# Does Everybody here Keep their bunny in a cage?



## Tessa (Sep 27, 2011)

Do you think it's reckless Bunny parenting if my rabbits have their own room to roam? 

My boyfriend and I just moved into a new condo with an extra bedroom so we decided to make it part my Art studio and part Bunny room.

Little did I know that my thug bunny, Vito would want the whole room for him and Lola. When I try to work he head butts me and pulls on my jeans to leave!

Of course when we first got him he had a cage and would grunt and rattle it all night long until we let him out. 

**Sigh** I can't believe that I'm bossed around by a 2lb. bunny


----------



## Sweetie (Sep 27, 2011)

My rabbits are in cages. I have two rabbits, Sweetie and Pudden. I got Pudden two weeks after Prince passed away. In my avatar, Sweetie is the black rabbit and Prince is the white rabbit. I have yet to get a pic of Pudden and Sweetie together. They are both black. 

Oh and I love lionhead rabbits! Sweetie is a lionhead mix female and she is very cute. Gives me kisses all the time and we spend a lot of time together since Prince passed away.


----------



## Tessa (Sep 27, 2011)

Awww Sweetie and Prince look so cute together. Sorry about Prince.

Did you have separate cages for both? They didn't mind being caged?

I'm also jealous you get bunny kisses 


Looking forward to seeing of pictures of Sweetie and Pudden


----------



## missyscove (Sep 27, 2011)

My rabbit Timmy spends most of his day in a 6x2x2 NIC cage although we also let him out to explore the hallway. 

I would love to have a free-roaming bun one day, but it isn't really practical with the way our home is set up. 

Have you considered leaving his cage as a sort of home base, somewhere where you feed him and keep his litter box that may serve as a safe area for him so he's not quite so territorial of the rest of the room?


----------



## jeanluc_pippen_merry (Sep 27, 2011)

Where we are atm my bunnies share a 2 story hutch where they sleep. The rest of the time they have the whole room to play in, and occasionally i let them out to free roam. When im not home though, they will be in their hutch.


----------



## LaylaLop (Sep 27, 2011)

I will be keeping my bunny in a condo when I get her.. I have a dog that I don't think I could trust around other pets without me around, and I'm renting the place so I can't have chewed up carpet/baseboards.. Just depends on your situation, but for me and for her, a cage is the safest bet when I'm not around.


----------



## plasticbunny (Sep 27, 2011)

Gus has his own room, and occasionally comes down for lap snuggles or goes out for a shopping trip.


----------



## MikeScone (Sep 27, 2011)

*Tessa wrote: *


> Do you think it's reckless Bunny parenting if my rabbits have their own room to roam?


I don't think it's reckless, but the bunny would probably be more comfortable if he's got a special enclosed place to retreat to. I'd still have a cage for him, even if he's primarily (or always) free-roaming. You can leave the door open most of the time, and he can spend his time in the cage when he feels like it. That gives you the option of closing the cage door if there's a need for it, if you're having a visitor who doesn't like rabbits (or would like them too much) or the rabbit would just get in the way (young children, for example, or if you've got repairmen in who'll have things opened up that bunny shouldn't jump into). 

Natasha's got her cage, which is open if I'm home so she can roam the entire house (except the guest room - I keep that door closed, as it's not bunny-proof). Even so, she spends a lot of time just relaxing on her balcony if I'm nearby, and she gets her meals and has her hay rack there so there's always something to nibble. If someone comes in that she doesn't like (if they have dogs, or were petting a dog, or, I sometimes think, if they've even spoken the word "dog"), she can hide in a dark corner of the cage and keep a wary eye on things.


----------



## Sweetie (Sep 27, 2011)

*Tessa wrote: *


> Awww Sweetie and Prince look so cute together. Sorry about Prince.
> 
> Did you have separate cages for both? They didn't mind being caged?
> 
> ...



I got separate cages just in case they didn't get along. But they did the first time they met, meaning they instantly bonded. When one was sick I would separate them, so that the other wouldn't get sick.

Yeah I love the bunny kisses, matter-of-fact that is how Sweetie got her name. She gave me kisses right from the start and I thought that it was so sweet, so I called her Sweetie. I had to teach her how to give kisses on my nose, which she does a lot, and I love them, they make me melt.

Thank you for your condolences about Prince. 

Sweetie and Pudden are both black so I would have to get a good pic of them in order for others to see them. I am hoping that they will bond to each other, but I think that Sweetie loves Netherland Dwarfs the most.


----------



## MiniLopHop (Sep 27, 2011)

My minilop (avatar) free roams the bedroom. She still has space that is hers, but I decided to take the fence down since it was never closed anyway. She grew up in a small cage so she gets a little crazy when the door shut, almost like she was claustrophobic. Knock on wood, she has never destroyed anything other than one of my husband's shirts that he left on the floor in her space (his fault, she was just making a nest of it and put a few small bite holes in it).

My angora is incorrigible and his bunwife follows him into mischief. They have half of my office. The whole room is bunny proofed for them to run around when supervised, but he got too territorial when they had the whole room. This gives them a good amount of space that is theirs and they enjoy visiting with me when I work. I use NIC panels around the whole perimeter to protect cords and prevent chewing on walls. Then the room is divided in half with panels so they know which is their side (not that Houdini doesn't do his best to "escape" even when he doesn't' come out half of the time when I open the door.)

No matter their size, buns rule the house :biggrin2:


----------



## gmas rabbit (Sep 27, 2011)

Benjamin roams free all of the time. He has access to the upstairs ( ours and his bedroom ), the living room and kitchen downstairs and a scout hole out to his large enclosed yard. Only time he is in a cage is when he goes to the vet. Even when we travel he has his dirt box and travelling cushion ( a sponge mattress folded in half with a quilt - cover whole back set area ) and never is in a cage. Benjamin is almost 15 pounds and definitely rules the household.lol


----------



## Sweetie (Sep 27, 2011)

I let my rabbits out for play time during the day when I am home, but when it is bedtime and/or when I am not home they are caged. Sweetie is caged more because everytime I let her out she tears up the carpet. Pudden loves to play outside of his cage and binkies as well.

They do get out of cage time a lot.


----------



## kuniklos (Sep 27, 2011)

As of May, my rabbit has been free roam and has access to all areas of our home except the garage and the bedroom. His cage is out and accessible to him, but he's not kept in it anymore. He's rather in love with our enclosed porch and spends alot of time out there. I am going to feel bad when I need to close it off in the winter.

The only times when he is in his cage is if a friend is looking after him for an evening or two if I need to go to a conference and bring my fiancee. Or if we need him safely secure and out of the way during anything like painting, remodeling, or moving furniture.

He sometimes has to be in his cage for the occasional party we have, just to mae sure not one steps on him. But he often just gets put on the porch where he loves it anyways.


----------



## Tessa (Sep 27, 2011)

Their cage is a Huge one and is always open in the Bunny/art studio room. They eat in their cage and one of their litter boxes is also in there. We put down an industrial strength tarp and threw some cheap carpeting on top to bunny proof the floor.

A friend had mentioned that keeping the bunnies in the cage then letting them out an hour a day would make them more tame. This might work for my Lola but not for Vito.

So I see some Buns even have their own room and are free roaming. Awesome, I feel a bit normal now.

:biggrin2: Every time I think I'm done Bunny proofing a room my Vito proves me wrong


----------



## MarisaAndToby (Sep 27, 2011)

Oh you can send Vito over this way... I'll... teach him how to behave... and then send him back. Yes... send him back...


----------



## ahall83 (Sep 27, 2011)

tessa that pic of your rabbit has got to be one of the cutest things i have ever ever seen. looks like a little stuffed animal. i think im in love.


----------



## Nancy McClelland (Sep 27, 2011)

Each of ours has a hutch and they get 4 hours every day out and one out all night. They do have their own room too.


----------



## Pet_Bunny (Sep 28, 2011)

Bebe stays in her cage with no cover over it (the metal top). She gets free time in the basement run, and out with us when we are in the family room. It is not free roam, but a contained space.


----------



## SpikeyCardwell (Sep 28, 2011)

Our bunny has a cage, She is in it when we go to bed and when we leave for the day. 
But when I get home I open the door and let her do what she wants, she can either come out and hang out with us, run around the house, or hang out in there. 

Usually she does circles around the couch like its nascar, and then she heads for her cage to sprawl our on the 2nd floor or just sprawls out on the floor.


----------



## TheJadeRabbit (Sep 28, 2011)

Rikki Tikki is in a cage currently. Once I rehome the kittens, and building my baby gate to go in my pathway, he will get to free roam my living room. I do have to bunny proof though.


----------



## Junkie2 (Sep 29, 2011)

my rabbit has free roam of my room. Her litter box is in my bathroom. So far, I couldn't ask for a better rabbit. She doesn't chew on wires, wood, or anything. She has also never peed anywhere but the box(a few poop here and there but no biggie). When I get her spayed later this week/next week I can't wait to see what difference it will make.


----------



## Tessa (Sep 29, 2011)

Do you travel with him a lot? He doesn't get anxious or nervous?


----------



## patches2593 (Oct 20, 2011)

my rabbit stays in a big cage and gets time out to run around. some of my friends let their rabbit hav a room to himself. which is good and fine


----------



## jcottonl02 (Oct 20, 2011)

I think it's absolutely fine for a bunny to have their own room, except for exactly what was mentioned before- they need to have their own smaller space to hide away in if they want it. 
As long as the room is safe, no places for him to get stuck or basically anything in there like a cabinet or a table etc. and obviously no cables or electricals then why not? What a lovely big space he will have.

I would also say that although that's really nice for the room, it might make the bun maybe not get as much socialisation? The door will be closed even when you are there and you'd have to make the conscious effort to go in there, whereas if he was in the living room or your bedroom etc. there would be a lot of contact even when you weren't specifically spending time with him. ?

Benji has a 5ftx2ft cage that's permanently attached to a medium-sized dog NIC pen. And when I'm here he is out with me- I obviously watch him but there are pretty much no hazards, except a few cables behind the tv which i keep him away from, and obviously table legs etc. but he never pays attention to them.

Jen


----------



## piperknitsRN (Oct 25, 2011)

My bunny Olive lives in an Xpen in the kitchen and comes out for free run time when I am home. Usually right before bed, I have her in the bedroom with me for a little while, and then she goes back to her Xpen. She loves her cardboard boxes (which she shreds as a home improvement project, I suppose) and often rattles the X pen cage when I'm sitting at my desk in the adjoining living room--stinker!


----------



## MiniLopHop (Oct 26, 2011)

I have a new family addition, Ghirardelli, to be a mate for Becky (widowed in September). He has not been neutered yet so he has a large cage in our bedroom. It's so sweet to see the buns grooming through the bars. He gets out with supervision and loves to run like a crazy man. I don't let him out on his own yet because he likes to mark my husband's side of the bed. The little stinker jumps up on his own, I'm just a speed bump. After the hormones calm down post neuter he will be free-roam with his lovely wife. They love to canoodle under the dresser.


----------



## OneTwoThree (Oct 26, 2011)

I don't think its reckless, both my girls are house bunnies, they both also have xpens as a "homebase".


----------



## Lucy500 (Oct 26, 2011)

Bonkers has two cages that are kinda small for him, for theyre always open. One is his bathroom with the litter box, he always goes there and this cage is on the outdoors part of Bonkersvile (which is the laundry room and a half roofed kinda... patio? lol im not sure). The other one has blankets and is inside, but I have never seen him sleep there, he ALWAYS sleeps outside just streched on the floor :/. 
He just goes inside when he hears the fridge open, the pellet bag, the hay bag.. you get the idea hehe. He very much prefers to be outside.


----------



## patches2593 (Nov 1, 2011)

my bunny is in a multi level cage tht i made and always has his time outside of it to run and do his binkies


----------



## area20 (Nov 3, 2011)

My bunny is in a cage, but whenever I am home and able I will let him out to play...unless he is causing too much mischief of course! I hope someday that he can come in and out of his cage as he pleases at all times, but he could never be out unsupervised yet!! But he seems to LOVE his cage... 
If he is out of his cage...the door is always open for him and many many times he will stay in his cage or go in there often to take a nap. It's nice for a rabbit to know he has a safe haven that is his and no one else.


----------



## SakuraXShaoran (Nov 3, 2011)

Em sleeps in a cage and the laundry is pretty much her room/potty.


----------



## LakeCondo (Nov 3, 2011)

I think an x-cage is a good middle ground. That's what I'm setting up for my soon-to-be bunny. As long as there's a retreat place in it. I'm just going to use cardboard boxes for a hiding place until I see what size is best. And at least at first, a corner of the cage is going to be under an unused table. It's 4'x4' [the pen, that is, not the table or the rabbit]. lol


----------

