House rabbits? DO I want one?

Elsiecat

Elsiecat

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I went into a petshop this morning and saw a very fluffy white bunny. After cooing over it for a few minutes I noticed some big pink indoor cages.

I work from home so said fluffy rabbit would only usually be caged at nights.

I've heard you can train them to only poo and wee in the corner of the cage in like a litter tray? How do I do that?

Do they make good indoor pets?

:D
 
I friend of mine has a house rabbit who she adores. She's trained it to go to the toilet on a litter tray. Not altogether sure how she's done it but she did mention when she first got him that she wanted to try out clicker training, so maybe she did that? :confused:
 
Lots of rabbit proofing will be required,
Rabbits easily litter train,

I would however recommend getting either a rescue rabbit or from a breeder, purely before rabbits from pet shops will not have been socialised at all, and you will be hit and miss as to whether bun will be a grizzly bear in a rabbit costume or a friendly bun.


I run a rabbit rescue, so have seen many cases,
Buns are better when in pairs, they are very social animals, need lots of space (not just a hutch as used to be)
They are pretty much mini horses, should eat constantly, can potentially have teeth problems and gut problems if diet isnt right (90% of rabbits diets should be hay)

Buns must be able to hop 3 times across their hutch, stand on their back legs without touching the top of hutch, and have room to lay fully stretched, if the indoor hutch was just for night, then Id say it would be ok, but not for much longer, if you are having an indoor bun, dog crates can be good, and you can build them up inside with different levels.

They are very rewarding though, we have 25 buns at the moment, and they all have different characters and quirks.

Good luck with whatever you decide
 
Rabbits are amazing! I have one called Quincy who is super sociable and quite dog like.

He has to live with my parents now as it turned out I am very allergic to him (big ahhh please) but I dealt with it for a couple of years and many hayfever tablets!

He used to have an indoor cage but it wasn't big enough really, it depends how much your bunny would be out but even dwarf breeds might be a bit crampt (although I did see some extra huge ones recently and you can get two level ones) Personally I only have him out when I am in the house. So now my dad has bought him this awesomely ridiculous two level hutch in the style of a swiss chalet that lives in the conservatory mostly.

They can have such characters honestly, I don't think you'll be disappointed. Just check for allergies!
 
Thanks for all the encouragement you're not helping my spending ways :D

I do love rabbits, I had one that died a few years ago at the age of nine :( Back then though I wasn't aware that they needed such an amount of hay. Might seem daft but can they eat my horses hay?

Hmmm I don't know how I'd find contact with a breeder but I'll have a nosey. Do you think my kitten and my potential bunny could reach an understanding :eek:
 
Owning rabbits was very different years ago,
A lot more research into buns has happened since then and standards are completely different,
I buy bales from local feed shop, so yes they can eat horses hay, you'll find its probably better quality than what you buy at small pet shops,


What area are you in and I'll have a search if you like.

Or preloved, gumtree, google rabbit breeders in your area.
 
Denbighshire in North Wales. I definitely want a baby though :D Can't decide whether I want an extra fluffy one or a normal bunny.
 
I have a house rabbit he is litter trained he has two poo trays and 9 times out of 10 he gets it right didn't at first. He lives in a big room with all his toys food ect and goes out in the garden all day.
 
Ditto the bunny proofing :) You'd be surprised at what they try to eat. I used straw to line the indoor hutch as it was easier to pick up and keep the house clean. Some bunnys get a sore bottom from being inside, not sure why but they do, so it would be nice if you could get a run and let him/her out on a nice day for some grass :) Pics when you do get one... i like rex rabbits, coats like velvet and a lovely attitude.
 
By the way he used to rip up the carpet and chew the skirting boards but it was a age thing he is two now and only destroys things if noone is in the house he gets very upset if nobody is in how he knows I don't know but we always make sure someone is there to baby sit him its like having a puppy to be honest
 
NOT THE SKIRTING BOARDS :eek::eek: That would drive me mad!

Hmmm good idea about straw, shavings are a nightmare to pick up!

How did you litter train them?

I hadn't thought about a run to be honest, will have a look online later when I'm not working to fund my small zoo :rolleyes:
 
My best friend has two house rabbits (one of which was a rescue case) and they're so well behaved. She works part time so she leaves them in their big cages for a couple of hours and then when she's pottering about the house they're free to roam! The only place they're not allowed at the moment is upstairs (she has a mouse problem and the floorboards have been pulled up - potential hazard for nosey bunnies!).

I'm pretty sure they're 'potty trained' because whenever I've been there there's never been any rabbit droppings on the floor or anything. The only issue is wires (Dora chewed her way through the TV cable) but once she made wires inaccessible that problem was solved.
 
Every time he went to the toilet or try pick him up and put him on the tray and every poo that was lying around put onto the tray to encourage him also when he started weeing in the wrong place we sprayed it with vinegar as it puts them off. He is lovely and has a million toys always has endless food little lights on at night, its a pain in the arse catching him from the garden every night and putting all his stuff out I find my horses less effort lol but can't help but laugh with his little squishy face hopping around chewing your feet wanting to play.
 
You just have to have a few 'pellets' in an area you want them to poo, even in a hutch we have a tray that we take out and tip out regularly, so he doesn't smell really, well not by horsey person standards haha! It took him a while to get this when he was a young thing and it not very reliable but lots of others are better trained than him (he is about 7 now)!

Here are some pictures, never done pics before.... the sizes have come out a bit crazy!!

He does poo on this rug!

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Relaxing

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This is the cat's bed he loves it! He does wee here - territorial thing...

SAM_0580.jpg


SAM_0598_zpsb0888ed5.jpg
 
This is our new bunny who's coming home at the end of month. He's a mini lop, will have hutch in abed but planning on having him in house quite regularly.
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House rabbits are fab!

They've got lots of charactor and are lovely to have around.

an indoor cage def won't be big enough, Alfred has the cupboard under the stairs with a medium size dog crate at the end (which is in the kitchen), he is in their over night.

Most of the time I'm at home he has free range downstairs, and he's got a pen in the kitchen (at the other side of the dog crate) which he can also go into during the day if I'm out so he's got a choice of where to go and plenty of space to move around.

You need to move any electric cables tho :D
 
if you want your house to be destroyed then go for it!
Ours ate through our phone line, the tv cable, a phone charger, a wooden chair leg, many games boxes and the bottom hem of my curtains. Since we called the BT man out to see why our phone's weren't working and he informed us the cable had been eaten and charged me £315 for a replacement bunny has become an outside rabbit!!
 
I think i must own the only Monster house rabbit!
I felt so sorry for her in Pets at Home, she was in the adoption corner as no one wanted her and she had gone over a year old.
So for a donation of £10 i brought Bella home.
Rabbit proofed the living room (so i thought), bought her every luxury going.
Decided to get her spayed as it was quite hard walking across the living room with a rabbit hanging off your foot trying to hump it. She had all her injections, just incase we got a nice day i could put her in the garden in the sun. (ha ha)
I've lost count of the cables she has managed to gnaw through in the space of a milisecond. Including my headphones that i was wearing at the time (twice!) My laptop cable (thank god for ebay!) and now she has took a liking to the wallpaper.
She loves my OH even though he doesnt particularly like pets (often find her sat on his lap, chewing on his hair or licking his ear). I spend atleast 10 mins chasing her around the living room every night to get her back in her cage, he looks after her one night and apparently she just jumped in when he went over to her cage...(bitch springs to mind!!)
Rabbits generally litter train themselves, they pick a corner and you just put the tray there!
Have fun if you get one! I just hope you dont end up with a monster!
 
Ditto the Bunny proofing!!

Had one once when i was a kid who lived outside in a hutch but would sometimes come in the house when weather was bad for a little run.

She gnawed on several cables but once chewed the telephone cable in half- so you had 2 separate bits: the bit that plugged in the wall then the bit that connected to the phone :eek:

Bunny was fine but dad was not amused!

Think you can buy nasty tasting sprays or covers to put on wires.

re kitten- think it would prob be best age to buy a bunny while its younger so should be easier to tarin. I had a cat when i was a kid and various bunnies and the cat took very little notice of them and some of the rabbits would sometimes run at and chase the cat! Although i dont think i would ever want to leave them alone together.

Also would still reccomend checking his/her bottom daily to keep an eye out for fly strike. Horrible, horrible condition.
 
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Our bunny lives in the kitchen, she goes in the garden on nice days although she seems to be agoraphobic and sits behind the hut all day! She used to have a large dog crate in the living room but since we moved she's moved into the kitchen and we've taken away the crate so she's loose all the time. She is litter trained and her tray is under the breakfast bar thingy, wood pellets on the bottom topped with a thick layer of hay.
She's not the tidiest of pets but she's part of the family, albeit a family member who is very very closely supervised when in the presence of any wires!
 
They can make really friendly pets but some can be aggressive (just generally bad tempered).

Once they have a taste of chewing something it's nigh on impossible to stop them. Mine was never interested in cablesthankfully but had an obsession with paper. She would often be found with a (very important usually :rolleyes: ) sheet of A4 neatly nibbled all the way round until there was just a little disc of the middle left. She also ate paperback books and curtains.

She was extremely friendly and would rush up to see you when you came in and try to climb onto you lap. She's sit for hours being stroked. Like most rabbits she didn't like being picked up but tolerated it.
 
You're all putting me off reading this :eek:
But then when I think about potential fluffy bunny cuddles it makes me want one again.

Cables sound a nightmare with them :o

The pictures posted are all ADORABLE :D
 
My indoor bunny was litter trained but was a compulsive wire chewer, he got evicted after my son got electrocuted and we came down one morning to a smouldering front room! We got him a girlfriend and he was happy outside :)
 
mandwhy said:
You just have to have a few 'pellets' in an area you want them to poo, even in a hutch we have a tray that we take out and tip out regularly, so he doesn't smell really, well not by horsey person standards haha! It took him a while to get this when he was a young thing and it not very reliable but lots of others are better trained than him (he is about 7 now)!

Here are some pictures, never done pics before.... the sizes have come out a bit crazy!!

He does poo on this rug!

SAM_0568.jpg


Relaxing

SAM_0612_zps9724502d.jpg


This is the cat's bed he loves it! He does wee here - territorial thing...

SAM_0580.jpg


SAM_0598_zpsb0888ed5.jpg
Click to expand...


He looks like the bunny version of my ragdoll cat colour wise!
 
I'd defo recommend a rescue one like previously mentioned, they all all handled well, neutered and vaccinated, all for a donation of what an unspayed, unhandled rabbit from a pet shop would cost. I've got two rabbits, outdoor ones though, unfortunately even though they are both vaccinated against it one has contracted myxi. So is in the house at the mo, they have a 30% chance of survival if they're vaccinated against it. While he's fighting the mixy pretty well( as previously mentioned they're digestive system is similar to a horses) hes started to get stomach problems today from lack of eating (he's being syringe fed at the mo) I'd describe it as colic in horses so its not looking good for him :( back to the vets in the morning. They are wonderful pets tho but do get two as they need a friend. Male and female (neutered obviously!) make the best partnerships. Also it's not as simple as popping them in together some bunnies will fight when they first meet, the RSPCA will do the bonding for you. Good luck with your bunny search. Also if you get a longer haired rabbit they need brushing daily and they molt, only just realised since having him in the house, my clothes look like I have a moulting retriever at home!
 
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