Outdoor to indoor

I have a pair of rabbits, the opportunity has come up to rent a flat and the rabbits can come too but there's no garden. It's all wooden floor so I thought a large crate when no ones home and then when we're home I could fence off a bit and let them out. Would this be ok? The crates big enough for a German shepherd. They're not litter trained, it would be a lot easier if they were litter trained, does anyone have any advice on doing this? Also any advice on moving them inside and how to house them inside? Would they still be ok to go in the garden at my mums house on warm days to go on the grass

I didn't have a choice when I brought my remaining two outdoor buns inside. I'm lucky enough that they can just go straight into my spare room, into puppy pens.

They coped really well, in fact Fudge is much happier inside.

I would imagine they'd adjust reasonably well given time

Honestly, Alicia, I wouldn't take house-rabbits into someone else's property. At least when mine destroyed my home (if I had been someone else, I might have been able to cope better with them but I'm not so it all went) it was my own home, my own furniture, that was ruined. Lots of RUers manage perfectly well, in their owned or rented homes. I couldn't. I suffer a lot from anxiety and depression and often (used to) find things very upsetting, then have to hide and not do things that need to be done.

Think about yourself and your own housework skills, your own ability to stay focused under stress.
Would your mum let the rabbits stay in her garden if you move out?

If you had the money, I would recommend something like a purpose built indoor enclosure. I can't seem to work out photos on here any more, but this is the type I mean: https://www.manorpethousing.co.uk/indoor-enclosures-rabbit-housing. They look nicer than some others, but also avoid the madness that can come from bunnies chewing on metal bars every time they want something! I have one like those in the web link, with lino underneath for the floor (though you might not need that if you have hard floors anyway).

I would get a large tray for the litter - something like an underbed storage tray, and then keep them in the enclosure with that tray - I think you will find that they will start to use it like a litter tray just with it being there. Then you can gradually increase their space - letting them out for short periods while you watch them and so on. I started like that and now the bunnies have the total run of my flat 24-7, though occasionally I close off my bedroom with a baby gate that's permanently in the doorway, since one of mine goes through phases of making holes in my pillows!

They can be destructive, but I have always been in rented accommodation with house bunnies, and have only had one major issue, when a giant bunny I had got behind the bed and chewed a hole in the carpet without my knowledge - eek! You'll never get the bunny proofing right first time, and will have to do some tweaks as you go, but I wouldn't go back to having outdoor bunnies now, as there's nothing quite like a bunny 'helper' around the house! :lol: :roll:

My current two absolutely hate hard floors - as in, not carpeted - and I have not managed to get them used to it. Not a problem for me as I have mostly carpet, but you might want to think about getting some rugs around the place.

Good luck, and I hope you enjoy the house bunny experience if you go ahead

I'd really like them to come with me but I can't be selfish if it would be better for them. I'll do some more reading. It's mostly wood floors so I thought about getting one of those floor runners that people normally have for dogs to give them some grip

Our rabbits live indoors, one is too destructive to be allowed much free roaming time so we set up a 8x8 puppy pen with a dog cage for the litter tray, there is vinyl on top of wood flooring.
This setup, whilst not as good as I originally hoped, has been fine for several years. The permanent living accommodation meets the minimum requirements and we can let them out for very closely supervised free range time

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I think you'd need to add a run to the dogcrate - it wouldn't be fair to leave them just in the crate: would be like leaving rabbits in a hutch and not giving them permanent access to a run.
If it were me, I would feel very unhappy about moving without them.

You'd still need to meet their 60sqft requirement even when indoors. The large dog crate is maybe 12sqft at best so puppy pens would need to make up the remaining sqft needed.

Litter training if neutered is pretty easy. Trays with litter and then hay on top. Try to place where they normally go.

They could still go outside but during the winter it's best not to go hot to cold to hot every day.

Carpet tiles, rugs etc work well to provide grip on the flooring and is better for their hocks.

They can be very destructive - mainly on skirting boards & door frames.

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Yeah, I'd say dog crate + puppy pen attached and something down on the floor Assuming they're happy with indoor life (which you can only know once you've tried it) I don't see that it would be a problem to bring them with you.

So the landlord doesn't mind indoor rabbits? What's the rabbits current set up, would moving to inside mean their housing being much smaller? Would you be able to create a permanent good size living space without them having to be shut in at certain times?

Also, it obviously depends on the rabbits. For example, one of our buns, Dottie, lived inside for a few months (when we first got her) and she was so destructive. No matter what we did, she would find a way round it. She would dig at the carpet and made a hole in it. Even with the whole floor covered in lino, she would just dig and chew that too and get to the carpet underneath. She's now partnered up and lives outside. In contrast, Spud, who lives in the room now is no trouble at all!

Yeah, litter training would be vital inside really, although I find that even the ones that are, the wee seems to still end up around and underneath the trays, so you'd definitely want to protect the floor. Rugs would annoy me because they never stay in one place and they would probably wee on them anyway.

Does your mum live close, as I imagine taking them round to go outside could be quite disruptive? Would she be happy to keep them there if you didn't take them with you?

As you are used to them being outside, it might be annoying to have them inside and all that goes with it, or it could work out perfectly! x

Yes the landlord is fine, the only thing that isn't allowed is dogs. It's going to take a fair bit of thought I think. I just can't bear to leave them. I could add a puppy pen onto the crate but I'm just trying to think of where it would go in the flat.

When the buns were downstairs they had the section where the dining table should have gone lol

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When I had indoor rabbits I sectioned off part of my bedroom using puppy panels. They then had an indoor cage as their base, soon changed that for litter trays and wooden shelves (for them to sit under). They poo'd on the floor but did all their wees in the tray as that is where the hay was.

It was great to move them outside though as the fur and hay went everywhere! Also I put puppy panels all round the walls with cardboard against the skirting board just in case.