How My Rabbit Became Free-roam

Cinnamon Bun is a free-roam house rabbit (more like a RV rabbit because we live in a fifth-wheel RV). She stays in the living room area at night because she doesn't let me and my husband sleep, but otherwise she's completely free-roam. Please read my post "Living With a Free-roam House Rabbit for 3-years" for an update.

 

In the Beginning

 

My Goal

 

Cinnamon Bun came into my life when she was about 6-weeks old. I didn't have any experience owning or taking care of a rabbit, but I had done extensive research about rabbits/having rabbits as house pets.

My goal was to make Cinnamon Bun free-roam just like a cat or dog. It might sound like a crazy idea, but I knew that it was possible because I've heard about free-roam house rabbits. I like trying unusual things. I was particularly inspired by a YouTube channel called Lennon The Bunny, which is a very popular bunny care channel. Lennon is a free-roam rabbit, and Lorelei makes very helpful bunny care videos!

Gradually Expanding the Space

 

At first, Cinnamon Bun was kept in a Kids Play Pen (18.5 sq ft, 26" high), which was larger than the recommended rabbit housing size. She was still a tiny baby so it looked almost too big at first, but she grew larger at an astonishing speed. It may have been my imagination, but there were times when I thought she was visibly bigger after a short period of time, like between when I went to sleep and woke up in the morning or just after going out for a few hours and coming home. Even though her play pen was larger than recommendation by the House Rabbit Society, I decided to add four more panels and make her pen bigger.

Her enclosure was in our living room of the townhouse we used to live in. Although I spent most of my time next to her pen when I was home, it felt like we were apart because of the enclosure that separated us. Also, she really wanted to get out of her pen and she was always trying to find a way to sneak out.

So, I expanded her pen to the entire living room. It made us both happier being together in the living room all the time, even though she marked our couch almost every day which drove me crazy... I could probably have made her free-roam at that time, but we were renting the place and I didn't want her to destroy or mark anything (she used to have a bad marking habit before she was spayed).

Cinnamon Bun relaxing on the couch

 

Free-Roam

 

Moving to an RV

 

When we decided to live in a fifth-wheel RV (our current place), I was afraid that Cinnamon would destroy everything because the interior of our RV is basically made up of wood, paper, and carpet. To my relief, she didn't show much interest in chewing up our RV so I bunny-proofed and set her free in our RV.

Cinnamon Bun on a chair

Disaster  

 

Cinnamon was a little nervous and scared in an unfamiliar place, but she seemed to be enjoying exploring our new place. After playing on our bed with new, freshly washed sheets, she decided to mark them with her urine (in large amount). We had a waterproof mattress protector on so the mattress was ok, but both the sheets and mattress protector had to be washed. It might not seem like such a big deal but the RV washing machine is small and it takes forever to wash and dry things. The mattress protector took two days to completely dry. It was a bad start of our RV life...

After that, Cinnamon Bun was banned from the bedroom but she always wanted to get in. She used to wait right outside of the bedroom door and as soon as I or my husband open the door, she got inside, and when we accidentally forgot to close the door all the way, she sneaked in like a Ninja. Since she liked the bedroom so much, I decided to give her a few more chances. Unfortunately, she was determined to make our bed hers... She didn't mark anywhere else, so it's probably because the bed smells like me and my husband. She tends to get jealous of us!

Cinnamon Bun playing on the bed

 

Solution 

 

I read somewhere somebody had the same problem and that covering the bed with towels helped. So I decided to try that. At first, I covered the entire bed with towels and fleece blankets but it seemed like Cinnamon only marks our head area, so I started to only cover the problem area. After she marked a few times on the coverings, she stopped marking. I still use this tactic even though she hasn't marked our bed for a long time now,  just in case. I put down a few pet pee pads that I got at a dollar store and put some towels over them in the morning, and remove them when we go to bed. It's extra work but much better than washing the sheets! 

Free Bun

 

It probably depends on the rabbit's personality, but making a rabbit free-roam requires patience, determination, and a lot of cleaning. However, there's nothing like having a free-roam rabbit. We feel so much closer and Cinnamon seems happier than before. She has become an important family member rather than merely a pet. It's like having a cat or a dog in our house, but it's more interesting because it's a bunny!