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totally indoor bunnies?

kaths101

Warren Veteran
Hi do any of you have completely indoor house bunnies that never go outside?? - 1 of my house bunnies loves a good run round the garden when we're here but also loves to come back in and lay in front of the fire :lol: - my baby buns has not even been outside yet -he is 10 weeks and im feeling guilty :oops:..

Does any one not let their bunnies out? I suppose if you live in a flat its difficult - will it do them any harm not going outside??
 
Charlie doesn't go outside... I've tried to take him out and he HATES it. He just sulks in his cat basket
 
My two live inside, however when its really nice I let them out the back in their run for abit.However, they arent that keen on it :lol:

But,even when they are inside my room, I still open the windows to make sure there is always fresh air :)
 
Lily dosent like being outside much either. she'll go out in her run but sulks til shes back in my bedroom. shes an odd bod :lol:
 
Just remember that now the colder weather is coming, that they will need to stay inside more.

Bunny's systems will not know what to do if you keep taking him outside and bringing him in. Outdoor bunnies are starting to grow in their winter coats now (Granite has a lovely ring around his middle) They will not cope outside without their winter coat even for a few hours a day. And if baby has been raised indoors, I wouldn't put him outside until the weather warms up in april may.

You have nothing to feel guilty about!
 
My buns are totally indoors but when the summer comes I put them in the garden every so often for a hop around - although Charlie hated the grass and would do anything to get onto the concrete instead! :shock:
 
I let Tilly and Cheeky out each morning and evening. Cheeky does a circuit sniffing and gazing then binkies straight back in to sit on the windowsill and watch Tilly who can hack it a bit longer pretending she's the brave one but if she hasn't got an audience she's in like a shot :)
 
I use to let Julie play in the back yard sometimes but a few years ago a bunny around here got warbles( bot fly larvae) and almost died. The rabbit society around here warns people around here not to ever let our rabbits out to play. At first I would take her on her lease to play in the driveway but now she doesn't try and go out anymore. It is very warm here so we apparently have a lot of the warbles in our area. it doesn't get cold enough to kill them off in the winter. Julie does run all around the house but doesn't get as much exercise as she did outside.
 
it took matthew and tabitha a while to get used to being outdoors. i think they will probably have to be retrained next summer if they don't get any time outside over the winter period. its a funny place, outdoors. breeze blows over you...
 
Jose's never been outside in our garden - we're in the process of gutting it completely so it's a right mess. Once it's all done tho, we're going to build a big permanent run :D
 
My bunnies are indoor for the majority of the year. Their runs in the garden are half on concrete, half on grass, if it's warm and the lawn is dry they can go out.:)..doesn't happen often these days though. They always sleep insde though! and otherwise just run around the house:love:
 
I can't let Feegal out as we have stray dogs randomly turning up, foxes and even a cat that attacks my westie through the fence:shock: (I call him murderous puss.) Feegal gets fresh grass every day though:)
 
Thumper goes out daily, but has choice. I'm very fortunate to have patio doors into the garden which is secure, & where he can free range, but I'm with him every second. He'll take himself in when he's had enough, or will come immediately when called, if he sees me going in.
It's nice for him to have somewhere to do his rabbit behaviour eg digging, making paths through tall plants, awareness of bird song especially alarm calls etc.
Personally I feel that even at 10 weeks yours could manage about 10 mins out, but I'd be watching out for him. We may know he's safe, but a cat snooping round can give them a nasty fright.
 
Agree with Thumps :) It's important I feel for buns to have access to the great outdoors even if just a little a day or under supervision if the garden isn't safe. Vit D from natural sunlight is essential for Calcium absorption. But just being outside can do wonders for a bun's sense of well being, as Thumps says, birdsong, wind, smells etc. It does make them much more alert, but as long as it is safe, this is not such a bad thing - alert buns burn more calories (as Romain Pizzi's excellent article in Rabbiting On recently described.) Safety from overhead and ground predators should always be considered though. I am also fortunate to have patio doors out to a safe walled garden and the buns come out with me at wakey times of they day for free run or to go in their garden run for a few hours. They are otherwise house buns. :D
 
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