Is your rabbit allowed outside?

[Beka27]

There has always been a lot of discussion about the pros and cons of allowing a rabbit outside time. 

THIS IS NOT TO JUDGE WHAT PEOPLE DO! 

This poll is designed to get numbers of who does what.  It is anonymous, so you do not have to explain your position, although you can if you want to.

I set this as a multiple answer poll.  For example… if you use a harness sometimes, and at other times, an xpen, you can check both options.

Feel free to post personal experiences or facts to support your position.  Please keep the discussion polite. 

[JK]

This is a great question!  I am very curious after a couple posts yesterday!  I voted NEVER!

[ADEE]

my girls have been outside ONCE since they came to our home. On that one occassion they were brought out one at a time on a harness in the back of our building at our condo complex. They are not permitted outside by themselves and certainly not in an open space. We do have a screened in balcony that is attached to our condo but were on the fourth floor… thats where i keep/grow my herbs for them so yes, they will be allowed out there supervised but we havnt let them go out there yet. As soon as I secure the bottom portion of the screened patio and the weather cools down (like winter in florida hahaha) they will be allowed to go outside

ETA: correction, replace they with Rain.. tough to remeber i only have one now.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Mine can go outside, at my parents house in the fenced in garden, in the fenced in yard, on harnesses. Also, my dad recently built a hutch for them that lets them run on the grass, in a fenced in yard-supervised;

They are also never supervised by only one person-minimum I have one person helping me watch them!

There are no predators to worry about because my dog keeps cats etc out of the yard and being in northern alberta in a highly populated subdivision, there isn’t really any wildlife-all the same they are always supervised.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

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[Princess*Smudge]

Smudge has a harness that I use in my back yard (which is completely fenced in) but only when me and someone else from my family is outside. Or if we are all outside eating dinner or gardening I have a covered pen that is set up withing reaching distance from the table or wherever we happen to be in the yard. Smudge seems to reall enjoy her short time outside, she LOVES digging in the dirt but I would never leave her alone outside or even with someone other than myself.

[Deleted User]

My rabbit who passed, Got takwn on walks 3 time a week even though she lived in a hutch sometimes I would let her out in a neighbors yard (with permission) and let her dig or whatever or I would just put her on the leash and let her take me around. She nenver went far though.

[ScooterandAnnette]

We have taken our rabbits out for runs while wearing harnesses. We also have a portable bunny run that we built for them so they can join us in the back yard – it’s open on the bottom so they can enjoy the grass but it’s screened on the sides and top. I wouldn’t let them just run loose in the yard, even though it is fenced in.
– Annette

[BuntBun]

My bunny has never gone outside, even though i have a harness for her and a pen…  we don’t allow her to go outside only cuz we have hawks everyday circling around our neighborhood looking for food, and even if my bunny was supervised while outside, there still is the possibility of having a hawk swoop down and carry her off!  I suppose if i had a pen with a top part, maybe then i would have her play outside…

[kimberleyanddarren]

yes i let mine out in a x-pen which i built using NIC cubes. I only leave them out when it is nice out and make sure they have shade and water, i dont leave them out for long either maybe half an hour

[Ana]

Posted By knowltons4 on 07/24/2008 7:02 AM

This is a great question!  I am very curious after a couple posts yesterday!  I voted NEVER!

Why never? I’m getting a harness. I’d love to take her on walks.

[osprey]

I’ve had mine out a few times inside of an XPen (2 actually, a 4×8 area on the lawn) late in the day when it isn’t hot.  I got scared of fleas and stopped taking them outside.  I have never seen a hawk near us, but we do have lots of raccoons, so I would never let them outside alone.

[JK]

I say never because I would be too afraid he would be exposed to other animals, diseases, fleas, ticks. It’s not the same as with a cat or a dog. They get vaccinations and rabbits do not. That’s my #1 reason, however, Edson is such a chicken that if I even attempted taking him outside I’m sure he would have a heart attack!

[Lisa_43]

I let mine out to run in the yard, I supervise and never leave them on their own. They get excited when they get that free time in the grass. To me it is their natural inhabitat.

I let mine out at certain times of the day, not early morning or later at night because they are more prone to mosquitoes then.

 

[Ana]

I’ve worried about the flea issue, but I don’t think that should nhecessarily deter the possibility of outside time.  I’d like to do walks on cement, and maybe some grass time in an enclosed pen.  I can’t protect her from everything.  I had aguinea pig who got fleas, and I didn’t take him outside because the treatment was really traumatic for him.  I guess it depends on your bunny and your parenting style?

[babybunsmum]

i voted ‘other’… my bun buns only go out on the covered porch with me holding them.  i go out there to comb hair out of them when they’re molting and sometimes just to sit with them in my arms.  i never stay out long because it’s really just for my pleasure (to snuggle & enjoy the weather) since they don’t like it all that much. 

i do have a harness & leash which i have tried on both of them at seperate times but i don’t take them out with it that often since it’s a bit of an ordeal to get them all harnessed up.

[Cassi&Charlie]

We have a very secure front area (8ft brick walls, no gate, kinda like a prison cell with a small patch of grass in the middle) and luckily we have no hawks etc but our area has loads of wild rabbits and since in Aust we can’t vaccinate our bunbuns from myamotosis so I’m in constant fear of fleas and mosquitos.
Charlie only gets outside time when I’m not there and boyfriend sneaks him outside for half an hour or so. The only problem is that Charlie doesn’t like boyfriend and wont let him catch him to bring him back inside…
On another note, how do you harness train your bunny cause when I harness of Charlie he refuses to move and when he does FINALLY move it’s to try to get the thing off.

[bunnytowne]

Yes I take bun out on harness. I used to let him on the grass he loves to dig in the dirt. and grass. However I am afraid of fleas. We live with wood behind us and coons. So I carry bun and take him to the dock with us and I let him down to play with his harness on there. He goes this way n that. I follow. Also our unit has an outdoor cat people feed. So I am more nervous about fleas. I guess I should relax a little and let him play in the grass by the dock. It has been real hot here lately so when I do take him out I do it in the cooler evenings. He likes to go places with me too. I find he doesn’t pee til he gets home so I will try bringing him a litter box. He won’t go even when I put him on the grass poor fellow. So we go short distances. More often in fall and winter.

[BinkyBunny]

At my other place, we used to have an outside area that was fully covered, fenced in little area that no other animals could get to,(sort of enclosed but not – hard to explain – like a screened in patio of sorts but with real ground cover – I would hang out there with them supervising. They loved it, but in our new place, the only two times I had them out, they got fleas. I think the difference between the other place and this place was it’s a bit warmer on this side of the bay – more conducive for fleas, and other animals can get access if they want to.

[Beka27]

this is a very important point BinkyBunny. some places are fleas kingdoms, and unfortunately, you don’t always know this until you have them.

my parents live 5 minutes from us, and they have two large, mixed breed dogs. we petsat for them for two weeks, and within that time, they were infested with fleas. even tho we live in the same city, and just a few minutes away, we live in a heavily wooded area and my parents don’t. every dog that has ever lived on my grandparents property gets fleas all the time. it’s just a dangerous place for them. so even if i wanted, i know about the flea problem, and i could not take the bunnies outside.

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