Free-Ranging Rabbits
Is a free-range rabbit the best choice for you?
When you're thinking about letting your rabbit free-range in your entire home, there are a few factors you will want to consider:
- Do you have other pets? If you have other pets such as cats, dogs, or other animals that could potentially harm your rabbit, you should not let the rabbit free-range throughout the whole house at all times. Even if you think you have a dog or cat that you trust to be around your rabbit, never leave your rabbit alone with a dog, cat, bird, or any other carnivorous or clawed animal. If you want to have your rabbit free-range in one certain room, sometimes this can be an alternative to letting your rabbit free range all over the house if you have other pets that may harm the rabbit.
- Are you willing to take the time to make your home safe for a free-range rabbit? This means covering wires, outlets, furniture legs, or blocking off areas that may be dangerous if you rabbit gets into it. (See the section about bunny-proofing for more info on how to do this and what to watch out for).
- Do you have carpets? You want to be very mindful if you have carpets in your home about your rabbit's digging habits. Some rabbits do not dig much, but some will dig carpets until the fibers come up. Other rabbits will chew and ingest carpets which will make them sick. If you notice your rabbit likes to dig at fabric (like fleece, towels, etc) consider blocking your rabbit off of rooms that have carpet in them.
- Can you keep your house clean enough for your rabbit? Your house needs to stay clean enough at all times that your rabbit will not eat anything he's not suppose to or get into something that could be potentially dangerous.
- Are you willing to take the time to litter train your rabbit (or adopt a rabbit who is already house trained)? To have a "full-time house rabbit", you need to be sure to properly (and throughly) litter train your rabbit to protect your floors from the highly acidic properties in rabbit urine (and you don't want to be sweeping pellets up everyday!!). You can adopt rabbits from shelters that are already house trained which can make it easier to have a full time house rabbit.
Does a free-range bunny still need a cage?
This question is often asked about free-range rabbits. The answer is YES! Of course, the cage of a free-ranger can be much smaller than for a rabbit who spends over 6 hours in his cage every day. You won't need to purchase many of the things a non-free-range rabbit would need (ex: large cage, play pen). But you do want to be sure that you have a cage that is big enough so that, just in case your rabbit needs to stay in there over night, or for any situation you feel your rabbit would be uncomfortable in, he will be able to sit comfortably in his cage without getting fussy or upset. A good cage for a free-range rabbit is something like an extra large dog crate. This would be big enough for a rabbit to get onto his hind legs (and possibly jump on top of his hidey house, play blocks, etc.), hop about safely without running out of space, and the cage should be big enough so that it will fit his food, water, hay, and litter box. This is an example of a very nice setup for a free-range rabbit. (Click here to see Wotsit's Crate Tour by Chloe Murray)
How many litter boxes should I have?
How many litter boxes you have depends on how many rooms you plan to let him free range in, and how good his litter skills actually are.
At first, you should have a litter box in every room your rabbit is allowed in. Check the litter boxes daily and see which ones your rabbit is using the most and what rooms he might be messing in (rooms where he's not using the litter box and peeing/pooping on the floor!). If you have a room with a litter box that goes un used, and he doesn't mess in that room for a couple of weeks, take the litter box out of that room. If you have another room with a litter box where he uses the box and messes on the floor, consider getting more litter boxes for that room. Finding out how many litter boxes you need is really about learning what your rabbit's habits are; where he likes to go, and which habits you should break in certain rooms. Eventually, you'll know all the places he likes to mess, and you will be able to place litter boxes accordingly.
At first, you should have a litter box in every room your rabbit is allowed in. Check the litter boxes daily and see which ones your rabbit is using the most and what rooms he might be messing in (rooms where he's not using the litter box and peeing/pooping on the floor!). If you have a room with a litter box that goes un used, and he doesn't mess in that room for a couple of weeks, take the litter box out of that room. If you have another room with a litter box where he uses the box and messes on the floor, consider getting more litter boxes for that room. Finding out how many litter boxes you need is really about learning what your rabbit's habits are; where he likes to go, and which habits you should break in certain rooms. Eventually, you'll know all the places he likes to mess, and you will be able to place litter boxes accordingly.
I'm worried about my rabbit trailing litter and hay all over the house?
With indoor rabbits, these things will happen. You'll have to clean up after your rabbit, but there are certain litters and ways you can keep it as clean as possible without following your bun with a dustpan all day.
Litter:
Litter:
- Good litters to use for house rabbits are pellet-type litters such as wood stove pellets (which are very affordable and easy to find) or recycled paper litter that comes in pellet form (the one I've used in the past is Fresh World bedding). Since these litters tend to clump less and are more densely packed than, say, woodpulp litters or newspaper litter, they're harder to kick around and rabbits don't play in them as much. (Below are examples of what each litter looks like).
The best way to reduce the amount of hay that gets tracked through your house is to use hay racks over every litterbox in the house. Obviously, this won't get rid of every spec of hay, and you will still see hay around the house, but that's just part of having house rabbits. But it will definitely help because the rabbit will not be digging through it and kicking the hay everywhere (like he would if the hay was just laid in his litter box in a pile).