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Bunnies in the Basement..?

Bellikinz

Bellikinz

Warren Scout
Hiya! :wave:
My dad's been getting a little bit stubborn with Fel staying in our living room, and until she's spayed in the summer she can't be bonded (or hopefully!) to Morgan outside.

Our winters here are quite cold as it is, and I was just mulling over the idea of having the rabbits in the basement? There's carpeting, and in the winter we put our stove on if it's too chilly. Would the cement be bad on their bottoms if they had some things to lay on?

Just brainstorming! :)
Thanks!
 
No, cement is fine for most buns. Only ones that might have issues are rexes as they have sensitive feet anyway. A lot of outside buns living on paving which is the same thing really. A basement sounds fine just make sure the usual pipes/wires etc. are all bunny proofed.
 
I remember my grandma always saying not to sit on cement as it would wreck my body... nice to hear this is not true with rabbits! :) I'll see how things go and it might be a future homebase. Thanks!
 
Will they have daylight in your basement?

I personally don't like seeing bunnies in accommodation where they don't get natural light and in the UK when people say basement or cellar, it's normally got just a skylight.

I think from my own experience that bunnies suffer from the same kinds of things we do when they don't get light - I've noticed it affect demeanour.
 
You keep beating me to questions Helen!

I was going to ask about the detremental affects of no daylight.
 
indoor buns don't get daylight. i don't really count any light that comes through glass windows, anything beneficial like UV rays wouldn't go through the glass. i don't think sunlight is that great for buns like it is for birds anyway, is it? :? and some people house buns in hallways and other rooms where they would get no/little lighting.

artificial lighting can of course be used for a basement. and basements usually have a window but its at ground level and small.
 
William said:
indoor buns don't get daylight. i don't really count any light that comes through glass windows, anything beneficial like UV rays wouldn't go through the glass. i don't think sunlight is that great for buns like it is for birds anyway, is it? :? and some people house buns in hallways and other rooms where they would get no/little lighting.

artificial lighting can of course be used for a basement. and basements usually have a window but its at ground level and small.
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I wholeheartedly disagree :wave:

My housebuns get plenty of daylight from the time the sun comes up to the time it goes down. Saying that the beneficial UV light is blocked i accept, but how would you like to be in a room with nothing but false light, or pitch black darkness :? :)
 
GrahamL said:
I wholeheartedly disagree :wave:

My housebuns get plenty of daylight from the time the sun comes up to the time it goes down. Saying that the beneficial UV light is blocked i accept, but how would you like to be in a room with nothing but false light, or pitch black darkness :? :)
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you can buy full spectrum lighting, it is like daylight and used for birds.

they never truly get sunlight indoors. imagine trying to sunbathe in the house...

thats anthropomorphizing, they have no idea that sunlight is good. light is light to them. of course humans know better. i'm not saying sunlight isn't good for them but it isn't a requirement. i wouldn't say its cruel to not give them daylight. some people have large sheds/playhouses instead of a playhouse/shed plus a run and they would be getting about the same amount of sunlight in a shed/playhouse that has windows as they would indoors.
 
William said:
you can buy full spectrum lighting, it is like daylight and used for birds.

they never truly get sunlight indoors. imagine trying to sunbathe in the house...

thats anthropomorphizing, they have no idea that sunlight is good. light is light to them. of course humans know better. i'm not saying sunlight isn't good for them but it isn't a requirement. i wouldn't say its cruel to not give them daylight. some people have large sheds/playhouses instead of a playhouse/shed plus a run and they would be getting about the same amount of sunlight in a shed/playhouse that has windows as they would indoors.
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We'll just have to agree to disagree then :)
 
This is completely off topic, but rabbits know what it's breeding season (and thus get spring fever) from hours of daylight. I know my indoors bunnies get it, so they must, on an instinctive level, understand daylight.

In a basement, with little to no natural daylight, I wonder if rabbits can get spring fever.

With good, balanced pellets, a vitamin D deficiency shouldn't be an issue :)
 
GrahamL said:
We'll just have to agree to disagree then :)
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I am afraid I am with you here too Graham.

Speaking from my vast experience in having rabbits on site here William, I can tell you that I see very different behaviours from rabbits that do versus those that don't get any daylight and I am not talking UV, I am just talking light! I do homevisits for people too and see how darkness affects bunnies - I don't actually rehome to situations where the animals are in garages or outbuildings, or even house rabbit situations where there is low light. My choice.

All of our bunnies that have wendy houses and sheds by the way get full time access to runs and have fully meshed panel doors so they get as much light as those living in hutches.
 
GrahamL said:
We'll just have to agree to disagree then :)
Click to expand...

well don't get me wrong, like i said, i'm not saying it isn't good for them. but they'll never get the same amount of light as they would outdoors. you have glass and the shade of the house and they can only get light from the side (not overhead like they would outside). and how many people here actually give them sunlight...i've never heard anyone tell new owners to be sure of this or anything like that. its just not a requirement imo.
 
William said:
well don't get me wrong, like i said, i'm not saying it isn't good for them. but they'll never get the same amount of light as they would outdoors. you have glass and the shade of the house and they can only get light from the side (not overhead like they would outside). and how many people here actually give them sunlight...i've never heard anyone tell new owners to be sure of this or anything like that. its just not a requirement imo.
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Well you have now, because I do and it's in my homecheck information pack.
 
Whatever. I don't know why you two are getting defensive acting, I'm just saying I seriously doubt many people give indoor rabbits sunlight, whatever people might say. I could really care less, i'm just saying. it would be interesting to see a poll. Some houses have a lot of shade from trees, some people have many rabbits and theres no way all their rabbits have access to sunlight indoors unless they live in a greenhouse or house their rabbits in a sunroom. space is a lot more important than sunlight so if it was between more space or filtered sunlight thats barely beneficial i'd go for more space.
 
William said:
Whatever. I don't know why you two are getting defensive acting, I'm just saying I seriously doubt many people give indoor rabbits sunlight, whatever people might say. I could really care less, i'm just saying. it would be interesting to see a poll. Some houses have a lot of shade from trees, some people have many rabbits and theres no way all their rabbits have access to sunlight indoors unless they live in a greenhouse or house their rabbits in a sunroom. space is a lot more important than sunlight so if it was between more space or filtered sunlight thats barely beneficial i'd go for more space.
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I am not talking sunlight, I am talking daylight - light to see by that isn't artificial.
 
The Duchess said:
I am not talking sunlight, I am talking daylight - light to see by that isn't artificial.
Click to expand...

Thats what I mean by sunlight. I'm sure that most house buns get very little daylight. Its filtered through windows so I don't think they would get many benefits from it. They would have to sit next to the window/door all the time too. The whole room wouldn't get completely brightly light by daylight/sunlight.
 
William said:
Thats what I mean by sunlight. I'm sure that most house buns get very little daylight. Its filtered through windows so I don't think they would get many benefits from it. They would have to sit next to the window/door all the time too. The whole room wouldn't get completely brightly light by daylight/sunlight.
Click to expand...

Oh really? How come we don't need lights on during the day in our houses then, only when it gets dark outside? Could it be because there is sufficient daylight...?
 
Santa said:
Oh really? How come we don't need lights on during the day in our houses then, only when it gets dark outside? Could it be because there is sufficient daylight...?
Click to expand...

sufficient enough to actually give benefits, like vitamin D? you'd be better off using a full spectrum light. yes, you can see from it, of course. even my hallways are lighted by daylight enough that i could even read in them. all rooms in my house are, but i wouldn't say its beneficial at all, so whats the point? light is light if its being filtered through windows...its like trying to say that canned veg has the same health benefits as fresh veg when it clearly doesn't have things that fresh veg has, such as enzymes. if you really want to give your buns daylight then put them outside during the day in the summer and use a full spectrum light.
 
Canned vegetables are far better than no vegetables though (and I'd argue that your full spectrum light bulb is still 'canned'. It's not the natural product, it is artificial light, even if it is designed to mimic daylight. Canned vegetables still have fibre, they still have a good level of nutrient, if not all of it. You wouldn't suggest to someone that if they cant get fresh vegetables that they might as well not bother having any at all. You'd tell them that if they can't get fresh, that canned is better than nothing? Either that or you're saying that it is so vital that nothing else will do, in which case, a basement probably isn't the answer, yes?
 
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yes, i suppose it's better than nothing but it seems like some are kidding themselves into thinking its just as good as being outside.

wouldn't the basement just be for winter? unless i'm reading that wrong? if so and if they wouldn't get as much space somewhere else in the house (most basements are big) i wouldn't mind doing it myself if i had a basement and it was just for 3 months. full spectrum lights are great, not like regular artificial lighting, so those could be used to mimic daylight.
 
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