A couple of questions...

[SkyBaby]

Hey folks.

I'm not on here much at all just yet, as I still don't have my bunny nor have I began buying supplies. Still saving up and doing research. I have some questions about bunnies before i get started though..

1. How much success have you all had potty training your bunnies? What age is easiest to train? I really like the idea of letting my future bunny out without having to get up and pick up poops and urine constantly.

2. My hubby thinks a bunny is a lot happier outside with the run of the yard and the option to go in the cage when it wants to and being a solely outdoor pet than living in a cage inside even with getting out for a couple hours a day. Is this true? He tells me that because of a bunny he had when he was a child that seemed very happy with the run of the yard all year (he lived in a city with very mild winters). The bunny escaped a few times. Because of that, I don't think the outdoor thing is a good idea. He doesn't feel it would be too fair to a bunny to keep it in a cage inside. Can a bunny be happy inside living in a large enough cage with a large run area inside?

Again.. sorry for the stupid questions. I gotta ask 'em sometime though

Thanks so much!

 

[CKGS]

I don't have that much experience with buns yet myself but I know that I, personally, would never leave my bun outside unattended loose. Too much could go wrong. I do know that some keep them in hutches outdoors and give them free time when they can supervise.
I wanted to welcome you to the forum and say this- No question, when being asked in sincerity is stupid. You are educating yourself on your future pet before you get it which makes you extremely smart and aware beforehand!

 

[SkyBaby]

Thank you so much! I hope to get my bunny soon. Maybe by my birthday this december we'll have a bunny. I can't wait! I'll be asking lots of questions so far as the time comes closer.

 

[SweetSassy]

Hi SkyBaby!

Like Janet said, no question is stupid. I got Daisy and Rascal at 5 weeks and it took me 2 days to get them to pee in a litter box fully. To poo fully in a litter box takes way longer. Couple months. Their 4 months now and still have poos laying in their cage, but not much. Almost perfect!



If you want your bunny to go outside I suggest a enclosure with a top on it. I wouldn't just let it run in the back yard. The bunny needs supervised. Also I recommend for a cage using a NIC cage. That way you can build a cage as big as you want it. My cages are HUGE! So they have plenty of room, if I can't let them out that day to run the living room.

Hope I helped some..... April

 

[SkyBaby]

Hi! Wow so potty training goes pretty quick. That's good to know.

My hubby is stuck on the whole 'bunnies need the run of the back yard thing at all times' thing. It seems like it would be more risks than benefits. I want an indoor bunny with the option to go outside. Part of it is he doesn't really want anymore indoor pets. I'm still working on him with that one.

 

[Flashy]

Hi there,

Litter training will vary rabbit to rabbit. Those easiest to train are generally spayed and neutered buns because they don't feel the need to use their poos to mark their territory in the same way unfixed buns do.

Where abouts are you located? there are lots of places where having bunnies outside is not appropriate (due to climate moreso than anything else), but equally somewhere it is.

Like with litter training, where a bunny is happiest is dependent on the rabbit and their experiences. I have some who can not tolerate being in the house and I also have some who, when they go outside, or when they lived outside, were incredibly depressed and sad and are clearly far happier inside.

If you let a bunny free in the back yard you have to make sure
1, it is compeltely safe and the rabbit can not dig out or jump out, or chew out, or push their way out, or just generally get out in any way.
2, No predators can get in, so no foxes, birds of prey, raccoons, even cats or dogs, anything like that.
3, There is nothing in the garden that will harm him like fertilisers being used, no plants poisonous to buns, no electricals, etc.
4, That there is nothing in the garden the bunny can get to that you want him to not get to.

It is incredibly hard to effectively and responsibly bunny proof a whole garden.

What about having a run and then putting an indoor bunny out in the run (if the climate/temperature is ok for that) whenever he is being supervised out there?

Maybe your hubby might like to come on and ask questions about owning buns.

 

[momto1]

well I am into my second day of litter box training our boy and so far he is just exploring his box (which is a good thing because he was petrified of it yesterday). I think litterbox training depends on the particular rabbit too they may or may not take to litterbox training.

When I was younger my grandparents had an outside rabbit and he was happy as could be but IMO an outside rabbit isn't much of a pet unless you like spending all your time outside playing with the rabbit. It may work for some people but I am not an outside person so for me an outdoor rabbit just would not work.

 

[bunniekrissy]

I think rabbits do enjoy being outside and I am sure bunnies with the run of the yard are very happy for the most part, but it is too dangerous to leave them out there with no protection. Raccoons, cats, dogs, or birds of prey can easily kill your rabbit. Raccoons can even open the latches to many hutches because they are so smart. I also agree that an outdoor rabbit is not much fun unless you want to spend a lot of time sitting around out there. I say this as someone with bunnies kept in a large pen in the garage who can';t wait to have them back inside again when I move out of my parents house. They are plenty happy, but I wish they were inside with me!

As for litter training I find that they catch on once they are 3 months old, but soon refuse to use the box in about another month when hormones kick in. After spay or neuter the good litter box habits return. It is very easy to litter train a rabbit (providing they are spayed/neutered) because they naturally pick one spot to go for the most part, so you just have to put the box there. Sometimes you need to start out with several boxes and then reduce the number when they become more reliable.

 

[Rayen]

Honestly I believe that rabbits are happier indoors, obviously if they're given adequate room/exercise. The great thing about having them indoors is that there is almost no end to the amount of room you can provide for them. Cages can be built much more cheaply and with much more widely available supplies than outdoor hutches that need to be very secure. You could simply just rabbit proof certain portions of your house and the let rabbit have a free roam of an entire room instead of locking them in a cage at all.

I wouldn't ever keep rabbits outside permanently. Supervised times outside sure, but I've seen the things that raccoons, foxes, coyotes, skunks, dogs, cats, etc. can get into and I would never trust even a highly populated area to be safe from any of these dangers. I used to live in a very populated area and I would wake up to see foxes trotting along in people's front yards and the garbage shredded from the nightly visit of a skunk. I've seen dogs jump off of 7-8 foot tall decks and just chase things down the road, climb over fences, go from one side of the yard to another in a second, literally chew their way through doors, all to get what they want. One too many small fuzzy mouse-like creatures have died this way. Even if the hutch itself was secure, I would personally still feel as if they were always in danger and it's just not a risk I'm willing to take. Not to mention the noise and constant changes in smell/weather freaking them out all of the time. Indoors all they have to worry about is the occasional vacuuming, maybe a dog barking upstairs, or worse yet, when the repair man comes to fix the internet and has to stomp around in my room.

Again, this is just my opinion. Many people do keep their rabbits outdoors just fine, but it is not something I would do with my animals. I don't even let my dogs outside in our fenced in yard without supervision!

 

[SkyBaby]

Flashy wrote:

Hi there,

Litter training will vary rabbit to rabbit. Those easiest to train are generally spayed and neutered buns because they don't feel the need to use their poos to mark their territory in the same way unfixed buns do.

Where abouts are you located? there are lots of places where having bunnies outside is not appropriate (due to climate moreso than anything else), but equally somewhere it is.

Like with litter training, where a bunny is happiest is dependent on the rabbit and their experiences. I have some who can not tolerate being in the house and I also have some who, when they go outside, or when they lived outside, were incredibly depressed and sad and are clearly far happier inside.

If you let a bunny free in the back yard you have to make sure
1, it is compeltely safe and the rabbit can not dig out or jump out, or chew out, or push their way out, or just generally get out in any way.
2, No predators can get in, so no foxes, birds of prey, raccoons, even cats or dogs, anything like that.
3, There is nothing in the garden that will harm him like fertilisers being used, no plants poisonous to buns, no electricals, etc.
4, That there is nothing in the garden the bunny can get to that you want him to not get to.

It is incredibly hard to effectively and responsibly bunny proof a whole garden.

What about having a run and then putting an indoor bunny out in the run (if the climate/temperature is ok for that) whenever he is being supervised out there?

Maybe your hubby might like to come on and ask questions about owning buns.

I am planning on getting our bunny spayed/neutered. It's a must if we went a house trained bunny.

Our yard and location is not a good place for bunnies to run free in. My husband's rabbit escaped several times and they lived in an urban area. That would worry me too much. Our winters are also too harsh for an all year outdoor rabbit. Snows a lot up here in the winter. I already know I want an indoor bunny for several reasons. It's my hubby who still is very very set on having an outdoor only bunny. Even after I explained to him why an outdoor bunny is a very bad idea, he still insists on having outdoor only buns. He told me he doesn't want any more indoor pets. We have 2 parrots and 2 fish tanks.

He also still thinks it's outright mean to keep a bunny locked up in a cage. If the bunny prefers being outside, I'll build a heavyduty hutch with good locks on it that no predators can undo. He'll get supervised play time outside. I just don't think it's a good idea at all for us in our location to have an outdoor only bun.

 

[SkyBaby]

Flashy wrote:

Hi there,

Litter training will vary rabbit to rabbit. Those easiest to train are generally spayed and neutered buns because they don't feel the need to use their poos to mark their territory in the same way unfixed buns do.

Where abouts are you located? there are lots of places where having bunnies outside is not appropriate (due to climate moreso than anything else), but equally somewhere it is.

Like with litter training, where a bunny is happiest is dependent on the rabbit and their experiences. I have some who can not tolerate being in the house and I also have some who, when they go outside, or when they lived outside, were incredibly depressed and sad and are clearly far happier inside.

If you let a bunny free in the back yard you have to make sure
1, it is compeltely safe and the rabbit can not dig out or jump out, or chew out, or push their way out, or just generally get out in any way.
2, No predators can get in, so no foxes, birds of prey, raccoons, even cats or dogs, anything like that.
3, There is nothing in the garden that will harm him like fertilisers being used, no plants poisonous to buns, no electricals, etc.
4, That there is nothing in the garden the bunny can get to that you want him to not get to.

It is incredibly hard to effectively and responsibly bunny proof a whole garden.

What about having a run and then putting an indoor bunny out in the run (if the climate/temperature is ok for that) whenever he is being supervised out there?

Maybe your hubby might like to come on and ask questions about owning buns.

I am planning on getting our bunny spayed/neutered. It's a must if we went a house trained bunny.

Our yard and location is not a good place for bunnies to run free in. My husband's rabbit escaped several times and they lived in an urban area. That would worry me too much. Our winters are also too harsh for an all year outdoor rabbit. Snows a lot up here in the winter. I already know I want an indoor bunny for several reasons. It's my hubby who still is very very set on having an outdoor only bunny. Even after I explained to him why an outdoor bunny is a very bad idea, he still insists on having outdoor only buns. He told me he doesn't want any more indoor pets. We have 2 parrots and 2 fish tanks.

He also still thinks it's outright mean to keep a bunny locked up in a cage. If the bunny prefers being outside, I'll build a heavyduty hutch with good locks on it that no predators can undo. He'll get supervised play time outside. I just don't think it's a good idea at all for us in our location to have an outdoor only bun.

 

[elrohwen]

I got my bun at 8 weeks and he was fully potty trained immediately for the most part. He had one accident outside of his litter box and that's it. He will pee if he's scared, so one time we moved his cage with him in it and he peed, but I don't count that as an accident since he was nervous. He left maybe <10 poos outside of the box at first, but now he gets almost every one in the box. Sometimes he'll kick them out, but I give him credit for getting them in the litterbox in the first place ;-)

I agree with many here that the best place for your bun is inside. I wouldn't trust a bun outside unsupervised because so many things can happen (escapes, predators, neighborhood animals, etc). I doubt my bun will ever get to spend time outside, but I think he's 100% happy inside (many people have fully indoor cats, for example, and those cats are very happy). I think the thing most outdoor bunnies really lack is human contact. It's just not possible to spend hours sitting in your backyard every day to hang out with the bunny (especially if it's raining, cold, etc). With my bun inside, I can spend hours a day with him while doing all of my normal activities. It's great! His personality has really blossomed with so much attention.

 

[elrohwen]

I read your last post and it sounds like you really want an indoor bun. Keep working on hubby! Explain to him that you can't spend an hour or two in the garden every day and your bun won't be happy if he's outside all alone. Maybe you can send him over to RO so he can read all of the great things about having an indoor bunny. In my experience, they're kind of like having a cat (similar amount of work, somewhat similar personalities - at least with my bun), and tons of people have indoor only cats that are very happy. And definitely give hubby a project to build an outside run for the bunny so it can have supervised outside time when the weather's nice. Husbands love projects that involve building things ;-)

 

[SkyBaby]

Thank you so much for the great advice everyone!

I am totally stuck on having an indoor bunny. I feel that's the best way to keep a bunny. Our house is small so we dont' have room for a big cage. He does have a point there, which is why I'm thinking maybe a netherland dwarf instead of a holland lop like we were originally thinking.

I really don't want to keep one outdoors here due to all our other native predators. I'm trying to work on my hubby, but he's mighty stubborn, then again so am I

 

[elrohwen]

A nethie really isn't much smaller than a holland, only 1-2lbs, so I wouldn't let that limit your choice. Any bun under 5 or 6lbs is pretty small and will easily fit in a small space. We only have a 1200sqft townhouse (split into two floors; our bun onlystays on one floor)and our bun gets a 4'x8' run all the time, and is let out whenever we're home. Even a 2'x4' or 4'x4' cage would be a fine size as long as your bun gets some run time every day. Do you have a spare bedroom? Or a room you don't use much? We rarely used our dining room, so we set up his cage in there. We don't have a ton of room, but we were able to make good use of what we had. I don't think we have room for a flemmie right now, but we have more than enough room for a little holland lop.

NIC cages or x-pens are great for setting up cage space in whatever area you have available. And as your bun gets older and more comfortable in your home, he can probably have more time outside his cage and less time in it, so the cage size will become even less important.

 

[Flashy]

Have you looked into NIC cages? Or maybe penning off an area (so that you can still climb over and access what's in the pen, but the bun can't get out)?

 

[SkyBaby]

Flashy wrote:

Have you looked into NIC cages? Or maybe penning off an area (so that you can still climb over and access what's in the pen, but the bun can't get out)?

I'm still deciding on what cage I'm going to use. I'll probably build one of those cages with the locking parts that are from target. What's an average cost of a pack of those pieces?

 

[SweetSassy]

The cheapest I've seenthem is $ 14.99 at Bed, bath and Beyond. So I got some for my new bunnies.

I was paying $ 25.00 at Walmart. ....April

 

[SkyBaby]

SweetSassy wrote:

The cheapest I've seenthem is $ 14.99 at Bed, bath and Beyond. So I got some for my new bunnies.

I was paying $ 25.00 at Walmart. ....April

Eek.. how many of those packs does it take to make say.. a 4 foot by 2 foot by 2 foot cage? There's a typical rabbit cage with the tub bottom and wire walls at the pet store with those same dimensions for $120. Which should I go for?

 

[SweetSassy]

I made a big cage with 3 packs. It has a 2nd floor too. It's 4 panels Long and 3 panels Wide. Their approx. 14 inch panels. And it's 2 panels High.

It's Late, don't have meaurements, so told you how many panels instead.:biggrin2: