Overnight housing for 2 buns.

Im just wondering would a 100cm cage be way too small to house a bonded pair for one night if the weather gets too cold? My guys are out in a shed and run set up and although I have heat pads I am trying to make plans for what to do if the temperatures get too low and I have to bring them inside for a night or two. I want to get a 120cm cage but the space i have is limited and im planning on putting the cage up on a cabinet so that my indoor bunny wont have direct access to them and them him etc.The 120cm cage will be too big for this area so my only solution right now is a 100cm cage. When we had the big freeze two years ago I used a pen but because Poppy pee's EVERYWHERE and i now have an indoor bunny, a setup thats on the floor wont work. If they come inside , it will only be for 12 hours at a time and they will be let straight out to free range again in the morning.Any advice would be great . thanks

:wave: Hi!

Well - I guess for one night it might be ok...but I think its really too small for 2 bunnies...especially at night when they are most active...Id worry they tip the whole thing over onto the floor if there is an indoor bunny theyd be peering down at.

Bunnies cope well with the cold weather...could you rather just make sure they have a well insulated area in their set up outdoors...put snuggle safes in and loads of hay?
Id think they would be fine then and they would have each other to snuggle up to as well. Bringing them indoors into a different warmer temperature wouldnt be fair on them in their winter coats and then the change again when putting them back outdoors... Im sure others will share their thoughts too...

How cold does it get? It's surprising how well bunnies can cope if they've got somewhere snug. They can actually have the opposite issue, they get too warm if brought in as they have developed such a thick coat in response to the weather.

You could look at greenhouse heaters - various types available and they are designed to keep things just off freezing so good just for when temperatures get a bit too low.

If they have a whole shed, it will really help to have a smaller box or roofed space inside. Heat rises so with a full height shed their body heat disappears up to the ceiling, with something just bunny height (even a cardboard box) they can snuggle and keep warmer.

Can you fit a tubular heater in the shed? That's what we're planning for in case it gets down to -20C etc over the winter. They're quite cheap and designed to just keep the frost off.
Even if you only bring them in overnight their respiratory system still has to cope with going from cold air to warm air which isn't great for them.
Lots of people left their buns out in the cold winter two winters ago.

Could you put blankets or strew in side a pet carrier or maybe you could put a small table in and drape a blanket over 3 sides and maybe put a blanket under to trap in as much heat as possible. And if they snuggle up with each over I think they should be fine

Thanks for all the replies. Maybe I have been worrying too much about the temperatures. What we do is keep an eye on the forecast every day and if it goes below freezing we give them two heat pads and our plan was to bring them inside on the nights that it falls below -4degrees. But to be honest this doesnt happen all too often. Even with the cold weather a couple of years ago we prob only brought them in a total of 7 nights in total over that winter.

In my current set up, the buns are in a wendy house and I close off their hatch to the run when it gets dark. Inside their shed they have a hutch which i have filled with straw and hay and I also have an extra large litter box which is nestled in under an ikea lacke table and ontop of the table i have another litter box which is their look out point as it is beside the window. Both of these litter boxes are filled with straw and hay. The only problem is that poppy pee's everywhere and none of these areas are ever dry so my worry is how warm can it be for them if they use these areas as their toilets. I cant use fleece or blankets either as Poppy tears everything apart and then pee's on them. She has my heart broken. Even the heat pads arent safe with her. She put holes in the fleece covers so i had to invest in more and now i put a pillow case over to them protect them but i come out every morning and they are always soaked in wee and have new holes in them.

Its probably a stupid question but would I need electricity in the shed for the heaters mentioned? Thanks

To be honest I think you'd possibly be doing more harm than good bringing them at at -4. It's not so much low temps that are the problem for them but more the temperature changes.

Its good to get all the feedback. I actually thought i was being a bad bunny mum letting it get that low before i would bring them in. i thought other people would have them in at just the mention of frost. So glad i found this forum!

your set up sounds great!
Poppy sounds like a little chewer or possible abit bored and she has found the chewing of fabrics something to get into like a project!:lol::roll:
Perhaps try putting in apple branches, twigs, leaves as well as hawthorn branches and twigs & leaves! This will hopefully encourage her to spend her time chewing on food thats good for her teeth & tummy...and its aproject that she can spend time doing...mine LOVE this but of course the branches dont last long...but I found they were less inclined to chew other things just a thought

Im not sure about the electricity needed...there was thread about them the last few days...I think

If you brought them in you'd need to keep them in, not put them back out after a day or two, the readjustment would be very difficult for them.