Advice from house bunny mummies please :)

[annabolic]

I have two indoor rabbits, Dot and Jim. They live in a large puppy pen in the living room and are let out free range in the living room if I'm in there - I've only had them for a few weeks so we're still finding a routine but at the moment they tend to be out for an hour or two in the evenings. Apart from a few droppings here and there they haven't had any accidents and will always pop back into their pen to play with toys, eat hay or use their litter tray.

At the moment I'm not confident enough to leave them free-ranging when I'm not in the room to keep an eye on them - after a few failed attempts at bunny-proofing I've put some bricks under the (quite high) sofas to block them off because there are cables underneath and mine also like to dig the carpet so it's easier to just block. I haven't worked out yet whether the bricks are heavy enough to stop the bunnies getting past but I'm really hoping so as I've run out of ideas! The other problem for me is that I have quite a high shelf (about 4 and a half feet) next to the sofa. They keep trying to get onto it and I'm scared that if they do they could fall off and hurt themselves - the sofa is on one side of it, which is how they try to get up, but the other side is a sheer drop into their pen. Am I being paranoid or could they hurt themselves if they get up there?

 

[SJH]

Oh dear! Inquisitive buns.

I'd say a determined bun, or two of them could move the brick

They could also make it onto the shelf although I doubt they'd fall. More likely they'd jump off and probably be ok (although it's a fair old jump) or just stay there awaiting help! The more worrying thing might be the surface they'd jump onto. Carpet with some grip or wood with no grip? The former should be ok. The latter does risk slipping and thus injury.

Hope that helps


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[annabolic]

They are definitely both very inquisitive - they're medium sized so not as strong as giants but I'm slightly worried they could move the bricks. I'm just keeping a close eye on them for the moment! The shelf is painted wood so quite slippery. Unfortunately at the moment I can't see any way I'm ever going to be able to leave them alone for more than a couple of minutes because although I've done my best to bunny-proof there always seems to be a gap or a weakness or a danger somewhere

 

[nessar]

They are definitely both very inquisitive - they're medium sized so not as strong as giants but I'm slightly worried they could move the bricks. I'm just keeping a close eye on them for the moment! The shelf is painted wood so quite slippery. Unfortunately at the moment I can't see any way I'm ever going to be able to leave them alone for more than a couple of minutes because although I've done my best to bunny-proof there always seems to be a gap or a weakness or a danger somewhere

There are risks in everything, and to be honest you are more likely to die when you go outside everyday, from a car-accident or something, than they are of slipping off a shelf to the extent they kill themselves. Most of the time when buns slip, they'll turn it into a jump and land perfectly (although I would remove any glass ornaments/sharp objects from under the shelf just in case). It's like, if you have kids, would you keep them inside their whole lives to keep them safe, at the cost of their own quality of life?

Of course, another option is to move them into a room where you feel they would be safer or extend their pen. Whatever you decide, the Rabbit Welfare Association minimum guidelines for housing state that they need 24 hour access to an area of at least 44 square feet.

I have found that whilst buns CAN do some things, you can stop them doing things purely by not making it something desirable. For instance, I know from experience that my two buns can jump over a 2ft 6 inch barrier, because they did when I had them in a small pen indoors once when I was moving house. But I also know that I can leave their outdoor run (that is 2.4ft high) open for hours and they will not jump out. They won't jump out because the run is big enough for them (8x6ft) and there is nothing that they particularly want on the other side of the barrier. Equally, I know my bigger bun can move bricks if he really wants to (I have them holding up planks of wood in the garden to block off the gap under the fence). But he won't, because I have provided better things for him to do. I have found the best form of bunny-proofing is when you remove their desire to want to get at something. Provide lots of space at all times and change over enrichment activities to keep them interested in the right things. Make sure they express all the natural behaviours - running, jumping, periscoping, chewing, foraging, tunneling and digging. This will keep them from looking for less constructive things to do.

And make sure you don't keep anything interesting or food/drink related on anywhere (e.g. the shelf) where you don't want them to go. Or alternatively, just move the shelf higher/away from the sofa so it is not accessible.