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Wisteria and other toxic plants in the garden, want my buns to live inside

Zara

Mama Doe
Hiya, another thread I know, but I'm having serious problems here. I live with my boyfriend and his Mum, it's primarily his Mum's house, so what she says goes. I'm fine with that, but not when I feel that my rabbits are in danger.

The rabbits are supposed to live outside in the shed and play in the garden, Batbunny is currently in the shed and little Rascal is inside in an indoor rabbit cage until he's snipped, vaccinated and bonded with Bats. Now as you know Firefly died just over a month ago, we still don't know why (He'd not eaten anything poisonous as he'd been in his hutch all day, and his vaccinations were up to date and there was no bleeding from the nose or anywhere so I've ruled VHD out) and ever since then I've been paranoid something will happen again to Batbunny or Rascal. I decided to research as many poisonous plants as I could to make sure the garden was safe, my vets had supplied a leaflet of poisonous plants, but there wasn't a lot on the list so I've been researching online.

I found out Wisteria is toxic to rabbits, and guess what? All over the shed and the garden canapy is wisteria, plus the garden is full of ivy. I'm now too nervous to let Batbunny play in the garden, and I'm not allowed to attach a roofed run to the shed as it would be "unsightly"

The garden is full of birds, we have fieldmice under a bush and even a hedgehog, so it'd be very easy for one of the rabbits to get ill, but my BF's mum doesn't want the rabbits to live inside, even though the cats are inside and little Rascal has done nothing wrong while he's been in.

I'm scared, I don't know what to do. I don't know how to convince her that they'd be safer inside, a bit if bunny proofing would certainly cost less then a decent sized rabbit run, and getting rid of the wisteria and other toxic plants is out of the question, Sean's Mum has been wanting to make the garden lovely to be in for a while, and she doesn't want to get rid of any plants. Please everyone, help me fidn a way to keep my boys safe :cry:
 
Could you get a big folding run so they could play out in that and you could pack it away when she wanted the garden to look its best?

Or maybe if you're feeling bold you could ask her exactly why it is she doesn't want the rabbits inside...and find a way to address it. Unless it's just that she doesn't like the idea for no specified reason. good luck anyway. x
 
I can explain why. when me and the rabbits first moved in a while ago she was expecting lovely littertrained bunnies, which they were. They temporarily lived inside whilst we fixed the shed up, but the rabbits had a hard time adjusting to the move at firs,t especially with my bf's cats around, so naturally their littertraining went out of the window as they tried to settle in by remarking their territory/etc. I knew this was normal, and eventually they settled down but Louise wasn't impressed, and when my Dad joked that rabbits "S**t every three steps" she believed him and is convinced rabbits are always messy :roll:

Plus she has a hatred of littertrays, the cats have to go out if they need the loo (which I think is unfair on the old and frailer one, who I think agrees with me as she poops on Loiuse's clothes :roll:)

The folding run won't work, I've already suggested it :(
 
That is a shame...where indoors would the buns live, would it really be an issue for her if they were confined to your room? She'd never even have to see them!


run out of suggestions now I'm afraid, hope you get something sorted though.
 
Actually, our room WOULD be perfect, the indoor cage fits perfectly into our built-in wardrobe with slidey doors they'd have all the peace and quiet they'd need if they got nervous, I'd be able to keep an eye on them and be alerted first thing if there was any bonding troubles day or night, and as long as they'd be cleaned everyday (Easy with an indoor cage) it wouldn't stink! I think Louise would consider it unclean though, I'll have to discuss it with Sean when he gets home. As for playing, the hallway and kitchen are ideal, no cabled or anything dangerous, and I'd get some sturdy wire covers for the rest of the house, along with an undoor play-pen that can be folded away. To me it's ideal, I'll have to get my bargaining head on.
 
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