Allowing your rabbit to roam freely through your home comes with its own unique challenges, but it is definitely achievable with a bit of effort and education on how to take care of your
A rabbit is considered to be free roam, or free range, when they have constant access to the house or apartment, even when their caretakers are away or sleeping. The pet rabbit is treated similar to the way we treat pet cats and dogs. They are allowed to roam around the house and rarely, if ever, kept in an enclosure.
The secret to keeping a rabbit outside in a healthy way is to provide them with a clean, secure cage with a run. You should also let them out of that run as often as possible to roam about in your backyard—which, of course, should have high fences and not be populated by bunny-killing predators.
Although your rabbits may be perfectly happy to hop around your garden and explore and eat, you should still make sure they have lots to keep them occupied. A bored bunny may look for escape routes, so the more you can give them to do the better!
As a general rule, your rabbit should be spending as much time as possible during the day in a large, secure outdoor run. At a minimum, this should be three hours, but the more the better! Remember to make sure your rabbits' outdoor run is safe from predators, safe from escape attempts and has shade on sunny days.
Rabbits like to play and need plenty of exercise to stay healthy and happy. Ideally you want to provide them with up to 4 hours daily of supervised time out of their cage. Rabbits are subject to depression and poor health if they're not provided with daily interaction and mental stimulation.
Because rabbits are social animals, they require daily interaction and attention. They aren't happy languishing in a cage day after day. For several hours daily, they need time outside the cage, to socialize, exercise and explore. To be comfortable with their people, they need frequent, gentle interaction.
Both indoor and outdoor rabbits can have happy, healthy lives so it's up to you and your bunny pals to decide whether inside or outside is best for them (or maybe even a combination of both!).
Like lots of pets, bunnies need plenty of exercise and stimulation. While it's often necessary to cage your rabbit when you're gone or sleeping, confining it to a cage all day is detrimental to its well-being; it denies your rabbit vital exercise, prohibits socialization, and increases boredom and lethargy.
Rabbits are healthier and happier when they have free run of an entire house. But, it's not as easy as opening the cage and just letting them be free. Giving rabbits free roam requires time, training, and lots of rabbit proofing to keep you, your rabbit, and your whole household safe and happy.
Rabbits can be kept outdoors all year round but ideally their resting area should be brought into a shed or unused garage with natural light and ventilation for the winter months or else protected with tarpaulin from bad weather. Also, an exercise run should always be available.
Keep your rabbit in her cage until she's using her litter box reliably. She can have more space to roam once you're satisfied that she's using it consistently. When she's ready, let your rabbit have time out of her cage. Put a litter box out in her free-run space too.
Nope! Another question that people often ask is whether rabbits sleep mostly during the day or at night. And the answer is neither. They are crepuscular, meaning that they are most active at dusk and dawn.
It also helps to have the bunny spayed or neutered. Also, the area where the bunny is going to free roam must be rabbit proofed. So, if you are planning just an over night caging, with free roaming in your room, it should be fine- but bunny proof that area.
Hopping or dancing is a sign of pure joy and happiness. The bunny's “dancing” can include leaping, doing a binky (jumping straight up and spinning in the air) and racing around.
Indoor. House rabbits should never be kept completely confined to a cage. Exercise is vital for the rabbit's health. All too often we hear well meaning but poorly informed people describe rabbits as easy to keep because "they can be caged and don't take up much space!".
Expect your rabbit to be lonely.
In the wild, it would be with other rabbits 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you only have one rabbit, you can give it some companionship, but it will still be lonely at night or when you are away at work. Sometimes a female rabbit will be fine on its own.
Even a house rabbit, that will live indoors and be free roaming throughout your house, still needs a hutch to hop back to at night time. Rabbit owners may worry it is cruel keeping a rabbit inside a hutch. But that isn't true, as long as the hutch is safe, comfortable and meets the welfare needs of your rabbit.
Consider hunting early in the morning and late in the afternoon. That's when the rabbits are the most active and are away from their resting areas. Early morning and late in the afternoon are prime times for rabbits to feed.
Rabbits spend a lot of time sleeping, mostly during the day. The perfect sleeping area for rabbits is a place which approximates a burrow i.e. a roof over their heads and an entrance and exit route. Therefore, house rabbits tend to like sleeping behind sofas or under tables or beds.
Rabbits love being stroked on their foreheads and backs. Always stroke in the direction of the hair, never against the hair (unless you are checking for skin problems). Most also like being stroked behind the ears.
The whole bonding process can take as little as one day or up to several months – it all depends on your rabbits. Usually, it's a few weeks before your bunnies will be living happily together but it is well worth the wait.
A typical rabbit day
They spend this time eating, grooming, digging, foraging and playing. They may investigate a new toy or digging box, follow you around to see what you are doing, or race around burning off energy.