Anyone leave their rabbit out at night?

[littl3red]

I'm working on the finishing touches with getting my bedroom rabbit-proofed (possibly involving me getting rid of half of my things) and I was just wondering, does anyone leave their rabbit out at night? I've noticed it's pretty common for people to leave them out all day and put them in a cage at night, but I feel like I would personally be more comfortable with the opposite, putting her in her condo while I'm at school or whatever and then letting her out when I get home and putting her up before I leave again. I guess I feel better because I'm actually THERE and so if she gets into serious trouble, like hurt herself or something, maybe the noise would wake me up? Plus, I would be totally okay if she wanted to come nap in my bed with me. I don't know, I just wanted to know what you guys do and why.

 

[Imbrium]

something about "animal in distress" noises does tend to wake you up... I bolted up from a nap and ran to the living room when my 9 week old lionhead got her head stuck in a grid and I heard her feet sliding on the tarp as she tried to back out. I had supervised her for quite some time and she seemed fine with it, then about an hour into my nap, she was smart enough to jump over the side (I only had it one grid high at the time 'cause the bunnies were TINY) and then stupid enough to try to get back IN by shoving her face through a grid

if things are bunny proofed, there's no reason not to let your bunny stay out... but be warned that while she may join you in bed, she probably WON'T just nap! mine like to climb on me sometimes, plus Nala will occasionally dig at my pillow or tug (or even chew) on my curls. yesterday, I slept in the bunny pen and woke up to a powerful tickling sensation on my nose and realized that a fuzzy little lionhead was sniffing my nose! others here have woken up to bunnies demanding attention... or even peeing on their face

 

[MikeScone]

littl3red wrote:

... does anyone leave their rabbit out at night? ...

I do. Scone was out of his cage whenever I was home from when he was about a year old, and I started leaving Natasha out at night after she'd been with me about eight months (she came to live with me when she was two years old, but it took quite some time for her to settle in).

Natasha jumps into bed with me as soon as she finishes her bedtime snack, and we have some time together with me petting her and her grooming my hands and arms. When she's had enough, she jumps off the bed and relaxes on the floor or plays with her toys or whatnot. From time to time she'll sleep on the bed next to me - I usually don't know it, being asleep, but many times I've woken up in the night to find her snuggled against my leg.

The only problem is the danger posed by an all-black bunny in dim light, if I need to get up at night. Natasha always wants to be close to see what I'm going to do and hope for petting or treats, but she's also pretty good about getting out the way if I'm oblivious, and quite forgiving when I trip over her.

With both Scone and Natasha it took a while after they were free at night to learn that Dad really wasn't pleased with being groomed in the middle of the night, and that even though rabbits are crepuscular and up at the first light of false dawn, humans prefer to sleep until the alarm goes off. They got the message eventually, though. If I don't get up in time Natasha will often hop up and start kissing me to see if I'm ready to wake up, but she's pretty good about finding something else to do if I tell her it's too early.

 

[Apebull]

I know it's not a popular choice, but Twigs is out 24/7 we don't even have a cage/condo for him. He's are only pet except for my bird who lives on a bird play pen so not caged either. So we don't have to worry about a dog/cat fight and the house is bunny proofed. That being said he's not allowed in the bedrooms so I'm not sure how sleeping would go. Like Jennifer said you "napping" with you might not always work .

But it's up to you, if you room is bunny proofed I say go for it.

 

[MiniLopHop]

Some yes, some no. With the 6 rabbits I can let 4 out over night with no problems because they are so good. The other two tend to get into trouble so they have to be supervised. My whole house is bunny proofed, but P&B just seem to find things to get into that I never thought a bun would do- like jumping up onto the kitchen table to eat my garden produce, or opening the kitchen cubbords and dragging a bag of chips back to their burrow to munch undetected, or getting on the counter (how can they jump that high?) and eating anything/everything in the fruit dish- they are VERY food motivated!

As long as you don't have issues during the day then don't worry about at night. I agree, you might want to get some quiet toys to amuse her. I suggest the twinkle mat that looks like fireflies that's made for cats. My rabbits go nuts jumping on the lights, it's pretty funny, but quiet.

 

[agnesthelion]

I don't. Agnes goes in her condo at night. But, with that being said I'm sure I could. She is back to free run all day and she is SO good. Post spay I don't even find ONE stray poop pellet outside her litterbox. And pee is always in litterbox too.

She also isn't much of a chewer. Leaves the carpet, walls and furniture alone. She is just flat out the best bun ever

So anyway, if you are trusting her i think your plan is the way to go. If you are there you would probably wake up if there was an issue. The only reason why Agnes goes in at night is because my bedroom is two floors above her. Too far away for my comfort level. I've napped and laid with Agnes though. I don't get much sleep because she nudges and digs for head pets the entire time that might be your biggest biggest problem!

 

[qtipthebun]

Qtip is out 24/7. At night, she has her little routine...much like Mike's Natasha. I'll feed her and then get in bed (my bed is a mattress on the floor...I'm a poor grad student). I pull the desk chair next to the bed and when she has eaten a bit, she hops over to me and gives me a kiss or two and then goes to the chair. I get up, go snuggle her, give her bedtime kisses, and then go to bed. About 20 minutes later, she leaves the chair to go eat more of her dinner and then comes back to the chair. If I'm still up, I give her another kiss.

Usually she sleeps through the night on the chair. Sometimes, she'll hop up in bed with me to say hi but she pretty much stays a chair-lump all night.

 

[whitelop]

I've left my bun out all night before. Accidentally. hahaha. Sometimes I don't think about her being out, because shes out so much and I just wander off to bed.
When I did leave her out, she hasn't gotten into anything. I'm sure she does the same thing she does when we're up. I think she just sleeps in her box or on a blanket.

I put her up when I leave and shes out when I'm here. I think you're your room is really bunny proofed then it shouldn't be a problem. Maybe do a test run or something.

 

[slavetoabunny]

The only reason I put Sparky and Scooter in their pen at night is so I know exactly where to find them if there were an emergency and we had to leave quickly. I've accidentally left the pen door open at night and there has never been a problem.

 

[kkiddle]

My buns are mostly "out." They are free range in my bedroom, hallway, and bathroom, and the living room is blocked off at night and when I'm not there. It probably wouldn't make a difference if the living room was open (it's the smaller part of the apartment!) but like somebody else said, I like to know where they are. Also, there isn't really any place for them to hide in the living room, so if somebody broke in or something, they'd be exposed; in the bedroom they can hide under the bed or dresser w/out being detected.
I do wonder what would happen in an emergency as they are stubborn as hell about getting in their carrier. I think if it really came down to it, I could get them in fast enough. I'm just not mean enough in ordinary circumstances.

And about them roaming free while I'm sleeping--it's annoying sometimes. I just recently learned that all cardboard objects must be put away if I want to sleep. Millie is a terrible digger, and it's so loud! My mom thought construction was going on when I was talking to her on the phone!:rollseyes

 

[mimosa]

For the first few months I had Harriet she stayed out all night. She actually slept on the foot of my bed (she could hop up). When she hit 6 months old things changed though and she had to stay in her condo at night, lest she wake me by humping my head or legs or arms in the middle of the night.

I would really like for her to be able to stay out at night, but we'll have to see how she does post spay.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

We have six, so, one is out every night on a rotation basis. They have their own bedroom, so they are perfectly safe as is the rest of our house and possesions.

 

[WhyMista]

When I had my holland lop and neth dwarf we left them out at night probably after like 4wks of owning them. We put up boxes to block the bedroomm(it was an efficiency) and the bathroom and they both seemed to get that those were no go zones.

They were more well behaved when we slept than when we let them out when were home during the day. During the day we'd block the bedroom and bathroom off and they'd hop over the boxes sometimes then look back to see if we saw and scamper off but at night they never did.

I will probably let my next bunny out at night once he/she is litter trained in the living room and kitchen

 

[dungeonbunnies]

We used to let Minion and Nemesis free run at night, until Mike had to take the bed apart to take Nemi out of the boxspring at 4 am... since then, they're not allowed free run until we move and can better bunny proof

 

[Ellie]

dungeonbunnies wrote:

We used to let Minion and Nemesis free run at night, until Mike had to take the bed apart to take Nemi out of the boxspring at 4 am... since then, they're not allowed free run until we move and can better bunny proof

Haha, whaatttt?? How did that happen??

 

[dungeonbunnies]

She ripped a hole in the bottom of the boxspring, and just climbed on in! She just sat there digging away and driving us NUTS!

 

[Ellie]

Hahah oh noo... I noticed Buster has started ripping tiny holes on the bottom of mine. Not even sure how to bunny proof a box spring :confused2:

 

[dungeonbunnies]

I seriously considered lining it with duct tape.

 

[littl3red]

Just lay down a piece of plywood in the bedframe and put the box spring over that.

 

[BugLady]

My buns are out all the time - though I leave some doors closed so they're only in the living room, and it's rabbit proofed. Small enough room that I can easily find them, no hiding places other than their cardboard boxes.

I still use a cage, I feed them in there - I figure just in case of an emergency, and I need to move them, they'll have a familiar spot. Rascal loves to nap in there, I make it nice and cozy.

I've experimented with letting them in my bedroom, Rascal does fine, but Appledot poops everywhere (just adopted her last week, she wants to claim everything as hers, even though she's fixed). So I'm limiting that for now.

Oh! As for bed issues - I put pieces of plywood around the bottom of the bed all around, so they cannot get under. Don't want a trapped bunny, or chewed up box spring.