# free range time



## piperknitsRN (Jul 26, 2011)

I'm just curious--how much free range time do people give their bunnies? Mine is getting about 2-4 hours a day (depending on her level of naughtiness--any incorrigible behavior means back to the X pen in the kitchen) but I suspect that will decrease in the fall when I go back to school. Sometimes my bunny Olive likes to loaf around when she's out of her pen, any way, and inside the X pen she is usually found in her cardboard hidey-hole or else in her litterbox. She does binky, run around and attempt to prune my carpet whilst out and about. My bunny is always supervised when she has "out of cage" time, because she's still a baby bunny and I've had a bunny before... I know what they can get up to in the blink of an eye.


----------



## Bunnycat (Jul 26, 2011)

Well, since it's summer, Saki usually gets 8-10 hours out of her cage. She mostly just lays around as well, haha  I'll go out of the room sometimes and leave her out if she's just chilling, but I'll walk by and check on her every once in a while to make sure she's not being naughty. 
When school starts again it will probably be maybe 7 hours or so since I'll probably end up doing my homework in the room I keep her in since I leave my computer there.


----------



## piperknitsRN (Jul 26, 2011)

Your bunny is very, very cute (a lop, I see!). I have to watch Olive, my rabbit, very closely because she has taken to pruning my carpets. I think there's something about tugging at the fibers that is satisfying to her. So, it can be rather a chore. I'd let her run around in the kitchen, but it's linoleum, and she doesn't care for the slick feeling under her feet, I think. Olive is still quite young, so there's a chance she'll knock off the carpet destroying behavior (and do something else equally naughty instead).


----------



## gmas rabbit (Jul 26, 2011)

Just make sure that she has something else to chew on when she is out. Pieces of cardboard, roll filled with hay, twigs, stuffies, carrot etc. Benjamin has free access to his yard from 7am to 9 pm but not always out there. He has a scoot hole into the living room. They suggest at least 1-2 hours of free range time a day just to prevent fur blockage. As long as they are behaving and you enjoying their company, I would do what you are comfortable with.


----------



## piperknitsRN (Jul 26, 2011)

She does have wicker toys and cardboard to chew on, she just prefers the carpet. 
Of course she does, that's what bunneh's are for. Bunny motto: "To chew what I can, to chew the things I can't, and the wisdom to disregard the difference any way."


----------



## Bunnycat (Jul 27, 2011)

Thanks! Olive is quite adorable as well... I think our bunnies kind of look alike. 
Yeah, Saki is maybe 4-5 months, so she can still be a handful and loves doing bad things. I've caught her nibbling on the carpet from time to time, as well as other things she shouldn't chew. I usually nudge her away and give her a toy to chew on. Must be in a teenager stage :bunnydance:
But alas, that motto is quite accurate!


----------



## snap (Jul 27, 2011)

Well it's too hot for outside range time, which is what everyone but Harper gets because no one is litter trained, so no range time except for Harper. 
But he'll be out for days on end, because he's amazingly well trained and I just don't want to bother him. XD Longest he goes is about a week, though, because there is a cleaning lady every week so the pen has to be put away for that.

In the cooler months bunnies rotate and get about 4-6 hours outside one day a week or so.


----------



## piperknitsRN (Jul 27, 2011)

She's almost twelve weeks, so yeah, we're headed there.

Newly revised bunny serenity prayer: Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot chew, the courage to chew those things I can get away with, and the wisdom to know my human slaves will love me either way.


----------



## MiniLopHop (Jul 27, 2011)

One of my pairs has half a room as their "cage". They only get an hour or so running around the house. They do have space to run and binky in their cage though so they seem quite content.

My other pair has 8 feet by 4 feet enclosure as their cage. At the moment they are not getting much time out because I'm still working on potty training Indy. Once he's reliable they will work up to 24/7 if he is as good as Becky is. We have to see how Indy does on the run.

All of my buns are between 4.5-5.5 pounds.



PS, the reason the top pair doesn't get more out of cage time is because Houdini is incorrigible. He likes carpet too, but only livingroom carpet! Go figure.


----------



## piperknitsRN (Jul 27, 2011)

Oh good, I'm glad I'm not "depriving" Olive when I have to put her back in her cage. She doesn't _always_ start plucking up the carpet, but it's not a habit I want her to continue with (though she probably will--pretty hard to train that kind of behavior out of a rabbit). She lives in a 4'X4' X pen cage and when I open up the door, she rarely comes out. I often take her out of the pen while she's sitting in her litterbox (which goes in the living room when she's out there, as she doesn't seem to want to go back into the kitchen where her Xpen is. I guess if this is the least of my worries with her, I'll be pretty grateful. (Although I'm not saying it isn't annoying to have a carpet-plucking rabbit, because it certainly is).


----------



## MsBunBun (Jul 29, 2011)

I give my bunny about 2-4 hours of free range time daily, and he seems happy with it. He also loves his cage though.

2-4 hours is perfectly fine in my opinion.


----------



## piperknitsRN (Jul 29, 2011)

I notice that Olive doesn't really spend that much time running around when she's out. She gets a fair amount of Bunny 500's (usually in the morning) but then she settles down to a calmer sniffing around (and pulling up my carpet--grrr). She has much more leg room outside her X pen, of course, but a lot of time she chooses to lounge, so I don't think it's so much the amount of time out of the pen as the quality of that time.


----------



## AstiBunners (Jul 31, 2011)

I leave Asti's cage open for at least 5 hours each day, but she spends most of it inside. She runs around when I first let her out then usually just lays on the ground or in her cage for the rest of the day. She's a bum


----------



## piperknitsRN (Jul 31, 2011)

As we speak, my bunny Olive is under my couch, loafing. Hard life she has had, indeed.


----------



## funnybunnymummy (Jul 31, 2011)

Gus gets at least 12 hours a day outside his cage.But I'm home almost all day, so he's well supervised.

If he's naughty and starts chewing things (like the carpet!), he goes right back inside. I've found bunny time outs work really well to reinforce training.Your bun isyoung, so definitely keep on her about the carpet chewing. Rabbits can be hard to train (they are so very stubborn!), but with enough repetition they will and do learn. You just gotta be consistent.

Hope that helps!

Rue


----------



## piperknitsRN (Jul 31, 2011)

Dear Rue: She honestly isn't _that_ bad with carpet chewing--it's mostly in the morning when she's feisty. I redirect her to an appropriate "chew toy", or if she persists, put her back in her X pen. The past two days I've had her out for a good 8-10 hours and she's been remarkably good. She's so funny. She likes to go into the computer room (because she's not allowed) and every time the door opens, she runs to try to get in there. Smart little critters. Too smart.


----------



## funnybunnymummy (Jul 31, 2011)

Sorry, I wasn't implying that she was bad, just suggesting that,even thoughshe's young, she can still be trained. Just be consistent and don't give up! 

Hope that helps!

Rue


----------



## piperknitsRN (Jul 31, 2011)

No worries, didn't take it that way at all. She just has an irritating habit from time to time. But other than that I can trust her not to wee on the carpet or chew other things (so far) or dig in inappropriate places. Love some baby bunnies--they keep themselves out of trouble fairly well until they hit adolescence. I can't wait to get her spayed to nip the teenage stuff in the bud. I don't want to end up with an territorial, aggressive doe.


----------



## funnybunnymummy (Jul 31, 2011)

Oh,I totally hear you. Gus is the same way. He's 98% fine being allowed to roam the house, but some days he just won't leave the carpet be. It's like he becomes obsessed with it. That's when he goes back into his cage for a time out. 

BTW, that picture you've got of her is too freaking cute for words! Just wanna kiss her little bunny nose! 

Rue


----------



## piperknitsRN (Jul 31, 2011)

Yes, some times they get very "into" a project and it's hard to get them to think of anything but. 

Thank you for your kind compliments on Olive. She is very pretty, I think. Queen Olive, more like...


----------



## shelisabeth (Jul 31, 2011)

The only time my bun's cage door is closed is when we're sleeping or no one is home to supervise. Even then she usually just stays in her cage. Hot summer and being older = lazy bun bun.


----------



## piperknitsRN (Jul 31, 2011)

If Olive continues to do well, I expect I'll be able to free range her while I'm home for as long as she wants. Cage for night time, though.


----------

