[Jovie]

Currently, my buns are confined to their condo, when I'm not home. When I am home, they're allowed to roam free around my room. I want to start letting them roam the living room as well, but I don't want them to run off and hide because it takes a lot of effort to get them out from under the couch, behind furniture, etc, etc, I was thinking about getting them harnesses (sp?) to maybe get them use to the new area and also, to get them to use a litter box when in such area.

is this a good idea? for the most part, they're well behaved buns but they tend to go a little nuts and get excited when I give them more running space, i do think they need more space to play and I know my mom would enjoy having them with her sometimes when she's in the kitchen/living room.

 

[Jess]

Maybe you could just use NIC panels or something similar to block off the spaces where they are not supposed to go? And give them an extra litter box or two until they get the idea. I'm not sure what a harness would do, because I don't think they would really connect that with their boundries. But with Smudge, if he tried to go into a room or somewhere that I couldn't just block off, I would clap my hands loudly, shout his name, or make a weird noise to catch his attention, and then go over and guide him to another area. He got the idea that he wasn't supposed to go into those places pretty quickly.

 

[Jovie]

See, I thought about NIC panels but the problem is that I don't have enough of them and my couch would look ugly with those around it because it's kinda liften off the floor and the buns fit under it.. so.. it's a nightmare to get them out...

 

[Nibbler]

what about invisible netting ?

 

[Sasami]

Have you considered clicker training your rabbits so they'll come when called? When I had completely free-range house rabbits they were trained so that I could tell them things like "go to your cage", "out", "come", etc.

 

[Jovie]

I've heard about clicker training, but I've never considered it, does it really work? is it difficult to teach?

 

[Sasami]

It's pretty easy, honestly. I found a few articles online:

http://www.clickertraining.com/node/306
http://www.clickerbunny.com/Clicker Training Your Rabbit.pdf

It looks like there's even a book out, wow .

I started off by getting the rabbits to associate the click with something tasty (I first used really high-reward treats like banana chips and raisins). Then I taught them to come when called. When they came over to me, I clicked and gave them treats, adding a command word ("come") after a few repetitions.

 

[Purple-Hops]

I use NIC panels, they go all around our room. It doesn't look good but it keeps bunny safe. I know what you mean when they get under the couch! When the spare room door is left open by our roommate, Acacia makes her move. She gets under the bed in there and has hung out for hours once. She didn't chew anything, I'm pretty sure she just played hide-and-seek the entire time. It's so hard to get them out, Unfortunately for Acacia we have to scare her out with a broom handle or something bc she only responds to voice commands in our room. I don't use a clicker bc I'd lose it and break the consistancy but when she does good I click my tongue (can't lose my tongue!!! ) and she's has learned this way.

I hope you have more success in clicker training! Bunnies love all the space they can get!

 

[caitlin14]

i tried using a harness around benji inside once and it was awful! she fully freaked out and started sprinting around so i was having to run after her, and then she karate chopped my arms with her front paws when i tried to get it off So now i stick to NIC pannels also!

 

[Purple-Hops]

Some bunnies take to the harness, others don't.. Personally, I took an assertive approach. Once they freaked inside wearing the harness in their play area where they usually ran around without the harness, I knew I had to bring them somewhere neutral and possibly scary to distract them from the feeling of the harness. Go outside, on an enclosed deck or something. Worked wonders. I wasn't taking no for an answer with my bunnies!

 

[Jovie]

yeah, I also want to get them use to this so I can take them out, but they get really scared when they go outside, I read in a rabbit book that you don't really wanna take indoor rabbits out because they could die if they're not use to the temp. change.

 

[Purple-Hops]

huh?! I can understand taking bunny outside in the winter when the inside temp is dry, warm, and lacking moisture. Likewise in the summer when it's too hot out and bunny don't have shade or cold water.. But I have never had a problem with mine. Acacia needs to be brushed outside when she molts, 5 minutes never harmed her.

Bunnies do fine outdoors in supervision. Just be aware of large birds, strong winds, rain and sleet etc., and pesticides.

 

[Jess]

Yeah, as a person who had indoor/outdoor rabbits for 9 years, I can tell you that that myth is false LOL. You obviously don't want to take your rabbits out on, like, a 90 degree day or something though.


The only temp change issues are in the winter. If you keep them indoors for a long period of time, you can't put them back outside because they loose their winter coat.