Housing Inside

'Scuse me, I'm a total newbie. But can you house a rabbit inside (I'm talking a small dwarf rabbit)?

Yes, many people on here do. They should be along soon to help you with any queries.

Yes, my two live inside (they are dwarf lops) and it's great I love their company although they are my little half 6 in the morning alarm clocks because they are free range and run in my bedroom everyday at that time!

Yup can do. The area needs to be fully rabbit proofed though to avoid them hurting themselves or damaging items in your house.

What makes you ask?

Also make sure that things are out of the way, my three like climbing up onto chairs, then tables; or sitting on windowsills so you have to make sure that you've not left anything you want in one piece lying around, and that there's nothing that can harm them (scissors, cleaning chemicals etc).

Great! Putting them in a conservatory? It might get cold though. I can imagine my parents getting peckish about the smell, but I suppose you can buy friendly sprays.

Another thing - bedding? Sawdust, woodchips? I hear that cedar can cause respiratory problems.

Edit - I meant in a cage, not just roaming free (seems to be what you're suggesting)

PetitBunz said:

Another thing - bedding? Sawdust, woodchips? I hear that cedar can cause respiratory problems.

Click to expand...

I use newspaper and hay, but probably a bit too messy for indoors.

PetitBunz said:

Great! Putting them in a conservatory? It might get cold though. I can imagine my parents getting peckish about the smell, but I suppose you can buy friendly sprays.

Another thing - bedding? Sawdust, woodchips? I hear that cedar can cause respiratory problems.

Click to expand...

Conservatories will be too cold in winter and too warm in summer.

If you clean them out regularly then they wont smell.

Sawdust can irritate eyes, and you're right about cedar. Try megazorb or Carefresh :wave:

If your rabbit is kept clean and is spayed/neutered then there shouldn't really be a smell issue I personally use newspaper and hay, and use non clumping unscented wood pellet litter in the litter trays with a load of hay on top of it.

I use hay and carefresh too. Used to use sawdust a long time ago but my bun didn't like it anyway and just kicked it out of his cage. I clean out their litter trays once, sometimes twice a day and it keeps the place smelling fresh. Sometimes it might make it harder to litter train your bun if they aren't already though because your taking the scent away i think.

Yes, they can definitely be housed indoors, in a cage or not. If kept in a cage, it should be large enough for them to move around comfortably. Many people use old dog kennels (you can put a shelf in it to give more floor space), or you can use NIC cubes and build them to practically any size, or you can use an exercise pen for pets, and of course there are commercial cages for sale, just be aware many of them are much too small. In addition to the cage space, they should be given a chance to exercise daily, which means their exercise area still should be bunny-proofed for their safety. The biggest thing is electrical cords and house plants they can chew and harm themselves (and of course they can be destructive to your home as well - baseboards, carpet, furniture, etc).

i keep my foster rabbit in my home in a very large NIC cube condo (4 stories) with an attached 4' x 6' run that she has access to 24 hours a day. i wish i could give her more exercise opportunity, but i cannot because of my other pets and my husband's allergies. She sometimes gets to run around in the room where her cage is, but it's not daily, and she's a bit overweight as a result, despite me cutting out her pellets and just feeding her a hay/greens diet.

i line the litterbox with a mixture of a paper pellet litter and a softer paper-based litter that has lavender buds added to it, so it smells nice (with hay, of course!). i clean it out every day, and i vacuum the room where the rabbit cage is, and there is no smell. There can be mess, however, especially from little bits of hay and litter that stick to the fur and get left on the floor.