Indoor to Outdoor temps

[Leigh]

Hi everyone :wave:

I know a thread was posted the other day but it related to an insulated summer house so I think the answers will be a little different.

We have two indoor bunnies living in the house, the room is one of the coldest in the house but it does have a radiator, no carpet and is probably about 14 degrees ish as a constant temp.

How much of a temp change do you think is safe for them to experience? We are moving them outside into a hutch and run, the hutch isn't insulated.

I know it's the night temps we are looking at, years and years ago someone once told me 10 degrees as overnight temps but is that still the current thinking? I'm hoping that it can be less as I think we are still a couple of months away from 10 degree overnight temps...

Thanks in advance

 

[WillowAndBiscuit]

I'm not much help as I'm not too sure on the temperature difference, but I'm guessing the maximum change of temperature is probably about 5 degrees, but I'm not too sure. Not sure how often you watch the weather, but I just wanted to say that last night the temperature stayed at about 7 degrees Celsius I think so it's not too far away!

 

[Leigh]

I'm not much help as I'm not too sure on the temperature difference, but I'm guessing the maximum change of temperature is probably about 5 degrees, but I'm not too sure. Not sure how often you watch the weather, but I just wanted to say that last night the temperature stayed at about 7 degrees Celsius I think so it's not too far away!

Thanks W&B

Im obsessed with watching the weather LOL I have a list of my fave weather presenters (Tomasz Schafernaker, he always makes me smile! and Carol Kirkwood in the morning!) and when they say hello I actually say Hi back!!

That's sort of what I was thinking.... we can't be too far off now but we urgently need the room the bunnies are in, it's a tricky thing because we need the room for the welfare of a human (and my sanity!) but obv have to consider the welfare of the bunnies too! we can't really have both bunnies and human in the room either because it's not big enough - it's an impossible decision to put one before the other.... we don't have a microwave so can't use any heatpads as they are all to be heated in microwaves not ovens... aaarrrgghhhh! come on spring!

 

[WillowAndBiscuit]

Thanks W&B

Im obsessed with watching the weather LOL I have a list of my fave weather presenters (Tomasz Schafernaker, he always makes me smile! and Carol Kirkwood in the morning!) and when they say hello I actually say Hi back!!

That's sort of what I was thinking.... we can't be too far off now but we urgently need the room the bunnies are in, it's a tricky thing because we need the room for the welfare of a human (and my sanity!) but obv have to consider the welfare of the bunnies too! we can't really have both bunnies and human in the room either because it's not big enough - it's an impossible decision to put one before the other.... we don't have a microwave so can't use any heatpads as they are all to be heated in microwaves not ovens... aaarrrgghhhh! come on spring!

Hahaha, don't worry I'm obsessed with The Chase and get over excited about it and start cheering them on![emoji38]
Ooo that does sound tricky! Could you maybe insulate the hutch with lots of cardboard for the time being? It would probably only be for the next two-three weeks that you would need to have it insulated for as by then the bunnies would have adapted to the temperature, and it hopefully will be warming up nicely by then anyway. I don't think you would need heat pads anyway if I'm being honest, I stopped using mine about a week ago (apart from one night where the temperature was quite low) as it has been at least 3 degrees Celsius and I don't use heat pads unless it is 1 degree Celsius or under. If you do really want to use some sort of pad though, you could always use a water bottle that it half filled and wrapped up in a towel as that obviously requires a kettle instead of a microwave?

 

[Leigh]

I was just thinking a heatpad might help with them being cold overnight and us being able to put them outside sooner.

Yeah I was wondering about maybe trying to add some extra insulation so we can get them out sooner.... we can put boxes and wooden hides in there stuffed full of straw & hay but trying to balance their safety with my own sanity... eeek!

I just saw another thread though about the summerhouse and what temps and someone there said 5 degrees would be ok.... so im wondering if the 10 degrees i'm waiting for is based on older thinking as it was literally YEARS ago that I was told.

 

[WillowAndBiscuit]

I was just thinking a heatpad might help with them being cold overnight and us being able to put them outside sooner.

Yeah I was wondering about maybe trying to add some extra insulation so we can get them out sooner.... we can put boxes and wooden hides in there stuffed full of straw & hay but trying to balance their safety with my own sanity... eeek!

I just saw another thread though about the summerhouse and what temps and someone there said 5 degrees would be ok.... so im wondering if the 10 degrees i'm waiting for is based on older thinking as it was literally YEARS ago that I was told.

Yeah, you could definitely use hot water bottles instead of heat pads as long as you only half fill then and wrap them in a towel.

That sounds like an excellent idea, that would definitely help to keep them warmer. I think it's more the temperature change that you need to worry about rather than the temperature that they will be put outside into. But I would say a 7 degrees difference would be OK (ie 7 degrees Celsius outside) but again, I'm not really 100% sure as I've never had this problem haha. Good luck though!

 

[Leigh]

I think it's more the temperature change that you need to worry about rather than the temperature that they will be put outside into.

Definitely

 

[Milo2015]

Very difficult situation tho if you need the room. Personally, with box surrounded by straw, stuffed with hay, cover the hutch with a duvet and a tarpaulin (leaving a gap for air) I would be fine putting them outside, I am down south tho, so it is quite warm relatively speaking. Also make sure the hutch is sheltered - near the house maybe?

 

[Leigh]

Very difficult situation tho if you need the room. Personally, with box surrounded by straw, stuffed with hay, cover the hutch with a duvet and a tarpaulin (leaving a gap for air) I would be fine putting them outside, I am down south tho, so it is quite warm relatively speaking. Also make sure the hutch is sheltered - near the house maybe?

thx Milo

we are south too, M25 sorta area....

and we located the hutch literally beside the house so that they were still as close as possible to us and didn't feel 'dumped' and also to offer more protection in bad weather..... it's a tricky situation! I don't think we can wait too much longer to be honest..

they do at least have each other to snuggle up to and help keep each other warm as well but if someone on here thought it was an absolute no-no then we will have to wait - we really do need to get access to the room they are in though eeek!