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Indoor bunny cage - feeling very guilty about "imprisoning" my babies.

jay

Mama Doe
i am about to decorate my kitchen and I have to say the bunnies have been excellent help, they have stripped all the wallpaper off the first two foot of the walls.

However when the kitchen is finished I'm pretty sure they won't understand that the new wallpaper won't need to be stripped and so I have decided to get them a CAGE! (huge gasp of horror from buns!)

I'm feeling pretty mean about this so just need some reassurance that its big enough.

Its a dog cage, will have two levels and is 42.5 x 25 x 31 inches. It will be home for all the time we are out, when we are in they will be free range again, so evenings and an hour in the morning.

They tend to sit under the table snoozing all day anyway...still I feel like the cruellest bunny mummy in the world.

Who else has their indoor buns in cages and are they happy? I just can't see another solution.
 
I have 48 inch crates for mine when they're in for the winter and are shut in them overnight. It's not like they'll be shut in there all the time, so I'm sure they'll be fine ;)
 
My buns are house rabbits and have a hutch in our lounge (!). It's not the hugest of spaces but they get free run of the house for every moment that we're at home, other that at night when we put them in the hutch. Yes, it means they are often in the hutch when we're both out at work but all they seem to want to do in the daytime is sleep and chill anyway. I'm a teacher and have been off for the last few weeks and therefore at home. The hutch door is constantly open but they generally choose to stay in there, other than the occasional walk out just to see what I'm doing!
Sounds like your buns will be fine. They'll soon adapt to a new routine! x
 
Why don't you just paint instead, then no paper to strip :D Or you can fit clear perspex over the lower parts.

It only takes a second for them to rip so I'm not sure even supervised free range is safe from confirmed wallpaper loving bunnies!
 
Don't worry - bunnies are supposed to be at their most active in the morning and evening. So, they'll be able to skip around at those times, by the sound of it. ^^
 
Oh I had the same guilt for Buster but I brought him a play pen he can't get out of so he has plenty of space to hop around.
 
preston has his bed (cage) in our kitchen too, he comes out every week day morning then as soon as we get back in from work for the evening, he also goes back to bed when we do, he is then out all weekend when we are home. he seems very happy and as woodlouse said, even when he has free run at the weekends he still spends alot of the afternoon in his bed napping. we have to have this routine as although he is litter trained he is uncontrollable when it comes to anything else!
 
Although mine sleep a lot during the day, they still like to mooch around the kitchen. I would paint it so that it isn't necessary to put them in a cage. If they aren't chewing the kitchen units and the only thing they like is wallpaper, it would make sense.
 
Hi, I had the same problem. I could n't keep them caged though so I got s smaller cage which they now use as a base. Mine do mooch for most of the day but if I'm home a bit late it doens't matter becasue they can go bonkers all they like. I'm going to take the bottom three foot of wallpaper off and paint it to match the walls, then repaper when I move out. It does take seconds for the to rip paper off the little scamp.
 
Aroma sits in a cage most of the day as my bedroom isn't exactly bunny-proof+I'm having problems litter training her (well she's getting better, but I'm worried she might try and use my bed as a toilet if she gets out) so she's only out when I'm around to look after her.
Her cage is rather big though (at least in comparison to the average norwegian pet-store-cages:roll: I've seen some "rabbit cages" here that would probably only fit a hamster if it hadn't been for the bars. (Yeah I tried putting a hamster in a rabbit cage...didn't work:roll: )
Yet my baby doesn't seem to be suffering:D She bounces around in her cage, even more when she's out, then she jumps back in and goes to sleep:lol:
 
Thanks for your replies and advice.

The walls aren't good enough to paint without either re-plastering or papering easy and cheapest option is wallpaper. We want to sell the house so are re-decorating for that so putting up perspex won't work either.

The buns don't chew the wallpaper in the living room so will have their exersise in there. There is a lot more to do in the living room for them so they never get bored enough.

The cage arrived. They seem tiny in it - they are quite small bunnies anyway, tiny dutch and a lionhead. Went home a lunchtime to check on them and they were cuddled up together in a corner fast asleep! Very cute!

Going to make a second level for them tonight.
 
Hiya, sorry, I forgot to add in my last post that quite a few people have their indoor buns confined to a cage and run during the day...this might be a good option if you feel the cage is too small :D
 
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