• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

Indoor v outdoor... how do you decide?

Persie

Warren Scout
Hi :wave: I'm a new bunny owner & I have noticed on this forum many people have more than one bunny & keep some indoors & some outdoors. What I'm curious about is how you come to decide which rabbits stay inside & which go outside? I think I would feel like I was being cruel picking some to stay inside in the comfort of my home over some to go outside & face the elements :shock: so I'm very curious how these decisions are made :)
 
I have always kept rabbits outside and know they are content.
When we got V he was only 8 weeks with snuffles and we had to get him back up to health. The plan was for him to go outside when he was well enough. That was two years ago. I told my husband he needed company and had to go outside with the others but hubby said he wanted him to stay indoors but didn't want two house rabbits. We went round in circles for a few days. Then we got meg :)

So I have four outside and two inside.
 
We wanted house bunnies so got Truffle and Fudge.

Then, through RU, I became aware of the rescue situation and started wondering if we could help by rehoming another pair - the shed/garden was the obvious space and we got Tulip and Mango. There are pros/cons to both setups I think - the indoor buns don't have to battle with the elements, but they get plagued more by OH, and they also don't get to eat grass - the outdoor buns have a more natural life I think. I honestly think both pairs are happy. I also think both Fudge and Mango would be happy either way, whereas Truffle and Tulip are more set in their ways - Truffle makes a beeline straight back to the house whenever she is put outside, and Tulip is not really a people bunny at all, so would find indoor living stressful I think.
 
i had an indoor bun but found cleaning up after him was a nightmare! he did most of his poops and wee's in the litter tray but not all of them, so had to go round with mini vac in the evening and trying to get his soft white fur off the carpet was a constant battle, but as others say you dont have to worry about the weather! As much as i missed him when he passed away (7 years ago now) it was a relief to get my house back!

Now i would only house outdoors but constantly worry about the weather, trying to insulate the hutch during the winter and worrying if they are ok during the coldest nights, even more so now we have lost bubs as fudge has nobody to snuggle up to :cry: but i love the fact that the go charging and binkying around the garden, and on rainy or cold nights when they come to the back door i let them in for a bit :love:

I am now looking for a 2nd hand small shed for the winter as i am worrying more this winter with fudge being a lone older bunny!
 
I had 3 indoor buns at my old house as we didn't have a garden. They made a lot of mess and 2 were very destructive.

We we bought a new house with a garden the 2 naughty ones went outside but we kept Mr B in as he is a cashmere lop and needs daily grooming. He would get twigs and leaves stuck in his fur and is more at risk of fly strike if kept outside.

The other two love being outside and haven't missed being in at all.

ETA- my buns live in a wendy house with attached run. I never worry about the weather. The house isn't insulated but we stuff it full of hay and straw in winter. They still choose to sit out in the run though. In summer we take the windows out and give them ice bottles to lay near but again they lay out in the run in full sunlight!
 
I'm allergic to rabbits and hay so it was essential for me that any bunny we got would be happy outside. Poppy had been living as a stray so was ideal for us :D
 
I had 2 boys who surprise surprise fell out despite neutering :roll: The idea was that they would both live indoors. Loki loves it indoors, he just adores the bustle and the ability to beg for food at all times! He spends most of the time in various dbf positions around his pen :love: Thor on the other hand has become more and more nervy and at times downright neurotic despite the fact that he has been treated exactly the same as Loki, he will be moving outside into a shed soon with a girly called poppy who he will be bonding with soon. I hope he will feel more settled out there :love:

Poppy loves being inside too (she is currently here as a foster bun) but she is used to being outside and I think she would prefer a husbun to being inside.
 
Mine were originally inside but were eating everything in site, so moved them out to a 8x6 shed, they seem happier there but I miss them inside
 
Harry lives inside. He's so interactive that I couldn't imagine keeping him outside. We also don't have the facilities to keep a rabbit outside, so indoor was the only permanent option. I've only had him (and he's my first) for less than a week, but he has so much personality that I feel the best place for him is as a house rabbit.
 
Mine were originally outside and kept inside for a while. While Nibbles prefers being inside, Buttons absolutely hates it and so we deided to keep them outside :) Jasper is indoors at the moment as he is a single bun.
 
My desicion maker was space and safety. We live in a 90's house build (a rabbit hutch in itself) and if they were to live in my room along with the guinea pigs and George it would be mayhem as there is barely any space. And safety. My room has cables and things laying all over the place due to the lack of space and so we would have two electrified or sick bunnies in no time.
 
I wouldn't kep a rabbit indoors through choice as we have a large secure garden and predator-proof outdoor accomodation. The bunnies themselves have much more space to run and binky outdoors and they can also construt burrows in the garden as well.

We had both of them indoors for a few months for bonding and we never really saw them do much at all despite having numerous toys and such.
 
Last edited:
All of mine are indoors, in my area there are foxes, hawks, bears, and coyote. The shelter I work at only adopts to indoor homes and I personally would never have an outdoor rabbit.
 
My bunny is indoor. I have had him since he was 6 weeks old (too young to even be away from his Mum) so he really has been like a little baby to us & we pamper him, he is only 15 weeks old now & still very tiny, I would never have him outside, honestly I wouldn't be able to sleep if I did. I understand other peoples circumstances though after reading all these comments & after seeing some of the outdoor enclosures :shock: they are bigger than my house! So no doubting outdoor bunnies can be every bit as happy as indoors. When I took Persie to have his vaccination the vet who was very clued up about rabbits told me with Persie being an indoor rabbit he will be very low risk of illnesses/health problems compared to an outdoor rabbit though :?
 
We started off with a pair outside, they lived happily for several years and would come into the house when the doors were open etc. We then lost the little boy and our girl hopped into the living room one night and made it very clear she was not going back out, she obviously liked our company so I got her tray / water bowl and other bits and put them in the front room. I was expecting her to be ready to go out the following morning but again she didn't want to. After 2/3 weeks we got another boy and after bonding I expected them to want to go outside but neither of them did, after a few weeks we took the outdoor hutch and run down and that was that. Always had house buns since. :love:
 
I've had both indoor and outdoor bunnies. Currently have 3 house buns but am in the process of bonding two of them and am hoping they will go out into a shed/run combo. I think Freda will be happier outside because she loves to dig and eat the floor and I just can't let her do that as much as she wants to inside! :lol: Fred is trickier, I've had him nearly 6 years and he's been indoors the last 3 and seemed happy. I think it will be good for him though because he's not a good hay eater but does like grass so it will help his teeth. And he's always been a bunny's bunny if you know what I mean, whereas Harribun is also a people's bun. So that's my reasoning!
 
I have 2 inside and 2 outside; but i wouldn't keep any future buns outside for the simple reason that i hate going out there in winter when it's wet and freezing!! :lol:
 
We started out with one housebunny who had been indoors his whole 3 years, before we got him. Then we got him a wife, so had two house bunnies, now they are outdoors and we have another outdoor pair too.

We moved them outside due to mess/carpet chewing. I am not sure I would have indoor bunnies again. I do think indoor buns can be perfectly happy, but I feel like it in my case it would be for my benefit and not the buns mainly, I think my bunnies get much more enrichment outside and they absolutely love having access to grass all day and being able to free range in the garden. There's a lot more work involved with them being outdoors though, although the previously indoor pair are scrupulously clean.
 
Back
Top