Indoor Bunny Area Questions?

[Fuffs]

Hi there. I am new here, so I apologize if I am doing this wrong. 

I do not yet have a bunny, but I plan to get one in late summer/early fall, so in 6 or so months. That being said I want to learn as much as I can, so that I can have the happiest and healthiest of bunnies. 

I’m planning to have my bunny live indoors with me, but since I live in a shared space, bunny will spend most of the time in my bedroom. 

I’m planning to make an enclosed area within my room that my bunny can spend time in when I’m away that will be an extension to his cage/hutch. I was planning to make a hardwood floor base, but have read that some other members’ bunnies do not care for hardwood floor.

In all these are my questions:

1. What type of flooring would be best that I could put over the current carpet?

2. If I make my own bunny “house” what type of wood would be best?

3. What makes the best borders for a “pen”/”gated” aread=?

Thank you in advance!

[Harley&Thumper]

1. The current carpet is fine but if you don’t want your carpet to torn up you could put a fleece blanket down.

2. I believe the general rule of thumb is avoid any wood that has been treated. Is the “house” (proper term would be a hutch) for when you can’t watch the bunny or just a place to put the litter tray and food/water>

3. you can use a 48″ exercise pen to enclose the bunny’s exercise area or use a bunch of NIC Storage cubes.

[Fuffs]

Thank you! A few follow up questions for you:

1. I rent the room, so I would prefer not to let the bunny on the carpet until it is mostly litter trained. Do you think carpet on top of a wood flooring base would work? If so, what length/type of carpet should I use?

2. I’m hoping to let the bunny roam in the enclosed area when I can’t watch him, but I may at times need to put him in there.

3. Sounds great!

[Wick & Fable]

(I live in a rented apartment and Wick has peed all over the place…. Water + vinegar will get rid of all evidence…. Hehe)

Puppy pee pads/incontinence pads would work well for the potty training phase. They are designed to be thin and non leaking so no pee will pass through them.

The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.

[Fuffs]

Do you think my bunny would be happiest on the carpet that is already there then? 

I’m hoping to let him just run about my room when I’m in there, so I guess he’d be on the carpet anyways. 

[Deleted User]

I think carpet would be best. I used to live in a carpeted apartment, and the boys loved it. They could bunny 500 and binky all over the place. Now I live in a shared house that’s all hardwood, and they rarely binky or bunny 500. They can’t get enough traction on the hardwood, so they skid easily, and it scares them. They only binky and bunny 500 on the bed, if there’s enough room on it while they’re up there. So definitely think carpet is best.

[Bladesmith]

Carpet is great. My girls HATE tile/linoleum floors, they can’t get any traction on them. That said, they’ve DESTROYED the carpet in my house, which, to be honest is of the lowest quality and pretty much ick when we got here. It was bad enough that vacuuming it was tearing it up, so I don’t feel too bad about it. I’ll replace it with equally cheap carpet when i vacate.

But give your buns some traction and enjoy the races.

[DanaNM]

Welcome! It’s great that you are doing some research before getting a bunny!

Bunnies do love running on carpet over anything else, but if you end up with a carpet chewer (mine are for sure), it’s nice to have a pen or condo for them that is safe for them to be in unsupervised (if they eat too much carpet they can get blockages, so it’s dangerous…).

In terms of a bunny “house”, I built a NIC cube condo for my buns that they live in when we aren’t home to supervise. It has a plywood base, covered with these somewhat matte finish vinyl tiles. I put grass or paper mats on the bottom level, as that level tends to get messy with the litter box and water bowl. They also like to lay on the cool tiles when it’s warm. It has 4 levels, and they the upper 3 levels are thin plywood supported by dowels. Also covered with peel-and-stick tiles, with a fleece blanket stretched over top. I think all total it cost about $80 to make (cube grids + plywood + cable ties + tiles + fleece + dowels).

My bunnies love their condo, as it gives them a place to climb and also feel secure with a roof over their head, reminiscent of a burrow, so it’s a form of enrichment. It’s big enough for them to run around in if they get the zoomies in the middle of the night. They will spend plenty of time in it even when they have free run. I also have a small apartment, so it was easier to give them more space by building up instead of out.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Fuffs]

Thank you for the info!

I was wondering if you could post a picture of their NIC condo for a little inspiration.

[Author]

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