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What to do in Winter...

Richseth

Young Bun
Hi guys,

The little fella has been living inside for the last 5 or 6 nights due to the cold temps, and then been outside during the day (in his hutch)... Hes not been too happy or energetic recently and was wondering if i was doing more harm than good by bringing him inside. What is everyone else doing?

I've been turning off the heating in the room he is in and keeping it cooler than the rest of the house...unfortunately no shed to put him in.

Whats the best thing to do? i dont want a frozen rabbit one day!

Rich
 
You are doing the right thing by bring him in if it is too cold, but he is getting depressed and confused by the constant change. If he is outside during the day, and inside during the night, he is in two differant surroundings and climates.

As for tips on making the hutch warmer, they do make heat pads that you can put into hutches, made just for animals. They also make shed covers, to block the cold air and wind, and old fashion straw will help with insolation, acts just like a blankie!! I'm afraid I dont have anyother advice on what you should do, as my buns are inside, but I hope I helped a bit!

xx
 
This thread may give you some ideas on how to insulate your hutch so your rabbit does not get too cold.

Have you thought about bringing them in to live as house rabbits or getting them a friend to snuggle up with?

Janice
 
You should never keep changing your rabbit from the warm to the cold. The reason he is problem quiet is because he's finding it hard to adjust from being in all night in the warm yto going out in the cold all day. Rabbits can stay outside quite happily with extra bedding.
 
I cant keep in the house all the time unfortunately. Will look at getting a cover for the hutch for winter.

Tonight he is outside but right up against the patio door (facing inside the house) so hopefully that will keep him warmer as it there wont be a draft. hope hes OK!

Rich
 
I had one the other week I had warm for about 9 hours, they start off pretty hot, by the morning with their cover on they are warm to touch when you peel the cover back but you cannot feel too much heat from a covered one. They are certainly better than most other things we have tried. I have just got a small electric heater 180w tube for my piggie shed which is very efficient considering the power consumption.

Insulating the hutch is certainly a good way to go, if you have a shed you can use that is very useful as well to put the hutch into.

Janice
 
hi

My rabbit's water was frozen solid in his dish last week, so I dread to think how cold he'd got - I put 4 cuphooks in the front of the hutch at the top and sides, and hung a sawn off PVC shower curtain off them to cover the mesh (5' hutch so a shower curtain wrapped partly round the sides)
Then I put an old duvet over the top, hanging down the front of the hutch too and weighted down with a couple of bricks - it got a bit damp but only took 10mins to dry in the tumble dryer next day - No frozen water!

I also started giving Benny a desertspoon of porridge oats and a few extra pellets, mashed up with a splash of boiling water and left to soak for a few mins - he loves it and has been a lot more energetic since that became his supper :)
 
I also started giving Benny a desertspoon of porridge oats and a few extra pellets, mashed up with a splash of boiling water and left to soak for a few mins - he loves it and has been a lot more energetic since that became his supper

Hiya - thats a good idea, do you just get porridge oats, and pellets, boiling water and then mash together?? would like to try it with Alfie! do you give him thart before bed but also have a bowl of pellets or just that?? thanks
 
hi

Benny has his main pellets in the morning - about 2oz now it's winter, but less in summer (he's not a very big rabbit) and barely any when he lived in the house.

So I give him the porridge at about tea time, when he's really hungry again - you must soak the oats as they swell up and that's not good in an animal's tum - just needs a splash of boiling water from the kettle for 1desertspoon of oats - I just put a few pellets in to make it smell like 'food' as opposed to wallpaper paste - I don't think he would have eaten it on day one otherwise as he didn't know what this warm mush was :)

I give him about 6 pellets at bedtime too, because he hears me giving the shed bunnies their extra pellets then and starts leaping about excitedly - in summer I will give less pellets at breakfast, and cut out the porridge - he's always been used to a few extra pellets at bedtime - he'd eat the whole sackful if he had the chance :lol:

If you normally feed Alfie at tea time, you could give him a dish of porridge in the morning maybe? Not too much though - be cautious introducing new foods :)
 
Hi
I went to B+Q to get thermawrap but it was about £21 a roll! Instead i got a space blanket - what you insulate your loft with for less than £5! It's in an orange/foil wrapper and I cut some to size and put it over Moet and Chandon's hutch last night, seemed to help!
 
gil said:
Hi
I went to B+Q to get thermawrap but it was about £21 a roll! Instead i got a space blanket - what you insulate your loft with for less than £5! It's in an orange/foil wrapper and I cut some to size and put it over Moet and Chandon's hutch last night, seemed to help!

Thermawrap is expensive :? My sister paid for mine (2 rolls) as she didn't like to think of the rabbits out there in the cold. She feels the cold herself :lol: Thanks Fina, from me and the rabbits :D
 
My bunny is inside for the winter.
We brought her hutch into the house for her to be warm as the temp is really cold outside now.
She seems to really like it inside as she gets loads of attention and the temperature is nice and comfortable for her.
 
Toasted and Buttered would like to say "keep warm" to all their bunny friends in the UK. They like winter best here in Spain, as it's not too hot. Today it's only a chilly 20! :lol: Seriously, here I have the opposite problem, how to keep them cool enough.

Sue
 
How cold is too cold?

Hi, I reckon the problem might be company. I would think about getting your bunny a friend.

On the hot/warm, outdoor/indoor note, I've been thinking about this too. How cold is too cold? I put Humphrey & Tilly out today but feeling a bit guilty as they'll be out all day and it's not all that warm (6 degrees max temp I think they said on the weather this morning). They have their Eglu if they get too cold, but to be honest I'm not sure whether they've actually worked out to go in it yet if they get a bit chilly. They seem to prefer to be outside in the run area.

I'm bringing them in at night and a lot of days now they actually stay in, esp if very cold or very wet. Should I be keeping them in all the time over the winter? They have plenty of space indoors etc. b-m
 
I'm bringing them in at night and a lot of days now they actually stay in, esp if very cold or very wet. Should I be keeping them in all the time over the winter? They have plenty of space indoors etc. b-m

I don't think that's necessary at all - My bun loves to sit outside in the dark in the run in the cold!!! you have to remember that they are rabbits and have a fur coat!

As long as you cover them up at night with a thick blanket and taupaline, that there is somewhere for them to snuggle in to with lots of hay (not that my bunny ever does) and shelter from the rain and drafts, your rabbits will be ok!
 
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