what a spread! Are these lucky buns or what?'” Now I look at them and think, “No-bunny knows…the trouble I’ve seen!” >.< I feel like I'm putting them in jail every night and paroling them every morning!

I realize there are a milion things to think of as far a bunny proofing goes…but beyond the basics of care in such a situation, can any members here tell me if there are any serious pros and cons to this type of living quarters? It will help me prepare for their ‘new lodgings’ to make them as safe and comfortable as possible.

Thankies!

[MarkBun]

I feel the same way Mimz. I am currently redesigning my bedroom to be a bunroom only. I’m getting myself a new futon style couch that will double as my bed. I can’t keep seeing them standing up in the cage, paws through the bars, awaiting the call from the govenor.

[osprey]

I think it depends on the bunny too.  Mine are still too prone to urinating in inopportune places and chewing things they should not (couches, table legs, that sort of thing) to allow them free roam.  With young-ish kids in the house, our outside doors are open alot too, which scares me with buns.  Sometimes I feel like they are imprisioned, but then I see the three of them snuggled together on the third floor of their condo surveying their domain, and I think “Ha, they ain’t got it so bad”, and since all three of them came from shelters, I *know* “They ain’t got it so bad”.

 

 

[Jyka]

I think it probably does depend on the bun. I just plain lucked out with Freddy. He toilet trained very easily and quickly and he is not a timid bunny so copes with the kids and noise.
I also have two cats but they are afraid of the bunny! They used to run off as soon as he made a move, but now they seem to have sorted out a relationship where Fred will not chase them as long as they respect his turf.
(This morning Fred lept out from under the table and chased my tabby cat, who is twice his size, out of the lounge.)
My tortoise-shell cat plays chasy with him in the backyard sometimes.
Ok, so pros are pretty obvious…
-lots of interaction and involvement in family life
-great fun to watch
-freaks out family and friends

Cons…
-always a posiibility that he could run out the froont door without being noticed(fred has shown no interest in doing this…yet)
-Fred sometimes gets out to the backyard when kids leave the door open (not so much a problem for us because our yard is secure, but I don’t like the thought of him being out there without me knowing)
-They get under your feet A LOT!! (especially if hungry)
-some stray poops around but are easy to pick up and not many from Freddy.
-tricky to bond single bun with another because Fred thinks every room in the house belongs to him alone (even the bathroom)

Fred is so used to having total run of the house that he would definately be a disgruntled bun if i kept him in just one room.

That’s right …major con is that I can’t see how we can ever go on holidays without him. Fred would hate to be confined and would pine for his warren I think. Not many friends would be willing to move into our house and share it with a moody bun.

Wow – my longest ever post! To cut to the chase, having a free-range bun is unreal but it does depend on circumstances and the personality of the bun.

[Deleted User]

Good thoughts Jyka … It is nice to have bun running amuck throughout the house … lucky slaves who can have/allow their buns free range (sounds like eggs!).

I personally like Luey where I can see him, even if he is confined to his pen area.  The thought of putting him in a room on his own does not appeal to me, but Mimz you have two buns so a different story.

I look at it this way … our buns are inside … safe and sound and away from the environment.  I think that in itself is a blessing to our furry faces … many a bun is roaming the streets, parks and goodness knows where.

I guess what works for you … I only have myself and daughter and two piggies so having Luey out in the dining area is not a problem (well he is sometimes LOL).

[rabbitsmba]

We have two bonded pairs. On pair live in the family room, the other, in a bedroom upstairs. Both rooms are completely bunny-proof and they are free to run around it all they want. Just be prepared for the usual bunny mischief – chewed baseboards, knawed wall corners, shredded carpeting, scratched/chewed furniture. If you can accept the fact that this will happen, then you are good to go. Don’t leave anything extremely precious/expensive within 4 feet of the ground! And also, I always respect the fact that these rooms “belong” to the bunnies. Overnight guests do NOT go in the bunny bedroom, and company hangs out in the living room, NOT the family room.

[kralspace]

Hi mimzmum,

I have 2 bonded couples who each have a large 3-4 floor NIC condo, one upfront and one in a back room. I try to keep several closed doors between them when they’re out to cut down on the poop wars a little. My favorite part of the day is to come home from work and open their doors. Pringles and Toby shoot out and run a few laps before exploring everything they explore every day.

Daisy is very shy and seldom comes out, but Lola’s waiting at the door, paws pushing. They have the living room and I do enjoy eating dinner and watching tv (kids are grown) with her and sometimes Dasiy. Then I spend time in the bedroom where the terrible duo hang out.

Normally about 9pm they go back into the condos of their own accord, but every now and then, (like last night) Pringles rebels. She hid out somewhere, my son had left a few doors open thinking she was in the condo. Couldn’t find her anywhere.

Since the house is rabbit proofed and wireless I wasn’t too worried about her, but at 1, 2,4 and 6 AM there was a happy dance on my bed next to my head. I would just have enough time to wake up to see her black and white butt shooting off the bed and underneath to camp out on the storage boxes under there. No way to reach her without waking everyone up and she’d start thumping as I tried to go back to sleep. I’m being punished for something, not quite sure what.

But this morning she came hopping back to the condo for breakfast giving me an innocent “who me?” face. I half thought about staying home and keeping HER awake all day!

Kathy

[Sage Cat]

I have gotten to the point that Kay & Winston are only in their pen at night & if I am gone for more than 2 hours. The rest of the time the buns can run all over the place.

But, they don’t.

They still stick to the dining room & living room with an occasional jaunt into the kitchen. Kay is beginning to explore the sun porch – it is enclosed – Winston still wont go out there. They completely ignore the bed room, mud room and TV room.
I guess they just feel happy and safe in living & dining room.

[Beka27]

Meadow is out a lot, but i still don’t really consider her completely “free range”. the bedrooms are off-limits to her. ours and Michael’s bedroom are not bun-proofed. while the third bedroom is completely empty, that is a potential semi-neutral bonding location, so i’m trying to keep it “off the grid” so-to-speak. she is out between 8 and 12 hours a day, and put in her enclosure at night or when we leave for an extended length of time (which is rare). if i leave for only an hour or two, and i KNOW it is within her “naptime” i will leave her out and i don’t even think she budges from underneath the dining room table the whole time.

really… you have to do what is right for your family… what works with your bun(nies). not all of them are cut out to be completely free-range. not every family can have it that way due to housing limitations, and disagreements about what is best. for example, my hubby can only tolerate Meadow out for a short-time after he gets home. this is a reason why i was able to guilt him into allowing me to make the larger enclosure. she can have space… he can have his uninterrupted after-work quiet time… everybody is happy in the end. he is incredibly understanding with what needs to be done to take care of her properly. he has no problems paying for vet-care, the good food, just doing everything he can to make sure she is happy (and i’m happy by association!) actually, when we were talking about getting a second bun, i said, “well, i guess i’ll have to buckle down and trim nails myself so we can save some money.” it’s 16 bucks each month when i take her to the vet to have it done. he said, “no, we’ll still do it at the vet… we’ll just have to pay more i guess.” but i digress…

even with well-behaved free-range bunnies, stuff is going to get chewed, shredded and dug. it’s just the way it is. you fit them in the best way you can.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Kahlua and Rupert have been ‘free range’ since Saturday…They will be going back in their cage while we are out of town, in case the landlords have to come in to do any maintenance. But they’ve been doing so well, I think when we get back it’ll be an open concept cage, and they’ll pretty much be free range.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Mimzum- I also sometimes feel like my buns are “jailed”  as I can usually only let them out in the evening. Letting them have free roam is impossible seeing as though I have 3 unbonded buns and a pretty small house and Olivia and Bindi still like to leave surprise poops a lot of the time. Also I would worry too much giving them free roam, while they run supervised, I’m always chasing them away from chewing stuff even in a bunny proof area (cupboards, carpet, etc). I just try to keep in mind that they still get a lot more time out than a lot of buns.

[babybunsmum]

my buns aren’t free-roam completely but they do have their own room each, so i don’t feel as though they’re too caged.  of course they have to have staggered free-roam time in the rest of the house right now & will do so until they’re bonded.  baby used to be really predictable at what mischeif she could get upto but lately she’s gotten even more adventurous – possibly due to pinky’s scent being everywhere – and so now neither can be trusted free in the whole house unless supervised.  i have bunny-proofed cords, put an nic fence around my wood kitchen table & chairs and placed lots of newspaper in spots for them to chew / shred but there’s still all of my shelves with books & electronics that could be accessed by an adventurous bun bun.

their set-ups are different tho.   baby started out in her room with her way-too-small cage always open using it as her litter / pellet / water spot only so she doesn’t have an enclosure in her room – just the room itself as an enclosure.  since she was never spayed i do have issues with her leaving puddles & bb’s around the place.  within her room she’s not too bad with puddles.  i put a second litter in one corner where she consistantly used to pee in & this has worked out pretty good.  she did leave a puddle or 2 in 2 other spots so i placed scrap pieces of the plastic sign board in those spots to make it easier to clean up and since then she hasn’t left puddles very often if at all.

pinky started out with a big nic enclosure in a separate bedroom & when i brought her home she was restricted to this enclosure for a week before i let her out in the room toenforce litter habits.  before she was spayed she left bb’s all over & puddles too but since her spay she only goes in her litter (yay).  when i’m not home she is in her enclosure because there’s a couch in her room & i do not want her chewing / digging it apart.  even when she’s loose in her room she’ll still lay in her enclosure most times so i know she’s pretty comfy in there.

[Lion_Lop_Lover]

I’m in the same boat as you, LPT. None of mine are bonded (except the lops, but separated so no bebes). Mine only get out in the evening/whenever I’m home for a while, because they LOVE to cause problems…lol…
Once I’m in my new home with no need to worry about things getting destroyed, they will be out more…!

[MimzMum]

Thanks everyone! You’ve all given me much to think about and very good advice, all of it! I will keep equivocating about the situation.

Until I can come to some definitive decision about this, they will still have their xpen time, (which I feel a bit better about now), and now that it’s warming and greening up in our yard, they can have some out-outside time too.
Both buns are altered and semi-bonded. They actually do very well for several hours in their xpen, but I do notice that Pip seems to strew poopies a bit (not seriously bad) and she will get to a point where she starts chasing Mimzy around and trying to dominate, sometimes nipping his rear end. This I don’t’ stand for and promptly remove one bun from the enclosure, to stop the nipping behavior. It usually signals that they are tired of roaming and ready to go back to their pens anyway. And I do notice they don’t roam all around the xpen, they tend to stay under the willow tent most of the time, unless they have to potty. (Yes, both are perfectly litter trained.)

But I can imagine it would be nice to just open pen doors and let them walk out on their own power to have this small computer room after I remove all furniture and electronics…it’ll be like a big, windowed closet. But I am concerned about two things…the carpet (don’t want them chewing/swallowing that) and the baseboard heating unit. (don’t want them to possibly burn themselves on it)

Linoleum can solve the carpet problem…but the only way to heat the house in the boiler/baseboard setup. So that might be a caution. Then again, they may not notice it at all.
Much to think about, hm. (does best Yoda impression)

[skunklionshow]

I too have felt the guilt of the jailer…my rabbits actually had more time outside of their cages when they were therapy bunnies, than they do now.  That made me feel really bad/sad.  However, I’m just not comfortable for the cats & rabbits to intermingle w/o supervision.  Not to mention all the potty problems we had directly on cat items.

I’ve found that even when they have access to the outside world, they seem to prefer their condo.  They come out for occassional hip hop time, but it isn’t like they totally hang out when they have the access.  We also toyed w/ their own room and b/c we spent so much time in the living room, we really felt like we didn’t want them to leave the living room.  Don’t beat yourself up! All you can do is your best w/ what you have.  Happiness & love count for so much.

PS I love Pip…he has hair just like my Leo lionhead.

[Jyka]

See I have a freak rabbit that doesn’t chew carpet or base boards or furniture. He does howver , enjoy shredding paper…so just have to watch what we leave around. We also have a very small house and although he has access to all areas, he seems to stay mainly in the lounge/kitchen. (Whereever the action is!)
He is outside now running madly arouns while the kids play in the mud. Love him soooo much…

[Jyka]

This is Fred’s hutch, which is locked in overnight.  We get lots of disgruntled stomps if we don’t let him out promptly in the morning.  Lucky for him, my son has us all up at 6.30am every morning.

Also, here’s a pic of Freddy outside – spot the bunny…

 

1520424371571.jpg
1520424394954.jpg
152042441258.jpg

[Beka27]

he is such a gorgeous boy!

[Alicia Conklin]

What about NIC cubes put together like a fence around the radiator?  I’m in the midst of bunny proofing our downstairs and I am planning on making little fences with them to block off my computer area, the entertainment center, the freezer in the kitchen (it’s out too far and I am afraid he would jump behind it where there is all the elements of it….yikes!) , and the stairs (the upstairs will be the big dog’s area since her and Tucker don’t get along).  So…I have alot of fences to make lol so it might be a few weeks!

 

Currently though Tucker has a NIC condo..and it’s very spacious and so I don’t feel so bad about him not being able to be free range.  We have kids who are scared of him (of a sweet bunny I know….they’re weird) and our big dog thinks he’s lunch if he’s out of his pen.  Attached to his condo we have a 3foot by 4 foot pen attached that is made out of NIC cubes.  This way we can sit with him and reach over and give him pets.  He is free to go out into there from 7am-11pm or later every day.  We put him into his condo if we will be out of the house or when we go to bed at night.   However..he often spends alot of time in his condo anyway.. I work from home and my desk is less then a foot…like much less LOL from his condo so he often sits on his second level right next to me and so I can talk to him and give him pets throughout the day while I am working. 

Is there a possibility of making a NIC condo?  That way they won’t be in the smaller superpet cages, and they’d have more space to roam.  I found giving him the cage helped my guilt of not being able to make him a free range bunny lol.  I too am so envious of those who get to do that!!  But sadly with my big dog that doesn’t seem to ever be a possibility.  I don’t even know if she means him any harm but she’s pretty inquisitive and she uses brute force when questioning new animals..   She’s even the reason we got a pug rather then a chihuahua when I wanted a little dog LOL…I wanted either/or and pugs are much more hardy then chihuahua’s so my pug can fend for herself and even does her fair share of bullying the big dog!

[Beka27]

i think that will work out well T-Bunz! i have found it is SOOOO much easier to block off your stuff than block off the bunny.

my entire living room is encased in NIC grids,,,  i have wires that are run on the outside of them too.  doesn’t look pretty, but so far it works.

[kimberleyanddarren]

wow thats alot of NIC cubes!!

[wendyzski]

I went cageless with Pepper a couple of months ago.  She had a NIC condo where her food and litterbox were, but I left the door open most of the time unless I was expecting maintenance or something.

But I realized she was NEVER in there except to eat or potty.  She was pretty much moved into a little “fort” under the papasan chair in the living room.  So I replaced the condo with a table in the kitchen, carefully leaving everything pretty much in the same place for comfort – I KNOW they like routine. 

It took a week or so to adjust, but she took to it right away.  She’s a pretty forecful little bun anyway (that is, when she isn’t sick) so she was never the kind that needed to hide.  Yes, she spend a lot of time under that chair of hers, or under the couch, but also a lot of time up on the 3rd bookshelf next to the couch (in range for pettins!) or just lying in the middle of the rug keeping an eye on me.

My friends say it’s like having a very quiet cat that chews things.

[Kellybelly]

My bunny is caged too because we have many pets. I am making a bigger cage now but I do feel bad too. But it is for her safety. I can’t believe that people are able to have their bunnies outside. My bunny would run away and leave me!

[Beka27]

wendy! i didn’t see your reply before.

a quiet cat that chews things!!! LMAO!!!!!!

[wendyzski]

Pepper is such a little attention whore.  She LOVES rehearsal nights and runs through the room and under everyone’s chairs just to make sure people are paying attention to her.  Or she will stretch out on the rug in the center of us and listen, and shake her ears when we make mistakes.  She seems to like when we sing in 3-part harmony, and tilts her ears forward to listen.  But we have to be careful where we place the music stands or she will move them for us.  She went after Fred’s again last night and dragged it about a foot while we vainly tried to keep going and finally just gave up and laughed ourselves hoarse.  She chins all the instruments and tries to nibble on the cases. 

I adore her, but it certainly will be easier once I move and we can have a dedicated rehearsal space that I can gate off at need. 

[Author]

Messages