With the right care, will my household smell?

[aywhatsupdoc]

I want to get 2 holland lops. However, the main thing that's stopping me is the smell. I hear rabbit urine smells bad. I have a pretty strong sense of smell. I live in an apt (1k sq feet).

1) I plan to spay/neuter them.
2) I will use plenty of bedding and clean their litter box daily or every other day. I'm planning on potty training them.

By doing the above, will my household smell?

If so, would keeping the litter box outside on my balcony (in an enclosed covered area of course) be helpful in keeping the smell out? I hoping to train them to use the litter box outside but keep the hutch inside, using a doggy door type mechanism if possible (maybe just keep the balcony open if that's not possible)

 

[Blue eyes]

There's no reason for there to be any smell with rabbits. In fact, I go over this very topic on the home page of my rabbit care site. And it isn't even necessary to clean the litter box every day -- not if it is set up to your advantage. The set up is key.

For all the many years I've kept rabbits, visitors always seem quite surprised that I have rabbits. They often don't see them at all at first and when they do, they will comment that there is no odor at all.

My suggestion, though, would be to begin with an already fixed and bonded pair. Bonding can be a very tricky thing. Starting with 2 babies, even siblings, is no guarantee that they will bond. Babies always get along but that changes once hormones kick in. The snuggliest of rabbits can turn on each other. Babies also can be inconsistent with training and then forget that training with the onset of hormones. In other words, there will be months of setbacks, frustration, and potty accidents if you begin with baby rabbits.

Rabbits that have been fixed are far easier to train (they basically train themselves) and are more consistent as well. Another great advantage of going this route is that you will get to see the personalities of the rabbits and see which ones are also attracted to you. This can't be done with babies since their baby temperament is often unrelated to their adult selves (and cannot be influenced by early handling).

After seeing the article about odor and litter training, take a peek at the "Choosing your first Bunny" page at the site for further info that should be informative as you make your preparations.
https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/

 

[BunLover]

Are you going to use litter box pellets?

 

[Momma Luvbun]

I don't think there would be a smell with proper care of bunny's area and them.
I don't have any "smells" due to my rabbits living in my home.
My cat makes the smells at my house when it comes to furballs, yet all my fur family get clean boxes every single morning.

 

[nicolekline97]

As long as you have a deep enough litter pan where the pee doesn't go over the side I do not see a problem. We use wooden pellets that are purchased at Tractor supply. We have tried different kinds of wooden pellets some are different than others. We have not used the paper type or the shreds. At times there has been an odor if we have waited too long to do a litter change. It usually is just right around the pan and isn't around the room or the house. It doesn't happen very often.

 

[Hermelin]

I never had any scents from bunnies except hay scent. It can smell if it have been warm and I miss to clean but as long you keep up with the cleaning there will be no smell special scent in the home.

 

[Orrin]

We follow Blue Eyes recommendations and don't have any smell from five of our six rabbits. The sixth is an intact 6-month Flemish Giant buck that will sometimes cause a bit of a musky odor; however, that won't go on for very long; his neutering surgery is already scheduled.

We have a single cat that makes a horrid smell when it uses its litter pan; it could gag a maggot. That's why I like rabbits far more than cats because buns are odorless.