Feel like their housing isn't good enough.

This is really getting me down.

N&T have a 6 x 5 fully insulated and lino-ed shed, attached to a 6 x 4 run via runaround tubes to give them fresh grass every few days. They have access to their run 24/7. I know this amount of space is adequate, but it want to give them much more.

Unfortunately I'm living back at home with my parents and we don't have a huge garden. They're very into gardening but they've made a lot of allowances so far with the shed (it's ruined the grass underneath obviously), the lawn (they've not been able to treat it so it's covered in weeds) and the plants (can't plant anything poisonous). Luckily N&T haven't ruined the grass at all as they don't dig, and we move the run frequently to prevent dry patches.

I've broached the subject of getting a bigger run a few times and it hasn't gone down well. There's a tiny possibility that I might be able to persuade them into letting me buy an 8 x 4 x 3 run as my current run is rubbish and it drives me nuts, and I've explained to my mom that the RWAF guidelines have gone up to 8 x 4 instead of 6 x 4. This likely won't happen for 6 months or a year or even at all though. Really, I want something 12 x 8 or bigger. I want to be able to let them run around properly even when I can't let them out.

I try to let them out every 2 days for at least an hours run around. It's difficult with uni/work/work placement/health issues though, and in the winter it drops to maybe every 3/4 days.

I'm trying the best I can but I don't feel like it's good enough. I know they aren't suffering, but I want to give them so much more. I can't move out for at least a year, I have a year of uni left. I'm far into my overdraft and student loans aren't giving me much still, so it's not feasible to move out. I need to stay at home to work on paying back my overdraft and then saving up for a house deposit/bunny accommodation/etc, or I'm gonna be financially screwed for a long long time.

Anyone else ever feel like this? I'll mention the run again to my mom tonight, it's been about 3 weeks since I last mentioned it so hopefully it won't go down too badly...

There's oh so much more to a bunnys life than it's accommodation!

You should be proud of what you've got. It's better than 95% of the rabbits accommodation in the UK.

Personally, I wouldn't broach the subject anymore with your parents. They've already made sacrifices to allow you what they do have, if they've already made sacrifces, asking for more might be the straw that breaks the camels back and they might end up saying they have had enough of it all and want the run taken away all together...

Certainly how I would think about it, to be honest.

GrahamL said:

There's oh so much more to a bunnys life than it's accommodation!

You should be proud of what you've got. It's better than 95% of the rabbits accommodation in the UK.

Personally, I wouldn't broach the subject anymore with your parents. They've already made sacrifices to allow you what they do have, if they've already made sacrifces, asking for more might be the straw that breaks the camels back and they might end up saying they have had enough of it all and want the run taken away all together...

Certainly how I would think about it, to be honest.

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Thanks for the reassurance. I know it's not a bad setup, and I try to remind myself of that, but it's tough when they're my bunnies and it doesn't feel enough. The RWAF guidelines are 8 x 4 so it feels wrong to only have 6 x 4 (although the guidelines were 6 x 4 when I got the run) and I very much agree with people who say 3ft is better to allow binkies. I think it'd improve their quality of life a lot.

My mom and stepdad would definitely never say I had to take the current one away, my mom loves N&T and loves to see them in the run. She'd never do that, which is good! I'm being careful with broaching the subject, as I definitely appreciate they've been very understanding so far. Although at times they have also been very non-understanding...i.e. cleaning out the wormery next to the run when Nena is unvaccinated. I think the last time I mentioned it before the last time 3 weeks ago was probably 2 months ago? I mention it every couple of months in a non-confrontational way, as like you say I don't want to be unreasonable and demand they let me have it! It seems to be the way to go about things in this family. Me not demanding that they let me have it, even though I've wanted it for over a year, makes them see that I'm being reasonable in regards to their feelings and in return they try to be reasonable too. Hopefully I might get somewhere with it at some point. It's just difficult as if I was living alone I'd have a massive aviary, and it's my own fault and circumstances that they can't have that room.

Your rabbits have an environment where they are safe, have more space (or pretty much the same) as Ginger & Biscuit, but theirs is so much more suitable for a rabbit

Biscuit i'm sure, would LOVE to live outside, in a shed and run setup, but Ginger would die within months at best so I know its best they are in here.

Biscuit is a 'rabbits' rabbit, he has many wildie qualities about him, but its what is best for them both as a pair and to them, that bond is so damn important, without each other, they just don't cope, it's bad enough separating them to medicate / feed Ginger, He searches for her and gets anxious within a minute or so. She will also do the same, but a slightly longer period.

Your parents (well, parent and step parent?) sound awesome My parents would never have allowed anything like that.

The RWAF guidelines are exactly that, guidelines, not the be all end all

Several rescues wouldn't rehome to me, because of how B&G live.

I guess what i'm trying to say is, although you want to make it better, you likely always will. There will ALWAYS be something more you want / think you want to do, but accommodation really is only a very small part of what you can give them *hug*

If you had more bunnies I'd say go for it, but this sounds ample as long as they get lots of stimulation. It seems pointless causing trouble (which may ultimately make your parents want to reduce their living area) over a few feet

An idea I saw the other day was someone who had a two tier run, bottom on grass, top as a look out, and you could use a run around to connect the two although she had a ramp, she was also talking about planting grass using a big low storage box and a few plant pots of safe flowers upstairs, to brighten up the garden (which would please your gardening parents) and to add extra floor space

bunnylover1995 said:

If you had more bunnies I'd say go for it, but this sounds ample as long as they get lots of stimulation. It seems pointless causing trouble (which may ultimately make your parents want to reduce their living area) over a few feet

An idea I saw the other day was someone who had a two tier run, bottom on grass, top as a look out, and you could use a run around to connect the two although she had a ramp, she was also talking about planting grass using a big low storage box and a few plant pots of safe flowers upstairs, to brighten up the garden (which would please your gardening parents) and to add extra floor space

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I love that idea of a dual layer run, so rather than using up ground space, it uses the height, what an excellent idea!

I think no matter how much space you give them you'll feel the same way. I know I do and I've changed housing 4 times in efforts to make it better!

I don't know if this is possible but maybe you could give them a long thin run coming out the bottom of your run and going down the side of the garden? That would give them a nice long space to pick up speed but not take up too much garden.
You could suggest putting a small flower bed down the side of it and filling it with bunny safe herbs and flowers. That would minimise the impact of the run and provide noms for the rabbits.

Your buns are very lucky to have an owner who cares so much for them

GrahamL said:

There's oh so much more to a bunnys life than it's accommodation!

You should be proud of what you've got. It's better than 95% of the rabbits accommodation in the UK.

Personally, I wouldn't broach the subject anymore with your parents. They've already made sacrifices to allow you what they do have, if they've already made sacrifces, asking for more might be the straw that breaks the camels back and they might end up saying they have had enough of it all and want the run taken away all together...

Certainly how I would think about it, to be honest.

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This pretty much sums up what I was going to say :wave:

Aww, your buns have a lovely set up, I've admired your pics in threads before And don't forget your 6x5 shed is more than twice the size of the recommended 6x2 hutch, so your buns have 30 sq ft inside and 24 sq ft outside so they actually have 10 sq ft more than the rwaf guidelines of 12 sq ft hutch and 32 sq ft run. And your buns also have the amazing runaround tunnels too, mine love them and I bet yours do too.

BattleKat said:

I think no matter how much space you give them you'll feel the same way. I know I do and I've changed housing 4 times in efforts to make it better!

I don't know if this is possible but maybe you could give them a long thin run coming out the bottom of your run and going down the side of the garden? That would give them a nice long space to pick up speed but not take up too much garden.
You could suggest putting a small flower bed down the side of it and filling it with bunny safe herbs and flowers. That would minimise the impact of the run and provide noms for the rabbits.

Your buns are very lucky to have an owner who cares so much for them

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I agree with this.

My bunnies have 50sq ft with daily access (around 14 hours) to a 32sq ft run, (the other pair are less active and have slightly less) but I still feel it isn't enough for them. I plan to order a 12ft x 6.5ft run for the grass, but I know that even then I won't feel it is enough.

Instead of pushing for a bigger run, could you make their current run safe enough so they can have more access to it? Or get a safe run of the same size? If you wanted to increase the space they have in other ways, you could put an extra level in their shed, which would also serve as environment enrichment.

Could they be let out for an hour or so free-range in good weather at the weekend? That would allow them to really stretch their legs and may help you feel better.

Don't feel bad though, they have a good amount of space. At the moment they have 30sqft permanent access which is more than most bunnies, and they also have their run at times. I think part of being a good owner is that you always want better for them - for example mine have permanent access to their 8x6 run because their hutch is inside it, which many people would agree is a good size, but I personally am not happy with it at all as I feel they need more space and there isn't any room for toys really.

I'd echo Graham's thoughts about being careful about annoying your parents, and maybe look into improving the space you have rather than increasing it, e.g making the run available more often, or if you do push to increase it I wouldn't hold out for the 12x6.

Thanks everyone, you're all right in that the space they have is good enough and a bit over the minimum requirements. It's just hard when you want more for them and you're restricted by living at home Especially with Nena being poorly it's really bumped up my urge to want to give them a bigger space, as I know she might not be around in 2-3 years when I move out of home and can give her the size that I want to. I just need to remind myself that what they have is adequate, and try to let them out for supervised playtime maybe 2 days out of 3 rather than every other day... depending on my schedule with work/uni etc. In fact, I might go and let them out now for an hour.

nessar said:

Instead of pushing for a bigger run, could you make their current run safe enough so they can have more access to it? Or get a safe run of the same size? If you wanted to increase the space they have in other ways, you could put an extra level in their shed, which would also serve as environment enrichment.

Could they be let out for an hour or so free-range in good weather at the weekend? That would allow them to really stretch their legs and may help you feel better.

Don't feel bad though, they have a good amount of space. At the moment they have 30sqft permanent access which is more than most bunnies, and they also have their run at times. I think part of being a good owner is that you always want better for them - for example mine have permanent access to their 8x6 run because their hutch is inside it, which many people would agree is a good size, but I personally am not happy with it at all as I feel they need more space and there isn't any room for toys really.

I'd echo Graham's thoughts about being careful about annoying your parents, and maybe look into improving the space you have rather than increasing it, e.g making the run available more often, or if you do push to increase it I wouldn't hold out for the 12x6.

Click to expand...

They have 24/7 access to their run and they're let out for around 1-2 hours every other day (although around every 3 or maybe 4 days in the dead of winter). And the run I want to get is 8 x 4 x 3 not 12 x 6, so it's only an extra 2 foot long (and height shouldn't matter). I definitely wouldn't be allowed 12 x 6 :lol:

I bit the bullet and asked my mom tonight about getting an 8 x 4 x 3 run sometime later in the year like September/October or so. I said if it came and they really found it horrible and huge, we could always use the 8 x 4 x 3 run as a winter run as that's when I can't let them out as much, and switch to 6 x 4 x 2 for summer. Although I have a feeling if they say yes to the run, I'd be able to keep it all year round. Still, I thought it would be a good compromise and I'd be willing to do that as it still gives them 6 months of the year with a bigger run.

She was pretty positive about it and said she'd have a think and talk to my stepdad. I won't mention it to her again unless it's been a month or so and she's not come back to me about it.

bunnylover1995 said:

If you had more bunnies I'd say go for it, but this sounds ample as long as they get lots of stimulation. It seems pointless causing trouble (which may ultimately make your parents want to reduce their living area) over a few feet

An idea I saw the other day was someone who had a two tier run, bottom on grass, top as a look out, and you could use a run around to connect the two although she had a ramp, she was also talking about planting grass using a big low storage box and a few plant pots of safe flowers upstairs, to brighten up the garden (which would please your gardening parents) and to add extra floor space

Click to expand...

That's brilliant! Might have to pinch that idea... Don't suppose you have a picture?