Thinking Of Transitioning to Free Range?

[CinnamonPearl]

Well after four and a half months, we’ve reached the point where Clover is no longer tolerating being locked up in his pen at all. He used to be alright with it, not exactly happy, but he wouldn’t make a fuss when I would lock him up to sleep. However, as I said, that’s unfortunately no longer the case. He’s been protesting a ton for the past week, by either making a complete mess of his pen to demonstrate his boredom (rearranging everything, flipping over his box, scattering his folded blankets, etc) or by grabbing and chewing the cage bars and making a ton of noise to say not very content. He started doing this a month or so back, but I solved the problem by either covering up the bars with cardboard or hanging a blanket over them, but he’s now just slipping under the blanket to have a go at them. 

While I could just keep fighting him on this, I feel like the more ideal compromise for the both of us is to just let him be a free range bunny, but instead of having access to my bedroom, the bathroom, and the TV room as usual, I’d just give him access to the bedroom. And he’s certainly earned it. He’s totally litter trained, only ever having tiny accidents in his pen (and even then only dry poops, never pee), he never chews on anything, even when I accidentally leave wired headphones on the floor, and he’s respectful and doesn’t make a ruckus, the most noise he ever makes out of the pen is just from excited running and binkying. My main reason for wanting a pen for him is so I have the option of locking him up if I need to, and at night I like to know exactly where he is in case, gosh forbid, some emergency happen at night and I need to grab him immediately. But that’s more to my paranoia than any realistic emergency that could happen. 

So this leads me to ask. If I wanted to transition Clover to free range, what would I need to know about it? I’m guessing it’s almost as easy as just having a normal cat or dog, along with bunny proofing, but is there anything else I should know? Right now the pen I have set up for him is cage walling, plastic to protect the baseboard, and vinyl flooring. I know rabbits like having a little corner to themselves, so should I remove the cage walling but leave the vinyl flooring to protect the carpet at the litter box area and keep it clear that that’s his little space? Thank you! 

[Tay]

aw he sounds like a wonderful bunny! i went through the same thing as you – thought we were doing well until she was chewing the bars of her cage every night at 3am . Mine has been free range for a little over a year now. she was in her own room and that worked really well. I’m transitioning her into my bedroom now and it’s going fairly well.
You already know to bunny proof which I think is one of the most important things. He’s good with potty training, but be aware there might be a slight regression with the new territory – we’re going through that now, but on night two and already better than last night so far
Other than that I can’t think of anything else. I think he’ll be super happy to be free roam, and it’ll make your bond even stronger. Charlies been binkyinf around like crazy since i’ve moved her in here.
Good luck! Sounds like he’s a great bun who won’t have too many issues with the transition!

[CinnamonPearl]

Aw, Charlie sounds like a cute little bun! I think it probably is the best decision to let him free roam, then. I want him to be happy, and I want him to be upfront with me about his wishes, and if this is what he wants and there’s no harm in it, I see no reason to object.

Is there any specific way I should transition him and dissemble the pen walls? Should I go slowly and dismantle a little at a time? Or is it fine to just collapse everything at once?

[Gordo and Janice]

My opinion, just collapse at once. Free is free. It’s nice you are so in tune with your bunny. I don’t really have any advice. As stated the most important thing is the bunny proofing. You sound like you have thought things through sufficiently enough. As with all bunnies you will probably have some unforeseen issues that you will deal with along the way. Because they are each unique and with unique comes unexpected surprises both good and bad. But you sound very adaptable. I am excited for you and Clover both, in this transition. There is nothing like a happy happy bunny. Curious to know how it goes.

[CinnamonPearl]

Thanks so much! I’ll be sure to update with how it goes. And I agree, there really is nothing like a happy bunny. Him smiling is the fastest way to get me to smile too.

[sarahthegemini]

Do it all at once. He’ll show you that you don’t need to take it slow Just prepare to be woken by early morning binkies lol. My boy woke me at 5am today!

[BunjaminML]

Our bunnies are free roaming, but we still have their pen up in the corner of our living area. Their litter bin, a water crock, and a hidey hole are in there so it feels like it’s still their own little room, but the gate is kept open so they can go in and out whenever they want. This gives us the option to still corral them when we need them out of the way for any reason.

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