Going from pen to free range.

Me and my boyfriend are planning on let Poppy become a free ranging bunny and just being put away at night. We weon't be doing this until after her spay and I have sorted my bedroom out.

Anyone got any hints and tips about where to put her bed, protecting cables and such??

im currently trying to do this so i know how hard it will be for u :lol: ive dont it before with my rabbit but lately aftre changing things around and him having to stay in his home. hes sort of out of practice.

the only thing i can suggest for cables is either to put them out of the way were u know for definate that ur rabbit cant get to them with the one that u cant id get some pretty good cable protectors. another good hint wud be to turn everything off when ur bunny is running around and to unplug it just in case.

when u first let her out pay good attention to wat shes doing if she attacks some part of ur carpet be prepared to tell her no and to cover that part of the carpet up with lino or some furniture. shell more than likely go for the corners of the room. eventually after a while she shud stop getting into things and eating them. ull wanna let her out for a short time each day and gradually increase the amount when u think shes ready at first shell probably go a bit beserk depending on wat shes like.

another thing is if she lives in ur room and is out during the day u might want to cover ur bed with a tarp because she might decided to go to the toilet on ur bed.

my rabbit is a complete nusance for eating carpets and stuff but hes getting better.

Thanks, she has already attacked the carpet in her pen and has since left it alone. So I don't think that carpet chewing will be a problem.

Do you put them away at night?? It's just I have noticed with Poppy if she is out all day and put away at night she gets grumpy and chews the bars.

Have you checked out the sticky?

I don't put mine away at night, I found it made them more destructive when they were out

I put my bunnies in their X pen when I am away or sleeping; as long as I give them plenty of free run time, it doesn't seem to make much difference (other than the fact that I have to catch them to put them into the X pen--they are too stubborn to be herded, although if one goes in the pen, the other one usually hops in after a few seconds of wondering if there's anything better in the pen). I have put cord protectors on my cords, but I do have a lot of loose papers laying around that Olive might be interested in, but thankfully is not. One of the reasons I don't let them free range when I'm asleep is that I'm afraid they'll get into something and I'll have a mess to clean up in the morning--but they seem to mind well (for bunnies) when out and I supervise.

I've put puppy panels around the fridge freezer, to protect the wires, and more panels around the telly in the back room.

Cable protectors on all visible wires in the lounge and conduit on the telephone wires.

Louie is never locked away, he doesn't have a cage at all.

Bunsk ALWAYS found cables, despite protecting them :lol: Good luck!

My buns are free-range all day and in a pen at night. I had them free-range 24/7 but then I moved house and they lost their litter-training and became destructive, but I am going to try it again soon as they are much better now they are settled.

I find the more free-range time they have, the less destructive they become.

Use pen panels or NIC panels to block off areas with a lot of wires. I tend to hide most of mine behind furniture and then block them from going behind or under it. You can also get protective plastic cable tidies for wires. And stop her from being too unreachable, I find my two are most destructive (chewing, digging etc) or like to make a toilet of dark little spaces behind furniture where I cant see them. I either block it off or put a tunnel behind it for them.

chul said:

Bunsk ALWAYS found cables, despite protecting them :lol: Good luck!

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So did Mini until I covered them with mesh NIC panels as well so she physically can't even get her teeth round the plastic protector stuff. She never even bothers trying anymore. Far too busy trying to run out the door whenever you open it :lol:

Thanks for the help. Poppy is out a lot of the time and never really chews cables even when they are laying out. She will sniff my hairdryer (not plugged in) rub her chin on it then run away with absolute delight.

Kerryyyy said:

Thanks, she has already attacked the carpet in her pen and has since left it alone. So I don't think that carpet chewing will be a problem.

Do you put them away at night?? It's just I have noticed with Poppy if she is out all day and put away at night she gets grumpy and chews the bars.

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it depends on the rabbit really and wat room shell be kept in with scooter he lives in my room. so at night he has to be put away i dont trust him enough to behave plus i think if i was asleep and i didnt pay attention to him. hed get bored and decided that hed wake me up in a bad way :lol: he loves to be told off :roll:

they are most active at night particular in the earlie hours of the morning from between 1 to 4.

nessar said:

My buns are free-range all day and in a pen at night. I had them free-range 24/7 but then I moved house and they lost their litter-training and became destructive, but I am going to try it again soon as they are much better now they are settled.

I find the more free-range time they have, the less destructive they become.

Use pen panels or NIC panels to block off areas with a lot of wires. I tend to hide most of mine behind furniture and then block them from going behind or under it. You can also get protective plastic cable tidies for wires. And stop her from being too unreachable, I find my two are most destructive (chewing, digging etc) or like to make a toilet of dark little spaces behind furniture where I cant see them. I either block it off or put a tunnel behind it for them.

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this doesnt apply for scooter he gets worser the longer u leave him out i dont know why either it use to be he got better then longer hes out. im still having problems with him in that area. he use to be really good and then he started destroying the carpet which is something hed not done before. hopefully eventually he`ll stop but its all down to him ive ran out of ideas to stop he telling him no doesnt work it only encourages him.

shadow05 said:

this doesnt apply for scooter he gets worser the longer u leave him out i dont know why either it use to be he got better then longer hes out. im still having problems with him in that area. he use to be really good and then he started destroying the carpet which is something hed not done before. hopefully eventually he`ll stop but its all down to him ive ran out of ideas to stop he telling him no doesnt work it only encourages him.

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What nessar means is that they tend to be less destructive if they aren't being put away every day. I've experienced it myself. When Smudge and Nutmeg had a NIC cage when I let them out Smudge ate the paintwork. Ever since I ditched the cage and bunny proofed he doesn't bother with the paintwork, or anything else for that matter. I've experienced the same with Mischa, he used to chew the walls when I let them out for a run in my room, but completely ignores it now he free ranges in my room.

Minnie now has the whole frontroom day and night,i do have a small dog crate with her tray in,touchwood shes not ever chewed anything x

Dillon's always been free range in the whole house usually, we didn't have much bunny proofing to do luckily with the way the house is. We've just recently started to leave him in the living room and kitchen when we're out rather than shut the living room door so he has to stay in the kitchen, he doesn't get up to anything really (not that we know of yet anyway!) We just make sure all the wires are up out of reach and all the plugs are out. :wave: