is Basil getting enough attention?

[Basil]

Hello! 

It’s been a long time since I posted but I’m worried about my little Basil again! He’s currently about 10 months old, not fixed, I’m 75% sure he’s a male because he occasionally sprays, tried to get with my kitten, and from what I can tell has boy parts but this has yet to be verified by a vet. I do intend on fixing him eventually but as of right now I’m a broke and busy student and he’s not around other buns so I’m hoping to get it done by early next year. 

ANYWAY, his current living situation is no longer free range rabbit because he has ripped holes in my apartment carpet. He currently has a pen set up in my huge 10 x 10 ft bathroom. The pen takes up about half of the bathroom and is full of toys, boxes, his litter box, and a cozy bed. He spends the nights in there. During the day I usually let him out into the whole bathroom. I try to spend as much time in there as possible, studying or reading and I usually bring the cat in (his bestie) as well. When the weather allows he hangs out on my balcony where he mostly likes to chill out in the lawn chairs.  

Is this a terrible situation for him? He’s very reliably litterbox trained so i would love for him to be a house bunny but he is OBSESSED with the carpet. So as long as I’m in this apartment he really can’t be out there. I would love to eventually have a bunny room for him and a friend to live with, but this is kind of where I’m at right now. Just wondering what everyone’s thoughts are! 

[GlennTheLionhead]

Hi!

I’m also a student so understand your worries about the time you can spend with basil, especially when deadlines are a week away and you find yourself unable to focus on anything else. Perhaps sharing my experience might help you to decide the best thing to do.

I found moving Glenn from his own room to the lounge area majorly helped (or wherever you spend most of your time) maybe try to move basil there, if your worried about the carpet you could place down some cheap vinyl (usually carpet store do offcuts for like £20) and then cover with blankets, this will stop him chewing the carpet. Or any kind of buffer that you can put over the carpet.luckly there’s laminate flooring in my lounge but I cover that with blankets and it works well as bunny flooring. The vinyl under blankets trick worked brilliant when my bunny’s stayed at my family home for a two week visit as well!
Generally if you are always in the room you will find yourself naturally petting basil more.

Rabbits are incredibly social and they really want to be in your company or the company of a friend all the time so the more attention you can give is always better I have heard rabbits like other pets can suffer depression so your definitely doing the right thing by making his happiness a priority.

If you are concerned you might want to consider a second rabbit to keep him company? I found my study and working part time to be demanding and now in my final Year I found the time I could spend with Glenn was only decreasing so I made the decision to get a second rabbit Maggie when he was about a year old. I now can have a hard study sesh or spend a day at work without worrying if he’s lonely. Obviously it’s a big decision and you would want to consider finances and bonding efforts before doing so, but if it is a possible option it’s probably the best way to ensure he gets unlimited attention

[Author]

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