Where to free range?

[Nat]

Oky doky. So, just a small intro, I’m not a current bun owner. But I might be in a couple years. I just want to save and research  But whats the point  of doing that if your not a bun person? Hehe. So I’m figuring out if buns are for me.

Okay. So I’m in school. Of course, live with mom and dad. They don’t want pets.  But the deal usually is, if I impress them with how much money I’ve saved and how much research I’ve done, they think about it. Anddd it usually turns into a yes, hehe. Anyway! In 2-3 years I will have a cat and a dog, cuz I have them right now and they are young. The bun cage would stay in my room. The door to my room would be closed. Heh. I’ve heard buns can be destructive little boogers, lmao. My parents would be FURIOUS if there was chew marks on my bed frame, bed comfortor, desk… etc etc. I saw another thread, and think I would use grids or frames to block the area around my bed. Same with other stuff… but what a nuisance, putting boards up all the time, you know? So I was wondering if a bun could free range in a… hm… 4’x6′ grid playpen? (Or so.) Would that be enough space? I’m kinda doubting it. Wouldn’t they want at least a room to run around in? I couldn’t do whole house, the cat and dog.  My room doesn’t have enough space to buy a HUGE circle playpen…. just a modded grid playpen to kinda work its way around the shape of my bed? Or could I use the big basement space (with the risk of my cat and giant dog ) to buy a hugeee circle playpen with a cover? 

Tell me what to do! 

Tanks  

[Elrohwen]

Welcome!

A 4’x6′ cage would be plenty of room as long as the bun got a few hours to run around while you were supervising. Many buns are not too destructive as long as they’re being watched. My bun has never chewed furniture and prefers cardboard, which I gladly provide. Buns can also be like puppies – the young ones are more inclined to be destructive. If you adopt an older bun (1 year +) they will probably be calmer and less likely to chew on your things.

[Nat]

Um I actually ment 4’x6′ (or so) playpen.  I guess what I’m asking is would a rabbit be okay free ranging only in a playpen (about that size) or does it need to be in at least a room? If it needs to be in at least a room, would hardboard or grids (used for C&C’s) be good to bunny proof with?

Thanks for the reply, though

[Elrohwen]

By free range I thought you meant all the time, not just for exercising. Sorry!

I do think 4’x6′ for exercise time is too small – bunnies like to run in circles and get up some speed and there really isn’t enough room in a pen that size. But bunny proofing isn’t too hard! I use NIC grids to bunny proof my living room. I just set up a small fence around the perimeter so he can’t get to the book shelves or cords behind the tv. My bunny doesn’t jump, so a 1 grid high fence is enough. Some bunnies are a bit more adventurous, so you would need to plan out better bunny proofing.

[Nat]

Thats okay, haha

Okay.  Am I right that you can buy NIC grids at Walmart or Target? Is there a link?

Thanks

[MooBunnay]

It is good that you are doing a lot of research ahead of time to help you prepare for a bunny. I see why you would need to have your bunny in your bedroom, but there are a few different issues to be aware of. First, the playpen probably would be too small to be your bunny’s only exercise space, however, you could let your bunny run around the room and supervise him or her during that time. That way if your bunny is digging on the carpet or chewing something you can re-direct their attention to something else.

Something you might want to think about is how much time you will have available to spend with your bunny if you also have a cat and a dog that cannot be around your bunny, will you be able to spend time with your bunny every day? Enough time to let him have some supervised play time?

Also, I have a bunny that lives in a room off my bedroom, and something you’ll want to think about is the noise. My bunnies have generally the same schedule as me, but at about 5 am every day they start to get hungry, and rattle their cages, and tear up their litterboxes, and rip apart their seagrass mats, it is not possible to sleep through, and they don’t sleep in on the weekends

[Nat]

Posted By MooBunnay on 01/02/2010 03:47 PM

Something you might want to think about is how much time you will have available to spend with your bunny if you also have a cat and a dog that cannot be around your bunny, will you be able to spend time with your bunny every day? Enough time to let him have some supervised play time?

The thing is… I’m not positive on a bun. And if I do get a bun, it probably wont be for a whileeee. I want to wait until my rats and hamster (personal pets) pass away, then take break, then maybe get a bun. You see, my dog and cat are really family pets, so I just need to pitch in a little with them. A bun would be my only personal pet so I could really focus on them. It really depends on how it plays out in the future. Then I will be sure. For now, I’m just getting an idea of how much work and money a bun would be.

[Beka27]

I’d recommend a puppy playpen which is 4×4 feet square as the permanent cage (and they are usually easier to deal with/cheaper than doing NIC grids), and then a few hours per day of outside cage exercise time would be fine for the bunny.

[Nat]

Alright. I don’t know if I’ll do the playpen as a cage though.

 http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produ…atid=14629 

^^Would this be okay to do a couple hours in a day if I filled it with a ton of stimulating toys and got the biggest size? Or do they have to free range period? I’m just worried about having to constantly supervise them…  …For like 3 hours each and every day, you know?

[Elrohwen]

Even that pen is really too small as an exercise area because the bun wouldn’t be able to run and stretch its legs – it could only make a few hops across. It would probably be possible, but the real joy in bunnies is seeing them run around and binky and be cage free pets at least for a while.

I wouldn’t worry too much about having to supervise all the time. Not all bunnies need to be supervised like you would a baby – they can be left alone and checked on every 30 minutes or so. I’m comfortable leaving my bun alone in the house for an hour or two at a time because I know we’ve bunny proofed well and I know what he would and wouldn’t try to get into.

Do you stay in your room to do homework every night? That would be a perfect time to let your bun out. You would be present to stop it from getting into things, but would also be accomplishing something. My bun is out in the evenings when I’m watching tv, so I’m there, but I’m doing other things while keeping an eye on him, know what I mean?

One more thing that just came to me – if you get a bun from a rescue that fosters them out, you will be able to talk with foster parents about the bun’s habits. That way you can look for one that is calm and non-destructive in advance. If the foster family is able to let the bun free range without supervision, chances are good that you would have a trustworthy bun.

[Nat]

Thats suprising, the pen is 65″ diameter. Thats over 5 feet! I’m not doubting you, I’m just suprised they need more space.

Yeah, I think I would just keep the other pets upstairs while bun bun roamed downstairs, heh. It will take a lot of training though, but armed with water spray bottles, bitter apple spray and hardboard to block “no-no” areas like behind the TV, I could make it work.  

Yeah, I do homework every night at home, that would be a good time. Another good time I’m thinking of is in the office (where I am now). I spend a lot of time here, and if I blocked the kitty’s litter box, and bought some cord-protectors,… eh nevermind. I just looked at the ground. That would be a lot of cord protectors. Maybe this room is an area where I can use a pen made of C&C cage grids. But the bun would still get basement/my room time.

Yes, I’m starting to think about SaveABunny more and my local humane society less. Well, sometimes the humane society has buns that came from foster homes. We’llllll seeeeee. Heh.

One more thing- went to get some B-day presents for the ham at Petco, omg. There, in a cage, stood the cutest two english spot rabbits I’ve ever seen. And they licked and nibbled my fingers like crazy! Ohhh, why can’t it be two years into the future?!?

[Beka27]

Once you see how much bunnies love to run, it’ll make sense. The common misconception is that rabbits don’t need a lot of space, but this is simply not true. Bunny-proofing is going to be the key. Over time you will have stuff set up in a way where there is very little the bun can get into and continuous supervision may not be necessary (altho the bun is going to want to interact with you!)

Another option is to build a NIC condo. You can build it UP with multiple levels and not take up a lot of floor space (but the base dimensions of the cage would still have to be at least 2×3 feet, this is 2×3 grids.) The space of a room is usually adequate for exercise room, better still if it connects to an adjacent hallway for “bunny races” up and down. You’ll figure out all of the specifics when the time comes… and when you get the bunny, you can always change things around until you find out what works for everybody. ;o)

[Nat]

Yes, perhaps building a super long run-type pen would work for busy days.

[Balefulregards]

When we rescued Coco, she had been confined to a 2X3 cage for at least a year, maybe longer. They rarely cleaned it. The rationale for why she was put in the basement was that “The child didn’t take care of her like she had promised she would”. The child in that case was maybe 12 and I was not angry with the child, but with the parents.

Coco now lives as a Free roam rabbit 24/7. It took her a while to figure out how to properly hop and maybe two months before I saw her actually Run.

I think it is Really important to consider the space AND how much social interaction the Bunny would have – they are intensely SOCIAL creatures and if you want to develop a relationship with one, it will take lots of time to build that trust.

Furthermore, you may want to consider adopting an “older” rabbit of 3 or 4 years. Some of the teen behaviors may have settled down and an adult bun would be hopefully already speutered and litter trained etc. The rescue may also know more about the Buns play style and needs to match you with the right one.

Its great you are researching. I simply Took Coco from her previous owners as I couldn’t stand seeing an animal neglected like that- and had to do On the job training with her ( Fare thee well, all the cords I failed to protect before she ate them) and diet and vet needs.

But the way I think about it, the more room, the better.

[Nat]

That’s terrible. Even though I was, heh, looking at a… 2X3 cage, , I would never let it go without being cleaned at least every 7 days. (Of course the litter box being changed 2-3 times a week, though.) I’ve decided against the 2X3 cage, not only because of this, but because it just seems too small. I’m pretty sure, that depending on what size/breed of bun I (might) get, a 3X3 or 3X4 NIC condo would be good.

I do have *lots* of free time… most days. Just getting into the habit of a bun-schedule would need some hooman training on my part.  You know, learn/adjust to spending my free time with the rabbit instead of the other stupid stuff I do in my free time  Lol. Trust me, I will be considering how much interaction and space the bun would get… for the next. 2. Or. 3. Years.  

Right now, I don’t really care wether I get a baby or an adult. Adults give just as much love, right?  At our local humane society, they have little sealed rooms were you can go in with the possible-pet and spend some time with them to make sure you are picking the perfect BFF (lol).

Yes, I am quite the researchaholic. Heh.

….Man, I keep putting wayy to much smilies!  Oops.. again.  Shoot did it again! Lmao

[Author]

Messages