Newby, hoping to add a house bunny to the family (long)

Hi, i am hoping to add a house rabbit to my family. My husband and i have 3 1/2 Great Dane dogs (one is half Great Dane mixed with half alien), and we are involved in Great Dane rescue and often have fosters. i also have a horse that is boarded nearby.

My husband is allergic to cats but not dogs. It's possible he'll be allergic to rabbits or their hay, and if that's the case obviously we won't be bringing a rabbit into the family fold. But if we can, please tell me (honestly) if you feel that the following seems like a good life for a bunny.

We will keep the bunny in the house. We were thinking about one bunny but i know it's common to keep two bonded bunnies together, and i'm not at all opposed to that either. We'd like to make a large NIC condo made from those cube panels, probably four panels by four panels by two deep, and two panels deep. Each panel is 14" by 14". There would be 4-5 sets of shelves in addition to the floor. We will furnish it with a litter box, a hay rack, food and water crocks, and plenty of various toys, including tunnels and wood chew toys, phone books, etc. We will also put a "front yard" with an exercise pen in front. The plan is for this to be placed in the very large (16' x 20' or so) master bedroom. We will bunny proof the bedroom, and the rabbit can have access to the condo at night, the condo and "front yard" during the work day, and then the whole bedroom in the morning and evening when we're home, which would be several hours per day "hop around" time. The dogs are only allowed in the master bedroom if well supervised because some will chew our shoes, so the dogs will be either extremely well supervised with the bunny or completely separated. Only occasionally will we bring the bunny into the main house or backyard and only when well-supervised.

i'm prepared to bunny proof the bedroom and also prepared for some destruction. We'd like a fairly social bunny that we can pet and interact with (though i know most don't like to be held, which is fine). i've been reading about diet and care, and i don't feel that the other basic needs of rabbits will be a problem.

The reason i'm asking if the above seems like a good idea is that i mentioned my hope to add a bun to the household to an acquaintance who said she didn't think it was a good idea. She feels that bunnies should always have access to the whole house, and this could be an issue with the dogs (whereas she keeps her dogs outside which i don't feel is best for them). Please be honest and tell me if this sounds like good accommodations for a house rabbit or a bad idea. Thanks!

sounds like its been properly planned.....i think youll have a very happy bunny ...

of all the pets ive ever owned so far my bunny is the most amazing... i love the chipmunks but they so tiny i have panic attack if i cant see them, my cat was lovely and the dog is great... but Alvin is amazing in every way (cant you tell ive not had him long) in the 4 months weve had him hes ripped loads of patches of wallpaper off the wall, has a better diet than any of us and pretty much has us wrapped aroung his little paw.... very very entertaining i dont think youll regret adding a bun to your family

I'm allergic to cats but rabbits i'm fine with although the hay sometimes gets to me in the summer when the pollens high but generally i'm fine. I think your set up sounds great - lucky bunnies!!
One point though one of mine is soooo petrified by dogs even if I have petted one and she can smell it she freaks out. So maybe see if the rabbits are happy with dogs first. Millie I think might have had a bad expereince with one in her last home as all my others are fine with the smell of dogs but I haven't actually got one. Sorry for the ramble!

I'm really allergic to cats but Ok with bunny's, I'm also fine with the hay too. If you get largish bunnys from a rescue you might find that they are OK with dogs, especially dopy St Bernards. If you get a bonded pair from a rescue you could take your dogs along to see how the dogs and the bunnys react. Obviously you could not leave them un supervised together but you might be able to let them play in the same room if the dogs seem uninterested in the rabbits.

Sounds like you have researched this well. First step is to find out whether anyone is actually allergic. No point in planning any more and certainly don't go getting some buns until you have checked this out. Go visit someone with a house bun, go to the rescue and ask if there is a bun you can both snuggle, anything to be sure.

As to whether the buns will be happy with that space, almost certainly not. But it is perfectly acceptable. How much you end up giving up to the bunnies is up to the relationship between you and them . See Donnamt's first reply !

If you want to know about getting dogs and bunnies to cohabit I could go on all day so I'll stop here.

killaypetshop said:

First step is to find out whether anyone is actually allergic. No point in planning any more and certainly don't go getting some buns until you have checked this out.

As to whether the buns will be happy with that space, almost certainly not. But it is perfectly acceptable.

If you want to know about getting dogs and bunnies to cohabit I could go on all day so I'll stop here.

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First, thanks to all so far for your replies. i have a coworker with a house rabbit (who also has large dogs) who is going to let me "borrow" the bunny for a couple of days, so that will help us to know if my husband can handle the bun or if he's allergic.

Would you mind expanding what you meant when you said "As to whether the buns will be happy with that space, almost certainly not. But it is perfectly acceptable."? What would you suggest otherwise? i don't want something that is acceptable if it still isn't enough for a bunny or bunnies' well-being. i don't remember if i mentioned but should the bunny be one that isn't too destructive, i will begin to leave him/her out in the bedroom all day with access to the condo (and litterbox) but not confined to it. However i know many bunnies need to be confined and allowed supervised run time.

Thanks again all! And i'd love more information about helping rabbits and dogs get along.

:wave:
I think its ok for the bunny to just have the run of one room, mine is kept in a playpen in the living room when i am out as he will rip curtains, carpet etc and when i am here he can go in the living room and kitchen, if the room is 16x20 thats bigger than any run i've heard of so personally i think it would be fine

fredalina said:

Thanks again all! And i'd love more information about helping rabbits and dogs get along.

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the dog was threatened with pain of death should he hurt the ickle baby bunny... Alvin on the other hand is allowed to go up to ralph and groom him if he wishes... poor dog usually sits on the sofa to get away from the bun.... i think once you bring an amimal into the house as family dogs generally accept them. not sure about the pack mentalilty of more than one dog and the introduction of a prey animal tho weve only got one dog... id say as long as you dont ever leave them alone your buns and dogs will get on just fine.... not much difference to how cats and dogs bond in the family home

As for buns being happy locked up thatll never happen.. Alvin dont like being caged and beats the pen up when he wants out, but hes used to the routine and usually just goes to sleep under his vetbed until we come to his rescue :lol: :lol:

Of all of my dogs, i only have one that i would worry would not be able to, over time and with great supervision, be able to get used to the idea of a bunny. It will probably just be a matter of never introducing them. If he's still to be allowed in the bedroom, he will learn he's only permitted on the bed (he sometimes lies with my hubby in the morning before hubby gets up), or he won't be allowed in the bedroom. He's smart so he'll learn fast, and he's the oldest of the dogs, turning 11 on Christmas Eve, which is quite old for a Great Dane.

All of the other household dogs will be able to adjust, i think. They've all been fine when properly introduced to cats. Of course i would never ever leave them unsupervised, and really they're not allowed in the bedroom anyway, so it probably won't even come up. Of course there are fosters that come in, too, but again i'll most likely never introduce them.

Hi there, welcome to RU... well done on doing all your research first, if only every potential pet owner was like you!

Ideally it would be nice to have completely free range house buns 24/7... but this is not always possible depending on one's circumstances. Mine has his own room with a large 140cm cage where he spends the day while I'm at work, very much like your proposed plan. I don't see any reason why this would not be adequate, we would like to give them the whole world to run about in but that would just be silly!

I think your set up sounds like a great idea and you seem very responsible with regards the rabbits safety and having your dogs around :thumb:

Are you sure that "borrowing" someone's bun would be the best idea? This upping and moving could be distressing for him :? However I don;t know much about these sorts of allergies so not sure how long it would take to kick in if your husband was allergic.

Thea & Bobbin said:

Are you sure that "borrowing" someone's bun would be the best idea? This upping and moving could be distressing for him :? However I don;t know much about these sorts of allergies so not sure how long it would take to kick in if your husband was allergic.

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Hmmm, i hadn't thought of that. We were hoping to take him for 2-3 days so that if my husband didn't experience any allergies during that time, we could be sure that, in fact, there are no allergies. Whereas visiting him at his home or visiting at the bunny rescue for an hour or two might not trigger the allergies severe enough for us to identify them. It would be awful to commit full-time to a rabbit only to find a couple of days later that we couldn't handle him after all.

This particular bunny we were going to "borrow" was rehomed from another coworker, a young student who didn't think things through before getting a pet rabbit, and whose father told her no after she brought him home. The woman who took him said she would take him until she found him another home, but she never really looked. She did tell me that if we like him we can keep him, but i'm not sure if that's helpful or not!

Do you have any suggestions? Thanks again so much, and thanks for the compliments.

fredalina said:

This particular bunny we were going to "borrow" was rehomed from another coworker, a young student who didn't think things through before getting a pet rabbit, and whose father told her no after she brought him home. The woman who took him said she would take him until she found him another home, but she never really looked. She did tell me that if we like him we can keep him, but i'm not sure if that's helpful or not!

Do you have any suggestions? Thanks again so much, and thanks for the compliments.

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I totally understand about the allergies... they may not show up for a while.

Well, if you decided that you liked him and the lady was happy for you to keep him that would be perfect , and if it turned out your hubby was allergic you would just have to give him back

fredalina said:

Would you mind expanding what you meant when you said "As to whether the buns will be happy with that space, almost certainly not. But it is perfectly acceptable."?

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Sorry for confusion. I meant: give them an inch and they will take a mile.
Let them have the run of the whole house except the kitchen and they will want to be in the kitchen. Let them on your sofa and they will pee on your bed. I just meant "wink" whatever you give them they will WANT MORE. You will just be a bunny slave. Get used to it - huh.

A room is more than adequate. Prob more than they deserve sometimes.

Oh, okay, thanks, Killaypetshop. That makes me feel better.