Can I keep a bunny in my closet?

[BigBlueHen53]

I've seen so many cool rabbit homes... one of my favorites was a totally fenced in run with some open air (no roof) and the rest covered. (I should add that the entire thing was wired-- so no solid roof in the one area--but still hardware cloth). There were straw bales stacked two on the bottom with a space between with one on top (like a pyramid). The rabbits could hop all over these, hide under them, dig through them...the potential was limitless. People get really creative. One sanctuary here just outside of Portland keeps ex-lab rabbits in shelters that resemble chicken coops with dog houses inside. They also house feral cats inside! The cats love the bunnies and the cats take care of any rodents. The cats feel safe, too, since they are ferals.

Cats and rabbits dwelling together? One of my cats eats rabbits.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

I've had both indoor pet house rabbits, caged garage rabbits and hutch outdoor rabbits. I like them in my garage best for me, I just wish it had more windows for them. It's a little dark sometimes. Contrary to some claims my garage is cooler in the summer (shade, concrete floors and top tier ventilation with one end open 24/7) and warmer in the winter (bottles stay unfrozen longer or even don't freeze at all so guaranteed warmer) than outdoors. The garage has electricity for lights, running water, it's quiet, it's nice.

FIXED indoor rabbits can be litter box trained to only pee/cecal poop in a litter box so they aren't such a hassle to clean after. But to keep one your house (or at least the room with its cage) really must be mostly immaculate so it can come out very regularly. If you have a lot of electrical cords, busy amounts of furniture, clothes on the floor, baseboards you can't see but the rabbit can get to, doors that don't latch shut, stuffed animals, paper goods, books near floor level.... Something is going to get destroyed fast.
I've seen a lot of "house rabbits" get stuck in a tiny cage for their whole lives and a lot of "outside rabbits" get some really phenomenal setups and care. So I really hate that adoption policy. But I dislike a lot of adoption policies, so... *shrug*

Your setup idea doesn't sound awful but I'm not sure how it's very much different than getting/building a large cage setup and keeping it that way to save your closet floors and walls and baseboards. If it's indoors it doesn't even have to be that stable or other-animal safe because it's got a whole house around it - as long as it keeps the rabbit in it's fine. Also a baby gate will assuredly be jumped over or chewed. 4' is what's needed to keep adult rabbits guaranteed in as I've had some smaller bunnies jump 3' walls.

Do your research and think about it with the idea of giving the most space with the least amount of damage possible. Consider your living situation practically. When I ended up having to adopt my older sisters abandoned rabbit at like 14 years old I didn't have a situation appropriate for a house rabbit (extremely cluttered house and rooms with a lot of ground level objects and no money to buy the furniture to lift things off the ground) and she didn't get out enough in those first few years. When I moved to another house, we had a room we kept nearly untouched just for the rabbits and let them out every day. Now with them in the garage in extra huge cages they have more space regularly but less extra outside the cage time (they're also farm rabbits not pets, so...) so it's a trade off.

Just do your research, think it through, and do your best.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Just one more comment... modifying your closet (I'm picturing something a couple of feet deep by six feet long, standard closet size, not a walk-in)... then letting a rabbit loose to potty and chew in it, as others have mentioned ... then think about some day wanting to sell that house. The mitigation costs of reclaiming that space could be significant. The new owners might not want their clothing to smell like rabbit pee. Because the urine (which will leak down between the seams and cracks of the vinyl flooring you plan to put down, no matter how good a job you do), may require you to not only have to replace the vinyl, but also some of the sub-flooring and possibly also parts of the wall studs near the floor and floor joists. These are supportive members of the structure, part of the framing. In short, this could prove to be one expensive rabbit.

I'm not trying to dissuade you from your plans. Just trying to get you to look to the future and count the ultimate costs. I'm a "construction brat" and come from an extensive family of builders. So ... just some things for you to consider.

 

[Cryss]

From my research, I concluded that keeping such a vulnerable and fragile animal outside is really cruel. So is housing a bunny in a cage.

Where did you research this?

 

[ginny_e]

Yeah, most rabbit rescues do not like outdoor housing. I've had outdoor and indoor bunnies, and honestly prefer the indoor. I do put mine outside for a few hours in nicer weather, in a run, so they can enjoy the sun, etc.. It is easier to interact with them when they are in, and they can be very enjoyable to have. It is really fun to watch them hop up and down the hallways and do their crazy binky jumps! Ours beg for veggies when we are in the kitchen. I had one that knew the sound of carrots being grated and would bump my foot for the scraps! As far as the smell, it is just properly cleaning their litter box. I have a very sensitive nose, and found cleaning the litter box 2x a week keeps any stink away; that's for one extra large bunny and one small one. Ultimately I think it depends what works for you and your bun!

 

[Matilda Belle]

Cats and rabbits dwelling together? One of my cats eats rabbits.

I have three indoor cats and an indoor rabbit. I was very worried about having them together at first. Come to find out all three cats are scared of my bunny. One will try to play with her when she’s out running around the house but doesn’t let her come up to him too close. It’s so weird. But yes my cats are scared of my bunny. Lol

 

[4 Georgia Hens]

Where did you research this?

Mostly rabbit YouTube channels and a few blogs.

 

[4 Georgia Hens]

Just one more comment... modifying your closet (I'm picturing something a couple of feet deep by six feet long, standard closet size, not a walk-in)... then letting a rabbit loose to potty and chew in it, as others have mentioned ... then think about some day wanting to sell that house. The mitigation costs of reclaiming that space could be significant. The new owners might not want their clothing to smell like rabbit pee. Because the urine (which will leak down between the seams and cracks of the vinyl flooring you plan to put down, no matter how good a job you do), may require you to not only have to replace the vinyl, but also some of the sub-flooring and possibly also parts of the wall studs near the floor and floor joists. These are supportive members of the structure, part of the framing. In short, this could prove to be one expensive rabbit.

I'm not trying to dissuade you from your plans. Just trying to get you to look to the future and count the ultimate costs. I'm a "construction brat" and come from an extensive family of builders. So ... just some things for you to consider.

Thank you for the insight! I agree in that keeping a rabbit in my closet isn’t the most ideal. Because of this, I will probably begin with keeping my bunny in the garage and we will go from there.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Thank you for the insight! I agree in that keeping a rabbit in my closet isn’t the most ideal. Because of this, I will probably begin with keeping my bunny in the garage and we will go from there.

Another possibilty, as I ponder .... if you could keep him off the floor it might work. So, for example, if you took the doors off the closet and stored them in the garage.... then built or purchased him an enclosure that fit inside your closet and was elevated to a height comfortable for you that had a plastic bottom with sides up to 4 or 6" high, like a commercial rabbit cage, that would be easy to clean. You could keep his food and litter and stuff underneath; that would save space and be convenient. You could buy or build something like shelves to mount the cage on and keep his stuff on. See what I'm saying? That way you wouldn't be compromising the structure of your building and you'd still have him in your room with you.

 

[4 Georgia Hens]

Another possibilty, as I ponder .... if you could keep him off the floor it might work. So, for example, if you took the doors off the closet and stored them in the garage.... then built or purchased him an enclosure that fit inside your closet and was elevated to a height comfortable for you that had a plastic bottom with sides up to 4 or 6" high, like a commercial rabbit cage, that would be easy to clean. You could keep his food and litter and stuff underneath; that would save space and be convenient. You could buy or build something like shelves to mount the cage on and keep his stuff on. See what I'm saying? That way you wouldn't be compromising the structure of your building and you'd still have him in your room with you.

That would be pretty awesome but I’m not sure that it would work because my closet has a sloped ceiling...