Cage Free Bun?

[Shannon]

Hey guys!

I have a question.  Does anyone here have a bunny that they let roam the home all the time?  We currently let Goose out as long as someone is awake and home.  He does pretty good.  He occasionally will try to eat the carpet so I am worried about letting him out all night.  We also have a dining room table that is made of wood that we cannot allow him to chew as it is an antique.  We currently have flimsy wooden gates blocking the doorways to that room (you can hear if he knocks them over).

so

Do you let your bun run when no one is around/home?

How did you get them not to chew?

Thanks!

[BB & Tiny]

No, mine live in an x pen when I’m not home or am asleep. Mine like to dig at carpet, chew baseboards, walls, kitchen wicker chair, dig in the couch..so not an option. They do however get a lot of free time, especially on mommys days off.

[Shannon]

Oh yeah. On a good day our bun has access to our house 14+ hours. Some days its only 6-7.

[Chelle]

My two are pretty much free range house buns…. They will be put in their Xpen at night but even then if the 21 yr old (my son) forgets to put them in when he goes to bed then they have been out all night before. We live in South Florida so no carpet for us….. we did have an issue with my girl Miss Lloyd chewing the leather sofa after she was spayed but that was a passing phase….Sometimes however they are extra mischievous and need some X pen time We love having our buns free range… <3

[Deem]

Hi Shannon,

my bun is free ranged in my student apartment.
The only thing he chews are apple chargers. the wires of my iphone charger are thinner than others and have a different feeling. So whenever i fall asleep with my phone still charging he will chew the cable.

My bun is not a big chewer. This with my chargers began last month.
But my apartment is pretty small and I put a shower curtain over my bed and couch just in case he thinks its funny to poo or dig.

[Vienna Blue in France]

Well I’ve just googled “x-pen”, how stoopid am I ??!! lol
Any ideas for an indoor x-pen (see how its slipped into my vocabulary!!) that could hold a VERY strong willed 6kg wabbit ?! All the photos I see on the net are with cute little wabbits…. I have a big-dog dog cage, for temporary travel or accom, but it’s still too small for full time…. (maybe 2 big-dog dog cages joined together?).

My old rabbit, Pepsi, used to be 100% free range in my old appt. Wooden floors, only one sofa in lounge and an old table in kitchen helped. When I went out I shut the lounge door and she used to pass her time laying in the hall or kitchen or litter box !
My current rabbit comes and goes from fenced off patio area to kitchen through the cat-flap!

[Bam]

Vienna Blue, that sounds so great that she has a cat-flap to the kitchen
My rabbits are cage-free, Bam in the living-room and Yohio in the rest of the apt. They are enemies so I have a double net-gate between the living room and the hallway. Yohio chews bedsheets, all cables have cable-covers. Bam is not a chewer.
It’s really great to have free roam bunnies. Yohio sleeps at the foot-end of my bed and he wakes me in the mornings by licking my arm. But with him I have to take care not to leave nice shoes and bags and clothes lying around.

[Shannon]

Yeah. After this week I am thinking we aren’t going cage free any time soon. Gooses bad behavior seems to be completely random. Like we have had the vacuum in the same place for 3+ months. Today he chewed the cord. He has had access to our whole downstairs almost his whole life. This week he decided to chew the carpet near the vents. so who knows? o.O

[Vienna Blue in France]

Yes, teaching a bun to use a catflap was slightly more delicate than teaching the cat!!
The cat you sort of help – in a very caring gentle and loving way you understand – to make it head butt (lol) the flap bit and then big rewards when she makes it through the other side…. And then just by lifting the flap she makes it through on her own…..and pretty much works it out quickly.

The rabbit species however, if picked up and made to do something she doesn’t really think is a good idea, well, you won’t catch her again soon ! They’re not stoopid…
So A LOT of patience and laying on the floor is required with big smellie rewards (banana !) on the other side whilst holding open the flap. Photos show the victorious day after a week or so of daily work patience, when the ‘penny finally dropped’ !

Kyra the dog is most miffed she can only get her nose through, but when she’s outside she uses her nose on the flap to ‘Knock knock’ to be let back in. I stuck a little bell on the flap so I know when ‘someone’s’ come through it … ! LOL

 

[Shannon]

Vienna BIF, that is awesome!

[Bam]

Vienna, I can’t but echo Shannon, that IS awesome!
Shannon, you put it so well, rabbits are totally random in the exact way you are describing. It’s exactly like that! I don’t think you ever can trust a rabbit with cords, even if they’ve never shown any interest in a cord before, one day the idea just strikes them. I’d had my Bam for a year when he suddenly decided to chew off the Internet cable. Just like that.
After that, he’s never shown any interest in chewing anything but his rag rugs and his Apple twigs.

[sunshinesocks]

My boys are cage free, always have been and then suddenly a couple of weeks ago developed a new knack for abusing things/chewing/scratching.

What we’ve had to do is erect a small fence (we used the sections of a metal pen and some screw eyes) in order to produce a section of the downstairs space that they can’t access. They’re heading towards the 5 kilo mark so doors are barely stopping them now (they are definitely learning new tricks all the time) so we had to produce something more permanent. I’m hoping to change it into a wooden picket fence at some point so its more “adorable” and less industrial chic/bunnies are in charge of the house..

[Author]

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