~ILoveMyBunny~
Alpha Buck
With Willow I tried it both ways (not by choice) - she was indoors initially but my dad soon made her go outside (and in the tiniest hutch you could possibly imagine ). She was out there for about four years until she had a major episode of stasis which we nearly lost her to (and she had no vet treatment for it either as my dad wouldn't let her go to a vet) when she was able to come indoors. As it was winter and bitterly cold at that point we were thankfully able to keep her indoors but she was supposed to go out when the weather picked up. Through a lot of careful action (such as not drawing attention to her) we were ultimately able to keep her indoors and though he often threatened to put her back out (usually as a punishment if I didn't do what he wanted me to do - much like he later threatened to 'get rid' of my dog) she remained indoors for the rest of her life. I think my Mum played a large part in keeping her indoors too as she often campaigned to keep her indoors.
I was always close to her, she was my only friend (I was home educated and never socialized with other children - nor did I really want to be) but after she came indoors things changed and we just grew closer and closer. She trusted me more, I saw more of her behaviour and we had time to spend together. I always made sure I spent time with her every night and we used to play chasing games. She absolutely loved racing with me and would chase me if I ran through the room, binkying all the way. We developed a really special bond that I could never have had with her if she was outside. It was also easier to see when she was ill as she did have stasis a few times in her life and she was never allowed to see a vet so I had to get her through it every time.
Since then I've become a firm believer in keeping rabbits indoors. Please don't misunderstand me, I know many people still keep them outdoors and have wonderful setups and very happy bunnies. I don't want to sound like I'm judging because I know that it can work very well for some rabbits and owners. But for me personally I would only ever have house rabbits now.
The main reason being that you can develop a much closer relationship with them and spend more time with them, but it's also easier to check on them and notice problems earlier. With the amount of illness (mostly stasis) ours have had having them outside would have made things extremely difficult anyway and probably they would have gone down a lot worse as we wouldn't have caught it as quickly.
That said I am hoping once we've moved house to have a nice run system for them to use on nice warm summer days
I was always close to her, she was my only friend (I was home educated and never socialized with other children - nor did I really want to be) but after she came indoors things changed and we just grew closer and closer. She trusted me more, I saw more of her behaviour and we had time to spend together. I always made sure I spent time with her every night and we used to play chasing games. She absolutely loved racing with me and would chase me if I ran through the room, binkying all the way. We developed a really special bond that I could never have had with her if she was outside. It was also easier to see when she was ill as she did have stasis a few times in her life and she was never allowed to see a vet so I had to get her through it every time.
Since then I've become a firm believer in keeping rabbits indoors. Please don't misunderstand me, I know many people still keep them outdoors and have wonderful setups and very happy bunnies. I don't want to sound like I'm judging because I know that it can work very well for some rabbits and owners. But for me personally I would only ever have house rabbits now.
The main reason being that you can develop a much closer relationship with them and spend more time with them, but it's also easier to check on them and notice problems earlier. With the amount of illness (mostly stasis) ours have had having them outside would have made things extremely difficult anyway and probably they would have gone down a lot worse as we wouldn't have caught it as quickly.
That said I am hoping once we've moved house to have a nice run system for them to use on nice warm summer days