Rabbits - indoors or outdoors?

[JumpJockey]

The DDs really want rabbits, and I said last year they could have them as a reward for extreme bravery (medical challenge). Since then DD2 hasn’t been able to as immunosuppressed, but now she can and they want to get stuck in. We’ve not had pets before, I’d be happy with a cat by DH and DD1 dead against. The question is, are rabbits best indoors or outdoors?
Pluses for outdoors:
More natural behaviour (i.e. access to grass, more space)
Would get the DDs out every day to tend to them
Minuses for outdoors:
Neighbours have cats and we know there is at least one fox in the area
Decent sized hutches/enclosures are v pricey
Our grass is full of things that the websites say they shouldn’t eat

Pluses for indoors:
DDs more likely to play with /interact with them
They’d probably need to come indoors in winter anyway
Minuses for indoors:
We don’t have a room to give over to them (only suitable one would be the utility, and that gets v hot and cold because of tumble dryer) and otherwise the kitchen/family room is full of stuff that would get nibbled
Less opportunity for natural behaviour, I’d have thought, unless you take them outdoors every day (is this expected for indoor rabbits?)

What advice can you offer? Thanks!

Hi OP
We have two house bunnies and absolutely adore them. They are hilarious and adorable. Yes they can be a bit pesky but no more so than a kitten or puppy. They go in a foldaway pen at night in the kitchen and the rest of the time they have the run of the kitchen and living room. They are very easy to litter train. The odd dropping misses but because they are hard there is no mess on the floor.
To protect wires and skirting boards we use the panels from a pen all linked together- I’ve attached a pic of them.
They have a tunnel to play in as well as chew toys and watching them binky around us in the evening is often more entertaining than the tv! They also cuddle up together which is really cute.
We don’t cuddle them but they do get petted every day and love having their noses rubbed!
I’d say if the kids want bunnies then go for it. They’re lovely pets.

I remember when I was younger, a girl who lived near me had gotten a rabbit and kept it in a tiny hutch. Sure, it was safe, but it was alone and scared. It was so timid.

Years later, my family got me a guinea pig, and again, it didn't seem right to keep her alone, so we got another one. Now we had two little piggies and their cage was very small to keep them inside all day, we had a large grass area but it wasn't safe to let them out in it without some kind of cage.

My father built a large enclosure for them and it was amazing for them, they loved it. We would let them out into during the day but bring them back to sleep inside.

I assume the same would be true for rabbits, its better to let them play and eat in the grass like is their nature but bring them in at night so they don't get stressed by dogs and cats. I hope this helps