How to make indoor bunny living as enjoyable as possible? I am completely new bunny owner.

[LittleDoll]

I am a totally new bunny owner, so I have tons of questions. My 12 y.o. daughter went to a local fair with her aunt, and they bought the bunny without even letting us know. The bunny was sold as a “senior”, I believe they sold her because “she couldnt have babies”. Not sure if she was infertile or what. We were completely unprepaired, didnt have proper setting, etc. We keep her indoors, and I bought a biggest possible indoor cage for her.

 

I am trying to figure out how to make her living most pleasurable and enjoyable.

1) She stays indoor in a very large cage by Prevue. The cage is in a living room. We used to keep it in garage, but Ive read that bunnies can get depressed, and I felt bad for her. So we moved her into the living room so that she could have more interaction rather than being by herself all the time.

It turned out that she is a social rabbit and loves human attention. She loves to be petted. If we are busy, she starts jumping around a lot to get attention. When we open a cage, she jumps right on the lap.

Here are my questions:

1) I love to let her out to jump around the room, but the floor is wooden, and she poops and pees. Poop would be not a big problem, easy to clean. But urine is a problem. All other rooms in the house have carpets. Is there any way to let her jump around without damaging floors?

2) The weather is  nice, and I am thinking maybe we should get her an outdoor hutch, fence an area around large enough for her to hop around. We have a large lot. We could take her outdoors for at least few hours a day.  I am worried because I dont know if she is going to like to be outdoors or not. She seems to be so afraid of everything. What would you recommend?

thank you. I have tons more questions.

 

[CinnabunMom]

1) Bunnies are really easy to litter train, so once she’s litter trained you can let her out without fear of damaging your floors! There are some really great hints and suggestions all over this site about that, but bunnies like to pick one corner and make that “their” area. For my bun it was as easy as seeing which spot she liked, putting down a litter box with litter, some hay, and a little spring of mint to entice her and BOOM. Litter trained.

2) If the bunny does go outdoors, remember that bunnies do not like heat. They can get over heated very fast, so shade and LOTS of cold water are important. If you let her hop around the grass, is there any chance of ingesting pesticide? Hopping around outside is fun, but also provide toys, whatever your bunny will find enjoyable.

Welcome to BB. You should head over to the “Introduce Yourself” section and lets us see the little bunny!! We love bunny pics

[FrankieFlash]

Welcome to a bunny life! She sounds like a good bun and very social which is nice.

1) Another factor that could be affecting her going to the bathroom besides needing a litterbox is whether or not she is spayed. Fixed rabbits in general have better litter habits and longer and healthier lives. Finding a rabbit savvy vet can be difficult but there are resources for that as well on this site.

2) As for outdoors, there are two main concerns: Fertilizers and chemicals on the grass and Predators. I think it would be nice for you to build her something outside but I would make sure whatever it is it is covered on top too from birds of prey along with dogs, foxes, etc. Also, it is highly recommended that the rabbit is supervised at all times.

[RabbitPam]

Welcome,
I just want to suggest that you go to the banner at the top of any page, and click where it says “Bunny Info”. There are numerous topics on the basics of bunny set up and care, and you will find many of your questions answered right away. Also, at the top of each of the forum categories, there are posts with red pins next to them. These usually have important information that was provided in earlier posts and were good to keep handy for quick reference.

[Author]

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