It's freezing - how to keep them warm?

I just went out to see to Smudge and it was below freezing in the shed! His water had frozen over and I am worried. How can I keep his hutch warm? I have now taken the fan heater out to warm it up and the temp is now 15 degrees. When I was little we had an outdoors hutch and the rabbit froze to death! :shock: I was wayyyy to young to know about things like this but now I love my Smudge to bits and don't want to find a stiff bun in the mornings!

Please be very careful using a fan heater in a shed - it could easily start a fire if a piece of hay or straw gets into the element!

If bunnies are healthy and are used to being outdoors then they should be absolutely fine with the cold as long as you have provided them with a clean, dry area to snuggle into if they want to. You could also buy a snugglesafe (microwaveable pet-safe heat pad) to put in overnight if you are worried. My two lops are in a playhouse and run, and they have a hutch in the playhouse which is packed with lovely soft straw and hay. Mind you, they spend most of the time out in the run sitting on top of one of the hideaways :roll:

I wouldn't advise warming him up that much! Bunnies cope well wit hthe cold BUT not with changes of temperature. Going from -1 to 15 and back again could put his body into shock!

Instead of the fan heater, get a snugglesafe heat pad which you can warm in the microwave and put out when it's cold. It gives a bit of extra warmth.

If there is a way you can cover the hutch so it doesn't get too cold that will help too. I have got perspex "windows" which go over the mesh of my hutches on cold nights to keep as much of the bitter cold out as I can.

In all honesty the bets way of helping bunnies keep warm is to keep them in pairs so they can snuggle up together like they do naturally in the wild! Maybe you could find a local rescue and talk to them about bonding Smudge with a doe?

Mines an inside bun so no personal experience. From what other people have said though I have some ideas:
Hay in a box for him to snuggle in.
Bubble wrap and a sock on his bottle. You could also try and create a widget to stop it freezing.
Snuggle safes.
Blue has an electric radiator in his room cause theres no heating in there......make sure the wires are all protected though and its not too warm or he'll loose his winter coat.
Hope this helps!
x

Thanks for all the suggestions. One further question - could he bite through the snuggle safe? What happens if he does? H eis a bitter and loves rubber.

i dont think he could bite through one as they seem very strong, not flimsy plastic if you no what i mean

Cornishlass said:

Thanks for all the suggestions. One further question - could he bite through the snuggle safe? What happens if he does? H eis a bitter and loves rubber.

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It would take a hell of a rabbit to bite through that plastic, it's solid....the most mine have ever done is nibble the cover.