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Wet Bunnies!

ClaireS

New Kit
Hi everyone, its my first time on the site so I hope I have posted this in the correct place.

My question is do rabbits like the rain? I have two female rabbits aged 12 weeks and over the past few days it has rained, the rabbits seem to sit at the front of the cage when it rains which makes me think that they dont mind it. Is it ok to let them in their run once the rain has stopped even though the patio is soaked, or can they come out in light drizzle? Also what do I do with them in the winter? When can I let them out, I hate the thought of them being in their cage all winter. Also what kind of protection can I put up at the front of their cage, plastic? or does it have to be special stuff.

Hope you can help.
 
:wave: Hiya Claire, welcome to you and your buns, is that Treacle aka Sooty?

As for wet buns, I tend not to let the buns get wet as I feel it might make them more susceptable to arthritis in later years. Domestic bred rabbits aren't as hardy as wild buns and their coats are different.
 
Hello Claire and welcome.

I have always found with most of my bunnies that they love being out in the rain, as long as it isn't terrential with a strong wind...lol and the bunnies are in full health, and not too old or too young. As long as you provide a dry area for them to go into should they wish then your bunnies should quite enjoy the odd shower in the summer and warmer months. When you say cage, are you referring to a hutch? If so, then a company called Happy Hutch sell attachable roll down hutch protectors to cover the mesh area of the hutch in wet and windy weather these are made specifically for their hutches, but I am sure can be adapted to fit. A tarpaulin can work during the night, but can leave bunny in darkness during the day if poor weather persists. Perspex can work, but make sure the hutch still recieves enough ventilation. A clear sheet of plastic can be another alternative, but may flap around in windy weather.
Ideally, try to position the hutch in a sheltered part of your garden, where you may be able to avoid having to cover up too much.

As for the winter, I think there is nothing more fun than seeing your healthy bunnies having a romp in the snow, and on a fine sunny winters day, makes some nice photos too. I would avoid putting bunnies out early morning in the frost, or when the days are bitterly cold. I tend to judge whether my bunnies would like to be out, the same way I would chose.

If they do get a bit wet, give them a good rub down with a towel and into plenty of nice warm dry bedding and they will be fine, and will have lots of fun too. I think we need to trust our bunnies a bit more, we mustn't get too precious over them, they are fairly hardy creatures. obviously, care must be taken with the smaller breeds.

If your bunny is a house bunny tho, they can go out, but only for a short period of time, their coat has lost its density, being house bunnies and used to central heating, they will moult out most of the fur they no longer need and therefore, will not have a coat able to cope with very cold weather. But half an hour with mum and dad will be fine.

Annie
 
I will just add a caviat to my mail, having read Lynda's and not wanting to seem I am disagreeing, although my opinion may be different, a light soaking in a shower is fine, I don't advocate letting bunny get soaked to the skin....... :D
 
It's ok Annie, I agree with you too, light rain is fine, but not when it's chucking it down. I try not to let Jasper (6 years old) out in the wet because of his age, younger/healthier buns are more able to cope with getting wet, although I must admit it's a bit of a struggle getting some of them to stay still while they get towel dried. Most of the buns hate getting their feet wet and will foot flick and lick their feet whilst sitting in the rain!

Jasper's run has a clear perspex roof so he's kept the driest. The other buns have tarpaulin over their runs. Gigi's new bun house has a little overhang thingy on the roof which keeps the rain off her (but she doesn't have an outside run yet, still working on that!). This is a pic of buns investigating their first encounter with snow:
snow2.jpg

They soon got the hang of it though and were bounding about all over the place!
 
I your bunny is an outside rabbit, in good health and not a breed with an non normal coat type then its fur is good protection for rain. If you dig your fingers right into the coat after the have been out in light rain the underneath is dry and only the outside is wet.

Bunnies should always have access to dry shelter should the choose though :)

Best wishes,
Tamsin
 
Hi, Thanks so much for all your help on my Wet Bunnies question. I also have another question - Could you please let me know what fruit and veg they can have please, I know im not supposed to give them lettuce and I know a few things that I can give them but it would be nice if I could give them a bit more of a varied diet!

Thanks again
 
This is the food guide I normally try to stick to:
http://home.btconnect.com/Nucleus/bunnyhugger/rabfood.htm
Although there are other things which need added to it but I've just not gotten round to it yet.
Hay is the most most MOST important thing which rabbits must eat, people say 'but I can't get my rabbit to eat hay' they will if you feed them appropriately. After all, when I was a kid, I'd rather fill up on snacks, sweets, crisps, biscuits and chocolate than food which was good for me!

Green beans and mini/baby corn are a bit of a grey area as far as I'm concerned, I'm not sure if they are a 'no no' or not. I keep reading conflicting information about them, so I don't give them to the buns just in case.

Hope this helps!
 
I find that the bunnies quite enjoy sitting in light rain and tend to have a wash in it.
Have you tried the scratch and newton site for run and hutch protection.

Also the rabbit rehome site did have alist of good and bad foods on it.

Tracy
 
My rabbits certainly don't mind the rain. They have plenty of places to go to stay out of it, but are usually good and wet if it has been raining. I usually don't let them out if it is raining in the morning but will let them out if it stops, although I keep the guineas in when the ground is wet as they are far less tolerant of damp than rabbits, who are native to this country after all.
But I do keep my house rabbit Merlin in when its damp as he has snuffles and I challenge his health as little as possible, although he did get soaked the other day when the rain surprised me. The back door was open, but he didn't come in, daft rabbit. So far he is still snot free though, fingers crossed.
 
Wet bunnies

I also have a rabbit (Peanut) that doesn't seem to mind getting drenched! He does confuse me....sometimes he loves lying out in the rain, whilst other times I find him cowering in the driest corner. :? But he has a mesh pen, with a roof covering the majority of it made of corrugated plastic to protect him in harsh weather, that is fixed by hinges and so can be lifted in more pleasurable conditions. He always has the choice, but sometimes he just likes to be silly!!
 
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