Rabbits outside

Question
Dear Lee

Many thanks for your fabulous and comprehensive advice. I
never wanted to cause the rabbits distress and would hate to
think that I am misinterpreting their behaviour outdoors for
pleasure and inquisitiveness when it's actually confusion and
most probably fear. I feel much happier knowing that to keep
them indoors is not reducing their quality of life in any way. And
I am thrilled to have so many lucid arguments for those people
wishing to contest my rabbits housing arrangements!

Regarding your comments about parasites in the grass. My vet
had recommended that I feed them grass daily - it is pesticide
free, but I hadn't been washing it. Should I be? And the other
herbs and leaves from the garden too?

Yours gratefully,

Sarah


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Followup To

Question -
Dear Lee,

I have two beautiful male house rabbits. They live indoors, but
friends think it's mean of us to not allow them outside. So I
bought them a couple of harnesses so they can hop around
outdoors. The thing is, that it necessitates breaking the 'no
picking up the rabbits' rule. It's the only way to get them out and
then get them in again. They seem to enjoy being outside, but
get incredibly stressed when the time comes for them to go in
again. I'm not sure if it's worth it. The most recent time involved
one of them showing the whites of his eyes, sweating and he
made the first noise I have ever heard out of him. It was horrible.
He was terrified.

Other people have suggested that it would be OK to let the
rabbits outside without a harness and they will come back of
their own accord. I'm not so sure this is likely! There is no way to
rabbit-proof the back garden and it's quite big.  They love to
find a little shady patch of dense weeds around the edge of the
garden and they will sit there for ages munching on grass and
without moving. But they've never shown any inclination to come
out of their own accord. I'm not completely convinced they enjoy
the experience at all.

I would greatly welcome your advice. Also, the rabbits have
reversed roles in terms of who mounts the other! Does this
mean the rabbit doing the mounting is now dominant? I find it
fascinating - they have never fought.

Many thanks for your time,

Sarah


Answer -
Hi Sarah,

the folks who think it's cruel to keep them indoors, in my
opinion, don't know what they are talking about.  House rabbits
can be perfectly happy with living indoors, playing, exploring
and enjoying their life with their owners.  The people who say no
leash, they will come back to you, are just nuts.  I would never
leave my guys without a leash on or in a carrier.  It's not that you
expect them to leave you on purpose, but if they get scared and
make a dash who's to say it's always going top be back to you?  
And will they be able to find their way back in an area they have
never mapped out before?

It would be cruel to keep a wild rabbit indoors or in a cage, as
this is enough to cause enough stress to kill them.  However we
are dealing with a domesticated animal that depends on us for
all aspects of their care, and we are required to give them safe
and secure living areas, and the most safest and secure areas
are inside our own houses.  They are no longer used to
outdoors.  They grow up in our houses, and that is all they know
and are used to.  This is why you can always spot a domestic
rabbit dumped in a park.  They generally just sit where they
were left, tehy don't intuitively know where to go, or even to
seek cover from ground or air predators.

Indoors, house rabbits are safe from external predators, from
outdoor illnesses and parasites, poisonous plants that they no
longer can determine are bad for them, harsh weather and the
occasional mystery liquid all animals seem drawn towards to lick
up.  You won't bump into the neighbor's cat or dog who want to
try out the latest toy you seem to be showing off.  You won't
have a hawk come down and take your rabbit out because to the
hawk, he's an easy meal as your indoor bunny won't know where
to hide from the hawk.

You will save your rabbits pain and suffering indoors.  They will
be safer because if you have a relatively clean house, they will
never pick up bot fly eggs on their fur simply by brushing them
off blades of grass romping in the yard.  They won't get other
parasites they might pick up from the dirt and from broken
down fecal wastes from scavengers like raccoons and possums,
or heartworms or ringworms from dog and cat wastes.  They
miss all the fleas, flies, ticks and mites that are out there just
waiting for a furry host to hop onto.  ANd then you have the
problem indoors, and possibly whatever they pick up may like to
live on you, too.

If you want to be inspecting your rabbit thoroughly on a daily
basis, as well as their fecal pellets (checking for worms, etc) and
are not averse to paying higher vet bills and having to give your
rabbits more medications than you normally would, then you will
want to put your rabbits outdoors.

Now, what some people will do, and possibly if you do believe
outdoor exposure is important, if you have a screened in porch
or sunroom that has a good door mechanism, you could clean
the floor area with vinegar (first clean), and let that sit awhile,
and the next day bring your rabbit out for some time and see if
he enjoys the new area.  Other people have built (into their
house) a run that begins inside the house, and goes outside the
house (totally covered and screened, with flooring).  

If you would ask house rabbit owners whether they think their
rabbits miss the outside, I don't think you get many that would
say 'yes'.  We expend a lot of time and money and energy
making indoors a neat place to want to hang out.

So, my answer to your question, is no, house rabbits are much
safer than rabbits that go outdoors.  Of course what you mean
by 'outdoors' is important.  On a screened in, clean sun porch
free of insects, pretty safe.  In a covered, screened pet stroller
taking a walk, pretty safe.  Roaming through the backyard eating
plants and grass in the open, not safe in my opinion, for all the
reasons listed above.

If indoor living was so cruel to rabbits, why do they live 5-6
times longer than a rabbit who lives outdoors in the wild all their
lives?  It is estimated the average wild rabbits lives roughly 2
years.  Hutch rabbits (outdoors in a hutch) if they make it 5
years, they did pretty good.  Indoor house rabbits can live 10-12
years.  That doesn't seem cruel at all to me.

Write back anytime.  And don't take any more rabbit advice from
these people.  I'd suggest picking up the House Rabbit
Handbook, 4th Ed. from Marinell Harimann (amazon or your
local big bookstore).  Also the House Rabbit Society web site
(www.rabbit.org) has hundreds of great articles on all aspects of
rabbit care.

Lee

Answer
Hi Sarah,

thanks for the kind reply.  Per your question about washing outside greens, yes, I would take the time to rinse them under cold water.  I'd do it with any produce I'd give them.  I use one of those plastic scoruing pads on the carrots to get all the dirt off their skins.  I don't peel them, I just scrub the surfaces clean.

If you've ever noticed your car after a rain, you get a dirt residue from where the rain drops dry up.  Rain brings down dirt and stuff from the air as it passes down to the ground.  That stuff, at the very least, along with chemicals the raindrops pass through, wind up on the surfaces of your outdoor plants.  

I would wash/rinse ALL vegetables/greens I give them, store bought or from outside.  Personally I don't feed them any from outside anymore unless I can be sure they are pesticide free.  If I gardened I'd wash my greens (or carrots) before giving them to my guys.

Lee