Is it a good idea to let him roam free?

[vaneza]

Yet another question…

this morning, before I left for work, I put Cortes back into his cage, and… I felt a little guilty, he runs around all day and night when I’m there, but when I go to work, I put him in the cage… would it be a bad idea to give him as much freedom as you would a dog?? My entire apartment is bunny proof, all the cords put away, (I don’t have a tub moobunnay) and two litter boxes… should I go for it??

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[BinkyBunny]

There are many bunnies that have complete free range 24/7. I still always think they should have a home base that they can go to if they want. My first bunny was like this. He had no chewing issues, though we bunny proofed the home like crazy, and he was extremely tidy. He never got into any trouble.

You just have to make sure that all wires, all cubbies or anything dangerous he could get into is securely covered. If you’re worried about a particular room, just keep doors closed or use an xpen to block of some "iffy" areas.

The only reason why my bunnies are penned up is because Bailey and Rucy will fight and Jack I can’t trust not to find new things to chew on. But if I only had Rucy, she’d be a free range rabbit.

But they seem to really like their pens because they stay in there alot of the time even when their doors are open.

 

[vaneza]

Wonderful!!! Thanks so much…

I actually live in a large studio, so I can’t close any doors but the bathroom, and he loves it in there, there’s a space behind a shelving unit that he loves to hang out in…

so if I keep the cage, with the door open and let him run around is ok, right??? I know that he likes to go under my bed and hang out more than his own cage, but I still need a place to put the water bottle… thanks for the help

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[Lucy]

as long as there is water in his cage, your bunny should be fine. My two bunnies are free range (they are put into their pen @ night because they chew on the pet gate near out bedroom) and they are totally fine. They hang out in different spots in the apartment, and then when they are hungry or thirsty they run back to their pen.

[vaneza]

ok, but do they roam free even if you’re not home??

[Lucy]

yup. they have full range of the apartment, even if I’m not home. everything is bunny proofed in the house.. they usally don’t get into trouble. I wouldn’t want to put them in their cage. Right now that it’s hot they go and lie on the hardwood floor during the day- during winter they are usally on the top levels of their cage, hanging out. But it’s great when I come home and they come running up to me

The only times they get put into the cage is @ night, and I guess that’s only when I’m home.

[vaneza]

Thank you

that’s exactly what I wanted to hear,

I’m so happy, I’ll start tomorrow, and let you guys know how it went

[Gravehearted]

what a cutie your Cortes is, he has such beautiful coloring.!
i’m excited to hear how he does as a free-range bun, so will look forward to your update.

[BinkyBunny]

Some people take away the cage, but still keep a litterbox and bedding, food in water in a particular area or corner to still maintain their bunny’s section. Some bunnies can begin to mark all over, and they have to offer a pen area so their bunny will understand the difference between his/her area and the rest of the house that is shared.

[MooBunnay]

I’m so jealous of the free range bunny houses! My apartment is impossible to separate into two areas right now (short of having an expen around my room – now that would be funny!) Also, Kramer is not so well trained right now with the chewing – he enjoys chewing on just about anything thats chewable.

A couple days ago I came home and J & K had opened their expen! Kramer was RIGHT in my line of sight when I opened the door and as soon as he saw me he *thumped* and flattened on the floor with his eyes WIDE open (“uh oh juli…mom’s home!) and then he and juli did a very tippy toe dance right back into their pen (“out? who was out of their cage?”)

[Spacehopper]

I think your bun will be fine.  Mine have their cages in the bedroom with food and water in, and the litter box is at the other end of the bedroom (Bettie seems to just follow anything Brian does and so toilet training hasn’t been as hard as we initially prepared ourselves for,  we just left her to it, and Brian’s taught her well).  They are now both left out all the time, we did start putting Bettie away at night, but now the boyfriend’s realised that she wont thank him for doing so and will make damn sure she makes a racket in the morning to wake him up (we have to keep the bedroom door closed when we are out, although Brian wouldn’t cause any problems, Bettie is a definite wedger into small spaces – her 1st port of call at the moment is buggering about under the bath – bathroom’s being re-done so no bath panel etc at the moment), but all other times they are free to come and go as they please, but spend most of their time annoying each other, or tucked up together under the bed. 

Hope it all works out for you.  I hated being at work all day knowing Brian was stuck in his cage, especially as he would "hold on" until we got home.  Poor little man must’ve been bursting!

[vaneza]

Ok, thanks everyone for your stories,

actually, Cortes got out of his cage when he was about 10 weeks old!! I had to get a large training dog kennel, pretty big for a baby bunny, but after a couple of weeks, I got him his condo…

anyway, I went home during lunch yesterday (I wanted to try it asap) and when I got home from the gym after work, I was opening the door and found him very comfortable, laying on my bed on his tummy, giving me one of those legs stretched out butt shot!! lol… I checked everything, and there were no damages!!

[Lucy]

i’m glad it worked out (so far). I mean, about once a month, my bunnies will end up getting into something new, so don’t be shocked if that happens.

I don’t know if I could give up the bunnies’ condo. It’s their area, and if I do have to cage them up I don’t feel bad when I do (since they have four levels and the whole thing enclosed with an x-pen

[vaneza]

oh, after realizing that, even though he’s litter trained now, every now and then he’ll let a little pellet go while on his way to the litter… I wasn’t expecting everything to go perfectly…

I had a pair of beautiful golden straped high heel shoes, one day, I was going out so I put some Victoria Secret lotion that smelled of strawberries and cream on my arms, legs and feet…

when I got home, I let him out of the his condo, took off my shoes and went to sleep. I woke up to an exhausted bunny, sleeping next to my chewd up shoes… he didn’t eat anything, just torned them all up! lol, and you know what I did?? laughed and took video of it… that was the day i realized I really loved the little fella

so if i didn’t get mad then, (or the time he gave me a new haircut in my sleep) nothing will

I’m just so exited about this!

[Hedi]

My house is bunny proofed and the rabbits each have large cube houses in our spare bedroom. Many times even if they are allowed out they choose to stay in "their" room or go sleep under our bed.

I trust Carrera completely so if we aren’t home for a few hours I leave her out and block off the kitchen because it leads to an unfinished basement. Too many potential hazzards down there. I close the door to the bathroom and usually when I get home Carrera is lounging on our couch or ottoman. lol

I still can’t trust Cooper and Pookie. Pookie is so small she still likes to try and fit into places that are really too small but I’m afraid she would get stuck if we weren’t home. So I do leave them out in their bedroom and close the door. Cooper is pretty much potty trained but he still has accidents. So they haven’t gotten full run of the house alone yet-maybe one day.

 Definitely keep at least a small home base for your bun to return to for food and water. There have been several people on this board say that when they took the buns house away they got upset and acted out. If nothing else their old house is theirs and they always know they can go back there.

 

[vaneza]

oh, it sounds like a big happy family…

I bunnysat for a while, with a bunny that Cortes already knew, she was home for about two weeks, and he was not very close to the other bunny, I actually noticed that the day little boo left, he started jumping, running like crazy and marking everything, I would love to eventually get another little bunny, but I think cortes is a loner

and yeah, I’m def keeping his condo, it’s pretty much part of my decoration already lol

[Gravehearted]

it sounds like things are going well so far! i hear you about the sandals, i made the decision long ago that if i leave something in the bunny teeth zone it’s my own fault if they eat it! But i was really heart broken when they ate about an inch off the top of one of my favorite pairs of boots!

[Lucy]

i hear you gravehearted. I sometimes forget that my bunnies love to chew on leather- both my bf and myself have 2 or 3 pairs of shoes each that have been chewed. It’s ever so strange!

[BinkyBunny]

Posted By vaneza on 07/13/2007 2:09 PM
oh, it sounds like a big happy family…

I bunnysat for a while, with a bunny that Cortes already knew, she was home for about two weeks, and he was not very close to the other bunny, I actually noticed that the day little boo left, he started jumping, running like crazy and marking everything, I would love to eventually get another little bunny, but I think cortes is a loner

This is still not a sign that he is a loner.  It just means he is not happy with a "stranger"  near his territory.  Most bunnies will react the same way, that’s why it’s important for bunnies are meeting for bonding purposes should meet in a neutral territory.  Rabbits who love having companions are not going to just invite one into their territory right off with open paws.   They need to go through a process that allows them to trust each other and figure out their hierarchy issues. 

[vaneza]

Bunny update****

it’s been almost a week, and it’s been wonderful!!!

the only thing I’ve noticed is that he doesn’t get as exited when i get home, I guess before it was because he wanted to get out, but I can see that he’s happier

i’ve checked, and he is still going to his litterbox ok, hasn’t destroyed anything so far, and I am just so happy

thank you everyone for your support

[Lucy]

yay! congrats! it’s nice that he hasn’t destroyed anything- it’s really odd when you don’t end up going to work and really see what he does during the day without you

[vaneza]

I spent a sunday just hanging out at the house… that’s kind of why i decided to go for it, he did nothing but sleep under the bed for about 6 hours, he woke up at around 6pm, which is around the time I get home from work, and i figured, if he likes to go to sleep at around 11 or noon, he should play all morning if he likes!!

so i already know the answer… he eats, runs around a little, and sleeps most of the time, I’m sure of it ’cause after an hour or so of being at home, he has sooooo much energy!! and he doesn’t stop all night…

he even knows the time I’m supposed to wake up I think, because he always jumps on my bed at around 6:15am and plays with me until I have to get up at 6:45, that’s good quality time right there

[BinkyBunny]

YEAH!! That’s awesome! You can teach him to greet you by giving him a healthy treat as soon as you walk in the door. He’ll soon associate your return with something yummy. Then you can offer him affection and he’ll get used to love and yummies when you return. I bet if you do this for a month, he’ll be coming over to greet you.

[Spacehopper]

WHooohooo!

[poopy]

Has he been eating more hay….weren’t you having a litterbox issue with him holding it?

[vaneza]

you know?? not anymore, ’cause he was holding it when i would leave him inside the cage, but since now I leave him free to run around the apartment, he goes to the living room and goes back into the condo if he likes, he still won’t go inside the cage, but I’ve made m peace with that

i’m just going to get a third litterbox to put on the foot of my bed just in case

[Author]

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