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Bunnies and the cold - esp little ones!

Beatrix Potter

Mama Doe
My little wild bun Spudsey has been living outside with pal Squirrel since about June. She is still very small though the vet says she has put on a bit weight :D but I am really fretting about her being out in the cold! I have to put them outside as there is no access from the hutch into the run, and I have stopped putting them out for the whole day as i've convinced myself its too cold for her. Though when i do put them out, I put a cat carrier shoved full with straw in their run and she never goes in there which maybe shows that shes ok!?

Plus i keep cramming the bedroom with straw but they keep pulling the whole lot out into the living area! Then they use the bedroom as a toilet :shock:I've tried putting their litter tray in the bedroom but they just shunt it about and poo behind it (!) plus the tray was quite big so I guessed it was just in their way :? So yesterday I put in a photocopy box in its place as its smaller for their litter. went out this morning all the straw is out of the bedroom plus the megazorb has been chucked out, box moved and ripped and the paper that was in the box was in the living area!!!!

Going to put some plastic over the mesh soon and chuck a carpet over the hutch at night, but its when they are outside mainly that I''m worried about.

:oops::oops::oops:

PS O/H has said I'll be suggesting he installs central heating next!:lol:
 
ok i think you are fretting a lot but it just means you care. the best thing to do if bun not got a winter coat is try and recreate the burrow feel within the hutch over night... this means dep layers of straw and hay and hidey box inside. in run have a warm area he can get into or attatch to hutch. i let my buns free range during day and only bring in at night which they have a deep warm hutch which in very cold nights i put bankets over and a water proof tarp also i put a cardboard box and deep hay i also give the ma towel which if very cold i arap around a luke warm water bottle and leave in hutch. hopet this hlps if its been very very icey then i bring them indoors but i dont turn on heating etc they need to build up their winter coats at moment its nott too cold but it will get colder! good luck xx
 
ok i think you are fretting a lot but it just means you care. the best thing to do if bun not got a winter coat is try and recreate the burrow feel within the hutch over night... this means dep layers of straw and hay and hidey box inside. in run have a warm area he can get into or attatch to hutch. i let my buns free range during day and only bring in at night which they have a deep warm hutch which in very cold nights i put bankets over and a water proof tarp also i put a cardboard box and deep hay i also give the ma towel which if very cold i arap around a luke warm water bottle and leave in hutch. hopet this hlps if its been very very icey then i bring them indoors but i dont turn on heating etc they need to build up their winter coats at moment its nott too cold but it will get colder! good luck xx

:lol:fretting I am! I don't normally fret so much :roll:but I hand reared Spuds since she was about 2 days old, I lost her 3 brothers :( I think because she got through her hand rearing and is now a over a year old :D I would hate to lose her over something that I could have done something about if that makes sense. I am VERY VERY over protective! :lol:

Thank you for the tips though, think the cardboard box crammed with straw for a bed rather than a litter tray is a much better idea.
 
Vetbed is a fluffy carpet type of stuff, which is warm and snuggly for rabbits to lay on. Take a look on ebay, there is often off-cuts to be had cheaply....
The best thing to keep a bun warm is another bun, and I am sure yours cuddled up together will look after each other just fine.
 
I'm still chucking Scamp out for 6hrs or so in the evening. I brought him a lovely den and stuffed it with hay... haven't seen him in it once he always comes running in from the opposite side :roll:

My pair regularly empty their hutch. It might still be a bit warm for thick bedding. They tend to leave it alone more in winter but check it til the floors bare in summer :roll:
 
Could you get one of those heated, microwaveable, bunny snuggle pads for colder nights ? If you put it under the hay in their sleeping quarters then they could choose to go in there if they relaly did feel cold.
 
Hello :wave:

Perhaps they are still a bit warm, they do tend to always be in their living area at the front of the cage laying down so I guess they're not stupid :roll:and if they were cold they would snuggle down in the straw.

I would like to get one of those snuggle pads but I haven't got a mircrowave (yes I know most people have a microwave:lol:) o/h has told me I can't have one as we don't need one.....

I might try some vet bed stuff though.
 
I'm worried about this too - I have 3 single tiny tiny nethie fosters. Their sleeping compartments are already stuffed with hay daily, & I've put carpet on the floor - & I've got some sheepskin lined canvas horse rugs for really bad weather:?
 
I'm worried about this too - I have 3 single tiny tiny nethie fosters. Their sleeping compartments are already stuffed with hay daily, & I've put carpet on the floor - & I've got some sheepskin lined canvas horse rugs for really bad weather:?

glad its not just me :oops:
 
It's my first winter with outdoor buns. All my own are indoors, & only go outside when it's warm enough for me!!

They are so freakishly tiny too. I didn't expect them to live this long

Yes I know what you mean, I kept Spudsey inside for ages as I didn't think it was warm enough. Plus its the size of them that is most worrying, Spudsey is more like a baby bun:?
 
Don't forget that rabbits live outside in the wild! They acclimatise to our winter.
If you're worried now, just wait until it snows, and your bunny insists on sitting out in it, building a snow-bunny..... like mine,
including my little nethie, who loved playing in the snow...
Pic of last winter.. which they survived :)
bunniesinsnow2-1.jpg
 
I've just bought some "vetbed" off ebay, think it was only about a fiver, worth it if your an overprotective mummy like me!!!:D
 
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