Many people think of rabbits solely as outdoor pets. However, rabbits can make great indoor pets as well. There are pros and cons to each arrangement of course, but ultimately I think the house rabbits win as far as being more interesting pets. Before you decide to put your rabbit outside, get your facts straight about house rabbits as well.
Rabbits as Outdoor Pets
In the past, rabbits were often viewed as outdoor pets. Rabbits are still viewed as outdoor pets to some extent today, but more and more people are keeping their rabbits inside. Outdoor living arrangements can work however, depending on your location and your setup. Having arrangements that work and arrangements that are preferable are two different things, but outdoor living arrangements may be acceptable in your area. Of course, there are a wide variety of living arrangements possible for outdoor rabbits and some may be better than others. Living free in the yard and just roaming around would be one of the most dangerous arrangements, while a heated and cooled outdoor covered unit could be quite nice.
Pros of Keeping Rabbits Outside
1. The mess stays outside. While this arrangement isn’t going to be less messy (it might be more messy), at least the mess is outside.
2. You might be able to have a larger enclosure outside due to a lack of space inside your house. Bigger is usually better, as rabbits need their exercise and space.
3. Droppings can be easily collected to use as fertilizer (depending on your setup, you may even put the rabbit hutches directly over flower or worm beds).
4. Taking advantage of free food is always a plus. If your setup is directly on the ground which is covered with grass, you’ll not need to supply as much hay, veggies, and pellets for your rabbits.
5. Some rabbits are especially scared of humans and may not want to constantly be near you. When rescues take in feral rabbits, they are often kept in large outdoor enclosures to enjoy each other’s company and live out their lives.
Cons of Keeping Rabbits Outside
1. Outdoor enclosures that are properly built will likely cost you more than an indoor enclosure. Indoor enclosures can be less sturdy, while an outdoor enclosure that isn’t sturdy enough will be dangerous because your rabbits could be eaten by predators.
2. Predators are of course a huge danger to outdoor rabbits. Not only do you run the risk of predators actually breaking into your enclosure, you also run the risk of your rabbit suffering a heart attack while frantically trying to get away from the predator that is attempting a break in.
3. Temperature can be a problem depending on where you live. Heat stroke is a huge risk if you live in hotter areas. Even in the shade, rabbits have a tough time handling temperatures over 75 degrees Fahrenheit. If you live where winters get excessively cold, your rabbit isn’t going to fare well either. Your enclosure must be able to protect your rabbits from heat, cold, rain, snow, hail, and other potential weather conditions. In addition to normal weather conditions, people in some areas must also worry about hurricanes and tornados as well.
4. Rabbits are prone to sore hocks if kept on wire floors. While an outdoor enclosure doesn’t necessarily have to have a wire floor, it’s more common that rabbits kept outside are on wire. Rabbits have delicate feet that are not made to stand on wire all day. Providing a resting board is a good solution. Another solution is to use plastic slats as flooring, or grating that is thickly coated with rubber (this is used in many animal hospitals).
5. Rabbits kept outside can be much more easily ignored than those kept indoors. Perhaps your rabbit is sick, but you are in the house watching TV. You may notice the signs of illness too late, if at all. If you tend to ignore something you cannot see all the time, having an outdoor rabbit probably isn’t for you. While rabbits are social animals, they tend to be more social with each other than humans. So an outdoor rabbit probably won’t mind not having much human interaction. However, not having that interaction is probably going to cost that rabbit its life in the event of a medical emergency. If you aren’t outside at a time when something serious happens to your rabbit, you’ll notice the problem too late. While of course you also aren’t always home anyway, you probably spend more time indoors than outside.
Nowadays, many people keep their pet rabbits inside. As with outdoor living arrangements, the quality of indoor living arrangements varies widely. Some people keep their pet rabbits in a small pet store cage so that their rabbit cannot even stand up all the way, while others give their rabbit the run of the house. Despite being indoors where they are seen often, indoor rabbits can still be neglected. Before you decide to adopt house rabbits, look into various types of enclosures and think about the best interest of the rabbits.
Pros of Keeping Rabbits Inside
1. Rabbits can get plenty of interaction inside. If you have house rabbits that live free range, you may find that no matter where you are in the house, you are often noticing their activities. If your rabbits have an exercise pen setup, put it in a location where you’ll pass by them frequently. You’ll notice signs of illness much more quickly because you are inside with your rabbits. You don’t live outside, you probably aren’t even outdoors a whole lot, but if the rabbit pen is right in the family room, it’s pretty hard to ignore the rabbits.
2. Indoor rabbits tend to be less messy. Outdoor enclosures usually involve a wire floor and droppings going onto the ground or into a metal try. Cleaning the cement underneath a hutch can get annoying, as could emptying out a tray. Indoor rabbits often use litterboxes. It is easy to train your rabbit to use a litterbox, and litterboxes are very easy to quickly clean.
3. Temperatures inside your house tend to be less extreme. You probably don’t want to live in a hot house in the summer, and you probably don’t want to freeze in the winter either. If you have to evacuate for a disaster such as a tornado, at least your house will be safer than being outside. Of course, if you can you could bring your rabbit to safety along with you.
4. Indoor rabbits tend to live longer than outdoor rabbits. Indoor rabbits aren’t exposed to the elements, typically don’t have to worry much about predators, and are often better cared for.
5. Rabbits are just plain more fun inside. You get to watch them run across your floor quickly, then get to the rug and bounce high into the air and just start dancing (commonly referred to by bunny savvy people as “doing binkies”). Rabbits never cease to delight you when expressing their joy. Seeing your rabbit stretched out on the linoleum with feet kicked out behind her is pretty cute too. These are the little things that you just wouldn’t get to enjoy if your rabbit was outside. I’ve even sat there watching my rabbits and laughing at them as they’ve chewed up my good shoes before. Sometimes they are just so amusing that all you can do is laugh.
1. Your rabbit may quickly become quite the little beggar. If your rabbit has the run of the house or just access to the kitchen, they may quickly become a beggar and want all kinds of scraps from your salads (or bananas that you intended to put on your cereal). While veggies probably won’t make them too fat, too many bananas certainly will.
2. Rabbits like to chew things. Rabbit teeth grow continuously and they need to chew. Not all rabbits are avid chewers. Some rabbits will even stick to only their own chew toys. However, if you have a $10,000 wooden china cabinet, I would advise against letting your rabbits have the run of that room.
3. Some rabbits are diggers, particularly females (but not always). Digging can quickly damage carpets. It’s also quite annoying when you just did a load of laundry, set the clean laundry on the floor, walked away for 5 minutes, and then came back to see your rabbit in the center of the pile digging away. Spaying or neutering your rabbit can help with digging, but it isn’t a guaranteed cure to their desire to dig.
4. You may have other pets inside which are considered predators to rabbits. Perhaps your dog will continuously try to break into any indoor enclosure, but your dog is never allowed outside off leash. You can often easily separate your pets, but it can be risky since it only takes one mistake for a disaster to occur.
5. Rabbit urine can be smelly and hard to get out of carpets and furniture. Male rabbits may spray to mark territory. Generally however, neutering takes care of this problem. For health and behaviorial reasons, your rabbits should be spayed or neutered no matter where you keep them.
Before you get rabbits, it is a good idea to think about where you’ll want to keep them. Look into various setups. See if you can visit the setups of others before you decide on the best setup for you and your rabbits. Rescues will generally be happy to help you with setup ideas. You can often see exercise pen setups, free range house rabbit arrangements, and perhaps even outdoor runs at various foster homes within a rescue. Some breeders may let you look at their setups as well. One thing to consider with breeders though, is if they have the best interests of the rabbits in mind or not. If they’re truly worried about providing the animals with a good setup, theirs might be something worth looking at. However, if they tell you that small cage sizes are fine, you probably want to look elsewhere. Money is involved with breeding, and the smaller the cages are, the more rabbits they can breed and sell. Beware of breeders who tell you that rabbits aren’t social creatures and that you’d do better to have only one. Rabbits are very social creatures and having two or more is best. All you have to do to see evidence of rabbits being social, is either look outside at the wild rabbits near you, or go to a rescue and see the many groups of rabbits peacefully co-existing. Remember also that whichever enclosure you choose will need to stand the test of time. Rabbits can live 10 to 12 years (or more) and you probably won’t want to keep having to change your setup. Do your research ahead of time so that you’ll know if you are truly ready for the commitment that having rabbits requires, whether they are indoor or outdoor rabbits.
