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Free range time for Spenser?

susie bun

Wise Old Thumper
I'm considering giving Spenser some free-range time, as he really isn't getting much exercise. It would need to be closely supervised as our garden is not really suitable. It goes round a corner, so can't all be seen at once, and has a lot of plants that I don't even know, let alone whether a bunny could eat them.

Any thoughts? :wave:
 
Can you block off the plants with play pens?

Mine free range but I only have 2 plants in my garden :oops: :lol: I used the play pens and nic cubes to block of the whole bottom of my garden where we dont have a fence.
 
Dont forget to plan your recapture strategy first!!

This.

Also, if you plan to let him free-range, make sure you can keep your eyes on him 100%. Considering B&G can slip out of my front door within a split second, i know i wouldn't let them out without being 1000% sure (yes, thats not a typo) i could get to them if i had to.
 
...and they can squeeze quickly through gaps you never thought possible! Dudley once turned into a slinky black snake and slithered through the bars of a Lindam child gate I watched in amazement!!
 
Could you attach the playpen to the hutch as a run for a week first. This way he gets used to going in and out gradually. That way uou can train him to go back in his hutch at the sound of some pellets rattling in a dish instead of trying to catch him. You know my guys have the run of the garden but the minute I start sprinkling their tea round the hutch they dash back in like lightening.


In fact one of my runs is spare if you'd like to borrow it althou gh it would mean visiting in thd big car!
 
Could you attach the playpen to the hutch as a run for a week first. This way he gets used to going in and out gradually. That way uou can train him to go back in his hutch at the sound of some pellets rattling in a dish instead of trying to catch him. You know my guys have the run of the garden but the minute I start sprinkling their tea round the hutch they dash back in like lightening.


In fact one of my runs is spare if you'd like to borrow it althou gh it would mean visiting in thd big car!

It's like that at the moment. He bobbles about, but sooner rather than later he is shaking the bars wanting out, or standing up on his hind paws, sometimes on top of his blue stool.

It's a difficult one. If I let him out once, he will probably always want out, and the garden just isn't secure enough. I feel more relaxed when he is in our unheated conservatory, but I can't pretend he gest much exercise there.
 
Ive traines Mrs and Roland..Took about 2 yrs.........:roll::roll:
I clap my hands and in they go,perhaps after 4 times round the garden but in they go.

Its hard..the freerange time is so neccessary yet its so hard to overcome the safety issues.
 
Ive traines Mrs and Roland..Took about 2 yrs.........:roll::roll:
I clap my hands and in they go,perhaps after 4 times round the garden but in they go.

Its hard..the freerange time is so neccessary yet its so hard to overcome the safety issues.

Strawbs and Snow both go away to me shouting "bedtime".

Our garden is 100% secure- the only way out is to climb the fence. Strawbs has been on his playhouse roof several times looking over the edge of the fence but as yet hasnt braved jumping down!
 
:wave:

My pros and cons of free ranging

Pros
- Its so lovely to see them 'free' they do act so differently. Sooty and Oreo would dart and sprint and binky about like mad buns something they have never done in their shed and avairy even though they have the space.
- Good exercise for the bun (and you (see below) :lol:)

Cons
- Once a cat chased Sooty round and round the garden - even though I was there 'supervising' there was nothing I could do about it, scary!! it was like a scene out of Tom and Jerry with me in my dressing gown - i laugh now but not funny at the time and im so lucky Sooty hid and the cat ran away eventually.
- Buns can fit through the smallest of spaces. Oreo squeezed under a inch gap under my gate into a road and was missing for about 5/6 hours - again I was supervising from the kitchen window - I was watching and it was literally a minute and he was gone!!
- Its hard to get them in - Sooty and Oreo can be bribed with pellets, Charlie on the other hand is a devil and will have me on the chase - not good fun when you are trying to get them in because it is pouring with rain!

I wouldnt let mine free range anymore Ive invested in several puppy pens to make a good space.
 
I wouldnt let mine free range anymore Ive invested in several puppy pens to make a good space.

This would be my suggestion. A compromise of a large number of puppy panels round the whole of the grassed area which will give him plenty of supervised binky time but also make it safer and easier to get him back in his hutch. Especially as he is not a bunny who enjoys being handled or does what he is told!
 
:wave:

My pros and cons of free ranging

Pros
- Its so lovely to see them 'free' they do act so differently. Sooty and Oreo would dart and sprint and binky about like mad buns something they have never done in their shed and avairy even though they have the space.
- Good exercise for the bun (and you (see below) :lol:)

I have a paved back yard and my bunnies are able to graze on the dandelions that grow between the slabs. This is a natural foraging behaviour which they can't do anywhere else

Cons
- Once a cat chased Sooty round and round the garden - even though I was there 'supervising' there was nothing I could do about it, scary!! it was like a scene out of Tom and Jerry with me in my dressing gown - i laugh now but not funny at the time and im so lucky Sooty hid and the cat ran away eventually.

Buy yourself a water sprayer from any diy store (gardening dept). Keep it handy at free range time!

- Buns can fit through the smallest of spaces. Oreo squeezed under a inch gap under my gate into a road and was missing for about 5/6 hours - again I was supervising from the kitchen window - I was watching and it was literally a minute and he was gone!!
- Its hard to get them in - Sooty and Oreo can be bribed with pellets, Charlie on the other hand is a devil and will have me on the chase - not good fun when you are trying to get them in because it is pouring with rain!

My buns self-restrict free range time because they are never in the yard unattended. They don't let their guards down and pop back inside every few minutes. They have never tried to escape.
 
i wouldnt let him free range unless the garden was properly bun proof, all you want is him to bolt somewhere where you cant get him and i know he isnt the best for being picked up. i think the puppy pen pannels sound like the best idea :)
 
I am in favour of supervised free range time but maybe in your garden, it isn't all that practical - you would feel awful if he escaped/got poisoned by plants, and you know how quickly bunnies get themselves into trouble! The puppy pen idea above sounds like agood compromise - if you got 3, 6-panel sets you could make a really big space :)
 
Thanks for replies. :) I need to really get this right, but I do need to balance what is best for Spenser with the fact it's not my garden we are talking about.
 
I know how much you want you want to make sure that he gets more exercise but also that you are being mindful of your folks feelings. Would you like to borrow either my 7x3 or 5x4 run which are spare at the moment. That way you and your folks can try it out and see if Spenser likes it and your folks don't mind it before you spend money on something.

Free ranging is still an option as anextra but at least his exercise isn't dependent on you having to follow him round the garden.
 
I know how much you want you want to make sure that he gets more exercise but also that you are being mindful of your folks feelings. Would you like to borrow either my 7x3 or 5x4 run which are spare at the moment. That way you and your folks can try it out and see if Spenser likes it and your folks don't mind it before you spend money on something.

Free ranging is still an option as anextra but at least his exercise isn't dependent on you having to follow him round the garden.

What a lovely offer :love:

As you have the pen attached to the front currently Susie, do you think you could permanently attach a run in its place? Not sure if finances allow this, or if you're parents would allow it. Just throwing an idea out there :wave:
 
Mine were free-rangers, so I thought I'd give my thoughts...

I hand on heart don't think you can beat watching a bun be bun-like in a garden, watching them binky, explore, forage, dig, is just lovely, best thing ever.

BUT REMEMBER.

Buns will try and eat everything, my poor mum barely had a plant that somebun didn't 'sample' or flat out destroy. :lol: She sort of gave up on having nice plants. Some could 'recover' from being part of a bunny buffet (big shrubs you'd barely notice), many couldn't. She ended up cocooning many things in mesh, just to keep bunny teefs away.

If it can be hopped on, it will be hopped on, so if you've got anything climb-able near a wall, watch out, because he'll be on it and escaped before you know it.

Running round the garden in the cold and dark after a bunny who doesn't want to go in and does cheeky little foot-flicks at you, just because it's HILARIOUS isn't fun. It's a bit cute, but irritating, so make sure you can train him to go back in. We used to use a broom to herd mine in and then give them a treat.

Fence in all gaps. Any gaps. Do not leave shed doors open, sheds are exciting yet dangerous places for a bun. So obviously they will go in there. :roll:

Make sure any garden gates go right down to the floor and remain shut. Eddie made it into the road once because of a gate, it was no fun.

If I were you, I'd get mesh with small gaps and, before he goes out, use it to fence of your parents best plants. You can stake it in with bamboo canes. This always worked to keep ours from nomming, and Eddie was BIG on nomming stuff that he wasn't supposed to.

There's nothing nicer than sitting in a garden with a cuppa, watching a bun free-range though. It's INCREDIBLY beautiful. We used to sit in our kitchen and keep watch, so we didn't get cold.

xxx
 
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