Can My Rabbits Live In The Attic w/ Daily Access To Outdoor Run ?

:wave:

Our attic's been fully kitted out as a bedroom & I'll soon be moving up there. I'm wondering if my buns can live up there as well as having several hours a day in their outdoor run. I have a secure pet carrier in which I'd transport the buns from their attic home to the garden bun run. I'd need to 'bunny proof' the attic. There is a window in the attic & fans & a radiator as it gets quite hot in Summer/ cold in Winter. It's a large attic so there's enough space for the three of us.

Has anyone got any thoughts or advice for me?

Sounds lovely to me! Lucky bunnies

I'd be concerned about the heat in summer and possibly about escaping a fire too

Bumping this thread because I need to know this too :thumb:

If you're prepared to buy something to keep it cool in summer, if that becomes a problem, then it sounds good.

As for getting out in a fire- that's always a risk- but if you're using it as a human bedroom and happy for you to be there then I'm sure it's ok for your bunnies to as well !

Cold in winter won't be an issue but hot in summer might. If it does become an issue though, you could always move them outside for a couple of month mid summer as they'll be used to outdoors anyway. Keep in mind that mid winter, it might be too cold for exercise outside as they won't get such a thick coat living indoors. It depends how cold it will get (the temperature difference) if they have enough room inside the outdoor exercise isn't essential so it might just mean just need to exercise them indoors mid winter.

I agree with Tamsin. It depends on how hot the attic will get. One side of my attic is cooler than the other .. Christian loves to lay up there and look out over the garden. He has the choice of being in the attic or one floor below. He usually chooses upstairs

My brother lives in our converted attic/loft and during summer months has an extractor/aircon combo machine as it gets SO SO SO SO hot!

We measured 42c one summer...

He also has an emergency ladder designed for velux (sloping) windows so that he can drop down onto our 1 floor extension roof, and then be caught by whoever is on the ground

I'd suggest googling safety things to look out for when having a bedroom in a loft, might bring some stuff up that you'd have never thought of before

Thank you for replies & wonderful help - Your comments have led me to :


I have a couple of fans that can be used in case we get anymore heat waves next year, but if that's not enough I could do some more research into what other people do with buns in high temperatures as I imagine it to be a common problem in hot countries.

Hmm - A fire escape plan sounds a little more difficult. When I'm physically IN the house, it would be easy to get out of the attic through the window as we have a conservatory in can climb down to which I can climb down to the decking from. I would need to have a carrier upstairs at all times for this. There's a fire extinguisher in the attic.

What's difficult is if the fire was blocking me from getting TO the attic to rescue the buns as it's not really possible to do the reverse of getting out of the attic. Depending on the density of the fire, the fire crew could get into the attic using a ladder & break the windows glass if it were closed. Does anyone have any ideas for this?

Tamsin said:

It depends how cold it will get (the temperature difference) if they have enough room inside the outdoor exercise isn't essential so it might just mean just need to exercise them indoors mid winter.

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Yes, this can be done

sounds fine to me, just make sure they dont fall or jump down the stairs

The only issue I can see is the heat in the summer - attics can get so hot, and fans won't work to cool rabbits down as they don't sweat. You'd need windows that you can open wide in there and if it gets hot I think you'd also need to consider some sort of air-conditioning unit (you can get portable ones: http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/home-a...2_30270_xx_xx/1_20/price-asc/xx-criteria.html ) or have the means to keep them outside for a few months.

Between October and March the temp difference will be too much for them to go outside to exercise, so you'd need space indoors for them to free-range.

Remember to get some sort of protection from them climbing/falling down the stairs/ladder.

It can work, but it's not ideal, so you'll have to make some adaptations and spend a bit of money to make it suitable.

This has been something I've been thinking about too. My loft is currently inhabited by my teenage daughter and her 11 rats but when she moves out in a few years I'm thinking of turning her "rat room" into a "bunny room" and bringing my outdoor buns inside. The heat is a definate problem though, as others have mentioned. However, portable air con units do work well (we have one for the rats).