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Forum HABITATS AND TOYS Outdoor to indoor bunny?

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    • evie
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        I’ve had Jewel for a couple of years now. She was initially kept indoors so that I could introduce her to Bob, my old rabbit (now deceased) slowly, so there wouldn;t be territory issues. Jewel wasn’t a huge fan of being indoors – or of me – especially when I had to keep her in a small room after being desexed so I could check on her incision. I moved her outside (to her own pen) one day after she gave me a heart attack by dissapearing (had climbed up the stairs, hidden under a bed, and pooped on everything), and had chewed through the phone and internet wires. Jewel has been happily living outside ever since. She has been getting more friendly – will come out and sniff my feet when I’m putting out the laundry – but is still a very nervous bunbun.

         Now I’m moving and am thinking about what the best new living arrangements would be for her. She would have to be in a cage/hutch at least a significant part of the time (new garden will not be as secure as current garden, and there will be dogs), so I guess I’m wondering  if its worth the stress of trying to have her be an indoor bunny? Or part time indoor? So she can go outside for fun-in-the-grass time, even if just in a hutch, but also run around my room when I’m home?

         Also any tips for hepling her settle in?

         Any advice? Thank you in advance!


      • LittlePuffyTail
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          Hello, Evie and Welcome to BB.

          I definitely think Jewel should be an indoor bunny. There are so many dangers out there and we at Binky Bunny hear all the time about bunnie’s escaping, getting injured or even worse. Indoor bunnies tend to get more human attention as well. It might be stressful for her at first, any new living arrangement is, but she will get used to it.

          I knew people who had a 6 year old bunny who lived all that time in a hutch, stuck behind a barn. The kids “lost interest”. When they said they wanted to “get rid of him” my friend adopted him and he’s now a very happy, comfortable indoor bunny. It took him almost a week to feel comfortable outside of his hidey house but he’s now enjoying very much being protected from the elements and getting lots of attention.


        • Hazel
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            I agree with LittlePuffyTail.

            She would be best off as an indoor only bun. Especially since you said your new yard won’t be as secure. A predator doesn’t have to break into the hutch to kill her, rabbits can die of fright if something is just TRYING to get to them (you mentioned there would be dogs). She will adjust just fine to being indoors. How big a cage do you have for her inside?


          • Sarita
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              Indoors full-time! A member just recently posted that she had her rabbit outdoors in an enclosure and he escaped and made into the next neighbor’s yard and the dogs attacked him – sad but unfortunate event. Outside is just not safe and she will never socialize with you outdoors.

              Outdoor living is MUCH more stressful than indoors.


            • tanlover14
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                I have to agree with everyone else — DEFINITELY a full-time indoor bun. Especially if there’s dangers of dogs lurking about. I get nervous just taking my buns to the vet worrying about if a dog will be there and bark and send my buns into full-out panic mode.

                I see you mentioned she’s a very nervous/skittish bun bun – I think some of that may actually stem from her being outside and not having a whole lot of human interaction constantly. My girl was INSANELY skittish when we brought her home from the breeder but when she realized there was nothing to be frightened of inside and we spent hours a day with her and her just hearing/seeing us from walking around the house she really began to come out of her shell and trust us A LOT more. She still doesn’t trust others but we have developed a GREAT BOND with our girl.

                Also, you mentioned her destroying a lot of stuff. A lot of that was probably because she wasn’t desexed and even after they are it takes time for those hormones to go away. With lots of toys and the passing of time and age, I’m sure your girl will develop better indoor bunny skills. Even my little crazy brats that have destroyed everything from day one, after some time and finding the right toys for them, are perfectly contact and we havent had any more bunny destructive disasters in quite awhile!


              • evie
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                  Wow! Thank you for all the replies!

                  I don’t have an indside hutch sorted quite yet. A friend has something they don’t need anymore that I haven’t seen yet, which I thought might have to do for starters. I guess part of my worry is that she is used to having space to run about in, and that indoors she will have to be kept to one room which she shares (with me),and when I’m out during the day I woudn’t feel comfortable with her being left running about on her own, so she’d feel even more limited in her cage/hutch?

                  Which leads, I suppose to the question, how large a hutch should she have?

                  If the destruction was boredom and hormones I guess having had her tubes tied so long ago hormones won’t be an issue, and toys can be bought.

                  This indoor bunny thing is starting to sound more plausible.


                • Baby-Daisy
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                    I was thinking that she should be a indoor bunny but have her caged in a area about 5 by 5 or more.


                  • Sam&Rex
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                      As an indoor bunny home hutches aren’t really very efficient, I suggest a C&C cage or something similar. They are super cheap and durable, and also completely customizable. Most cages and hutches sold in pet stores are way too small for a bunny and don’t utilize space very well.


                    • tanlover14
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                        I have to agree — a hutch isn’t too efficient. BUT what we do with our buns — is have a cage we keep them in and a much bigger play area for them to have when we’re home. We have three buns and it seems to work out very well. The size of cage should really depend on how big of a bun bun you have? How many pounds does your girl weigh?

                        As for boredom and toys, most definitely. We use towels they play with to deter from carpet chewing (my brats were HORRIBLE with the carpet). They like to scrunch them up and throw them around and yank on the towels which makes it pretty similar to the carpet. Cardboard hidey houses are PERFECT for buns that like to chew and dig. And another GREAT one is the classic phone book. Phone books have soy-based ink so the ink won’t harm the bun and it’s large so it takes quite a while for them to destroy. We took the top and bottom off ours and our buns LOVED it. Just some ideas! And I’m sure you can let us a know any other bad habits she comes up with and look for ideas that way.

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                    Forum HABITATS AND TOYS Outdoor to indoor bunny?