can an indoor bun have a "play area" in the garage during the day? is it too cold?

[Goth Mummy]

can an indoor bun have a "play area" in the garage during the day? is it too cold?

Hello,
My bun (Princess Katie) is a house rabbit, who has a dog crate as her base with a hexagonal playpen attached when we are out/at work and free ranging when we are in. I cant let her free range during the day as we have a dog who is lovely and adores her but I just would not be able to relax wondering what the two of them could get up to in my absence!

However I have been feeling guilty that I don’t think the 8 sided metal play pen/dog crate offers much hop room but its not possible to extend that space, there are no spare rooms in the house to bunny proof, we have children and are using all the bedrooms! The downstairs is open plan which makes it harder to section off areas, and my inlaws are in my house when I am at work looking after my youngest, and they dont fancy tripping over the bunny if she is free ranging, they are not animal people

I have cleared out our garage (very hard work, lots to the tip!) and bunny proofed a large area of it which is much larger than her hexagonal pen/dog crate set up and have put a (too small to use for any rabbit as a permanent home but I was given it by a colleague) rabbit hutch stuffed with hay in there but propped the door open so she could hop in and out, plus toys, litter tray, blankets etc. My thoughts were that during the day she could play and hop round the garage (which has windows and light) but come back in at night.

However, will she be cold during the day if I do that? I could potentially leave a heater on in the garage? I don’t want to do anything to harm her, I love her

The other option is to bunny proof my bedroom but I will have to square that with my husband first!!

Her vet told me that she could go out in her run on the grass on nice days in winter (shes got a house attached to snuggle into) but Im reluctant to do that in case the weather turns and Im stuck at work and cant get back to her quickly. The inlaws would not be confident enough to get her in.

Advice kindly received…sorry if I sound like an idiot. Just trying to do the best for my bunny x

 

[Aly&Poppy<3]

I would ignore the vet as temperature changes can harm a bunny, so from going to nice warm house to rather cold outdoors can be a shock to the system, it can cause respiratory problems.

Is the garage colder than the house? If so, by how much? Could you sit in the house then stay in the garage for a bit?

If you can do the bedroom then it would probably be better but it all depends on the temperature difference from the house to the garage. If I put my indoor buns in the garage they would probably get cold rather quickly as they don't have winter coats whereas my outdoor buns would be fine as they have nice thick coats

Personally I think a crate and pen sound fab for 'lock up' time one of my indoors had that before we bunny proofed the bedroom

 

[tonibun]

I would ignore the vet as temperature changes can harm a bunny, so from going to nice warm house to rather cold outdoors can be a shock to the system, it can cause respiratory problems.

Is the garage colder than the house? If so, by how much? Could you sit in the house then stay in the garage for a bit?

If you can do the bedroom then it would probably be better but it all depends on the temperature difference from the house to the garage. If I put my indoor buns in the garage they would probably get cold rather quickly as they don't have winter coats whereas my outdoor buns would be fine as they have nice thick coats

Personally I think a crate and pen sound fab for 'lock up' time one of my indoors had that before we bunny proofed the bedroom

I would second this!

 

[Goth Mummy]

Thank you, thats kind of what I thought but wondered if I was being over sensitive. The garage would be fine with the heating on though.... I should think, I tend to put the heater on when Im doing anything in there, crafts etc. Its not damp or mouldy .

Is it OK for her to be in the 48" dog crate with 8 sided play pen attached for up to 6 hours on the days when I am out? Knowing now how large a rabbit's natural territory is I feel awful that I am confining her.

 

[FireRose]

bringing the bunny to and fro the garage may do bun more harm than good, due to the difference in the temperatures, bun will not have a thick winter coat if use to being indoors and wouldn't be use to it and could be a shock to the system, then bringing her in and out on a daily basis she wouldn't be able to acclimatise to her surroundings very well. if there is heating however it should be okay, if you feel it is cold so will bun x

Personally I would feel happier with the dog crate/play pen situation,


With my bun we have bunny proofed our own bedroom (We don't have run of the house long story and it's a sucky one at that) so me and my partner can only use our bedroom, so he has his crate as his base with the doors always open, he seems happy with that as he can bounce around the bedroom but also hide in his crate when he wants to

 

[Aly&Poppy<3]

Thank you, thats kind of what I thought but wondered if I was being over sensitive. The garage would be fine with the heating on though.... I should think, I tend to put the heater on when Im doing anything in there, crafts etc. Its not damp or mouldy .

Is it OK for her to be in the 48" dog crate with 8 sided play pen attached for up to 6 hours on the days when I am out? Knowing now how large a rabbit's natural territory is I feel awful that I am confining her.

Think of her as a human with no coat on, if a human can't stay in the garage with no coat, then neither can a bunny :lol: or something like that at least!

We used to shut Poppy in a 48 inch crate and 6 panels from about 11pm/midnight to 6/7 or 8am That was when she was poorly so wasn't as active (although she spends nearly all day in her box now she freeranges:roll: :lol but she was quite happy and still had a decent amount of space

 

[Kermit]

The crate & pen should be fine. She is more than likely sleeping most of the time through the day anyways.....that's what my two do during the day!

 

[Goth Mummy]

Thank you for all your replies. Im hoping the garage/playpen arrangement would be OK for summer use then? Just thinking of the days when its warm, but wet, so you dont want them to go out in the run on the grass. Or do most people with house bunnies not put them on the grass at all?

 

[Aly&Poppy<3]

I don't with mine but they haven't had grass for so long I'm worried it may make them poorly, so in the summer they go on the drive/paved area and the conservatory if they did go on the grass next year I'd introduce grass to them again slowly

 

[jemjabella]

Thank you for all your replies. Im hoping the garage/playpen arrangement would be OK for summer use then? Just thinking of the days when its warm, but wet, so you dont want them to go out in the run on the grass. Or do most people with house bunnies not put them on the grass at all?

There's no reason why she can't go on wet grass in the summer - apart from having to clean up the footprints on your floor

 

[Goth Mummy]

There's no reason why she can't go on wet grass in the summer - apart from having to clean up the footprints on your floor

Ah! OK - I thought the damp was bad for them. Shes a lionhead, I got the idea they were a "fancy" delicate breed. I think Im just anxious about doing things wrong.

Thanks everyone for your useful replies Princess Katie is the first rabbit that we have been "educated" about, the first I have had as an adult. I (hope to think) am fairly guinea pig savvy but rabbits have very different requirements......and it seems very easy to get it very wrong!

 

[jemjabella]

Guinea pigs don't tolerate damp but rabbits are OK with a bit of wet grass. My rabbits are lolloping round the muddy wet garden as I type this.... :lol: :thumb: