keeping buns warm outside

Hey guys,

Ive been wondering about how to have Mitsy outside, at present she is an indoors bun but my fella is saying im too soft and i need to put her outside.. but i darent, its FREEZING!
I kno tho there are loads of outdoor bunmums on here.. how do u do it? i kno i could add loads of hay to her hutch etc but i dont think it wud b enough esp as shes used to indoors now.
I 4t about a hot water bottle i hav,to give her at night, its thickly covered with faux fur ,n she may like it but worry that as it gets colder it wud lose its heat n the shock wud make her ill.. am i being silly? :roll: :roll:

I believe that most people put their hutches into sheds or garages during winter as it often does get too cold (especially when it freezes). I did see some links to insulating covers for hutches in a previous post although I am not sure how effective these are.

I guess I am lucky my husband is the one who insisted our rabbits were to be house rabbits so I am not under pressure to make them live outside. However they still go into a run during the day if it is not wet (they are out now as it is a lovely clear day although a little cold).

Caz

If she's been indoors all this time, then dumping her straight outside all night is going to be a bit of a shock to her. Bunnies do quite well in the cold, but if she's been in a nice warm house then she isn't necessarily going to have her winter coat. I don't keep any bunnies outside, but I would have thought she would need to be acclimatised to the temperature outside before she'll be ready for a November night in her hutch? If she plays outside during the day then I suppose she'll already be getting used to the chilly weather.

You can get little heat pads (can't remember the name, but someone here will know) that you microwave and they're supposed to stay warm for 12 hours. Probably a better plan than a water bottle.

Hi, when we had Basil he stayed outside in the summer, but recently he was neutered, the vet said keep him in doors for one night, but as it was around bonfire night he stayed in for about a week. (moved hutch to garage) As he had been indoors for a week, and it has got really cold now we will keep him in untill the spring. We do let him run outside though if it is not raining.

Rosemary as she is only 3 months old and has never been out side will be kept in untill the spring too, but they both had a great time in the garden yesterday,(as lianne and I froze!!!! :roll: )

The heat pads are called "snuggle safe" you put them in the microwave for about 5-7 mins and they stay warmish through the night.

if mitsy has not been outside for a night then i wouldnt put her out now. Leave it till the spring/summer

I have a hutch in the shed but the way its going they are staying inside...dont tell them bloke hehehe!

I have a run though and I would like them to have a little play out, how do buns cope with wet grass and a little chill through the day?

Zeus makes a mad dash for the back door every time I open it whatever the weather - he doesn't mind the cold at all - my avatar is a pic of him in the snow!!

The only thing is their feet are a little muddy when they come back in so I have to dry them off - yesterday he managed to get out the back door so I put them in the run (safer for them and my plants).

As long as they come back in before it gets too cold at night and you dry their feet off they should be fine.

Mine have been going in and out all this year so I think they are quite used to getting a bit chilly and have started putting on their winter coats.

Caz

Caz said:

they are quite used to getting a bit chilly and have started putting on their winter coats.

Caz

Click to expand...

what about their hats and welly boots ?? :lol: :lol:

Nope - just scarves and coats as I couldn't find welly boots/gloves to fit :lol: :lol: !!

Seriously though Zeus moults all year round and his fur is feeling thicker at the moment.

Now I feel guilty for not getting them proper coats - hmm wanders off to see whether pet shop has doggy coats the right size for rabbits - a nice burberry check perhaps !!

Caz

My bunnies have always lived outside - they only come in now and then for indoor runs and cuddles, the rest is done outside. They don't mind it at all, I think I know that because I often leave the back door open for them when they are out running, they will pop in to see what we are up to then dash around outside. The love it. All that grass to eat and all those palces to explore. They have each other to cuddle up to and loads of hay. They also have a cover to go over the front of the hutch to stop the draughts. When I had rabbits before they never went into a shed or anything, they were fine. I am really soft though now I don't live with my parents anymore and I too am thinking of getting one of thsoe snuggle pads. No matter how much hay I give them and make a cosy bed they always flatten it all lol ! :lol: I think rabbits are pretty hardy to the cold, it's just the wet they can't handle! Perhaps you could try putting her pit for a few hours in the day then build it up to all day, then a couple of hours at night then all night etc, she would then get climatised to it!

Good luck!

Anna, Bob & Dexter !

A good way to stop then flattened bed problem is to put a bed box inside their bed area then you can line the gap between the two walls. To exaplain....

Get a box, either wood or cardboard (though cardboard will need regular replacing) that is a couple of inches smaller than their bed area. Make an entrance hole that matches up to the entrance hole of their bed and then place to box into their bed. You should now have a gap between the outside walls of the box and the inside walls of the bed area of the hutch. You can fill this gap with newspaper/straw for insulation. If you are using a wooden box so you know they can chew through to the gap, the gap can be filling with polystyrene.

Basically you end up with a double wall with insulation inbetween like you have in a human house.

Tam

Thanx everyone,

Im not gonna put her out now till spring probably n will hav a look at those snuggle pads, if i can find them. Shes very used to our indoor heatin so i agree now aint a good time to put her out. We hav a shed n i might twist hubbies arm to clear it n turn it into a little rabbit house lol!

I will need to cat proof it tho, we hav had a bad experience with the neighbourhood cats b4, they are evil, i once had a baby dwarff lop eared bun who was stunnin called Beau for about 3 days... tragedically a cat killed him right in front of me, it was awful, it saw beau n being really tiny it just pounced n attacked, so that is why i made mitsy an indoor bunny n i only ever now take her in garden with me at all times for only a few minutes to run about. Im very nervous about those cats as that was very distressing

Hi

My three bunnies all live outside all year and they are fine. Always kept my bunnies outside and have never had any problems. Lots of straw and hay does the trick!! The shed sounds a good idea, my little girl is in there, we have turned it into her house! She has a covered litter tray filled with hay and straw and a cat bed

I have a Snuggle safe and it's brill, lovely and warm - meant to be for 12 hours at a constant temp. Tried it for first time last night on my oldest bun (5 and a half), think she liked it as I went out this morning and she had thrown off bit of vetbed I put over it! It has a cover on too so she wouldn't get burnt. She loves her cat bed that she has too, so gonna put it in that tonight under the fleecy bit inside. My mum says my bunnies are spoilt!! I'm going to invest in another one too - this website has them for very good price! www.chinchillas2home.co.uk.

Good idea to keep your bun in over winter if she is an indoor bun - the temp really plunged last night!!

Nicola

Mojo and Grace have a room of their own which has access through a tunnel to an enclosed run (old greenhouse with the glass replaced with mesh and a polycarbonate roof). They come in to get fed around 8.30pm in the winter and when I go out for a last look around at about 10.30pm, they are usually sitting back out in the run again, doing a bit of star gazing. Jim has been out as late as 1.00am, letting the dog out for a pee, and Mojo and Grace are usually sitting snoozing on the top of the big cardboard box inside the run. They have the choice and can come back in any time they want, sit beside the radiator, lie on the carpet, but they seem to prefer being outdoors.

sorry if this is a bit obvious; it wasn't to me when i found out!

for those of you who use the bunny water bottles with the metal spouts... the water in the metal bit freezes up in the winter, so although the water in the plastic bit hasn't frozen poor bun can't get a drink as its all frozen at the essential end.

Hi, you can get heat pad's for bun's from, www.hop-and-hutch.co.uk


Polly-anna.