New here - please help with some Q's? :)

Hi :wave: am new here

I have a two and a half year old bunny called Flora who lives in our small back garden in a two-level hutch/run. However, in all honesty I could be a better owner to her and I want to make some changes to make that happen. therefore, I have some Q's if anyone can help??

1. I am looking to get her a bigger hutch/run so she can run around more when I'm not home. I would let her just run freely in the garden as it's very secure and there's no way she could escape, however we have a lot of cats around us and I'm worried something would happen. Does anybody have any tips as to how I could maximise her space? Our garden is very small and is all patio so I couldn't use an open-bottom cage/run which is why I'm having issues with finding something. Was thinking about getting a small shed and converting to a big hutch with run/mulitiple levels - does anybody have any experience of this?

2. I'm worried that she is lonely and know that generally bunnies are better in pairs/groups. However, we have tried twice to carefully introduce her to other rabbits but she becomes quite hostile with them. Is it best to leave her on her own or try again with another rabbit? My only worry is if I brought/adopted another rabbit and she then didn't bond with it, I don't have enough space for another hutch so could not keep it. Can anybody offer any advice? Could she live with a guinea pig or other kind of small animal?

3. Would like to let her run around in the house more - is it possible to 'litter-train' a rabbit??

Thank you so much in advance for your help!!

Hi and welcome! :wave:

Sorry i can't help with your first question as not sure whats on the market and we inherited a fab secure aviary when we moved to this house, so my buns can play in there when they go outside.
With your second query, is your bun neutered? We have a neutered male and female who bonded really well, they were together in a built up large pen with a divide between them so they could sniff etc and it worked for us. It took about a week or so, but there are more people experienced on here than me with bonding so maybe able to give you more advice. I would say tho two rabbits are best than having a rabbit and another animal.
Finally, you can litter train rabbits. Ours are house bunnies and have a tray they use for their toilet and are very good with this! Be prepared for some damage tho, you need to give them lots to play and things to chew and nibble. Ours have got an old low coffee table in the corner of the kitchen which they love to jump on and sit under, you don't need to spend lots of money. You'll also need to protect them from wires as they love to pull and chew them!
Hope that helps a bit x

Wonderful rabbit hutch company;

http://www.welfarehutches.co.uk/

Their hutches and runs are superb quality and last really well.

Cant help with the first question as I don't have my babies outside at all.
with the second question, like olices, first question would be, is she neutered, because if not that could be the issue. Also did you try and bond them in her known environment, because does become very territorial, well most, mine isn't at all. she accepted her husbun in without issues. But make sure it's neutral ground. In most cases the rescues will do the bonding for you anyway. I was at the point before were I was wondering if I should keep my girl alone, she was around the same age your Flora is now, but felt I should try. First attempt turned out a nightmare, second one worked like a charm. They snuggled up from day one, slept snuggled up the first night. etc. Now months in they are still inseparable. Seeing how they are I know it was the best decision getting her a friend. I'd suggest seeing if your local rescue, well the closest one I guess, offers to bond them for you. Mine had them for about a week, in which time I was able to neutralise the place, spraying vinegar all over the place. the place stunk like a vinegar distillery lol but meant that it was a nice and easy transaction when they got home. if you want to bond them yourself, there are many people much more knowledgeable than myself of course, but I'd suggest chatting to your rescue to see if they can bond them for you. but first make sure she's definitely neutered or you may get issues all the time.
As for litter training... well I found you don't litter train them, they litter train themselves. Both of mine are house bunnies, and neither were litter trained when I got them. All I did was put a big under bed storage box out, I use smartbedz's universal litter, they are straw based pellets. put tons of fresh hay on top and they went straight in eat and pooped etc... you will likely find that they have some accidents at first, but after a while it's so easy. I have now two trays, one in their pen and one outside, so they can get in there faster, but yeah it was easy. and again agree, make sure they have loads of toys to play with. I found some are certainly better for mine than others. So far found that the rattles from Bunny Binks Toys always capture their playfulness and they are constantly playing with them. nothing else ever had the same appeal. Also, if you have space, a digging box will keep them entertained and wears them out.

Hi, it's not a good idea to keep g.p's with rabbits as rabbits can hurt them.
You could speak to a local rabbit rescue, as they often offer a bonding service with one of their rescue rabbits.
Yes, you can litter train rabbits, they can be taught to use a tray like a cat, by placing some of their used litter and poops in the tray so they get used to using a specific area to "go" in. It may take some perserverance, but they usually get there in the end! You would have to rabbit proof your home though, hide away cables etc to stop accidents by chewing!

Unless she's a rex or has feet problems then running about on paving is fine If she does have issues with it then quite a few people use rubber stable matting over the floor or there are various other options.

If your garden is very small (courtyard style) one option would be to turn the whole thing into a walk in aviary so she'd be in effect free range but cats (and foxes) couldn't get inside. You'd also be able to sit/walk around the garden and interact with her easily. You could pop a hutch inside the aviary for her shelter.

Welcome to the forum!

1. Paving is generally fine for rabbits. It's easy to clean, drys quickly and has the added advantage of wearing down their nails! So an open bottom run would be fine. A small shed with a run attached via catflap would be great. Tamsin's idea of turning your garden into a "catio" (google for pics) for rabbits is an awesome one too! Someone who lives in my village adopts rescue cats (they have about 30!) and to stop them bothering the neighbours they have turned their whole garden into a giant aviary.

2. I'm sure your bunny would love a friend but don't go out and buy/rescue a rabbit and hope for the best, that approach every seldom works out well. Whilst very occasionally a rabbit refuses all attempts at bonding there is generally "somebunny for everybunny". Many rescues offer "speed dating" services, where you can take your rabbit in to be introduced to a whole lot of possible partners. If any of them show promise then the rescue will allow you to leave your rabbit there and do the bonding for you. When I volunteered at my local RSPCA we always had rabbits in for "dating" services.

3. Litter training is possible, but in my experience rabbits will always leave a trail of poo behind them :roll: Well, at least my two do. They only ever wee in their litter trays though so I don't mind so much. Regarding bringing your bunny inside though, that can be bad for the rabbit if you do it in winter as they don't cope well with sudden changes in temperature. Your best bet is a nice shed where you can spend time with them there.

Thank you!

Thank you all so much for your advice!! I've been in touch with our local PACT centre and they offer a bonding service, so I'm going to create a bigger enclosure/run and then hopefully do some match-making for Flora Been looking at chicken coops/idea of creating an aviary-style enclosure, so we'll start from there!

Thanks you guys!

Chicken coops (well the one I had anyway) can be very small and difficult to access for cleaning. I ended up givng it to my hamster!