Outdoor bun keepers

Good morning all,

As the weather is starting to get colder just wondered what kind of heating you have in your bunny sheds to help keep them nice and warm?

Any recommendations?

I dont use heating sorry so i cant advise any apart from using loads of straw and blankets. Im sure someone will have some ides though. xx

You can get a pet friendly warmer which is like a hot water bottle .

A normal healthy rabbit grows a thick coat so doesn't suffer in the cold. They love to sit in the snow for example :roll: Having said that I have my hutches covered during the night or bad weather and they have lots of hay and hopefully a friend to cuddle up to. I don't have heating in the playhouses or sheds as I really don't think it is necessary. Rabbits are supposed to be fine at temperatures down to -5c. Dampness is more of a problem so try to keep their bedding dry.

Damp and draughts are no good for rabbits but they tolerate cold really well. Mine are in an insulated shed but have not had insulation ever before and have been fine. Getting a couple of guinea pigs soon so the insulation will be more for their benefit!

I have indoor rabbits now, but in the winter all my outdoor rabbits coped really well with extra straw/hay and in the depth of winter we covered the front of the hutch to protect it from the worst of the weather.

When I had outdoor rabbits, I had a tubular greenhouse heater in the enclosed part of their dog kennel. They don't get very hot, but take the chill off when it's really freezing they are quite cheap on eBay.

I have a 6 year old female rabbit, I have never had any problems with her before, she is friendly, uses a rabbit toliet, has a large hutch with run, we have just brought her a new hutch and attached it to her run, it has 1 ladder from the run which goes to the first floor and another ladder which goes to her house/bed, it is an outside hutch, she has only been outside. since we have had the new part of the hutch and attached it to the large run area, the run has not changed or the ladder, however for 2 weeks now she either stays in the house/bed and will not come out to eat or drink? or I put her in the bottom run and she will not go up into her house/bed regardless of the weather, she will not go up the ladders at all, and this was not a problem before? I am at a loss, I am worried she will either starve to death, or get sick from exposure, and help would be most welcome?

pauline mcgorrin said:

I have a 6 year old female rabbit, I have never had any problems with her before, she is friendly, uses a rabbit toliet, has a large hutch with run, we have just brought her a new hutch and attached it to her run, it has 1 ladder from the run which goes to the first floor and another ladder which goes to her house/bed, it is an outside hutch, she has only been outside. since we have had the new part of the hutch and attached it to the large run area, the run has not changed or the ladder, however for 2 weeks now she either stays in the house/bed and will not come out to eat or drink? or I put her in the bottom run and she will not go up into her house/bed regardless of the weather, she will not go up the ladders at all, and this was not a problem before? I am at a loss, I am worried she will either starve to death, or get sick from exposure, and help would be most welcome?

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If you start a new thread, you'll be likely to get more answers but personally I find many rabbits don't get on very well with using ramps/ladders and are better suited to using a stair system that they can hop up as hopping is more natural.
Given her age, if there are any other changes (e.g. reluctance to move, not cleaning herself as well as before etc) I'd discuss the possibility of arthritis with my vet & see if they are able to diagnose/treat.
I'd also offer cozy/shelter places in the run area.

Hello! I'm going to hop on to this post in hope of a little advice also!
We have had our two girls since July, they're now roughly 5 'moths old and therefore encountering their first winter.
They are outdoor rabbits and it's very noticeable that their winter coat is coming in now which has eased my worries a fair amount.
We are converting a tin shed we have for them to go in to shortly BUT with regards to their bedding/sleeping arrangement im concerned.
As most hutches they have a sectioned off area at the top of their hutch for their bedroom but this seems to be the space they use to go to the toilet not where they sleep. They have a hutch cover which covers the top of the hutch and they just seem to sleep in the small space they have behind that cover. In the bottom of their hutch they have a little house which I plan on putting a wooden bottom on and filling with straw and hay but I still worry they won't use this. Where they sleep at the moment is near impossible to fill with layers of bedding so I'm just trying at the minute to place down more layers of newspaper and a thicker layer of wood chippings. Any advice on how to get them to use cover as a sleeping area would be much appreciated! Thank you!!

I haven't kept rabbits over winter before but as you can see from my post below I have stocked up on straw and hay, we are converting a shed to keep the draughts off them, I've bought a thermal cover for their water bottle and a snuggle safe heat pad JUST in case it is needed but don't want to use it unless totally necessary. I brush them regularly too to try and help their winter coat come in. I jut plan on feeding them more hay throughout winter. Hope this helps! It's a learning curve for us too so I'm just doing as much research as possible and going to keep a close eye. They come inside each evening for an hour for cuddle and tv time haha so I know I'd notice quickly if there was any concerns.

I honestly don't think that any healthy buns that live in a shed would ever need a heater! Lots of trays stuffed with hay or straw should be fine for them. Maybe a snugglesafe if the temperatures go below freezing.

2x snugglesafes for when it's below -5 but other than that blankets and hay..

They need places that are warm and cool: I find mine choose their area to sleep in depending on how hot/cold they are and it is So mine have the option of going where the hay, snugglesafe (like a wax-filled hot pad that cools slowly) etc. is or sat in the cold run under a tarp... :roll: I've never worried about them, except if there's a cold snap when they haven't moulted into their winter coats and especially with two of them, they should be fine.

pauline mcgorrin said:

I have a 6 year old female rabbit, I have never had any problems with her before, she is friendly, uses a rabbit toliet, has a large hutch with run, we have just brought her a new hutch and attached it to her run, it has 1 ladder from the run which goes to the first floor and another ladder which goes to her house/bed, it is an outside hutch, she has only been outside. since we have had the new part of the hutch and attached it to the large run area, the run has not changed or the ladder, however for 2 weeks now she either stays in the house/bed and will not come out to eat or drink? or I put her in the bottom run and she will not go up into her house/bed regardless of the weather, she will not go up the ladders at all, and this was not a problem before? I am at a loss, I am worried she will either starve to death, or get sick from exposure, and help would be most welcome?

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Welcome Pauline :wave:

Start a new thread introducing yourself and asking for advice .. That way we don't divert from the original poster's thread here

Foxy has snugglesafes (hot water bottle equivilant for rabbits): https://www.amazon.co.uk/SnuggleSaf...F8&qid=1477127421&sr=8-1&keywords=snugglesafe

She has two in her hutch, one under where she usually sits/sleeps and the other in a random place.
Whether she actually used them is another thing!

I also have a duvet over the top, which is then covered with a full hutch cover and then a duvet is dropped down the front with a plastic cover with blankets, fleece inside the hutch. Foxy isn't allowed hay at the moment, or straw.

I have tubular greenhouse heaters BUT they're not there to keep the bunnies warm - only to stop water bowls from freezing overnight. However, it's also nice to know that the shed will never drop below about 2 or 3 degrees on even the coldest winter night. Having said that, the bunnies usually choose to sit outside all night so I wouldn't worry too much about heating!!

I did, however, have an aluminium Petnap heat pad (requires electricity) for Flora when she was very old and arthritic. She loved to sit on it all day as it just gave off a very low-level warmth, especially as it was used outside in the shed.

I have bunnies in a large hutch. I just fill their bed with loads of straw and hay and cover the front with a tarp on particularly cold nights. My buns have always been ok. I do have a snuggle safe that I use when very cold but seeing as both buns think it's a snack they only get it if it's is really cold or they would munch through it.