New to the hobby

[Bunny_bebop]

Hello,

My wife and I have wanted a pet for a while, and went to a local animal shelter. My wife fell in love with a bunny there (Sir Hops-a-lot) but we decided to hold off until we could look into it more – buying a pet on a whim usually ends in tears. We went home, did research for the better part of two weeks and decided that a rabbit would fit into our life style, but during that time he was rescued.

So, we went to another shelter and found a three year old rabbit named William; the wife fell in love with him too, so brought him home. He’s a 3-year old mini-lop, and we think he’s overweight (7 lbs!). He’s still getting used to us but he’s already exploring outside his cage on his own accord.

My wife has some experience with rabbits, her parents have one, but all I know is what I’ve read on line. I’m more comfortable with fish but William is ridiculously cute and we both love him already.

My real concern is where to put his cage and where to let him run around at. Does it make much of a difference if the bunny is running around on hardwood/tile vs carpet?

Thanks for reading; I hope to learn a lot here. (Pictures of Will when he’s not hiding in his box)

 

[stevesmum]

Congrats on your new friend! I would put his cage where you spend a lot of your time but that isn't too noisy. Rabbits need a lot of attention and don't like to be alone. My bunnies hate the hardwood floor so they spend a lot of time on our area rugs. I even put extra mats around so they can hop onto them. Rabbits don't have pads on their feet like cats and dogs so they slide around and from what I've heard most of them really hate that. Have fun!

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Our bunny room has wall to wall carpet (remnant) as they don't really like the tile that's under it except to lay on in the summer time. Try to keep him where you spend most of your time as they are very social and fun to have around.

 

[whiskylollipop]

Carpet is my first pick, but test him out on hardwood if you like. In my experience bunnies who grew up on slippery floors will have learnt how to walk/run on it, but bunnies who haven't will never get used to it. There's a chance you might get lucky and find that Will has no problem on hardwood after all. As for his cage, put him somewhere where he has things to watch, either by a window or where people spend the most time. Being stuck in a still, empty room for ages would be terribly boring.

 

[Bunny_bebop]

And here are a few pictures of William. He doesn't like to sit still for the camera...

View attachment ImageUploadedByRabbit Forum1416463126.765579.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByRabbit Forum1416463141.366364.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByRabbit Forum1416463161.485182.jpg

 

[Sugarbread]

He's very handsome! Congrats on bringing him home! I bet he's super grateful you two adopted him!

My whole apartment is tile, even my bedroom, and my bunny doesn't mind at all. He's an English Angora, so I think he just likes the floor because it's cool. He chills in his cage when he wants too though. He likes to flop in his litter box. 🐰❤️