• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

ideas to keep outdoor bunnys warm in winter please?

jenjen01

Young Bun
hi everyone:wave:

my 2 rabbits have a thin layer of shavings in their bedroom at the mo (thats when they are not pushing it all in to the living area!!) and their litter tray but i have read alot of people use megazorb so goin to try to get this soon as it sounds brill.

i just wanted some help on how best to keep them as warm as possible this winter, as its our first? i have got the rainproof cover and going to get vet bed for inside their house but do i put it through the living area to? also do i cover the walls in their house? what do you do/use for your outdoor bunnys?
any help much appreciated.
xx
 
In my first winter I really worried, but if your bunnies are out now they should shoon develop a nice winter coat to keep them warm.

I did however add a thick winter quilt between the hutch and a waterproof tarp, to add an extra layer and make sure it was wind proof. I crammed soft straw into a card board box in their sleeping quarters and put old news papers on the floor.

For really bad nights (or stretches) I invested in a snuggle safe (vets uk usually have them on offer at around this time of year) you warm them up in the microwave and they stay warm for a number of hours, they are pet safe, so buns can't chew them. During this years severe weather I also used hot water bottles. No bun chewed them, but other people have used them in a sealed lunch box so buns can't get to it.

This year they are in the kennel, so they will have carpet on the floor of the shed, straw on the floor and a hutch they can get up off the floor into, along with their snuggle safes and 5 other buns to snuggle up to I think they should be ok. Now I have moved to the coast I don't think I will see too many bad winters :D
 
I just have plenty of bedding to keep him toasties. The wood on his hutch is pretty thick and double layered on the doors, he then has a vetbed type "mat" on his bed floor with mountains of warm hay on top. On the outside he has a towel over the top and fronts, then a wooly old rug then a waterproof sheeting over that. It goes right down to the floor over the whole hutch, and I just lift the side for him to get in and out in the day. When it got really bad last winter I moved the hutch into the front of the garage as there was nothing harmful in there. He seems to cope well with it tbh, and I would imagine 2 bunnies would keep eachother warm too which would help.
 
this will be my first winter with a bun :wave:
Last winter she was brought into the house, hutch and all ,at my ex's and she hated it apparently.
I have a nice, well built, well insulated wooden garden shed that following some house renovations etc will be empty . I was thinking of putting her hutch in there , and getting some lino for the floor .
it's a decent size and even with the hutch in there she'd have plenty of space to stretch her legs and play if it was too cold etc out for roaming the garden.
Any recommendations for flooring / toys etc to make it a good place?
 
:wave:Hi Jen

Well both my single bunnies have made it through 3 winters, last year was the coldest one.

Both my bunnies have a 2 tier hutch. Upstairs has a layer of carpet on it and downstair just newspaper. In the winter time I added vet bed and a fleece blanket to the upstairs part, they also get a snuggle safe but I dont think they use. They sit near it but never on it. I put loadsa straw in their wee bedroom area but agian I dont think they use this either:roll:

On the outside of their hutches they have a thermal cover and a waterproof cover. They have always been fine but you still always worry.
A few days last year it got to -9 during the night, so I said stuff it and brought them into the house overnight:) I would only do this if the temperatures get really bad.
 
I use thermal insulation on the outside of hutches (stapled to the hutch) underneath their covers, and the runs have clear plastic stapled to them to cut out the draught and rain - I just leave them one side open in the day so they have a view.

I fill the bedroom areas with straw on the bottom and hay on top, and the floors of the runs are covered in the same.
 
thanks everyone you have helped me out loads. im going to buy the proper thermal cover and layer inside with paper and bedding, will stuff the bedroom compleatly with hay and some vetbed. this is the plan at the mo but knowing me i will change my mind and do something compleatly different:lol: x
 
Loads and loads of STRAW (not hay - it flattens and isn't as warm). Boxes with straw in for extra snuggle dens. Covered with something insulating at night. Well out of draughts and absolutely no damp. A companion to snuggle with. Also plenty of room to run about in to keep warm :D
 
Is it necessary to have thermal covers as well as waterproof covers....?

I have this:http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=239961
Im presuming the covers I have are waterproof and not thermal ones...


What is a thermal cover?:oops:

If you used a vetbed - woud you put newspaper underneath?

For chewy buns? Is the only option straw?
Now when i bun-sat my neighbours bun - he has straw...I changed it every day as the wee just sat on top of it....do you change straw daily?
 
Is it necessary to have thermal covers as well as waterproof covers....?

I have this:http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=239961
Im presuming the covers I have are waterproof and not thermal ones...


What is a thermal cover?:oops:

If you used a vetbed - woud you put newspaper underneath?

For chewy buns? Is the only option straw?
Now when i bun-sat my neighbours bun - he has straw...I changed it every day as the wee just sat on top of it....do you change straw daily?

I'm fortunate as my buns wee only in the litter tray so my straw in the run lasts about a month!! I used silver insulating wrap from B&Q as cover - it's waterproof and keeps them warm.
 
I have a 2 tiered hutch with an attatched run - over the winter period I intend to cover the top half with carpet, a duvet and tarp - do you think this will be ok? In their bedroom, they have a cat bed, a towel and I am going to get a vet bed.

I was still going to give them 24/7 access to the run....
 
My boys have their bed areas stuffed with straw and hay, with a fleecy blanket underneath, and a thick layer of hat on top of the bedroom box as well. They have pieces of fleece around the hutches to snuggle in if they want to.

I've made panels that fit on with velcro for each wire netting panel of the hutch out of thick clear plastic sheeting - these can come on and off easily as necessary. I also put a layer of carpet on top of each hutch (under the waterproof sheet) last year as it was so cold.

This year the hutches are out in the aviary, so we have now boarded the back and sides of that up ready for winter, and they have carpet squares on the floor which they love sitting on. I've also got some of the igloo style cat beds ready to go in when it gets colder as they love snuggling into those as well.
 
My boys have their bed areas stuffed with straw and hay, with a fleecy blanket underneath, and a thick layer of hat on top of the bedroom box as well. They have pieces of fleece around the hutches to snuggle in if they want to.

I've made panels that fit on with velcro for each wire netting panel of the hutch out of thick clear plastic sheeting - these can come on and off easily as necessary. I also put a layer of carpet on top of each hutch (under the waterproof sheet) last year as it was so cold.

This year the hutches are out in the aviary, so we have now boarded the back and sides of that up ready for winter, and they have carpet squares on the floor which they love sitting on. I've also got some of the igloo style cat beds ready to go in when it gets colder as they love snuggling into those as well.

Oooh where did you get your igloo beds from? They sound ideal - can they fit 2 buns in or just 1?

Thanks, Jo x
 
Personally I wouldn't use vetbed for outdoor buns - it won't keep them warm in winter in the same way that having carpet in your house doesn't keep you warm in winter! It will of course keep their feet warmer but it is the air around them that is cold - to keep them warm you need to provide them with something that will trap the heat from their bodies so that the area they are in warms up and stays warmer than the outside air.

Straw is ideal for this because it is hollow so there is plenty of trapped air which warms up when the bun sits on/in it and snuggles down. If you have a big open space then you can provide a cardboard box or similar to give a smaller area that can more easily be made cosy. I tend to fill it almost to the top with straw and then top it with hay for munching - so that the area is completely packed. That way the bunnies can get right into it and snuggle down rather than sitting on it, and it keeps them warmer as the warm air gets trapped all around them. As they squash it down while moving around, just keep topping it up :)

I also have perspex over the front of the top layer of their hutch as this keeps out the wet and draughts while still letting in light and providing some ventilation round the edges. Personally I'm not a fan of duvets etc over the front as it can prevent the air from circulating which can lead to pneumonia, I don't think it's helpful for the bunnies to be completely covered and darkened, and if the duvet gets damp (even from dew rather than it getting rained on), it will have the opposite effect and will draw heat out of the hutch instead of keeping it in.
 
Oooh where did you get your igloo beds from? They sound ideal - can they fit 2 buns in or just 1?

Thanks, Jo x

I pick mine up from car boot sales - give them a good wash and they're good as new (I'm on a tight budget, so never pay more than £2.00)

You can get them inmost pet stores, or search online pet suppliers for them.

They very in size my boys are nethies, so 2 fit into one igloo comfortably :)

Definitely agree not to put the duvet over the front of the hutch - we only use on in very cold weather, and it goes on the top,back and sides. You always needs some air to be able to circulate.
 
What kind of fleece blanket is suitable for buns? :wave: As Spenser is a single bun I am specially concerned about him keeping cosy in the winter. He does have quite a lot of fluff, which will be a bonus. :love::love:
 
What kind of fleece blanket is suitable for buns? :wave: As Spenser is a single bun I am specially concerned about him keeping cosy in the winter. He does have quite a lot of fluff, which will be a bonus. :love::love:

I buy the fleece throws from Primark that are £2.00 each and take the stitching off from around the edges incase it gets chewed and swallowed. They're quite big, so I cut one into 4 quarters and they boys still have a nice large piece to snuggle on :)
 
Back
Top