re-introducing bunny to the outdoors?!

Hello!
I have a 6 year old bunny who recently had a turn for the worse with his health. When this happened, we decided to move him from his 2 level hutch in the garden to the indoors in a smaller hutch, to make sure he didn't get cold. This was around late october/early november. He is completely fine now and is making such a mess (and smell!) in the house. the hutch isn't really big enough for him and he won't come out to stretch his legs because the dog harasses him. I really want to get him back to living outside but its so cold out now, and from stroking him i can tell that he hasn't got his winter coat. I know that i can't just chuck him back out there overnight but i was wondering if anyone could give me advice on maybe slowly introducing him back to being an outdoor bunny?

please help, my mum and the rest of my family are getting impatient and sick of his mess!

thank you for your time,
Charlotte

Hello. I'm sorry you're having problems but I'm afraid it really is too late to put him back outside now as, like you say, he has no winter coat. Do you have a utility room or conservatory that you could move him into for the rest of the winter? Unless you could move him into a heated shed then you will have to deal with the mess until Spring. He shouldn't really smell if he's being cleaned out daily. Does he use a litter tray? If not, you may find that teaching him to use a litter tray and changing the type of litter you use may help to reduce pongs. Woodshavings or newspaper are not good at absorbing smell. Try something like Carefresh (Pets at Home) or, if you have space to store a large bag/bale, Megazorb or Fitch. Both are very absorbant and keep pongs to a minimum. Cleaning out the litter tray daily is also a good idea.

I agree with Mackers, unfortunately it's unfair and potentially lethal to move him back outside now as it's going to be very cold over the next few weeks (going into minus figures at night) and he has no winter coat. If he had a partner to snuggle up to I still would say no. It'll take him probably a month or more to grow a coat and in that time he could easily die if the temperature is below about 10 or so. He's accustomed to a heated house at about 20 degrees, he will not survive going outside now even if you try to acclimatise him.

Is he neutered? Unneutered boys can smell really bad. It's beneficial for his health to have him neutered, as he won't be ruled by hormones. Now would be an ideal time to have him neutered as he's indoors and you can keep an eye on him with his recovery. If your bunny is resistant to litter training it'll also improve after his neuter.

Can you have a room that the dog is banned from entering while the rabbit is in the house? It sounds like he's confined to a cage 24/7 and unfortunately if this is a pet shop bought cage it'll be way to small to be housed in for any length of time. The RWAF recommend a minimum of a 6 x 2 x 2 hutch and a permanently attached 8 x 4 x 2 exercise area and I'm guessing based on the cages available that your cage isn't even 3 x 2 x 1. Many people fall into this trap, me included. Unfortunately pet shops are just rubbish at getting this message across to people.

Can you move his outdoor hutch indoors to at least give him a bit more space? You can attach a puppy panel too to give him an exercise area.

Ideally in your situation I would recommend replacing his indoor cage with a secure wooden run with lid, at least 6 x 4 x 2 and preferably 8 x 4 x 2. This will house him well over the winter and then in the spring when it warms up you can attach this run to his existing hutch to provide about the right amount of space. With a bigger enclosure indoors it's less messy I find, because if you feed hay in the middle of the enclosure it's much easier for it to stay contained. You can put the run in a conservatory or utility room if you have lino carpetting or similar and then any water, wee, etc is really easy to clean up.

Hi Charlotte, welcome to the forum :wave:

I'm afraid it is now too cold for a rabbit without a proper winter coat to go outside, it would be very dangerous for him to go outside now. He'll need to stay inside till Spring (April) so I think it's best to focus on how to give him enough space indoors and how to keep you family happy at the same time.

If he is smelly and messy I'm guessing he is not litter trained, so I'd start with that. It will make it easier to keep him clean and should stop him smelling if you clean the tray out every day or two.

I also think it would be best if bunny could be kept in a room away from the dog - if this isn't possible in the living room, perhaps moving him to another room would be best. It does sound like he is scared of the dog and dogs can also be very unpredictable, they can easily injure or kill a rabbit in a blink of an eye - sadly I am speaking from experience.

I hope you can find a compromise so that your bunny stays safe and happy and your family are happy too.