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Keeping bunny in kitchen

lucy24

Mama Doe
Anyone do this? At least at night? Trying to arrange it so we can have Honey back indoors. We don't have loads if space in our house but she's getting on and we've been told she needs to put on weight and have a bit if extra tlc. In thevevening she can come in the lounge not worried about wires as she has no incisirs lol but need to be careful as my little boy is about and since he's a danger to himself in the kitchen we're wanting to section it off with a gate anyway.

Also how do you go about managing an indoor bunny and child?

Also, ideas to keep her occupied?
 
I'm not sure if I'm understanding correctly so I apologise..

but is she currently an outdoor bunny?

the problem is is that this time of year rabbits have their fur coats that they can't ofc just take off. by bringing them inside to our nice and cozy homes can cause a number of issues. those can be overheating & GI stasis. and as they try to shed their coats as fast as possible to adapt, they can end up ingesting a lot of fur and end up unwell from that. its generally not recommended to move rabbits about when there is a temp difference of more than 10c.

I'd imagine that your house is much warmer than outside and the temp difference is more than 10c if you were to bring her in. generally the "deadline" for bringing rabbits in is october, sometimes earlier. the point that you can start putting them out again is usually late spring, so april/may time depending on the weather.

if you were to bring her in she'd need to come into an unheated room, the same temperature as outside, and then slowly up the temperature a couple of degrees every few days to allow her to adjust and shed her coat without such stress or worry. the chances of her over heating (which could cause GI stasis) would be high and not something I'd want to play about with.

I don't have much experience but I'd imagine a kitchen really wouldn't be suitable for a rabbit. I would worry about them getting underfoot when cooking. I also don't think the temperature changes would be ideal either.. with the heat from cooking and then possible cooking (we open a window when we cook letting the kitchen get quite cold). for us we also have tile flooring which gets rather chilly over a night time. with the constant temperature changes happening I wouldn't think a kitchen as a suitable place for a rabbit to be.

I'd also worry about how crafty some can be, even at an old age. I've known rabbits get into cupboards on the floor, jump up onto counters or even get to on wall cabinets. I wouldn't personally trust myself not to leave something on the counter, which said rabbit could get ahold of. or get into a cupboard or something. it could prove fatal depending on what it is.

I guess for me I treat rabbits much like small children, so I wouldn't want them in the kitchen due to the the amount of risks.

I don't have much advice with young kids as when I had my nephew over he was very intent at getting to the rabbit trays and trying to eat their poop, or put their toys in his mouth. neither which are sanitary :lol: he was about 1 at the time, so he didn't really understand. I think most kids would try though, especially when they're at that mouthy stage, so I think its about trying to find ways of stopping them.

if you're able to do a bit of DIY, you could get a hutch, and then attach a cat flap to it. if you keep the main doors shut and the bunny went in an out of the cat flap, he wouldn't be able to get in and get to her poop toys or hay to eat. well, he could stick his hand in but if its out of his reach it might work? or a run around door in the hutch? if she's able to be free range in the lounge 24/7, you could just get a small cheap hutch to use as her base. if not, you'd probably need to invest in a large 6ft one.

if you're able to keep her free range, you could also get one of those rabbit cages. they have small openings at the front. once again your boy could stick his hands in, but if you can place them in strategic places where he can't reach, it could work. but to be honest with you these rabbit cages really aren't suitable to be ever locked in, not even for half an hour in my honest opinion. so if there is time where she needs to be locked up, I wouldn't suggest using this idea.
its the ferplast Casita that I'm thinking of, this is the 120cm version and you can see the small opening on the front. your boy wouldn't be able to get inside inside, like crawl inside, compared to those that open up the front fully. I used one after a surgery, and eventually joined the two of these together to make one big cage.
https://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/hutches_cages/rabbit_cage/120_cm_cages/95868
they also have a 100cm version but its really really tiny once you put anything in it. 120cm might spare better for putting things out of his arms reach
https://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/hutches_cages/rabbit_cage/100_cm_cages/95880

I was gonna suggest a dog crate to put her in, so that would be her base but if you left the doors open your boy could definitely get in there.. I'm 5ft and can fit in them perfectly fine. perhaps you could get one and put him in the dog crate while she's out :lol:

I would also suggest a pen, but once again most of the doors are huge so if you left her out he'd be able to get in.

either way, its just my two cents and possibly some helpful ideas :) I hope you figure something out x
 
She used to be a house bunny but is outside atm. Just worried about her being on her own for the winter as her partner died in January. I bought a hutch new last year but it's not holding up very well. Lookingvdamp inside.

Back to the drawing board
 
Some members do (or at least have) had their bunnies in their kitchens so it is possible to do. I would just say that I think the bunny proofing you would need to take into account would be slightly different to what would be needed in, say, a lounge or bedroom. I’m thinking mainly of making sure she can’t get into any cupboards and eating the food that’s stored there. Also if she’s sleeping in the kitchen overnight it might be a good idea to provide her with soft bedding to sleep on.

I’m pretty sure that Rihanna and Truffpuff have their bunnies in their kitchens. Hopefully they will see this thread and be able to give more practical advice.


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My 2 rabbits are in our kitchen. It works really well for our 2 as one in particular likes to chew/eat anything soft so they can’t be anywhere with soft furnishings/carpet. We spend a lot of time in the kitchen so they get lots of attention. We don’t have any children yet so I don’t have any advice for that. We are starting a family soon and discussed moving the bunnies outside but have decided to keep them in the kitchen.
 
Anyone do this? At least at night? Trying to arrange it so we can have Honey back indoors. We don't have loads if space in our house but she's getting on and we've been told she needs to put on weight and have a bit if extra tlc. In thevevening she can come in the lounge not worried about wires as she has no incisirs lol but need to be careful as my little boy is about and since he's a danger to himself in the kitchen we're wanting to section it off with a gate anyway.

Also how do you go about managing an indoor bunny and child?

Also, ideas to keep her occupied?

It sounds a really good idea to have her indoors if you can work out a good way of doing it. I am sure you will get lots of good advice.
 
We have a kitchen diner and Louie used to sleep in there at night. I currently keep my Guinea Pigs in there too.
 
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