Worried about buns in the Winter & exercise (sorry for the essay!)

Hi, I usually only look after Bunnies for short periods of time whilst they're ill or recovering, and these are always kept indoors.
For my birthday this year I treated myself to my very own Bun, Harvey - then a few months later Martha (who I rehomed from this site )

As Harvey is only 7-8 months old (approx.) this is his first winter, and I've turned into a crazy bun mum.
Their hutch is two tiered with a large run underneath that would definitely not fit in the shed, and with them both being rather large bunns, and my house being a mini zoo, there's no way I could move them indoors for winter
Any ideas on how to keep them warm this winter? I've tried the snuggle pads but Mr H just chews the covers off, little munchkin!

Also whilst I'm on the winter topic, how to you ensure your buns get exercise?
With all this rain they haven't been out much lately (the lawn in my back yard gets water logged very quickly), I'm going to try and bring them in for a play - I find this quite difficult as Martha refuses to use a litter tray - and perhaps buy one of the reusable puppy training pads from Pets At Home (http://www.petsathome.com/shop/simple-solution-washable-travel-pad-large-(online-only)-111267), I realise that this will only be possible for a few weeks longer otherwise the temperature change could affect them.
I did try letting them out in the rain with somewhere to hide, but the little munchkins just ran in the rain. Martha was good as gold, as usual, but Mr H was having none of it when I had to dry him off.
Does anybody have any other ideas?

I have a Run on the grass with a little hidy hole box in which i cover with a clear plastic tarpaulin and i put them out a 8am and back in at 6pm and they are fine they are 7 months old , I do cover the run over at night to prevent it getting too wet but they are fine out there ...

Flymo was fine in his hutch with lots of straw last winter. This winter he'll have a bunny friend to snuggle with which I imagine will keep him warmer :thumb: The same will apply to Martha and Harvey assuming they're bonded

Our grass is also like a swamp at the minute because of all the rain but the bunnies don't mind and they dry themselves off

I cover the run with tarpaulin from Homebase so they don't get wet when it rains, my buns have 24hr access to their run via the cat flap in their shed.

For Winter I do use snugglesafes but only when temperature drops really low. I have found that using tons of hay and straw (mainly straw) keeps them warm, they snuggle together and they have an enclosed box they can go into if they feel really cold

:wave:

I am also worried about lack of exercise/company over the winter. Mine are out in shed, just had to seperate them until both girls spayed then I will try & rebond.

They get company at night for an hour I go out & sit with them & I know they are safe from the elements but it's nearly dark but time I get in. It's only really been weekends where I can let them out to run loose in garden when I'm there.

When I'm in the house at night I feel they must be so bored & lonely.

Considering just bringing the whole hutch indoors so they at least have company but there are dogs in the house & worry they may prefer to be lonely outside then live indoor with dogs. They would be safe from the dogs but be able to see/smell them

Thoughts?

Thanks everyone, they are bonded - they're lovely together.

I've already started with the straw as well as hay, but Mr H seems to eat that instead of the hay, he does drive me crazy at times!
I've been and bought tarpaulin for the run attached to their hutch, I got a huge one so I'm hoping to cut it up to make a cover that fits the whole hutch in case it does snow quite a bit.

With the snugglesafe pads, is the fabric a special fabric do you know? If not I'll just make a new cover for it

Does anybody have advice for bonfire night too?
I live quite near a park, and the likelihood is that fireworks will start on Halloween and carry on till early January unfortunately - makes by blood boil, if I'm scared of them I can only imagine how small animals feel

Thanks again!

Domino 1980 said:

I am also worried about lack of exercise/company over the winter. Mine are out in shed, just had to seperate them until both girls spayed then I will try & rebond.

They get company at night for an hour I go out & sit with them & I know they are safe from the elements but it's nearly dark but time I get in. It's only really been weekends where I can let them out to run loose in garden when I'm there.

When I'm in the house at night I feel they must be so bored & lonely.

Considering just bringing the whole hutch indoors so they at least have company but there are dogs in the house & worry they may prefer to be lonely outside then live indoor with dogs. They would be safe from the dogs but be able to see/smell them

Thoughts?

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Have the dogs been near them when they've been in their run? This could be the first step.
I know a lot of people with dogs that are actually scared of their buns :lol:

If I am honest, I am not sure rabbits, particularly bonded ones, are overly fussed about having humans for 'company'. This is of course, providing they have good quality accommodation and are cleaned and properly looked after (I don't mean ignored!) so I personally would not be worried about them being bored and lonely overnight

And wet rabbits will dry themselves off! Mine do get wet, but I never attempt to dry them

There has been a discussion about fireworks on here somewhere recently. Generally most peoples rabbits were not too disturbed with fireworks. Strange I know!

Mine have access to the run during the day and they have a burrow box And a tunnel to shelter in, They never do always find them just sat in the corner. I have actually got sheets of corrugated plastic on the top of the run which is better than tarpaulin to tip the accumulation of rain off when it builds up as tarp will just get heavy and it over laps the edges of the run to help shelter them. B & Q £7 for the smallest but I only needed two as the plastic hutch cover folds over the top section.

kimberley

EmmArghh said:

Have the dogs been near them when they've been in their run? This could be the first step.
I know a lot of people with dogs that are actually scared of their buns :lol:

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i have 2 sister buns currently living apart as one had ill health, and both required speying. im due to start the process of rebonding them, so fingers crossed all goes well. much calmer buns now after speying thankfully. at moment i have buns in seperate hutches with run attached from 8am till 5/6pm then i have 2 indoor cages for them at night. they love coming into the house at night and just flop down and totally relax. hard getting them in at times cause they know its bedtime coming.i have a cat and initially she was nosy and curious but doesnt bother with the buns at all. although id never leave them out in open unsupervised. my cat can be jealous when im talking to the buns. its hillarious.yeah so sore arms with lots of petting from mum.id thought about ;converting the hut for the buns once bonded again, to put them in over winter but im not so sure now. i feel more content theyre indoors and no risk from predators, cold weather etc.