robot vacuum for bunny homes?

[prince dorian the bun]

I think my least favorite chore is vacuuming so have been considering getting a robot vacuum to help with that. However Dorian is a free roam bun with lots of toys & blankets scattered about and I am not sure how they would mix. He doesn’t tend to make a mess with hay, but cardboard bits and chewed up sticks is another matter. Anyone use a roomba or similar and how does it handle your buns mess? Also how does your bun deal with the it?

Thanks!

 

[Wick & Fable]

I have an Eufy 11S, which I consider the dumbest of the robot vacuums, haha. It doesn’t have an app or accessories that lets you designate where it can/cannot go, so it’s very much a bumpy process and I steer Eufy a lot of the times.

That being said, I absolutely love Eufy, especially for fur maintenance. Depending on your furniture layout/heights, it may or may not be an easy transition to robot vacuums. For example, the underside of my couch is just high enough that Eufy tries to go under, but gets stuck, so I always need to steer Eufy around. If you feel there are many places a robot vacuum could get trapped in your home layout, consider getting models where you can draw the paths/place laser borders.

Re: rabbit stuff, you need to “prep” the room for robot vacuuming. I typically do it once Fable settles to fall asleep, because every morning I help her destroy cardboard scratchers and it leaves a mess. I clean up all the cardboard bits, larger hay bits, and block of the hay feeders, and then let Eufy go. Again, once Eufy is near the couch, I manually steer Eufy, but generally let it do its own thing when it’s on the other sides of the room.

Re: rabbit reaction, they both got habituated to it fairly quickly. Wick is more so aggressive, but won’t actually attack it, just constantly dart back and forth and lunge, but once he realizes it doesn’t do anything, he finds a place to settle. Fable went from fearing it to going up and trying to lift it out of the way if it’s bugging her or in her space. It is quite amusing.

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.

[DanaNM]

This is good info! I had looked into them a while back but ended up not getting one because I figured it would get clogged with hay. But in our new place we sweep up the hay more easily so this would prob help a lot with the fur dust-bunnies!

. . . 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.  

[prince dorian the bun]

I can just picture Fable shuffling it out of her way with a silent toot, and Wick glaring at it from where he settles 😀

Dorian has some play spaces under the cabinet thing where the TV sits and behind/under the couch, if I can block those off then the rest of his stuff (tubes, too many tubes and blankets) would be easy just to plop on the couch before setting it free to do its thing. I was thinking of just letting it roam after Dorian goes in his room at night, so there’d be little interaction. Though he recently decided to hang out while I vacuum and was more disturbed that I had suggested he go stay in his room than by the noisy machine. Most of the big chunks of paper and twig bits tend to be in his play areas too so I shouldn’t have anything getting stuck. Hay doesn’t make it out his room as Dorian is strangely fastidious about cleaning up any spilled hay. He’s like a little bunny vacuum.

Only one last question @Wick&Fable, once in a while there is a stray poop… would these cause any issues?

[Wick & Fable]

I think that depends on the vacuum, but considering robot vacuums don’t have all the hoses and pipe mechanics, it would probably get into the dirt cartridge fine, or just be left on the floor.

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.

[prince dorian the bun]

thanks! I think the horror stories I read are more about doggie poo, which then gets smeared everywhere the vacuum goes (sorry for that image 😛 )

[DanaNM]

omg yes, I’ve seen pics of the fallout from dog poo + roomba disasters… my cat went through a puke-y phase and I can only imagine the horrors that could have unfolded

. . . 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.  

[prince dorian the bun]

yeah, that would also not be good… especially if it’s not just the hair ball, bits of grass variety.

Also when people tell me Buns are messy, destructive and too much work I can’t help but think about how gross especially some dogs are! 😀 Some cats too and cat urine is such a pain to get rid of the smell. And dogs chew almost as much as buns (maybe not with the same appetite for charger cables though) . Now maybe I got lucky with a very neat little princeling of a bun, but yeah so much less stinky and gross!

[DanaNM]

OMG totally. Bunnies can certainly be messy but they aren’t gross!

. . . 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.  

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