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Indoor buns

Do you have an indoor rabbit?

  • Yes

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • No

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    0

fionalouise

Warren Scout
Hi everyone,

I'm considering asking my parents if Violet can become an indoor bun and just wanted to know how many people on here have indoor buns. why did you choose to have your bun indoors and what are the best and worst bits about it?

Fiona x
 
my buns are indoors because im petrified of spiders :shock: last year when i had my buns out side i was cleaning the hutches out and i had my hand in the hutch when right in front of me was a spider running across the hutch inside :shock: i cant say i didnt poo myself i ended up slamming the hutch door screaming and running in the house to get my mum to move it :oops: i havea big phobia of spiders by the way :oops:

the advantages of a house rabbit;
1. no spiders :lol:
2. i find it easier to spend more time with my buns inside as i can sit in the middle of the floor while they run around whereas i cant really sit in their runs when their outside :oops: :lol:
3. you dont get your neighbours complaining :x mine did that a lot last year they said my rabbits stunk even though i was cleaning them out every other day :shock:
4. you dont have to worry about the whether

Disadvantages;
1. have to clean out their cages every day or the place end up a bit smelly :oops:
2. they eat everything in sight :shock: chew holes in your clothes etc. :shock:
3. they start to think after a while that their boss of the house :lol: my bun Crystal practically runs my place only thing she doesnt do is pay the bills :p :lol:
 
:lol: i hate spiders too, havent come across any yet but touch wood!! thanks for that info, seems there's equal pro's and cons and that a lot of bunny proofing would have to be done! how have you found them litter trained wise, violets very clean when she does come indoors, but i dont know if this would change if it was a permanent thing!

x
 
Honeys not litter trained but Crystal is in her cage :roll: when shes out for a run she poos everywhere :shock: she leaves piles of it :lol: im not joking hehe i think its her way of maeking her territory even though shes speyed :roll: :lol:
 
Mine are in doors as I don't have a garden but even if I did I think I would choose to have them indoors as when I was a kid my first rabbit was kept indoors for ages and we were really close then I decided to move her outdoors and we were still slose but it was never the same. She didn't think much of it as she always used to break in through the cat flap :lol:
 
Mine have all lived indoors at some point and I loved having them so close :D Trip lived free range in my room for about 6 months and it was great. He had a bit of vetbed in the corner with his litter tray and food. He used to run about during the day and mostly sleep at night, sometimes on the end of my bed :lol: He never once went to the toilet anywhere but his tray and would be sitting at my bedroom door when I got in from work :love: I used to swap his toys at night though and give him empty toilet tubes/vine balls/willow rings because he liked to throw his wooden rattles and stuff around the room and the first few nights it kept my family awake :lol:

It was different when I had Scarlett and Buu in my room though, they were pretty noisy and jumping all over me in the middle of the night, my boyfriend got a bit annoyed with it :lol: I would love to have two house bunnies though. Only thing is I would want them to be free range and I have a cat, my boyfriend wouldnt be too pleased if he had two bunnies jumping on him every night :lol:
 
Mine are indoor bunnies and its great. I have them indoors because I used to have a guinea pig and when her sister died she came to live inside with me so she wouldn't get too lonely or cold, as I knew it wouldn't be too long before she died as well, I didn't get her a new friend.
So a while after she died I got the bunnies and they live very happily in my bedroom. As for advantages I get to see them loads more then I would if they were outside, they have loads more room inside, they are loads safer and I can see straight away if there is a problem.
Disadvantage sometimes they can be a bit smelly, and they wake me up sometimes at night, but they are always doing something cute!
 
I had Benny, Maa and Tia all indoors to start off with, but with all the pigs, they had to go outside as we were overflowing! Maa was really keen to live outside - she was living rough in a garden when the rescue found her, so she hated being indooors - just sat under the bed looking miserable all the time. Tia also hated being indoors - she just sat on a patch of carpet (when she wasn't weeing next to the guinea pig cages to mark territory :roll: ) - when I moved her crate into the kitchen she wouldn't come out of it for 2 weeks! I put her in a hutch on the patio and she loved being outside - came 'alive' in her behaviour :)
Benny was happy indoors, but too destructive to be free range - chewing walls was his thing :roll: He seems just as happy now he's outside, very chilled and content, but of course there's spiders, rain, gales, sunburn, insects, etc etc etc for me now :lol:

Actually I enjoy being out there working, once I've forced myself out the door - it's very refreshing, and I love it at night in the dark on my own under the stars :)
 
you bond so much when they are indoor bunnies, ive never had an indoor bunny before but thumper was just 2 cute and fluffy when he was little to be put outside so we got him to be an indoor bunny. All was fine until we got lily who is a cheeky little monster!!and now they have eaten through wires, carpet and now the new thing is to chew the door frames. But we wouldnt want it any other way!
 
Nope mine are both outdoor buns

Leo (RIP) was a house bun, he had his own bedroom

have to say from experiencing both i wont have an indoor bun again, he was a booger :lol:
 
All my bunnies are housebunnies and I'd say that the benefits vastly outweigh the pitfalls.

The best bits are definitely being able to keep a really close eye on them and also spend much more time with them. You see so much more of them - whenever you're in you see them! Plus you don't have to worry about predators, the cold, the heat (as long as you have air con / a fan / an open window and lots of cold water) etc.

The worst bits are the housekeeping aspects. You'll have to do a lot of bunny-proofing - and that means really blocking things off so there's no chance of them getting at cables etc. NEVER assume that a bunny will not chew something, wee on something etc. I learned the hard way that even if a bunny hasn't done these things before, they could start at any time! :roll: If they are litter trained, still expect to be hoovering on a daily basis to pick up hay, stray poops, and moulted fur. Still, if you have a half-decent hoover and 5 spare minutes a day then this is no problem. Many of these problems can be solved by having them in a large hutch or dog crate when you're not around, and then letting them have free reign of a room or the entire house whenever someone is there to supervise.

I'd say though that it's definitely a small price to pay to spend more time with your bunnies. :D

AMETHYST
 
Mine are outdoors :)
To be honest the whole 'quality time' and bonding depends on the person i think as I like being in the garden as much as poss, even in winter. I don't like being couped up in the house so I will be out sitting on the patio (on the floor) or grass or pottering around cleaning things etc every day and they like to follow me around or sit with me for a while then go off and do their own thing which I love! Nothing better than watching them chilling under the willow or a rose bush, munching on the herb border, grazing the grass or Lovage chasing Lenny my dog! I personally like to see them in as near to a natural environment as possible :D
 
Mine are outdoors, though they do come indoors for special cuddles, indoor exploring time, etc............... I don`t think they miss out on bonding with me as i spend alot of time outside with them, even in the rain ( I just sit under their covered areas). :D
I have had housebuns in the past & admit it would be nice to have some inside again but it`s really not practical on a permanent basis with 8 cats unless we had a specific room for the bunnies. But we don`t have a room that`s not used & i`m not sure how our landlord would feel about us building an extension!!!! :shock: :lol:

Su.x
 
My first, Blanco that I got in the late 90's was waiting to have his hutch built for weeks & in the meantime was inside. I found out how quickly he became litter trained and he flopped and tooth purred and licked my face all within a week of me getting him and was such a snuggle bun that by the time the hutch was finished there was no way he was going to live in it. This was before I even heard of an indoor housebunny! Needless to say the crew I got 1 1/2 year ago are all indoors too.
 
Mine are outdoor buns during the Spring, Summer and Autumn, but transform into indoor buns for the Winter months. While they are outdoor buns they come indoors most evenings for a scoot around. Best of both worlds I reckon.
 
George is a house bun and I would say the main advantage is they become a member of the family. He does not have any cage or hutch, just a dog basket and a litter tray, his water bowl, food bowl and hay rack.
We have bunny proofed all wires etc but he is really good now, and rarely chews anything. He does have lots of chew toys baskets etc to nibble on.

I think French Lops are very laid back lazy buns, he has the odd mad five minutes, but the rest of the time he just likes to lie near to wear you are. He does have a big outside walk in avery style run, so he gets plenty of time outside too but most of the time he is in. He lives in the conservatory and I just close the baby gate when I go out (unless it's hot of course) Then he is outside in his run and shelter.
I think he woud be ok left, but just incase he got bored and fancied eating the carpet :wink:

I clean his litter tray daily and use the carefresh so no nasty smells. It's great not having a hutch to clean out.
The only disadvantage is that sometimes he decides to chuck his hay around :roll: :lol: But not often.
 
We had Harry and Wilbur who were house buns for several years until they passed away. It was great being greeted by them when you came in. They lived in our back room, they didn't have a cage just a litter tray and box they loved to hide in (food, water,hay etc of course). They were a bit messy (hay and odd poos) and as they got older as they'd wee over the edge of the litter tray! I am sure being inside made them more relaxed with us.

We still have two outdoor rabbits (Tom and Louis) who now come inside to play, they are still nervous when there is too much noise whereas Harry and Wilbur would only bang when there was a big fight (I have two teenage boys!) TV and general noise didn't bother Harry and Wilbur at all.

I would like to have Tom and Louis indoors but am quite enjoying not having the mess to clean up each day inside at the moment, but I'm not sure how long I'm going to last without a bunny face greeting me from the backroom each day!

Sorry this probably isn't much help! I think having rabbits indoors would be my preference but Tom and Louis are a bit mad so they are staying out for the time being! (Spraying -even though they are neutered, chewing, weeing, biting my trousers etc, etc!)

Don't you just love them!!


:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
I voted yes, we have 2 indoors currently and 7 in the garage. The ideal eventually will be all 9 indoors once we can give them a room of their own off the lounge.

Neil
 
I voted no! I just couldn't keep my rabbits indoors so have gone for the compromise of housing them in our garage! As much as I can see the advantage of having them inside to spend more quality time with them, I'm really sensitive about smells and find them quite smelly animals so it would drive me mad! Even with cleaning them out daily!

I have my two cats inside and am a total clean freak, I hate the thought of anyone coming into my house and being able to tell I have animals by the smell.

Its just my opinion though!
 
I think having rabbits as indoor pets is hugely rewarding. It also helps to calm very nervous rabbits and get them used to human company where perhaps they have been mistreated in the past. For an already friendly bunny I think having them indoors is really important, esp if they are not bonded with another rabbit - they need company!

We had Tilly and Humphrey (rescue rabbits) indoors with us for a year, unfortunately they were not getting regular access to the garden and as a result we felt their quality of life would be better if we put them outside in a converted shed. Sadly they have gone dramatically backwards in terms of their nervous temperament, esp Tilly, it is quite sad but their quality of life overall is much better now and they love to be outside (they get outdoor access every day now, even in winter). However I don't feel nearly as close to them now despite spending time with them outdoors.

Oli (another very nervous rescue rabbit) has come along so well being indoors, he loves the outside too but he is so much more confident since being a house bunny, a real personality!

The most important thing to do before bringing bun indoors is bunny proofing, and for the record they do not smell! Helen
 
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