Going free range

Hello everyone
Eventually I would like Barney and Roxy to go free range in the house. They currently reside (at night and when I'm out) in a dog crate. What is the best way of phasing them into this? The only few things that I really need to sort out is occasional accidents-mostly Roxy on the WHITE rug in the middle of my front room...why she can't do it on the horrible old green carpet I do not know! occasional poops any where...they do it all over the crate as well. They have a litter tray and I've been trying (much to the disgust og o/h) to put any poops in the litter tray but they don't seem to notice. Obviousely goes without saying that wires etc must be sorted out.

Oh yes and is any of this a good idea anyway as Barney is still abit nervous about being stroked outside the crate so is it a better idea to keep it so he has somewhere he feels secure in? He will run upto me to see whats going on and doesn't run away from me if I sit near him on the floor so he's obviously not that scared. He has cateracts so I think this has a bit to do with his nervousness. I think Roxy will be fine with whatever as long as she still gets attention. Sorry this has turned into a really long post, its just a few things I have been thinking about and wanted to see what everyone thought.
Isabel

I started by leaving mine out all day and just shut them up at night, once alright during the day they've been ok at night to! I've had 7 rabbits as house rabbits at one time or another though to be honest not all of them have been suited to it! The 2 I have at the moment are pretty good but I still get poos in places, mainly on the plastic mat next to the litter tray! Plastic mats are a lifesaver :lol:

I started off with lots of litter trays too I put them anywhere they weed and took them away one by one when they weren't used so much. I've got it down to one hidden behind the sofa now!

I think its a good idea to keep the crate even if they are free range- its better for them to have an area which they feel is theirs, and you can keep the litter tray and food in it.

Yep true, if I had the space I'd keep the cage but my house is really small. The only place my bunnies cant get to are the bedrooms and bathroom!

I must admit it will be useful having it whether they are free range or not by Christmas as I'm having about 10 people round including 3 kids so I'll probably put them in the crate in my room so they don't get scared with all the people around.
How do other people with FR house rabbits find the rabbits cope?

Mine cope fine.
They have been free ranging for a month or who, and they cope ok. If we have 4 or 5 people they don't know, they tend to go and hide under the sofa.
We shut them in to their cage at night, and they both 'go' in the cage (usually), although the carpet and the bottom of the sofa have been nibbled (one bun in particular is the culprit), and cables/bookshelf has to be defended with storage cube panels.