Pros and Cons of House Rabbits

I'm considering persuading my OH to turn our dining room into a rabbit room. We don't use it very much, it's 2 x 3 metres. I have wanted the rabbits indoors for years, we live in Wales and the weather here in winter gets horrendous.

My buns are also used to having free roam a lot of the time in the garden (well, within a large penned area) and they will get less and less of that in the winter as the nights grow shorter. Hamilton is an old boy too and he always seems to get stasis in winter-spring time, I wonder if that is partly due to the sudden temp changes.

Anyway, before I get too carried away with this idea, is there anything I should be aware of? Like are they really noisy at night, even with our bedroom upstairs, would we be kept awake by their antics? We have a cat but he's a little dumpy boy and is scared of all of them so he would probably just watch cautiously from a distance.

Also, would 2 x 3 metres of permanent space be too small for four rabbits? We could let them out to free range the rest of the living room when we're downstairs too, but our sofas are fancy so it couldn't be all of the time.

Also, this might be a stupid one, but have people judged you for giving up human living space for your rabbits? We'd have to get rid of the living room table and I can just imagine the inlaws (who have no pets) thinking we've lost the plot.

Any advice is much appreciated

I would actually like to keep rabbits outdoors as I'd love a big aviary set up but don't have the space. I appreciate the weather is a worry though and age in rabbits, I wouldn't put my current two outside and would have house rabbits again if they needed it for whatever reason like preference/age/health. We have a rabbit room and have had a rabbit in our kitchen/dining and didn't really get any cons. The rabbit room is opposite our bedroom and we don't hear them in the night, we only hear them running around sometimes from the kitchen which is below. The only thing that bothered me slightly was the hay that got dragged around everywhere, but it's nothing a sweep/hoover won't sort. I do get judged for giving up a decent sized bedroom to rabbits but I don't care, I wouldn't use it for anything else! When Bigwig was in the kitchen people would find that strange at first but then if they saw her they'd love her and say how much like a dog/cat she was, she didn't act like a rabbit :lol: I'm not sure about the space as I'm not familiar metres

I think the worst thing is the judgement and the hay everywhere to be honest.

I absolutely love having them indoors and not having to worry about the weather.

Oh but be prepared for random destruction of things you thought they wouldn't show the slightest bit of interest in [emoji1787]

Sent from my SM-A528B using Tapatalk

I think the biggest con is something that Liz and CarelessSquid already mentioned, the hay everywhere. Well, and if you have chewy rabbits they might destroy some things. :lol: But I think you can prevent a lot of destruction by bunny proofing stuff. I don't find Sophie and Casper are noisy at night. There is a small bathroom between their room and my bedroom, with doors to both our rooms, and normally the only noise I hear is Sophie snoring. I'm not sure about whether 2 x 3 m is big enough for four rabbits... I've never had that many at once, so I don't really know how much space they need!

I haven't actually found people to be judgy at all about my giving my biggest bedroom to Sophie and Casper. I've never had a negative comment, while a lot of people who come over have told me that they think it's really great that they have their own room and that it looks fun for them.

My biggest con for having anything indoors is I never get anything done because they're either too noisy or too quiet XD I have plans in case I need to bring ours in more permanently though The test-chewing random stuff and 'accidentally' spreading wee out of the litter tray is a favourite of mine when I've had to have them indoors XD

2x3m is approx. 6'x9', so on the face of it 72sq ft. 60sq ft is the minimum for 2 rabbits IIRC, so I would say it depends on how you plan to set it up

Thank you for your advice guys, I talked to my OH about it but he is very against having them indoors, our house isn't big enough really. Our garden is big though so we're going to buy them a larger fox proof run instead so they've got more 24/7 access to a large space outdoors

Beapig said:

Thank you for your advice guys, I talked to my OH about it but he is very against having them indoors, our house isn't big enough really. Our garden is big though so we're going to buy them a larger fox proof run instead so they've got more 24/7 access to a large space outdoors

Click to expand...

That sounds like a good plan.

a reader of books said:

That sounds like a good plan.

Click to expand...

We bought an Omlet one, it was very expensive :shock: But they do look like they're amazing quality and I like the anti-dig wire edges around the outside

Lucky bunnies. I hope they enjoy their run. Photos when it arrives pretty please

Beapig said:

We bought an Omlet one, it was very expensive :shock: But they do look like they're amazing quality and I like the anti-dig wire edges around the outside

Click to expand...

I was impressed with the Omlet runs, when someone on here posted pics of a set-up using them. I think this would be a lovely option for them.

The Omlet ones look like this sort of fencing: (Google search) https://www.google.com/search?q=gre...ECA0QBA&biw=1024&bih=636#imgrc=LamhdMkmSTsNwM Might be a cheaper option than buying direct from Omlet? it's certainly the same stuff as the Tennis Centre use to keep the wildies OUT of their courts :lol: Effectively too!

Beapig said:

We bought an Omlet one, it was very expensive :shock: But they do look like they're amazing quality and I like the anti-dig wire edges around the outside

Click to expand...

That sounds great! The Omlet runs always look so nice and sturdy in pictures I've seen. I bet the bunnies will be very excited about their extra permanent space!

Thanks guys, we bought a 4.5 metre long x 2.7 metre wide walk in one It was expensive but tbh the quality looks amazing, and my rabbits are escape artists so I'll feel much happier having them in such a secure setup. We are viewing it as a long term investment because we would like to adopt some chickens when we move house in the next couple of years, so even if the bunnies become indoor/outdoor with their own room in the future house, the run would still be an amazing space for the pet chickens

That's a great size! Lucky bunnies. It being a walk in one is so nice, too. That seems much more convenient than runs where you can't get in yourself. It sounds like your escape artists will be safe in there. :lol: It sounds like it'd be really great for your future chicken friends, too.