Both our rabbits died last night. Beware!

jacobsdaduk

My wife went to the hutch this morning to check the water for the rabbits like she does everyday. They had somehow managed to get out of the door (I suspect it wasn't closed properly). They had jumped out of the hutch and were both in the corner of the garden, frozen solid.

It's very sad and extremely unfortunate timing - it just so happens that we had our first frost during the night last night. If they had escaped last week (of just a few days ago) chances are they would have survived. They've never managed to escape in the 4 years we've had them.

So please, make sure your bunnies are locked up tight and night with lots of straw and cover to keep them warm. I'd hate for someone else to have to do what I had to this morning and pick up 2 frozen rabbits.

Missy_Spud

So sorry to hear about your bunnies that must have been awful for you

Karate

Sorry for your loss.

If anyone else is worried about this sort of thing happening to outdoor pets I would suggest buying a 'snugglesafe' which is essentially an animal safe, chew proof, hot water bottle that stays warm for upto 12 hrs, so would last the whole night.

picklepick

oh my im so sorry. poor bunny rabbits.

You can also buy the covers to go over the whole hutch. Dont forget to put covers over your water bottles aswell to stop them from freezing. socks and bubblewrap are good!

EmptyPockets

Oh I'm so sorry to hear that - poor little bunnies :sad:

sleepystar1975

So sorry to hear of your bunnies.

picklepick wrote: »

Dont forget to put covers over your water bottles aswell to stop them from freezing. socks and bubblewrap are good!

Adding a teaspoon or two of glycerine to their water prevents it freezing too.

viktory

It's no consolation, but if they had escaped last week it is still highly unlikely they would have survived. Not with foxes on the prowl...:(

MissG_2

Sorry for your loss. No easy way to ask this but are you sure they were frozen and hadn't passed away early on in the nigh? Could be a chance they had eaten something?

hethmar

So sorry to hear your sad news. It does seem incredible that they couldnt find somewhere to give them a bit of cover during the night? Do you live very far north?

Paul_Varjak

Surely rabbits manage to live even through the harshest of British winters?

morg_monster

Wow, I'm surprised by this too. I would have thought that with two of them they would have generated enough heat to stay warm together. Plus, at the moment with the sun still setting around 6pm or whatever it usually isn't freezing for more than a few hours before dawn. I also wonder if something else happened to them; it isn't unknown for rabbits to die of fright. Or were they very small? Really sorry for you OP and your family, it's a really horrid way to find them.
My rabbit lived out in a hutch/run in the garden through many a cold winter and he wasn't brought in (though if he had still been alive this past winter, I think I would have put him in the shed). He was a lone bunny - I'm really surprised that 2 bunnies together couldn't generate enough heat to stay warm, compared to a single bunny in a big pile of straw. Poor little things :'-(


I am going to look into the snugglesafe. I'm too tight to leave the heating on for our cats when we're out all day (well, that's not tight is it really), but I do feel a bit sorry for them as they love a warm lap to sit on.