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Indoor buns, what do I need to know?

alio71

Mama Doe
I am going to be a permanent foster mum to 2 lovely buns for one of my local rescues. The male has problems with jaw abcesses so needs constant care and his wifey is a cruelty case and is so very pretty but shy. Now the care of the buns I am fine with but have never had indoor rabbits. My babies live in the shed.

They will have the run of my conservatory and they will be allowed in the living room when I am there. The conservatory doors lead straight into the garden so they will be able to free range there.

There is nothing in the conserv that they can damage so I am just wondering what set up would be best for them? The rescue are going to come round and supply everything I need but I just wondered what works best for you?

All suggestions gratefully received :D
 
I would have some sort of home base. My two have the last level of an NIC condo. My NIC condo has 3 levels, the top two levels are for two seperate groups of guinea pigs, the bottom level is 2 grids high with an additional mini level for the buns. I have a snuggly area in it, as well as all the basics - hay, litter tray, food bowl and water bottle. This keeps it all contained and stops hay from being tracked everywhere. Most people tend to use dog crates (for me it was just convenient to have it all in the one unit).

Apart from that be sure that you have bunny proofed everywhere! They can be remarkably skilled at getting to places they shouldn't. Also what kind of flooring do you have? They tend to slip a lot on lino, and carpet can be abbrasive (though it is had no affect on my buns hocks). It is something you may want to consider - if the floor is something you want to protect (if they are not litter trained for example) you may need to consider something to cover it.

House buns are great. They can get up to mischief, but for the most part it is a whole lot of fun!
 
Thanks, I do have a dog crate I could use as a base, they are both litter trained so that's a great start. There is one wire that is screened off but I would need to protect the ones in the living room. What do you use for this? I have laminate floor throughout downstairs so easy clean. Will they find this too slippy do you think? Maybe a cotton rug or something to cover the floor in their main area? I can't wait for them to arrive, I really hope they like to sit on the sofa with me :love:
 
Charlee and Noah are actually restricted to the one room atm due to indoor dogs. We are hoping to move next year sometime, so the plan would be to get them their own room (instead of bunking in mine!) adjacent to an area which we can block off easily. Our current house is very much open plan, so it is hard to restrict an area that they can go in whilst stopping the dogs from being able to get to them.

Anyway, I digress! If you search for "schuette", she has recently renovated her room - and has included some great pics of how she protected cables. All my cables run underneath my bed, so I just use NIC grids that run around the base of my bed preventing them from getting underneath there.

They may find the lino slippy - it may be just a case of seeing how they cope with it. Otherwise, a rug over the top (maybe with a rubber backing?) should solve this problem. You just have to watch they dont chew it :)

We need plenty of pics when they come!
 
House rabbits are great and will teach you what you need to know to some extent. You can get really cheap rugs which are washable from Ikea. Wires should be covered as they chew through them in a nano second. Try putting their hay in a box with an opening (like a burrow) that helps to contain it and is interesting for them. The other thing to consider if they are indoors is the temp. In some areas of our house the temp. in winter can fall very quickly and rise just as quickly so they could suffer if you are out and the day warms quickly. Hope that helps. I think what you are doing is great best of luck with everything.:D
 
Thanks I will do a little search for that now. Temperature is something I am worried about. I think the cold weather will be ok but in warm weather the conservatory will get too warm in the afternoon so I plan that they will either be outside in the shade or moved to the living room where it is cool. But with our summers I guess those days will be limited :lol:

This is the little lad who is coming and he chose himself a wife at the rescue yesterday and bonding was going really well.

Archie :love:

http://www.rabbitrehome.org.uk/moreinfo.asp?RabID=20865

and wifey (yet to be named), she was rescued after being bred from litter after litter was in a hutch where she could not stand up and had no bedding, food or water :cry: She was on grass for the first time ever yesterday :love:

04092010567.jpg
 
What a pretty girly!
I would also suggest baby gates....we have them in various places.
My buns are free range but have a hutch in the utility room which is off the kitchen, so this acts a base for them and is where they have their trays and water and stuff (they NEVER get shut in it though) . We've got a baby gate inbetween the utility and kitchen so that they can be shut away if need be (usually when I'm cooking cause they sods for getting under my feet!)
Mine are both fine on lino, and they like lying on it because it is cool, so it really does depend on the buns.
Blue isn;t bothered by wires at all...but Marnie is a menace for them, so everything is covered in cable protection stuff or blocked away with plastic trellis.
Another thing to keep an eye out for is books....Marnie will quite often have a sneaky nibble when she thinks noone is looking.
I'd also suggest having a litter tray in both rooms....we have an under the bed box in the living room so they can sit and munch in company.
House buns are amazing and you'll enjoy being able to share your space with them :wave:
 
Anyway, I digress! If you search for "schuette", she has recently renovated her room - and has included some great pics of how she protected cables. All my cables run underneath my bed, so I just use NIC grids that run around the base of my bed preventing them from getting underneath there.

:oops::oops:

These are the pics...

_IGP8501-vi.jpg


White coving - internet cable coming up from the floor boards.

_IGP8502-vi.jpg


Computer cables in the wire rack under the desk (http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/50035115). Main power cable has two lots of this stuff (http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/20097954) then electrical tape and then the mesh stuff (storage cubes on Ebay/Amazon)

_IGP8503-vi.jpg


More mesh cubes to protect the woodwork

_IGP8537-vi.jpg


And more to protect my bookcase.
 
I am going to be a permanent foster mum to 2 lovely buns for one of my local rescues. The male has problems with jaw abcesses so needs constant care and his wifey is a cruelty case and is so very pretty but shy. Now the care of the buns I am fine with but have never had indoor rabbits. My babies live in the shed.

They will have the run of my conservatory and they will be allowed in the living room when I am there. The conservatory doors lead straight into the garden so they will be able to free range there.

There is nothing in the conserv that they can damage so I am just wondering what set up would be best for them? The rescue are going to come round and supply everything I need but I just wondered what works best for you?

All suggestions gratefully received :D

just to be aware that indoor rabbits are sneaky devious b's, and if they seem to be innocent, they aren't.
 
Thanks for that, great pics and links, gives me a fair few ideas. I am only used to the sneaky outdoor type so far, the lets dig a burrow in the middle of your lawn and maybe have a little munch on the shed :lol::lol:But when you go out to them there are 6 angelic little bunnies looking back at you trying to blame the cat :lol::lol:
 
Ooh another thing! I didn't think it possible but today Bracken jumped over the sofa from the floor in front of the sofa up onto the top of it :lol: little darling another challenge for Mummy to sort.
 
you not selling this...

I have decided to bring Jet in. As he has no mate, I think its nicer for him if he is indoors with us.. much to hubbys disgust!:oops: - he thinks rabbits 'belong outdoors' :roll::roll:
 
ebony has a dog crate containing litterbox and she also has a kids tent set i got from tescos for £14 containing a tent , tube and tower she likes to sleep in at night it also has a duvet in it , she has a rug that i put her food on she has accsess to most of the flat i bought a huge box of cable tidys from ebay for £9 she has cardboard boxes with hay in that she likes to play with the only problem is she steals your keys so she now has a baby teething set:love:
 
you not selling this...

I have decided to bring Jet in. As he has no mate, I think its nicer for him if he is indoors with us.. much to hubbys disgust!:oops: - he thinks rabbits 'belong outdoors' :roll::roll:

I love having mine indoors although I wish my lions were tidier hence why they will likely be going outside next year when it's warmer. Smudge hates people too so he'll be happier outside I think.

My lops are wonderful though. There are a few things I've had to do, like move my hi-fi into the wardrobe and box in under the bed but eventually they will go in the lions room at night which has been decorated with bunnies in mine so the wood that is on show they are allowed to chew. A big ottoman which has their stuff in so is 'their's'. Everything else is either hidden behind NIC cubes or has metal legs. My lops love people and would feel lost outside on their own I think. They like human company.
 
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