New bunny Momma

[TheLadyWhoLivedInAShoe]

Hello all! I just recently joined the community. However, I have been using your all’s advice and information over the last few weeks as we have integrated our new member into our household. My fiancé and I have 3 kiddos- (7-year old boy/girl twins and a 2 year old daughter. In addition to the 3 children, we also have two dogs- an 11 year old yorkie/Chihuahua mix (who seriously has been the best dog with all children, especially considering most little dogs don’t get along well with kids) and a 3 year old black lab drake.

We (well, mostly just me lol) decided to add a 3 month old Holland Lop, Lola, to this crazy mix. lol. The first few days were rough on little Lola. We mostly left her in her new crate and let her adjust. Edie (the 11 year old yorkie/Chihuahua mix) and Lola spent the first 48 hours just sniffing each other through her crate. Now, an a week later, they are amazing together. Edie pretty much leaves Lola alone, and Lola sometimes seems more interested in Edie than she is of her. I find myself sometimes catching bunny chasing the little dog because she wants to sniff and play with Edie, so Edie just wants to find a nook to sleep lol. We still have yet to introduce Lola to Drake, the lab. He is outdoor most of the time, but goes to his crate in the room next to the room Lola’s crate is in at night and SOMETIMES during the day. I feel like that will be a very, very slow process after we have given Lola several more weeks or months to adjust to our crazy home.

Lola has adjusted to our kids fairly well, once they understood bunny rules. The 7 year old twins and I spent several weeks discussing how to properly handle bunny. We’ve discussed how to sit on floor and let bunny approach you, that you don’t chase her, explaining how they are ground dwellers and biological timid as they are prey animals. Once they understood bunny behavior, Lola y has warmed up to all the kiddos in a weeks time- even the 2 year old! (with the help of treats lol). Now Lola follows all of us around nudging for pets and treats. She constantly wants up in my lap. She even follows around the 2 year old sniffing and chinning her  lol

I guess mostly I am worried about my setup. While I feel that Lola is adjusting extraordinarily well to our crazy family, I do have some concerns as an inexperienced bunny owner. Although I have done tons of research as a new bunny momma, I want to make sure i’m doing what is best for her.  

Here’s my dilemma. Bunny is in a crate in the living room. in the mornings we have family time while I’m getting ready for work and she is containted to living room for exercise and play. During this time, I feed her 1/8 cup of pellets on the living room floor while I change out her litter box and hay and replenish her water. During the day while we are at work, she is in her crate. in the evenings, or whenever we are all home (like on the weekends) she is a free range bunny. Again, just confined to our living room.

I feel like she is getting plenty of exercise and family time as she has quickly stating bonding with ALL us. However, in the living room, she loves to go behind furniture (especially when she knows its getting close to bedtime), and I wouldn’t mind it. However, it upsets me because I can’t see her and there are power chords behind our furniture. Also, she loves climbing up into the recinder- not sitting on the cushion- actually crawling up inside it from the bottom. I am worried that someone won’t realize she’s in there, release the reclinigng mechanism and she will get hurt. OR she’s going to go behind furniture and bite on a lamp plug. Does anyone have any advice?!! we love having her roam free in the living room with the fam during our evening family time, but also want to make sure she is safe. Any advice you all have for me would be much appreciated.

[sarahthegemini]

You need to bunny proof the area. You can’t let a bunny free roam without doing any bunny proofing. You need to prevent her getting hurt by covering/blocking access to wires etc. Her safety is in your hands because she doesn’t know what is or what isn’t dangerous.

You need to make sure everything she has access too is safe for her in all aspects – safe to chew on, safe to jump on etc.

[Boston's Mama]

A baby pen or diy wood with wire chicken mesh as a gaurd around the arm chair could work – I would block all access to the chair or remove the chair – my kitten use to go under and inside a chair just like your bunny does and we had too many close calls – I sold the chair.

With the plugs it would need to again be gated off or you’ll need to remove the lamp and put plug protectors in instead

[tobyluv]

You definitely have to bunny proof any rooms that your rabbit is in. Besides blocking off area, you can find various cord wraps, but you still have to make sure the rabbit isn’t chewing on the cords. I had a rabbit that chewed through protective wraps. Here is the section dealing with bunny proofing: https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/CategoryID/8/PID/940/Default.aspx

I have always thought that recliners are dangerous around small animals, and that they could easily get hurt, so I wouldn’t want a rabbit to have access to one.

[ThorBunny]

I agree with previous posts, it sounds like she has a good amount of outside-cage time and that is good for her to exercise and bond with you all! If you bunny-proof the living room then you can be worry free about her roaming

As mentioned before, you can get cord protectors online or at most stores as well as plug protectors. In addition, if she is a chewer, you can use plastic corner guards or wood blocks to protect siding and baseboards.

We actually do have a recliner in our living room that Thor has access to. We have blocked off the back by stuffing pillows/blankets in the back gap so she cannot get underneath the recliner. Its dangerous for animals to climb up there for obvious reasons, but also there are some sharp metal pieces that can catch fur and skin. In addition, even with this precaution, every time we either put up or down the recliner we HAVE to be able to see the bunny, every time. So we can be sure we are not catching her underneath. We don’t use the recliner function of our couch often, so it works for us. If this doesn’t sound like it would work for you then I’d suggest totally blocking off the recliner from access to the bun.

Congrats on your new family member, glad she seems to be settling in well

[TheLadyWhoLivedInAShoe]

Thanks everyone! I appreciate all the great advice! I guess I didn’t realize that there were actually cord protectors. I’ll be looking into getting those asap!

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