Indoor Buns loose in a room?

[Bunnylova4eva]

I've been thinking about bringing Ripley in to be an inside bunny. Not sure yet if we're going to do this due to several things, but we're considering it. I have a room with little in it for him to get into and was wondering what people's thoughts are on giving a bunny a room to be in loose. I have a baby gate to stick in the door way.

On a side note, he's litter trained (in his hutch). Would he probably still be good using the box if I was to let him in a room loose to go back to use the box? Has anyone had an unneutered buck who was a perfect gentleman start spraying or somethign when you bring them indoors to be a house bunny? (This is the type of thing I worry about)...


Good things & bad things about letting a bunny have a room to itself, I want to hear them so I can think about if this would work.

 

[agnesthelion]

I would imagine bringing him in would cause some initial marking and a brief change of litter box habits.

As far as being safe in a room, it's a bun to bun thing.

I have two altered buns (spayed female and neutered male) who are both great with their litter box skills and not big chewers so being lose in a room they were fine! (I'm actually currently bonding now so who knows after that)

But I do believe indoor buns can do very well in a bunny proofed room I actually am an advocate of rabbits living inside anyway so I think you should go for it.

To start you may want to confine him in a cage with his litterbox and gradually increase space as time goes on.

Also, I should add that it is likely that he may attempt or start to spray and also exhibit the tendencies that unneutered males sometimes have. I believe altered buns generally make better companions. Would neutering be something you'd consider?

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

That was what i was thinking-putting him in a cage and slowly giving him more space as time goes on and give him time to adjust.

Yes, I would consider neutering him. The problem is, the going rate near me is $450, which seems to be excessive to me. There is a low cost spay/neuter clinic nearby at its only I think $50 and it is a well known rabbit savvy vet who does it. I'm just paranoid as I've never had surgery done on a bunny and scared to death of that not to mention this isn't Ripley's regular vet though I know she is very good. I need to get Taffy spayed anyway, as she's 6 and having cystic mammory glands so I'm worried about her. I'd be taking her to the same clinic but as with Ripley, I'm scared about it, and don't think I could forgive myself if something happend. I'd like to get Ripley neutered anyway so that I could possibly get a bunny to bond with him eventually someday.

 

[Ender]

My bun used to live outside, but now he lives in an xpen in my room, where he gets much more attention. He had great litter box habits in his hutch. When I first brought him in, he did pee a couple times out of the box. I ended up getting him neutered because I couldn't let him out without him trying to hump me. Now he is the sweetest bun I know. He rarely misses his litter box, and he follows me but only to be petted. I don't let him loose without supervision because my room is still not rabbit proofed. Good luck with moving your bun! It really is fun to have them inside!

 

[holtzchick]

I would say there might be some peeing going on but one other thing is he might chew your baseboards to bits! Peter chewed all the baseboards in the room including the door frame so I have to replace the baseboards on there. On the other hand, Phoenix doesn't chew at all so she's okay in the room by herself, I just do daily spot cleaning with a vacuum and presto. Plus I think she's much more laid back with all the space! I've had her in a cage for a week and she's REALLY wound up, can't wait to let her out today!

So yeah, I think you should go for it, it's quite nice! I'm sure Ripley will be on his best behavior

 

[Hyatt101]

I always thought it would be so cool to have a bunny loose in its own room!

 

[katherine at sacred stories]

My bunnies have their own room and free range through the rest of the house with supervision. It works great!!! I think they really blossom when they're inside and out of the cage.

It does take some advance thought and work, though. My house and especially the "bunny room" is bunny proofed. I had an electrician come in and lift the sockets and wires above bunny level. It wasn't as expensive as you might think. Where that wasn't possible, I have all the wires covered or blocked. Books and other chewables are kept where the bunnies can't get to them. I don't have any plants that are toxic.

It may be a good idea to start your bunny off in a cage within your "bunny room" since that's what it's used to. Or you could leave the cage door open and let your bunny go in and out as they choose. All three of my bunnies have adamantly rejected the cage once they had run of their own room

To make the room "bunny friendly", I have layers of flannel sheets on the floor, a table draped with a flannel sheet that they can hide and sleep under, boxes of hay in four corners, a water dish and food area, cardboard boxes with holes cut for doors spread around, wicker balls and other toys spread around, etc. It's really fun to set up With a new bunny, I wait to see where they pee and that's where I put the litter box. I have a flannel coverend single metal bed in there for me I've been lucky, there hasn't been chewing of base boards.

I think it's ideal to keep a cage in the area, perhaps with food inside...so they're used to it if you need to have them in a cage for some reason in the future.

My set-up evolved because my first bunny had been kept in a cage that was much too small for her before I got her and she would not go NEAR a cage after that...so I improvised. I didn't have RO then to guide me to some of the great pens that are available for indoor rabbits But it works really well for my bunnies and I.

Good luck! I know you'll love having your bunny inside with you!

 

[BugLady]

I bet your bun will love being inside!

My two are free to explore my apartment, except for my bedroom (don't want bunnies jumping on the bed at 3am). I have rabbit proofed as much as I can, and in the first few weeks they were heavily supervised and trained (they listen very well to "NO" with a hand clap).

Aside from the cage, litter boxes, and cardboard castles, you wouldn't know I have rabbits, haha. Still looks like a normal living room for humans. I keep everything super clean. They are very well litter trained.

Mine are both fixed, so I don't know what an in-tact male would do indoors.

Also - I found my buns were both more destructive when they were cooped up in a cage for a while, and then let out for a few hours. Like they had to take out their frustration. But since they've become full time house buns, they've really calmed down.
Good luck!

 

[Ape337]

Humma has his own room. He has been neutered, and is about 3.5 years old. His room is bunny proofed, and he has a NIC cage in there too. He does actually use his cage most of the day. His litter box is in the cage and he is fed his pellets in there too. He likes to sleep in there. There's a baby gate in the doorway that I prop open for free range.

I did slowly work him up to a whole room just to be sure he was trustworthy. He never chews on furniture or baseboards, and the wires throughout the house are covered. I just assumed that rabbits will eat wires, but one day hubby didn't put his laptop away and Humma took care of that pesky cord! Thank goodness it was unplugged! After that lecture from me hubby remembers to put away the laptop now....

I can't trust my other 2 to have their own rooms though. Faith likes to redesign windowsill frames, baseboards, and door frames. And I don't like her style! Freckles is not litterbox trained reliably for his own room. So they both have NIC cages with attached x-pens.

But I agree with everyone that said you should proceed slowly. And I don't know what state you're in but there's something about bringing in a bunny from the cold to a warm house. I don't know how cold it gets now where you are. Hopefully someone with experience will chime in. Good luck and sorry about the long winded response

 

[Imbrium]

my girls JUST got spayed... it's nerve-wracking waiting to hear the outcome, but they made it through in great shape and it feels SO good to have it taken care of.

I didn't trust their potty habits as babies and the only room I had available for them (due to beds/too much furniture/stuff being stored in the small bedrooms) was the living room which is open to most of the rest of the house. I wanted them to have a full room to run in 24/7, though, so I put down a big tarp over the entire living room floor and set up playpens as fencing to keep them from wandering to other rooms. they've got a 3-story NIC condo in there (2Wx3Lx5H) that they ADORE and do the majority of their sleeping in, then the attached run to play and run around in whenever they want.

the best tips I can offer are these:
~ have multiple litter boxes (minimum of two - one in the cage/condo and one in the pen)
~ if any of the boxes are set up on carpet, put down a mat or something underneath in case someone pees over the side because they're standing in the box with their butt hanging out.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Ours also have their own room, mainly because it would be nest to impossible to bunny proof this house and I'd like to keep at least some of our furniture in one piece.

 

[littl3red]

Teddy has free run of my bedroom, which is going to have to stop for a while while I'm bonding her and the new bun that I'm adopting soon. She's very well behaved and it's cute when she hops up and starts grooming me at night. The only bad thing I can really think of is that I have to vacuum A LOT. But I love vacuuming so that's really a plus for me. :biggrin:

 

[Blue eyes]

I don't know if you would say our buns have a room "to themselves." They share our family room with us.

Their cage is in the family room, but the door is open from morning til night. The family room is open to the kitchen and dining area, so they have access to any of that space too.

We did some easy bunny-proofing. (I started a new thread to encourage people to show their bunny-proofing ideas. You may like that too.)

So they are in the most active area of the house and the areas that we are in most often. I love it this way, because they are "with" us all day long.

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

To Ripley's credit, he's a wonderful little gentleman and has never peed in the house. Occationally he'll leave a few poops around but other that that, no problems. He comes in the house multiple times a day for running around time and to get attention. I'm trying to take him for those times now up into the bedroom where I'd like to let him live eventually to get him used to it and used to the smells in there so he won't mark.

We'll see about neutering him. Being that he IS so good and I'm so worried about it and don't have all the details worked out, I lean against it, but I'm looking into it.

It's in the 50's outside here, so I don't think bringing him in would be TOO big of a deal if I did it soon before it gets too much cooler.

 

[ldoerr]

My rabbits get run time most days. I have been letting them run in my kitchen, but I started letting them run in my bedroom yesterday. They did not pee outside the litter box, but did make a couple of small piles of poop. I expected them to poop outside the box though. The first week or two a rabbit is in a new space they tend to mark it with poop. It goes away after a little while. I am hopping that one day my girls will be allowed free run of my bedroom all day and only bee in their cage at night.

 

[cwolfec]

My friend just got her bunny Peter Rabbit spayed (turns out he was a she, ha!) at a low cost clinic. Apparently they have special prices twice a month for bunnies. She had really good success with the results. I'm sure Ripley will do just fine, especially if it's a rabbit savvy vet. You can always call them up and ask questions to make sure you get a good vibe.

My buns do have a whole room to themselves. It's the bunny room Now that I have moved, I sleep in there with them at night. I haven't had anyone pee on my face yet, so that's good news! I bet your bun would like being inside and able to get more attention.

One thing to consider is maybe getting a doggie gate instead of a baby gate. My boys chewed right through the one I had. You should be able to find either X-pen panels or just one piece of a doggie pen for cheaper.

Your Ripley is ADORABLE, btw

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

As I've been looking into this, I'm now thinking of putting him in a n Xpen. I have one and I could still let him out multiple times a day for more play time. I'm thinking this might keep it simpler and keep him from being so likely to start spraying. I'd like to get him neuted, but we're still looking into that.

My only concern is that he'd be in the bedroom, so I'm worried he'll find a way to keep me up making a racket all night. Anyone deeling with that? I feel like I just read a thread about something like that on here, so it worries me a bit.

 

[katherine at sacred stories]

Yes, there was a thread about bunnies keeping their owners up all night. The general concensus seemed to be that it wasn't a great idea to sleep in the same room.

There are exceptions, though. My first rabbit always slept in bed with me. When she was little she groomed and nibbled me a bit during the night but when she got older, she slept pretty quietly. She got on and off the bed a few times each night. If I slept later than usual, I would find my cat and my rabbit sitting on the bed looking right down into my faceShe was an exceptional bunny.

The two I have now don't sleep with me but I have slept in the bunny room with them a number of times and all is quiet.

All of my rabbits have been spayed or neutered and I'm sure that makes a difference

 

[MiniLopHop]

I have found decorating in classic NIC to be very bunny chic.

Seriously though, I use a ring of NIC pannels around the walls in the bunny room to prevent damage and it works well.

 

[ldoerr]

At my parents house the rabbits live in my bedroom. They make a little bit of noise but not much. I actually REALLY like them in my bedroom there. I find that sleep better when I am in the same room as my rabbits. I like it soo much that I am about to rearange my bedroom in my apt so that my rabbits cage can go in there. If you are worried about it getting noise then you could put some fleece down to dampen the noise and get rid of some of the really noise toys.