Outdoor run on a balcony?

[ElfHome]

So, my parents want a couple of rabbits.  They are retired so someone would be home at all times to supervise the bunnies.  They have no problems in bunny proofing part of their condo.  They did enjoying interacting with my bunny growing up, and I know they want it for my neice.  I made sure they understood that a bunny needs interaction but they should make sure the five year old doesn’t traumatized the poor bunny or try to pick it up.

One thing they have is a a really big balcony.  They want to know if it is possible to make it suitable for a bunny.  I think it is nice because It is pretty protected from rain, but there is also a lot of sun, so it could be fine in warmer weather as long as there is someplace for the bunny to hide.  There aren’t really predators to worry about.

it would definitely need some fixing up, though. The floor is cement so I would worry about it not being nice on little bunny feet.  It would need to have something put down for flooring.  There would need to be a cat door so the bunny could come and go.  I could see the railings being an issue as the gaps are larger enough that I would worry about a limb being caught, so it would need to be completely covered with wiring.

I think it is a bit of a crazy idea, but I think it could work.  I’m going to need some help either talking them out of it altogether or help making this thing work.  So any help is appreciated.

[Mocha]

It could defiantly work. You can use either an x-pen or wire to cover the railing of the balcony. Rabbits can very easily get heat stroke though so maybe you can put a fan outside. You can put linoleum or tile on the cement and you can leave it like that or put fleece or hay on it. Since it’s almost summer, you need to be super careful about flys. Flystrike can kill rabbits very quickly. Don’t let the bunny go outside at night though.

I wouldn’t really use the balcony as the rabbit’s main house though, I would use it as a run for a few hours during the day.

Make sure your parents and your niece know that rabbits are very delicate animals. Rabbits aren’t really good with young children, unless they are super responsible and still they should be supervised while with a bunny.I also always give my rabbits health checks every morning to make sure everything is as it should be. This includes checking their feet (sore hocks), checking their teeth, checking their eyes, nose, and ears, and finally making sure that there are no runny poops.

Hope I helped!

[LopLove]

Mocha had some nice ideas. I have some concerns that you might want to consider: some rabbits are big jumpers. I would be most concerned that the fencing/x-pen/wire would not be tall enough to ensure that the bun does not jump over the edge. Also, although predators are not so prominent in your area, predators go where the prey is. Sort of like how you won’t have many finches in your yard until you put out a bird-feeder, you may not have many large predatory birds until you put a rabbit out on your balcony.

I think this is a good idea so long as you make sure that the rabbit can not jump off of the balcony, and that predators are either deterred from visiting your balcony, or unable to enter it or the rabbit-run.

[ElfHome]

Thanks Mocha, you gave me a lot to think about.  It was very helpful.

LopLove – I agree predators are a problem.  I know there are raptors in the area, I’ve seen them fly by, usually being mobbed by a flock of crows.  In fact, that is one reason why we wanted to screen off the balcony to begin with.  It was so I could bring my bird out without worrying about predators.  I initially thought about screens to keep insects out, but it would have to be something sturdier to keep out predators and prevent the bunny from accidentally going over the balcony railing.

[BaBamSam]

We have a run on our balcony for our Hodor that he loves. Ours is a cement balcony with no railing, so it’s completely enclosed with 4ft high walls. We just make sure the chairs we have out there are pushed into the table so he can’t jump on them (though he has yet to jump on any dining style chair – inside or outside). We also keep a hutch out there that’s covered with a towel for shade, has extra water and a litter box. This way he has a place to rest if he gets stressed and if he doesn’t want to come in, we can secure him in the hutch for a little while until he’s had his fill of the outdoors. Since we live in Los Angeles, I also ALWAYS keep an iced water bottle standing by and put that in his hutch if he’s out there – just in case.

I’m very nervous about him while he’s out there and not enclosed in his hutch, so I leave the shades/blinds open and stay in sight of him at all times. Though there are no predators that could get to him, and it doesn’t get too hot out there (it’s perpetually shaded on the balcony), I just worry. But he does seem to love it for an hour or so at a time

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