House rabbits

hi

do you think house bunnies miss out on stuff ?, for example like experiencing the natural elements listening to the birds singing lazing in the morning sun listening to the rain etc etc

do you think rabbits are out door creatures and should live outside or do you think they enjoy being indoors with tv's and constant noise does the central heating affect their natural moult?

just wondered what opinion you have on the subject i know some very happy house bunnies who are incredibly tame from being around humans 24/7 and would miss the attention they get and equally i know some very happy outside bunnies who would hate to live indoors ....

regards

I have a house bun and two outdoor buns.

My housebun would never cope outdoors. He likes comfy squidgy beds, warming his behind by the fire and although he knows if he goes to the back door I will let him outside, he rarely wants to (unless he can see an opportunity to wind up the outdoor bunnies). I think he is really happy indoors.

I also cannot imagine either of my outdoor buns would like it inside.....maybe its just what they are used to and they are happy with their lot.

Having had both outdoor and indoor buns, I think it depends on what they get used to.

My buns Gloria and Wolfie just loved being outside. They dug a huge burrow and had a whale of a time escaping and generally being 'bad' buns. However, brought inside they absolutely hated it!

On the other hand, Sasha and her dead partner, Dave, were originally indoor buns, briefly lived outdoors (when Dave was killed by a stoat) and then came indoors. Sasha was a quiet bun but once inside, she has turned into an absolute diva. She ADORES being inside and the whole house is her territory.

After she came indoors, I felt that she maybe missed being outside on a nice day and put her back in the run for a couple of hours when I was gardening. She absolutely hated it and just stayed crouched down looking scared.

Thumper was an outdoor bun for years (although she did spend several hours inside with us every day) but she thrived when she became a full time house bunny.

Believe it or not, it was her choice to move indoors. Not long after we moved out of my parents house and into our flat she started persistently thumping during the night and I knew she wasn't happy out there. This happened several night in a row and when I took her into the kitchen, she stopped thumping!

Her base was then set up in our living room. I used to love lying in bed at night listening to her toddling around the flat She even used to come and visit us in the bedroom in the morning. Her little face always made it easier to get up in the morning

We regularly opened the back door for her to see if she wanted to go out and play but she only went through choice a handful of times. I had to carry her out to her run for exercise on the sunny days. Which are few and far between here

Never say never, but I couldn't imagine putting Molly and Junior outside. They've never known anything but living indoors.

I too have two outdoor bunnies and one indoor bunny. My indoor bun would never cope with outside, hes such a nervous bun and the stress would be too much for him. even putting him outside in the run turns him into a petrified little rabbit. Left him in the run once for a few minutes while i went to get something inside and my mum was hanging out washing and he backed himself into he corner really flat and wide eyed till i came back .... he then hid under my legs. i was persistant in putting him outside to start with convinced it would be good for him but he hates it and its much too stressful for him.

My two outdoor bunnies have never been inside so i don't know how they would cope, but the do love being outdoors especially when the weather is nice enough to go into the run.

The problems with outdoor bunnies is they don't get as much interaction with people as when they are inside, and i think the interaction does genuinely make them happy. Also there is the predators, most have no problem but when my boyfriend was younger one of his buns was killed by a rat when she was out in her run.

I think really its totally personal preference and that they do well in both environments adapting to what they are used to.

Can you miss something you've never had?

i guess not but you can be missing out

My pair have the best of both worlds I think. Bruce would prefer to spend more time indoors and Flo more time out but what they have is the oppotunity to free roam in my small garden when I am home and when the weather is good enough via the cat flap. In the old house there was a lot more indoor and outdoor space but I had to put the buns in a run and they did not like that at all - it was almost like putting them out as an offering to the beast of bodmin in their eyes. Flo also kept herself to herself in the old house choosing not to share her space with me that much. Although Bruce has always been good at demanding nose rubs wherever we have been. Here they have a room that is 100% theirs but they choose to come out and sit with me quite often. They like nothing better that to lie out in front of the telly and show no concern for the noise it makes. In fact Flo often looks at ehr most relaxed during WW1 dramas with bombs going off behind her. If I am home all day and it is settled good weather they go out all day. Flo will generally stay out in the garden on her own for longer, but eventually even she chooses to come back in to have a nap. The garden is a rabbit safe as it is possible to be. We haven't seen a cat in the garden for 3 years now, we don't get birds of prey on the estate, the odd seagull doesn't seem interested. They have hidey holes out in the garden but they choose to come back in. If they hated it in the house they would not do this.

The great benefit to them of living in the house is that I pick up of their slightest change in behaviour and act accordingly. So I knew Bruces teeth were beginning to trouble him a few days ago because I could see the olld small poo being produced, he wasn't seeking me out as much as normal and he was just a bit quiet. They are tiny changes that you would not necessarily notice if you don't live with your buns.

I also see some behaviour that other people have said they would find worrying, but I don't because I see the full cycle of it. They chase each other quite a lot. Flo is quite vocal with it and it can seem quite rough. But I know that they are just playing and flirting. Because I see it every morning at meds time when Flo initiates the chasing. I see Bruce trying to initiate something but annoying Flo. But I also see them snuggle up together moments afterwards. So I think there is an understanding and appreciation between myself and them that only comes from living together.

I agree outdoor buns are used to it, indoor buns are used to the heat, if you were to put an indoor bun outside in the winter it would not have the protection from the cold therefor would not survive, outdoor buns would probs not be happy indoors to warm, plus to much they can destroy lol.

On another note, you stop changes quicker so if they fall ill you can tell much quicker, I think it depends on size of house you have & how much room you can offer them thats safe and suitable, which we dont really have, wires for the vivs, limited storage so my craft stuff is kinda everywhere, must say if the housing were ever to come & do a spot check on the animals it would be my craft stuff they would complain about, the animals are all clean no destruction from them & tidy, however thereis craft stuff everywhere you look.

i think if someone keeps a bunn inside its very unlikely to be ignored and not cleaned which is hugely better than those who buy then stick them at the end of the garden and forget about them especially on the dark cold nights, i think on the whole house bunns are much loved thats why they are in the house.

on the flip side those of us who do keep them outside and love and care for them the bunns have much more stimulation from mother nature the smells the weather and just generally watching the world go by

and those who have the best of both worlds .....

jag wrote: i think if someone keeps a bunn inside its very unlikely to be ignored and not cleaned which is hugely better than those who buy then stick them at the end of the garden and forget about them especially on the dark cold nights, i think on the whole house bunns are much loved thats why they are in the house.

on the flip side those of us who do keep them outside and love and care for them the bunns have much more stimulation from mother nature the smells the weather and just generally watching the world go by

and those who have the best of both worlds .....

I think you have to treat each situation individually. sometimes it involves lots of variables and it is too simplistic to say that one way is better than another.

I have to say the only real nature mine would see if they lived out would be a few more birds and a lots more rain!

Mine are indoor buns, it's all Florence has known. I don't know whether Dougal was an indoor or an outdoor bunny before he moved in here, but I think he was an outdoor bunny in a smallish hutch because he's very funny about open spaces.

Saying that, I do feel guilty that they can't have a run about outside. Florence did enjoy being at a run when she went for bonding. The boarding place they go to they stay in large hutches outside, and they don't seem bothered, but Florence is a lively girl. She would need to get free range time in a garden and I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that because if there is a small gap she gets through it.

They both love attention, and I think they'd be horrified if I put them outside long term, especially Dougal who likes nothing more than to lay down on his rug and snooze. Plus I'm such a worrier I would hate it, I'm bad enough when they are running free range in my flat