People who let their rabbits run free...
By Pigglies
@Pigglies (9329)
United States
July 28, 2007 1:14am CST
What are people thinking when they do this? I was talking to a coworker the other day and they said they kept their rabbit outside when they had one. As I have two house rabbits, I really couldn't imagine rabbits being fun pets outside. Plus, hutches really don't give them enough room.
So I told them, "That stinks. Rabbits don't do well on wire floor and they must not have been that interesting outside in a small hutch." Them, "Hutch? My rabbit had run of the yard!"
Apparently, they thought since we have wild rabbits in the area, their white/black rabbit was equally wild and well equipped to live just fine in their yard. Nevermind the coyotes around here. And that a black/white rabbit would be an easy target for hawks. Seriously, being stuck outside in a hutch is bad enough and predators still might break in. But run of the yard? Umm... what were they thinking!? I can tell you my two house rabbits would never make it in the wild. At least, not for long. I certainly wouldn't still have my nearly 12 year old rabbit if he was left to his own devices in my yard, or even in a hutch outside most likely.
3 people like this
4 responses
@GnosticGoddess (5626)
• United States
28 Jul 07
I have never heard of people letting their pet rabbits roam around their yard.
I have heard of those who have them in cages or hutches though.
Do you let your rabbits roam about the house? Or do they have their own room or something like that?
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
28 Jul 07
Neither of my rabbits has full run of the house. Floppy (the younger rabbit, probably around 2 years old) gets about half of my bedroom. Sunny (the nearly 12 year old rabbit) used to have a large portion of the downstairs area (anything on the tile). But now he's older and doesn't use the litterbox as reliably. So I built a large C&C cage for him (see www.guineapigcages.com for how to build those).
1 person likes this
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
29 Jul 07
You should adopt a rabbit and then if you want one that is free range, you can find one that is already spayed/neutered, great with the litterbox, and not a chewer.
My older rabbit is a huge chewer who will destroy everything. He doesn't really dig though and he likes chewing wood rather than ruining rugs and stuff. The other rabbit isn't a chewer, but she will dig. And she will chew some things, like rugs.
1 person likes this
@GnosticGoddess (5626)
• United States
28 Jul 07
Oh neat! I had no idea you could train a rabbit to use the litter box! That's cool!
I tried to get my hubby to buy me a rabbit before and I didn't want to have to put him in a cage. But he didn't want one :( But we also had no idea they could be litter box trained! Maybe one day LOL. I know my oldest cat Leo wouldn't take to another animal so if I do it'll be after he passes.
@freak369 (5112)
• United States
28 Jul 07
I had a bad experience with my guinea pigs when I had them outside. I had them in a pen with half of it sectioned off for shade. I ran inside to get something and came out to see the biggest crow I have ever seen in my life sitting on the edge of the pen - I swear he was doing the "inie meanie minie moe" song trying to pick out one of them.
I guess some yard time is fine as long as they are supervised but you are 100% right with your hawk comment. All it takes is a split second and any bird can make off with a small animal.
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
28 Jul 07
Exactly. I'm always amazed if people even had a free roaming guinea pig outside for a month. I've known so many people who kept their guinea pigs indoors but then let them outside only for short times. Heat stroke, their own dogs, hawks, etc. can kill them.
I occasionally give my piggies outdoor time, but I am a nutcase about supervision. So mostly, they just get their time to run around in the house rather than me risking taking them outside where hawks just swoop down.
1 person likes this
@freak369 (5112)
• United States
28 Jul 07
All my critters are free runners. When we get a new one in the flock the seasoned vets show them the ropes (or at least that's the way it looks to us). They know when to sit and squeak and when to get out of the way. They are all litter trained and sure, every once in a while one of them will poop in the corner but hey, I guess that's their own little form of a protest!
@Signal20 (2281)
• United States
9 Sep 07
Wow....lol. They a few clowns short of a circus? lol. I have a friend, and one of her neighbors moved, and during the move the rabbit escaped. This was several years ago, and every now and then you'll see the rabbit running through people's yards....a few tried to catch him, but couldn't. He's actually done pretty well. Probably makes it better it's a neighborhood setting and not a rural area, but still...I thought it was so strange one day to see this lop earred rabbit running through the yards lol.
@Pigglies (9329)
• United States
9 Sep 07
It definitely works in areas without predators. Just look at all the cases where there are rabbits overpopulating the parks. It's really not good for the ecosystem though to just be releasing pets into the wild. And even under optimum conditions where the rabbits are able to take over a park due to lack of predators, they still aren't going to be living as long as well cared for pet rabbits (plus, it kind of defeats the whole purpose of having a pet).
My coworkers try to say that rabbits are wild animals. And while yes, there are rabbits in the wild, they are certainly a lot different from domestic rabbits.
@Gemmygirl1 (2867)
• Australia
30 Jul 07
My rabbit used to have run of the yard, once a day but he usually lived in an aviary with all my Mum's birds.
Things here are different (Australia) but still, there's nothing wrong with rabbits being outside - it allows them to dig like they would do anyway (they cant do that inside!) & they can go nuts out there :)
My rabbit was hand raised inside which was fine but i was in a big car accident & in hospital for a long time so my Mum put him outside in their big aviary - no wire floor & plenty of room. He was fine out there but still, every day was allowed to run around the backyard, so he wasn't bored in a cage all the time.
Hutches are fine, just make sure it's big enough & running around time out in the yard is fine especially if you can keep an eye on him but we have nothing like coyotes, hawks or anything that would just come in & take it so i guess that's why it's different here.
It's ok to have them indoors too as long as you have protective things over your wires & stuff, plus things to keep amused or they'll chew door frames! I only recently saw a show on indoor rabbits actually :) They mentioned all the things you'd have to do but if we got our daughter a bunny or even a guinea pig, it would have to be outside coz we have another pet inside that i don't think would take too kindly to it - a cockatoo!
If they're looked after though, i think they can be happy inside or outside!
