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Outdoor buns? Straw? Fleece? Vetbed?

youthnovels

Wise Old Thumper
:wave:

This is the first winter that I've had my buns outside so I'm just trying to get myself prepared with all the right bits and bobs.

At the moment I give them lots of straw in their bedding area, then the rest of their hutch is covered with non slip lino. They've been completely fine with just that and to be honest Archie and Blanche kick all of their bedding out and then down the stairs anyway :roll:

Ideally I want to stop using straw because they tend to kick it all over the patio and it's slowly wearing my dad down at the constant mess everywhere (he's very neat and tidy!).

For winter I intend to get the hutch covers that P@H sell for both of their hutches. I also want to get snugglesafes for them both. If I were to line their sleeping area with fleeces or vet bed would this be warm enough, or would you highly recommend sticking to straw/hay?

I thought about putting a fleece down and then laying hay on top but A&B sometimes wee in their sleeping area so the fleeces would need washing constantly and the fact that they would be covered in straw would start causing problems.

Any ideas on non messy outdoor bedding would be really apprecaited :wave:
 
For the winter I'd still recommend the straw for a bottom layer, covered with loads of hay that they can snuggle down into.
Vet bed would be warm for their tums and feet, but theres nothing for them to snuggle into, and the straw and hay also gives an extra layer of insulation between them and the hutch walls.

We recommend either a good layer of bubble wrap or the silver backed insulation underneath your hutch covers too:D
 
I agree, the thing about snuggling into straw/hay is that it can trap the heat all around the bun's body, whereas vetbed etc only traps the heat on the parts actually in contact with it. You could try putting a smaller box into one area and stuff it with straw/hay in the hope that they at least have one snuggly area.
 
Last winter mine were up to their knees (if rabbits had knees) in straw - everywhere - run, bed, boxes to hide in etc and they were fine. They need the straw to keep warm and plenty of it!! I like the idea of the hay on top, might do that - Benson and Lola thank you for that one, they'll enjoy that this winter!! :D
 
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