Rabbit vs Stairs

[Bamboozleder]

Hi everyone,

My husband and I are looking into moving from an apartment to a two-story house. Currently, our bunny free-roams while we’re at home and when we’re both working he’s got a larger room to himself. He is used to a single-level environment. The place that we are looking at would have no spot on the main floor (where we spend most of our time) for his litter box and food, and would need to be either in the basement or the second floor. Our concern is that if we have his space on the upper floor or basement, that he will need to go up and down the stairs (or we would carry him) to spend time with us. We don’t want him to be trapped and depressed because he can’t go up or down. I know every bunny is different, but we would like to plan ahead and take care of his future as best we can.

Another thought we had was to have two litterboxes and hay- one on the main floor in case and one in his designated area.

Does anybody here have bunnies that do stairs? Are we overthinking this?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[Shimmer]

Rabbits manage stairs just fine. He will soon be dashing up and down them. You may need to encourage him at first - put some food on each step so he gets the hang of it. He may also need some none slip surfaces, particularly at the bottom of the stairs

 

[SarahP]

Yes, it won't take long before the stairs are easy. When I had indoor bunnies I had litter trays at the top of the stairs and the bottom.

 

[Mervinius]

Yes our buns love the stairs, they love running up and down them. We have all their stuff downstairs, except one castle on the landing. They just hop down if the want anything. Npthing better than watching a bunny butt pop down a step.

 

[bunniemum]

Bunnies do love the stairs, however as a word of warning. There was a time when one of my previous elderly bunnies came running down the stairs to greet me, and somehow missed a step and tumbled down, and unfortunately broke her front leg.

 

[SarahP]

I always think going up the stairs is easier than coming down.

 

[joey&boo]

Not over thinking, no - with bunnies its always best to be prepared for any situation. Most of my rabbits have had no issue with stairs although I had one bun fairly recently who wouldn't or couldn't do the stairs (she preferred limiting herself to one room) & a going back further I had a couple of lionheads who never showed interested in the stairs or jumping on anything. They are all different but chances are he'll be fine

 

[Cuthbert&Dillon]

Kanga is happy to do up or down stairs too.