Where to Bring Your Rabbit Outside to Play

Since summer is here, for at least half the world, I would like to go over where it would and wouldn’t be safe to bring a rabbit outside too. It’s a great idea to plan ahead for anything related to rabbits, so if you are currently in the season of winter, you happen to have more time to plan.

Where Is and Isn’t Safe?

Safe Places:

• Treeless areas
• Gas, pesticide, and chemical free grass (without barrier on ground)
• Flat Area

Unsafe Places:

• Trees nearby
• Unsafe, non-foragable grasses and flowers in the area
• Sloping ground
• Raccoon and skunk interactive areas

Finding a Location:

There are many concepts to finding locations that would be options for where you can bring your rabbit.

1. Are there trees?
2. Are the grasses and flowers safe?
3. Is the ground flat or not?
4. Are there any possibilities that skunks or raccoons could have been in this area?

These are the four main questions that you should ask yourself before picking a location.

• Trees should be avoided because of any squirrels that may try to get into the pen and harm or annoy your rabbit.
• Grass and flowers should be rabbit safe if you are going to allow the ground to be open to your rabbit. That means that the area of the lawn that you will be placing the little area for your rabbit can’t be mowed.
• If the ground of the area isn’t flat, the pen may not lay flat and could cause your rabbit to try getting out of the pen.
• If skunks or raccoons have been in the area, the potential for diseases are very serious, not to forget that skunks and raccoons are both predators of rabbits.

 

Spectating?

When bringing a rabbit outside for playtime, spectating is vital for a rabbit. Not only are you preventing any predators from coming towards the pen, you are also there in case your rabbit freaks out, feels uncomfortable, or if your rabbit is trying to get out.

Spectating is much more fun when you have friends, family, and entertainment around. Bringing rabbits outside doesn’t have to be super stressful and forceful. If your rabbit gets along with your friends, or if they are bonded with another rabbit, allowing that friend or rabbit to interact with your rabbit could help your rabbit tremendously.

Scenarios:

1. There happens to be a tree nearby:  Make sure to cover the pen that the rabbit(s) will be staying in. This way you won’t end up with a squirrel friend to take care of later.
2. A raccoon was in the area where your rabbit is:  Cover the ground with a solid material. Raccoons can carry diseases that are fatal to rabbits through grass contact. Whether the raccoon was there recently or not, cover the ground. Better safe than sorry if you are unsure.
3. You forgot something inside: If you were to leave something inside that you felt you needed, or you do need, do NOT go inside with your rabbit unsupervised. Even though you have the ground covered, and the pen is covered with a material over the top, you never know what may happen. Rabbits freak out easily, and if a rabbit is scared for whatever reason, a heart attack can occur and kill the rabbit, believe it or not.

 

Thank you for all of the support through this journey. I feel that this is a very important topic, and that many rabbit owners really do want to bring their rabbit outside, but they don’t know what to look for. Please share this post with your family, friends, and rabbit lovers. As always, I will post every other day, but until then, continue to spread proper rabbit care, and I will talk to you soon, bye!

 

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