Rabbit questions

lowis

when i had my bunny i always kept him outside, his hutch was in a very sheltered position and like you i would stuff his hutch with hay and also cover the hutch to eliminate any draughts. the only nights he spent indoors were firework night and then in the last few weeks his life (the month of December) i kept him at night as he lost alot of weight and had no body fat to keep him warm.

sounds like you are a very caring bun-mum

Here's my bun with my cat

Loopy_Girl

Blackpool_Saver wrote: »

Bring it inside, no question.
Please, just do it.

So he will be outside all day, then in a heated house in the evening cooped up in a cat carrier and then back out in the morning to the cold temperature.

Would you not agree that this could be more damaging and there is proof that the change in temperaure can be fatal to bunnies.

He's an outdoor bunny and I was wanting to make sure I was doing the best for him in this season. Bunnies, in my opinion, aren't for being kept in the house. He stayed in for 3 days when he got neutered and then I spent a day getting him used to the temperature back outside as to not distress him.

Loopy_Girl

lowis wrote: »

when i had my bunny i always kept him outside, his hutch was in a very sheltered position and like you i would stuff his hutch with hay and also cover the hutch to eliminate any draughts. the only nights he spent indoors were firework night and then in the last few weeks his life (the month of December) i kept him at night as he lost alot of weight and had no body fat to keep him warm.

sounds like you are a very caring bun-mum

Here's my bun with my cat

Bun-Mum!!!!!!! Am LOVING that!!!!!!!!!!:D

Aww bless...look at his big eyes. I always think the black/white dutch's are the nicest:D

lowis

i would imagine that bringing a bunny into a nice warm, centrally-heated home and then putting him out in the cold each morning will play havoc with him...they have big, thick furry coats for a reason. wild bunnies don't retire to centrally-heated homes each night, they just burrow down in a warren so i would think that if the hutch is made to be as snug, sheltered, waterproof and warren-like as possible, that a bunny should be fine overnight outdoors.

perhpas if you have snow predicted it might be an idea to put him and his hutch in your hut just to be extra safe, in case the snow drifts on to the hutch.

gibboelli

I had a little Netherland Dwarf called Remy and he lived to a ripe old age of 5 considering he was the runt of the litter, from a rather nasty 'pet shop' and he was in the weight range of an underweight guinea pig

But all my bunnies hutches are covered in carpet underlay to keep the warmth in. They have shredded paper from one of my bosses offices to have in their beds as well as hap, it all keeps the warm in.

And little Remy loved a hot water bottle. He actually used to fake shivering so I would re fill his hot water bottle for him. At one point i was re doing it 10 times a day because of his so called 'shivering' attakc.s Only when he thought I wasnt ;looking would be settle snugly perched on his bottle :P

BreakinEven

Hmm, well my bun is insisting on sleeping on the cold conrete based floor of the lower level of her hutch and is ok (so-far). She won't sleep in the bed area as 1) I've only ever seen her sleep at full stretch and 2) the bed is the only place in the hutch she will toilet as she has privacy issues and won't 'go' if there is the possibility that anyone may see her.

She has to come in at night for exercise as we can't exercise her outside as next doors catappears in moments, as soon as we open the shed door (where the hutch is) it is there.

I like the look of the snuggle safe but £21!! and would have concerns of her chewing through it. Has anyone tried a snugglesafe with a determind chewing bunny?

As an aside - she will only use the litter tray in the house if it is in a box so noone can see her. If I forget to put it back down after cleaning she holds it until you can hear her bladder swooshing with every hop.

Waterfalls

i wouldnt imagine a bunny was able to chew through the snugglesafe, there are a really tough/weighty item. i use them in the vet surgery for small furries recoving from an anesthetic. so find them very useful.
i think they sell them at pets at home, so u could always pop in an have a look at them,see what u think

Blackpool_Saver

Loopy_Girl wrote: »

So he will be outside all day, then in a heated house in the evening cooped up in a cat carrier and then back out in the morning to the cold temperature.

Would you not agree that this could be more damaging and there is proof that the change in temperaure can be fatal to bunnies.

He's an outdoor bunny and I was wanting to make sure I was doing the best for him in this season. Bunnies, in my opinion, aren't for being kept in the house. He stayed in for 3 days when he got neutered and then I spent a day getting him used to the temperature back outside as to not distress him.

No, No, Like my guinea pig, inside ALL the time

UKTigerlily

Yeah they sell Snugglesafe at [EMAIL="P@H"]P@H[/EMAIL] & at my local, alot of pet shops seem to stock them. Rats of course could chew thru but wouldn't I don't think & I hope it'd take a while lol. I think sawdust is ok with rabbits, just not rats. Card squares have a few different names/brands, mine's Bedexel & is £10.99 a bale but this last months & they do small bags too! lol

Loopy_Girl

Blackpool_Saver wrote: »

No, No, Like my guinea pig, inside ALL the time

I did say at the start that he was an outdoor bunny and that will not change mainly because

- my house isn't bunny proofed
- the dog would probably scare him to death
- he isn't toilet trained
- and finally, to be perfectly honest, I do not believe bunnies should ever be house bunnies. It's not natural to them.