Do I need to keep a cage?

[Ardelt]

I adopted my first rabbit, Nigel, this past July. He is a neutered male rescue rabbit caught in the wild and we are not certain how old he is but we are guessing that he is about 18 months. He has settled in nicely, he’s littered trained, doesn’t chew, enjoys clicker training (he knows several tricks) and lives in my bunny proofed hallway. I have a cage there but I’ve slowly stopped locking him up as he hates the hardwood floors and stays on the area rugs. Since I’ve been home over Christmas I haven’t locked him up at all and I’m beginning to think I can get rid of the cage completely, keeping his boxes for him to hid out in and relax. My question is do experienced rabbit owners think this is a good idea or is there an argument for keeping a cage that I’m missing? (I’ve included a picture to give an idea of the area, sorry it is sideways tried to fix it without success.)

[tanlover14]

We keep our bunny cage around just in case something happens and they need to be confined, such as a surgery or injury where they should only be having limited activity. This same thing can certainly be obtained using a fence or x-pen type contraption, haha!

As long as you have an area crafted for “him” I’m sure he’ll be fine. I only say that because I know buns especially like having an area they can run to if they get scared or whatnot. Mine aren’t free-roam though I’m just going by what I’ve heard others say. I know many on here have free-roam bunnies though so I’m sure someone will pipe in with more information.

[Quantum]

Nibs isn’t totally free-range–too many things that it would be difficult to bunny-proof, but he has full run of the large living room and dining room areas. We have a carrier for vet trips, but the only “cage” he has is an X-pen in the living room. He knows that’s *his* and that the only time we go even partly into it is to grab his litter box and fill food and water dishes and add hay. We do shut him in there at bedtime, but that’s mainly so if there’s an emergency like a fire or an earthquake we can easily grab him and run for the door. It gives him plenty of room to move around at night and a place to run to when he knows he’s been naughty. As long as your bun has a place to call his own, I don’t see why a cage would be necessary.

[LBJ10]

You should have at least something he can be confined in just in case he needs to be confined for some reason. Whether that is a large crate, an xpen, or a cage is up to you.

[Snowytoshi]

One of my rabbits. Joshua, is loose in my room. We have two hutches in there from our unexperienced days and Joshua loves them. He hops in them all on his own and sleeps in there. His cages are his safe spots, but he would be very unhappy if confined to one. My bonded pair, Toshi and Paige, have run of the whole house when we’re home and Joshua is not out. They enjoy having so much freedom, but will often come back to their x-pen to sleep.

So yes! Rabbits can live happily without cages, just so long as they have safe spots to return to.

[Beka27]

Does he play throughout that whole space, or only on the rug part? Can you put carpet down in the rest of the hall so he has a larger exercise space?

[Ardelt]

Thanks for the advice every one! I have an xpen I use in another room so I can confine him if necessary. My plan is to use some 1″ x 4″ s to create an 8 x 8 boxed in area on the floor to keep his hay and balls contained they roll off the rugs and he won’t go after them. He pretty much stays on the carpeted areas though he will trek along the walls as well. The hallway is quite large (40″x12″) and I have rugs on an area that is about 12″x10″ and the the runners out front are about 2.5″x12″ is that not large enough? I also set up the xpen in the living room so we can cuddle and watch tv together in the evenings.

[Ardelt]

Double post sorry.

[Baby-Daisy]

I would keep the cage just incase.

[Loki_Bunny]

We sold Loki’s cage shortly after we decided he was okay being completely free range in the apartment. Now he’s confined to the bathroom until we can get him neutered since he constantly tries getting intimate with the poor cat. In that bathroom we have a pet carrier lined with blankets and a cardboard box that he uses for a safe hiding or sleeping spot. I can see the pros and cons with keeping the cage. Loki’s cage was ginormous and took up a good chunk of the small apartment living room it occupied, so for us, it was really a matter of saving space. Is that his cage in the back corner of the room? If it’s not taking up a lot of space, I’d keep it just as a place for when he may want to feel secure. That doesn’t mean you need to cage him up at night if you feel like he’s okay. That way you do have it in case of scenarios PP’s have mentioned. Then again you have an x-pen you could use for that. I guess what I’m saying is I don’t think it particularly matters – you should be good either way!

[Karla]

Mine are freerange and have always been. I don’t have a cage. They have cardboard boxes instead which they can use if they want a place of their own.

They don’t make any trouble and never have – I have two rabbits now, but for the past 4 years, I have had 5 rabbits living free range.

[Malp_15]

my rabbits are free range in their own rabbit room and don’t get into too much trouble. But I keep the X-pen set up and left open, just incase. Then if something happened it wouldn’t be a huge change for them.

[kinggoblin]

I keep my cage because sometimes I need him to be confined. Like if maintenance needs to come in my apartment to fix something. Or if he is being really bratty. Like tonight he was being bratty and territorial because my boyfriend & dog have been gone for a week so it was just me and him and he was REALLY annoyed when he saw the dog sitting next to me.

[Ardelt]

Happy New Year everyone! I decided to take the cage down but rather than remove it all at once I took down the front section and left the back end up to still give him his den space. He also loves to sleep under the chair in the corner. I still have the cage if I need it and the xpen as well so if he needs to be confined I have options. Thanks for all the advice.

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