Anyone got experience of house bunnies

[Ohthatiswhy]

Hi we are looking to get a pair of bunnies which will have free run of our house.

We are preparing all of the cables with bunny safe coverings and intend to get a large hutch in the utility for night time/when they want to retreat etc

How did you house train your bunnies and do I need a stair gate to stop them hopping upstairs and potentially falling down them?

Any advice or tips would be very welcome please

And would you recommend 2 males/females or one of each?

My sister has a house rabbit. It eats everything, the leather sofa, leather dining chairs, table cloth, books etc. It has lots of things to chew so it's not that's he's got no other choice.
He also pees on the fabric sofa so he's banned from that room.
She has to be careful of leaving doors open in the summer as cats try to get in the house to get to the rabbit.
He was supposed to be fully house trained when she got him (from a rescue centre) but he poo'd whenever he wanted. You have to clean him out at least once a day or it really smells.
My sister loves him but 5 years down the line she wishes she'd got an outdoor one.

Had a house bunny years ago, he was an entire male. He was grumpy, chewy, stinky, randy, and to be honest a bit of a pain, he was a dwarf lop. Honestly if I had my time again I’d get a cat. I wasn’t a cat person but we took in a feral cat, she’s now tame, very little effort and loved by the whole family.

I've had rabbits all my life and they had free run of our garden and kitchen, they'd come inside overnight in winter if it was very cold. We always had neutered male/female pairs, once they've bonded they are incredibly loving to one another bar the occasional spat. We never had any issues with chewing wires, they would hop up onto the sofa for feeding and stroking (none of them ever liked being cuddled so we didn't push it) and they were meticulous about only peeing/pooing in their trays. They will chose where their spot is and you just need to put down a cat litter tray there with some newspaper, sawdust and hay, and fill it with any poos/wee saturated sawdust from elsewhere until they get they idea, ours almost never peed anywhere other than their trays.

I think rabbits make great pets and their reputation for being boring/grumpy comes from rabbits who have horrid lives shut in a cage all day with little interaction. They have amazing personalities just like dogs or cats if you spend enough time with them. And they can be trained too, ours know what 'dinner time' means and will run to their hutch as soon as they hear someone shouting it.

We have 2 house rabbits, a male and a female, both neutered. They do chew stuff, carpets etc.
We keep ours in a kind of pen with a litter tray in and a little hideyhouse with vet bed in for them to sleep on.

We let them out for a run in the evenings so we can keep an eye on them.
They litter trained themselves really. They do poo every now and then all around (but they do just sweep up. They never wee anywhere except in the litter tray.
They’re pretty cute x

Thanks for the responses! Quite a bit to think about. I guess like all pets each one has an individual character. We have a lot of time to devote to a pet and there is always someone home.

I would love cuddly rabbits but if that’s not their thing that’s fine too. The pissing on the sofa would be an issue for me cleaning out a hutch and litter tray twice a day would not be an issue.

silkpy. Do they choose a spot within the hutch to wee or am I chancing a litter tray in front of the tv/fridge/other awkward spot!

Boy rabbits actively kick out to spray piss as a dominance or fright thing. It's not nice.

They'll steal your digestive biscuits given half a chance and you'll end up trying to wrestle them back .

school a pen sounds a good idea, thanks for that.

I imagined that mine would be let out all day with utility door left open so they could retreat to their hutch and litter tray but it sounds like they might need a closer eye on them.

We had a house rabbit for years and he was lovely although he found children too loud. He would bark when we had guests (think he thought he was a dog!). He went to the toilet in a tray near his hutch and didn't really chew anything other than plants 🙄 he loved to squeeze himself down by the side of the washing machine which is very dangerous so we always had to be aware of that.

Thanks spoon piss kicking is not appealing at all, maybe girls then.

meg

cushion did he cuddle?

Did anyone’s rabbits go upstairs?

Did anyone’s rabbit bite them? Silly question but is the bite like a nippy puppy bite or do rabbits clamp down like a parrot (bad experience with a parrot)

My brother in law and wife had a large house abbit. It was disgusting with rabbit faeces everywhere, lots of chewed things and old straw and newspaper all over. It was always smelly but they were convinced it was ‘trained’ to only go in one place - they were oblivious. It was also vicious - assumedly because rabbits aren’t meant to live in human houses and found it quite stressful.

Mine chewed the telephone cable at the bottom of the stairs but I don't recall her ever gallavanting upstairs.

cherry good to read the negative experiences too thank you.

So worst case scenario I’ve got a viscous pair of rabbits spraying piss that don’t like a cuddle chewing the furniture.

On the upside I’ve got a digestive sharing pair of happy bunnies that are litter trained.

Good luck! I wouldn't ever do it again. Discovering that your whole house stinks like rodent (they're not but they do smell like them) is a horrible thing.

We've had a rescue bunny for the last 18 months. She was a total bitch when she first came but now is one of the most loving creatures I've ever met. Very dog like in a rabbit body. She has free roam now but keeps to her own spots, especially sitting in her own litter tray (wood pellets not used as a little tray) at one side of the toilet or scratching the cat litter out of his box. The cat and bunny don't scrap but are still wary of each other. She's a British giant which might help!

She will come up for cuddles and will head butt you till you respond, unlike some bunnies she's happy now to be held. She was a biting and growling thing when she first came but time and patience has totally changed her.

No issues with chewing furniture, although boxes and papers are fair game as well as the occasional shoe if it has been somewhere interesting.

She never digs in the garden but will dig out her cage! No smells but could be down to bedding and cleaning I suppose. I know some owners don't clean the housing down every time which might make a difference.

I would wholly recommend a house bunny, even the grumpy ones!

Annie I was thinking of lops but maybe a giant breed is easier to keep track of in terms of washing machine gaps etc. Thanks for responding.

He sometimes hopped up for a cuddle on a night but it was very much on his terms! And yes he used to go upstairs! But we had a baby gate anyway so never got far!

Hi, I have 2 house bunnies. They have full run of the landing, stairs, bathroom and kitchen. We also open up the living room to them when we are home. Mine chew the skirting boards and that's it. I don't mind because compared to some bunnies, it's nothing. They don't like to be handled but they do come for a stroke on a night while we are in the living room. We also have 2 cavalier spaniels and they aren't a problem with each other. My bunnies are brothers, from both and they are neutered.

Honestly my bunnies are the best pets I've ever had, they are litter trained so don't make a mess and they sleep and do their own thing during the day. On a night they are really active and very funny to watch when they do their binkies. If you are on Facebook, I definitely recommend you join some of the rabbit groups. They give great advice. I'm on we love our house rabbits and the rabbit owners uk. I will warn you that these groups are very serious about rabbit welfare. They're brill for new owners though.

Brothers from birth that was meant to say!

Thanks mum I will take a look. I hadn’t thought of opening up only part of the house. Maybe the none carpeted part for when unsupervised.

Mine was litter trained. He used to sit on my lap whilst I stroked his ears.

Downside he would sneak behind the settee and chew the skirting board.
He would chew the bottom corner of the door despite it being open.
He ruined many of my trousers because every time I went into the fridge he would tug them to get my attention and chew them at ankle height because he was kale obsessed.
He terrorised the cat.
He would attack the hoover.
Fur bunnies all over the wooden floor.
Despite being castrated he was a sexual predator and would shag slippers and cuddly toys.
He used to get poo stuck to his nether regions which resulted in a wash.
If he was displeased that I'd locked him in his cage he would stamp his feet.
Depite that and being named after Rolf Harris I loved him.

My rabbit bit me and I've still got the scar on my hand. I was on the settee with the cat on my lap and the rabbit was jealous. He jumped up, bit me, bit the cat, the cat screamed and run off and the rabbit chased him. Rolf was a dwarf lop. The cat was much bigger.