House Bunny Chat!

[Tightjeans]

Can we have a fun chat thread about our wonderful house bunny friends? We are in the process of trying to littt train ours but she just keeps digging it up but makes up for that by being so sweet and falling asleep on me in front if the TV! Love her.
I can't wait to hear about your lovely bunnys

[fiverabbits]

I don't have any house rabbits but I do have 6 that live outside who have to take it in turns to come in for cuddles, checking of claws etc. We have one who thinks he should live indoors as he is 6, we had 2 oldies (husband and wife) who lived indoors for the last 2 years of the lives. He likes to come in and sit on the arm of the chair to eat grapes, carrots and bread whilst he watches Emmerdale and then he is happy to go back outside. He sat under the table for 3 hours yesterday, then got up and went out the door to go back to his home. Also we had one rabbit who came to us as a second homer who never lived outdoors. In the summer she used to go upstairs in the night to sleep on the landing because the landing window was open and in the morning she used to back downstairs all on her own.
Yesterday when my DD brought Dolly our giant lop in she decided that she was going to have a cuddle with me even though I wasn't ready so she jumped on my chest all 4kg of her and looked at me with delight.

[FernieB]

I have Current Bun who is nearly 4 and a large French Lop. He lives indoors and is fully litter trained (did that all himself). He has a cage which is always open - that's his base where his litter tray is and his haybox. He also has a wicker dog basket which he sleeps in at night and also keeps his toys in - he quite often has a rousing game of toy throwing at 3am.

During the day he runs round the house and loves sleeping on the coffee table. He regularly goes to bed with my DD for duvet snuggles. He hates being picked up and does not do sitting on people. He also hates the guinea pigs but will allow them to climb on him whenever they get to play together.

[Tightjeans]

Fiverabbits 6 bunts?! Wow! It's lovely having cuddles with them isn't it? Is bread ok to feed them then? That's good to know! Too much lettuce was making her have a bad tummy.
Fernieb your litter trained itself?! My bunny is finding the whole thing quite hard but we will try on! Any tips?

[FernieB]

Don't give lettuce - it's not good for buns.

My boy was a rescue and had successfully litter trained himself when we got him. I did litter train my previous naughty girl though. Not sure about a method. All I did was to watch where she had decided was a good location and put a litter tray there. They like to have nibbles whilst toileting so try putting some hay in there too.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

To litter train - try keeping back some of their droppings when you clean the cage to put in their littering area. They should (if they aren't mucky blighters like guinea pigs) associate their pooh with their toilet.

Weird how some animals keep a 'tidy' area whereas others just scatter their waste far and wide.

[itsallgonetitsup91]

I have a single housebunny, he was a rescue I keep meaning to get him a girlfriend but he's so much hassle sometimes I don't know if I could cope with another.
He used to be little trained, then he stopped being litter trained when I moved some furniture (didn't move his tray though). I banished him to a single area where he got so stressed, that he got really ill, he literally turned into a bag of bones over 48 hours and he started chewing one of his legs so it went bald and sore.
I felt so guilty(and I was relieved of £300 trying ot get him better) he is now free to roam, piss and shit wherever he likes. I'm worried any further attempts to relitter train him will result in him self harming again. I live in no-pets rented flat as well, so I've deffo lost the deposit.
He brings so much joy though I love him to bits. He is really naughty - destroys wires and clothes, will try and steal food as you eat, headbutts for attention. I don't know what type he is he looks like a normal rabbit that you might see on a roundabout.

[Tightjeans]

So the litter training is going well! Scooped up the poo and wee from the corner she was using into her litter box and now we are a good week into her using it! We have a big hutch for her in the kitchen which we open up when we are at home so she can hop about but we close her up when we are out. She is so sweet and we are really enjoying having her.
Itsallgonetitsup that sounds so traumatic! Is he better now?

[Italiangreyhound]

Can I ask if house bunnies always roam all day? Do they get up the stairs and do they chew the wires? Thank you (pet shopping for a pet for a ten year old animal mad girl!!)

[FernieB]

They chew everything and need litter training otherwise the mess will drive you mad. Some will go upstairs, others aren't interested - that's a personality thing. Rabbits are not the cute, sit on your knee and be stroked pets, that people imagine they are. There are lots in rescues because they failed to live up to the unrealistic expectations of their owners. They can bite, scratch and kick when picked up. My boy, who is the soppiest bun imaginable, struggles like mad when picked up and we have to be very firm to avoid him injuring himself. He will not sit on knees, but is happy for us to stroke him wherever he has chosen to sit.

On the plus side, if you're prepared to do a bit of training, they can be litter trained, taught to obey a few commands/hand signals and are very funny to watch.

[millimat]

I'm fascinated by house trained bunnies. Are they a particular breed?

[BoundForFreedom]

This is a good idea for a thread! We have 3 house bunnies, all with their unique personalities. M is really lazy and greedy and likes to spend most of his time sleeping on his favourite chair. H is really affectionate and totally in love with M, however she has the odd moody day where she'll growl and lunge at you if you approach her. We've learned to just leave her alone on these days. E is very loving and follows me around constantly, she'll quite happily sit on your lap for hours if you let her.
Milli any breed can be a house rabbit, personally I think it's the best way to keep rabbits because they're really sociable once they get to know you.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Aww, I'm finding that I'm falling in love with rabbits (I think with it being Easter and there are loads of rabbity ornaments and pictures about)
I've never kept a rabbit or even had the slightest inkling to.
But they are cute

The Easter Rabbit isn't really a rabbit though , I'm sure it;s a hare.

[FernieB]

70 - that kind of anti-bunny propaganda won't wash on this thread. The Easter Bunny is a bunny. A hare's leaps are too big so all the eggs would bounce out of his basket, whereas a rabbit has more controlled hops so the eggs stay in.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

I see

The hares are being all Mad March and the Bunnys are being all Easter.

We watch "Hop" every Easter as one of our family traditions too.

[BiscuitsofYum]

I love my bun, she used to have free roam of the living room, knew she wasn't allowed of it she was so good. until I took away the carpet because we had a beautiful floor underneath... I came down the next day and she had taken over the whole downstairs and just pood everywhere... All over the sofas, in the dining room, hallway and halfway up the stairs... She's never been so good with her litter training since.. We had to get a pen to pen her to a certain area.. I feel guilty but with our newborn was the best thing.

I still love my cuddles though, she's very affectionate!

[Italiangreyhound]

I am a newbie bunny novice, can anyone please tell me why you choose indoor rabbits instead of outdoors rabbits?

Thank you

[Riley2015]

I love my rabbit but no longer let him in my living room as he chewed wallpaper, wooden skirting boards and my carpet! I keep him in a hutch in the house and let him in a playpen indoors and let him run around the garden now!

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Lots of smiling rabbits 'cos I CAN

[FernieB]

That's exactly the expression on Current Buns face right now!