Where should my new rabbit live?

[Lexi_3421]

ok so in about two weeks I will be getting a new rabbit!
Anyways I was planning on keeping it in the house and litter training it etc. but I have dogs so my mom said it will have to live outside:cry1: Butt I have cats outside (cringe) I wouldn't be able to keep the cats away from the cage except for when I was outside with the bunny. Obviously they wouldn't be able to get in the cage but still. So my question would be should I try to convince my mom to let me keep it in the house or should I keep it outside, also comment photos of some Diy indoor or outdoor cages! Tia��

 

[awesomebunny]

Never keep a rabbit outdoors. They can be easily forgotten and never taken care of. Also your rabbit will need to be able to exercise outside of its cage, and it will be hard to do that with dogs around. If your dogs are calm, or older, not hyper like puppies they can be trained to live with rabbits ( it kind of depends on breed and temperament). If you have a free room in your house that can be a rabbit room and dog free, you don't need to worry about the stuff above about dogs. If you can not keep your rabbit indoors and take care of the dog issue, I strongly advise that you don't get a rabbit.
P.S. If the cats outside are yours, please don't make them live outdoors. All animals deserve to live inside in a warm, loving home(BTW, I am not being judgmental)

 

[missyscove]

There are perfectly acceptable ways to house rabbits both indoors and outdoors. Some climates are not well suited to outdoor rabbits (for example here in southern California it gets much too hot in the summer and we have a number of predators that are of concern).
Where are you located? (at least a country, perhaps add a state if you're in the US).
I keep my indoor rabbits in a large (42 inch) wire dog crate with an attached exercise pen.
Outdoor rabbits should be housed in something like a large hutch with attached run, shed or kid's playhouse. It's important to consider space, security from predators (including your own cats) and protection from the elements. Also consider easily cleaned enclosures to help keep flies down.
Depending on your location, outdoor rabbits may be more exposed to mosquitoes which carry vaccine-preventable diseases (in the US these diseases are very rare and we do not vaccinate for them).

If you do not feel you can keep a rabbit safe from your existing pets, consider not getting a rabbit.

 

[Strax]

I have a super high strung Rottweiler/Chow Chow cross (so not a small pup haha) it only took about a week to teach him that the buns were friends and not food. Now he will lay on the floor, and the buns will jump all over him and the worst he does is give them a big ol slobbery kiss.

Or, since you live at home, keep your rabbit in your room and have that a no go zone for the dog. There are always always ALWAYS ways around housing different animals in a house together. Take it from a woman who has a cat, dog, three buns and two ferrets. And only the cat was planned. The rest were surprise adoptions haha!

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Or, pass on getting a bunny till the housing situation improves.

 

[Blue eyes]

Dogs and rabbits aren't necessarily mortal enemies. There are many dogs and rabbits that get along. That doesn't mean that all will, but it is certainly possible to have rabbits and dogs. One can either keep them totally separate at all times OR, depending on the dog(s), one can train them to get along with the rabbits.

 

[Lexi_3421]

The issue is resolved... But I thought I would reply to you all! So first off thank you guys. Yes, the cats are mine and they are fine outside... They basicly live in my garage which stays warm in the winter and cool in the summer. The cats also get to come inside sometimes. We also give out
R cats a lot of attention but they live outside. When we do bring them in they just sit at the door untill we let them out. I live in central Indiana. So the climate chang s but if the rabbit was to be outside it would be let out to exercise a lot. The dog issue will be fine. Luckily my mom has decided that my rabbit will be aloud to live inside! 😊 Also the dogs hardly go into my room so they will be fine. FYI I have owned rabbits before but that was a while back and then I had no other pets. ( I'm new to this so if anyone knows how to delete a post and would tell me it would be greatly appreciated!)

 

[Blue eyes]

Are you trying to delete this post? Even if your issue is resolved, there are many others who may have the same or similar question. So leaving the thread here is beneficial to future visitors.

 

[flemishwhite]

My opinion, based on sharing my house with three rabbits, is that they should live in the house with you. They should not be religated to the back yard. I have no experience with co:habiting a house with rabbits and cats and dogs. I think that if the rabbit is about the same size as the dog or cat, there will be no problem. A Flemish rabbit will weigh 15 to 20 pounds and they will be able to cope with dogs and cats of that size. There's a lot of internet stories about dogs and rabbits co:existence particularly when the rabbit and dog are about the same size. A 8 pound rabbit and a 80 pound dog is not going to work out well.

 

[Blue eyes]

A 8 pound rabbit and a 80 pound dog is not going to work out well.

On the contrary!

Perhaps you missed the photos above of my dogs and rabbits? My rabbits there are about 5 lbs, the smallest of the 3 dogs is 65 lbs. The other two are over 100 lbs each. Size doesn't make any difference.

Very large dogs also tend to be more laid back, so they can do just fine with rabbits. (The Newfoundland in the bottom photo of mine is one that, as the photo shows, didn't just get along with but actually bonded with our French lop mix. Those two were actually with me on an episode of Animal Planet.)