Moving rabbits outdoors (eventually)

So most of you know my family has been trying to move from Alaska and we may finally have a place in mind, but I don't want to jinx it with too much detail. :X
Suffice to say that if we get this place, the bunnies will be living 'outdoors'. That is to say, they will have a completely enclosed porch-like establishment. This is in a very mellow climate, on the coast again, and temps are unlikely to go very high in the summer, nor very low in winter.
As far as transitioning my three (provided they will all still be with me when I move) from being constant indoor buns to semi-outdoor...what would the requirements be to acclimate them? It will likely be a wet climate, they get a fair bit of rain, but the temps shouldn't go lower than 30 F (probably not even that) in winter and no higher than 75-80 F in summer....the 80's I'm only putting in because that would be an extreme and of course we'd have methods of keeping them cool...but it's unlikely to reach that temperature much with the onshore flow.

The bunnies have had to live in my very warm house for so many years now, they are used to the higher ranges...but the low ones worry me and the dampness. It's going to be much less dry than it is here. I get that hay will have to be kept in check so as not to develop mold...but I guess what I'm truly worried about is flystrike and I don't think we have things like Rearguard in the states.

Just keeping them clean and dry will make the difference, right? (Bums will be shaved to help keep them tidy, it's something I have done while they are getting dentals.) They should be able to handle temps of no lower than 30 F too, yes? I really can't have them back inside the house again, it would aggravate my OH's breathing problems, plus it's really too messy having hay and stuff indoors...that's going outside too.

And it's a lovely enclosed area so I can sit and watch them have more room than they've ever dreamed, which I am ecstatic about! I don't know that they will ever be bonded, but it's big enough I can have one out at a time and they never have to bother one another. I'm really so excited about it I have to keep my mouth shut or I'm sure the offer won't go through! :shock:

Okay...shutting up now... :lol: Thanks for reading!

MimzMum said:

They should be able to handle temps of no lower than 30 F too, yes?

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My unit converted tells me that's just below freezing. They will be fine with that. My two in their permanent outdoor existence I don't worry about down to about 25F (just a snugglesafe and all the windows in their house), and then I might just put an extra snugglesafe in until it's 23F and then after that we'll go for hanging a carpet over the front. But mine are in a small 4'x3.5' insulated playhouse, so I reckon it's probably equivalent to your porch-thing. Although if it's too hot in winter because I've over-compensated they go into the hutch area :roll:

I do think you're right to worry more about summer temperatures and wet. 80F is our high long-term temperature here in Nottingham, if it goes higher than that it's a day or two, but it can stay that high for a week or so. Good shade and your usual measures should be OK though.

Ah, wet. It's wet in the UK: a freind's husband from Canada said the worst thing about the UK was the humidity! We've just had the wettest winter for a long time. It was awful. OK, it wasn't that bad here but I was so glad when I could finally take the newspaper over-floor out of the playhouse for good! Aboleth had a horrible matty bum where it just kept getting wet so the newspapaer helped dry her off. We've never had hay go mouldy except when it's been wet already and I've not stored it properly. I store it in the bales on open-rack shelves in the garage: it's not watertight, the garage, water seeps under both doors, but it's good enough for hay and this winter's lot didn't go off at all. I do keep it a good 2' off the floor though so air can circulate.

Not sure if any of that helps, but the climate sounds a bit like much of the coastal UK! Nottingham is very much NOT coastal (hard to get much further from!) but I used to live much closer and I'm sure there are peeople here with similar setups to what you'll be having who're much more coastal

It sounds great, I really hope it all goes well for you :thumb: