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Space is so important..

louise and Gus

Wise Old Thumper
Having just had my buns under cage arrest during bonding I have noticed how bored they get in small spaces...they have been in a 48" dog crate for two weeks and the change in their behaviour has been really noticeable, They lie around all day, don't eat as much and are destructive. I have let them into the bunny room and the binkies were incredible :lol:

I think it is easy to misread a bun laying around as been relaxed or lazy...but they were definitely bored and unhappy. Just made me realise why buns need so much space, and why people who don't give them the space may think buns "just sit there and don't do anything"

It really upsets me to think of how many buns are living in places much smaller than a 48" dog crate :cry:
 
Good post :)

I know many of our buns live in dog crates etc, but every single one has at least 5 hours free range time every day to be able to let off steam and tear around. Most of outside buns live in huge enclosures with their own sheds or playhouses attached but those that temporarily live in hutches also get to spend hours every day in a massive run. I get excited for them everyday when I first put them out as I know they are so looking forward to it :)

Even our disabled buns that can't move much get free range time daily.

I do think that bunnies living in smaller cages/ pens often seem happy and relaxed when in reality they have little choice as there is nothing else to do :?
 
I totally agree. I'm a firm believer that buns need as much space as physically possible. My rabbits have a 14ft long enclosure and I feel awful if i don't have time to let them have free range on the garden for a few hours a day. A free range binky cant be done in an encosed space. I see some mean binkys in my garden when the buns are out :lol: :love:
 
Even our disabled buns that can't move much get free range time daily.

I do think that bunnies living in smaller cages/ pens often seem happy and relaxed when in reality they have little choice as there is nothing else to do :?

Exactly..if some of your buns with impaired movement still enjoy free time imagine how a perfectly healthy bun would feel without being able to run around.

This is the first time Dinky has been given any kind of space and he is loving it...took him a couple of days to work out how to jump but now he's everywhere :D

I love just sitting in the bunny room watching them go crazy :love:
 
I agree totally. Its very hard to get across to people though that their buns really aren't as "happy" as they think. Popped mine out on the lawn yesterday for a quick nibble, didn't have much time before it got dark so made the wire run in to 2 so they could go out at the same time, Maisy decided there wasn't enough grass in there (nothings growing here) so scaled the wall of the wire run (about 1m high) and helped herself to some more apple leaves on another bit of the lawn! - had my eye on her so she was quickly captured (too many bunny unfriendly plants to free-range, not to mention the F word). I dread to think what she'd be like contained in a small hutch, I think she'd eat her way out!
 
Exactly..if some of your buns with impaired movement still enjoy free time imagine how a perfectly healthy bun would feel without being able to run around.

This is the first time Dinky has been given any kind of space and he is loving it...took him a couple of days to work out how to jump but now he's everywhere :D

I love just sitting in the bunny room watching them go crazy :love:

I have had so many bunnies arrive here that have only ever know small cages :( One of the best things about doing what we do is being able to give them some freedom for the first time :love::love:
 
Totally agree with everything thats been said.
Although even though Blue has the whole of downstairs to freerange in pretty much all the time....he still spends most of his time stretched out asleep behind the chair :roll: :lol:
Bea LOVES her downstairs time though....binkies all over the show (and she has the whole spare bedroom to herself :shock: )
 
See I struggle with this. Mine are in an enclosure, they have access to the whole of upstairs, apart from the bathroom, for several hours a day, but instead they tend to sit in their enclosure :roll:
 
See I struggle with this. Mine are in an enclosure, they have access to the whole of upstairs, apart from the bathroom, for several hours a day, but instead they tend to sit in their enclosure :roll:

But at least they have the choice :):wave:
 
Mine are in a 48" dog crate while im at work (about 8 hours a day) and then are free range the rest of the time and all night.

I still think 48" is too small but we are decorating at the minute so cant add the pen round it like we usually do.

I have given in using NIC cubes as Strawberry figured out how to throw himself agaisnt them untill the collapse and he can get out. Plus they are so messy as everything rolls under the sides!
 
But at least they have the choice :):wave:

I know but I feel a bit guilty. Sometimes I try and herd them out for a run but they just go straight back :lol: I try to open it up in their natural activity hours but due to my ME my own sleeping patterns are a bit rubbish. :?
 
When I was bonding my 4 (that didn't work out in the end) they were in a 48" dog crate. They were fine for a day or two but after that they started to get very wound up at the lack of space. It didn't help that one of them was a giant-cross and another adores running around like a loon :roll:
The dog crate was in their shed and I had to let them out for multiple short periods every day just to keep them sane... it was hard to balance letting them out and any problems that could cause the bonding, against not letting them out and the problems the frustration would cause the bonding.
 
Very good point....a couple of times I've been late home from work by an hour or so and apache has totally trashed his cage, flipped his litter tray, shredded all the newspaper, the works...it's not a small cage but he's used to being free range in the evenings and he gets very cross when I spoil his routine!
 
I had to let them out for multiple short periods every day just to keep them sane... it was hard to balance letting them out and any problems that could cause the bonding, against not letting them out and the problems the frustration would cause the bonding.

This is exactly the problem I had, Poppy was getting wound up by being in the cage and Dinky got over excited when they were let out!

We are at a half way point now, let out during the day and shut up at night as this is when chasing seems to happen..
 
Having just had my buns under cage arrest during bonding I have noticed how bored they get in small spaces...they have been in a 48" dog crate for two weeks and the change in their behaviour has been really noticeable, They lie around all day, don't eat as much and are destructive. I have let them into the bunny room and the binkies were incredible :lol:

I think it is easy to misread a bun laying around as been relaxed or lazy...but they were definitely bored and unhappy. Just made me realise why buns need so much space, and why people who don't give them the space may think buns "just sit there and don't do anything"

It really upsets me to think of how many buns are living in places much smaller than a 48" dog crate :cry:

Yes i agree after bonding my four, you know those amazing binky pics of dreamer, well thats was his first time out in the garden in 3 weeks, he didnt stop binkying for a whole hour!!!!
 
Mine have never had hutches or cages, Louie has a puppy pen at night and hates it but I don't trust him not to eat the house while we are in bed.

I think in this day and age there is no possible acceptable reason to keep an animal as active as a rabbit in a small cage/hutch. My opinion is that even the recent RSPCA recommended hutch/run sizes are not big enough for rabbits to exhibit natural behaviour and that anything under this size should not be allowed to be on the market.
 
Yes i agree after bonding my four, you know those amazing binky pics of dreamer, well thats was his first time out in the garden in 3 weeks, he didnt stop binkying for a whole hour!!!!

Those are amazing pictures, not just because Dreamer is in them :love: but they truly show why buns need so much space
 
For outdoor rabbits the pet stores should sell larger rabbit hutches to encourage people and to educate them about the importance of the space they need. Most rabbit hutches for sale are small and the general public think this is 'normal'. Giving people a choice to buy a 6ft hutch or playhouse or shed should be the norm, instead of the 3 or 4 ft hutches found for sale everywhere. You really have to get on the web and try hard to get a 6ft hutch for sale. Then people don't realise they need an outdoor run attached too.
I take my daughters to school and the conversaions I've had with the other Mums:evil::(
One Mum said to me the other day that her rabbit gets no attention and they don't put him in the outside triangle type run because he's hard to get out at the end of the day. So all summers he's been alone in his 4 foot single hutch forgot about. They would love to 'get rid of him' but her daughter (who is 6) wouldnt like it. I have daughters but the animals are mine, and thier welfare comes first. :wave:
 
My rabbits have a 4ftx2ftx2ft hutch to go in when we can't watch them (which is a couple of hours at most) and we only have that as it was donated by a friend - otherwise they freerange round the house, and seem quite happy to explore. Though I usually find them under the dining table :lol:

I think they'd go spare if they didn't have the whole house to range round, they are definitely a lot more friendly and happy now we have them than when we first got them out of a 3ftx3ft cage.
 
The other day that her rabbit gets no attention and they don't put him in the outside triangle type run because he's hard to get out at the end of the day. So all summers he's been alone in his 4 foot single hutch forgot about. They would love to 'get rid of him' but her daughter (who is 6) wouldnt like it. I have daughters but the animals are mine, and thier welfare comes first. :wave:

This is exactly the problem! My mum works at a school and hears the same stories :cry:
 
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