Outdoor rabbit

supergunner

Hi we recently bought a Lionheads rabbit and are looking for advice on keeping him outdoors.
My plan is to have his hatch open and let him roam around the back garden and lock him into his hutch at night.
Is this approach ok or will he have to be kept in the hutch unless we are there to supervise him?
Thanks in advance

ceekay74

Are there any cats in your neighbourhood?

Cherry Blossom

You would need to rabbit proof all your fences baring in mind that rabbits will burrow deep into the ground. You will also need to completely cat proof your garden eg by putting up cat netting at the top of all your fences and gate etc. You will need to make sure you keep your pets vaccinations up to date. Personally I would never leave rabbits outdoors unsupervised as there are just too many risk factors.

You should also be aware that it is cruel to keep one rabbit on its own, they are very social creatures and require company of their own kind. Just be aware also that you can't just get another rabbit and throw them together, they need to be properly introduced.

supergunner

Cherry Blossom wrote: »

You would need to rabbit proof all your fences baring in mind that rabbits will burrow deep into the ground. You will also need to completely cat proof your garden eg by putting up cat netting at the top of all your fences and gate etc. You will need to make sure you keep your pets vaccinations up to date. Personally I would never leave rabbits outdoors unsupervised as there are just too many risk factors.

You should also be aware that it is cruel to keep one rabbit on its own, they are very social creatures and require company of their own kind. Just be aware also that you can't just get another rabbit and throw them together, they need to be properly introduced.

We had originally planned on getting two dwarf Lionheads but I was quite surprised with the size of this one . He was much larger than I imagined and I wasn't sure if we had the room for two.
He won't be able to burrow as we have artificial grass
There is cats in the neighborhood so leaving him out will not be an option.
He won't be able to burrow as we have artificial grass
Thanks for the advice

Cherry Blossom

Is there a reason you can't have him free-ranging indoors? When I had rabbits that's how I kept them. Wouldnt have it any other way tbh.

Zapperzy

If there are wild rabbits nearby you'll need to get him vaccinated.

I had an outdoor rabbit when I was a kid. If I were to get another rabbit again I'd get a pair and keep them indoors. In hindsight he was lonely, probably bored and most likely didn't have much of a life for the 22 hours a day that he was caged on his own. When he did come indoors he used to love lying on the mat in front of the fire and was very clean. Only watchout was he loved chewing wires. In the end a mink broke into his cage and killed him, something to keep in mind

em_cat

Cherry Blossom wrote: »

Is there a reason you can't have him free-ranging indoors? When I had rabbits that's how I kept them. Wouldnt have it any other way tbh.

Ha, when I tell ppl we’ve free range indoor piggies they look at me like I’ve 10 heads they go outside only if I’m home and even at that they have coverage as we’ve rooks, magpies and seagulls in D8.

Graces7

supergunner wrote: »

We had originally planned on getting two dwarf Lionheads but I was quite surprised with the size of this one . He was much larger than I imagined and I wasn't sure if we had the room for two.
He won't be able to burrow as we have artificial grass
There is cats in the neighborhood so leaving him out will not be an option.
He won't be able to burrow as we have artificial grass
Thanks for the advice

Maybe rethink re artificial grass?

https://www.petforums.co.uk/threads/rabbits-and-artificial-grass.511211/

there are a lot of similar reports; google?

supergunner

Thanks for all the input.
After advice about the dangers of roaming outdoors we will keep him indoors whenever possible.
But there will be a couple of hours each week that we won't be home so he will have to go to the outside hutch.
I fear he will set off the motion sensor on the house alarm if left in the indoor cage

LorelaiG

Leave him in the indoor cage and set the alarm so the motion sensor in that room is not on?

baby and crumble

supergunner wrote: »

I fear he will set off the motion sensor on the house alarm if left in the indoor cage

Check with your provider, our cats don't set off our motion detectors in our house. Rabbits wouldn't even be getting as high as cats would so I don't see why it'd be a problem?

When I had rabbits I had two, one died so the other one was on his own. He was a dwarf rabbit.
We got an outdoor triple storey hutch. The bottom bit was wired and open to natural grass of the lawn, he spent a lot of time there, and there was a ladder up to the next level and then the top level. It was lovely and shaped like an A. He moved between the storeys a lot. I think it stopped him being bored.
We took him out in the evening and into the house to run around. We also had cats and HE chased the cats!!

But I have also seen cats kill rabbits.

Only drawback from indoor rabbits is that the pee in all sorts of places.