Bringing outdoor rabbits indoors for subzero temperatures

[Imbrium]

My rabbits are strictly indoors, but I imagine they'd do just fine outside if they had a chance to grow the proper coats . Of course, I can go around in temps of 10-15F wearing jeans, a t-shirt, flip-flops (sneakers if I'm actually going to walk through some snow or if I'll be out there for more than like 15 mins) and a light hoodie and be totally comfortable if it's not very windy. It's the wind chills that make winter temperatures brutal for us and it's no different for bunnies.

 

[mrsmeyers]

What did you decide to do with your rabbits?

My outdoor rabbit did just great with the subzero temps. The fur on his nose would be a tad frosty in the mornings (it easily wiped off), but he didn't seem fazed by the weather. He stayed in his cubby a lot, but he chowed down on his food, drank his water and handled it all with aplomb. So proud of him!

Based on what I know of your winterizing measures, I bet your rabbits did just fine, too. We seemed to have winterized our hutches in similar ways.

 

[Bville]

What did you decide to do with your rabbits?

My outdoor rabbit did just great with the subzero temps. The fur on his nose would be a tad frosty in the mornings (it easily wiped off), but he didn't seem fazed by the weather. He stayed in his cubby a lot, but he chowed down on his food, drank his water and handled it all with aplomb. So proud of him!

Based on what I know of your winterizing measures, I bet your rabbits did just fine, too. We seemed to have winterized our hutches in similar ways.

I left them outside and THEY SURVIVED!!! I was so worried, but they did fine. Like yours, they did spend more time in their cubbies and just came out to eat, drink, and use the litter box. Hopefully, now I can relax during the next cold spell knowing they'll be all right.

 

[zombiesue]

Acutally, there's a guy on another forum who lives in Alaska, where it's regularly -40, not as the WIND CHILL, but the TEMPERATURE. And his rabbits all live outside. So, I think that anywhere in the lower 48, they'll probably be fine as long as they're not sick to begin with.

 

[Azerane]

I was wondering, just out of curiousity if you could record the temperature inside the hutch overnight. Get one of those high and low thermometers and leave it in and see where it ends up. Because I'm sure it's quite a bit warmer inside the hutch than out.

 

[Imbrium]

I was wondering, just out of curiousity if you could record the temperature inside the hutch overnight. Get one of those high and low thermometers and leave it in and see where it ends up. Because I'm sure it's quite a bit warmer inside the hutch than out.

They actually make wireless thermometers that can be placed outside and then you can read the temperature on the monitoring device from inside. I don't remember how much they are, but I know you can get them super cheap. I was looking for a thermometer to measure the cage temperature for my sugar gliders during winter because I like to keep the house around 60F and gliders prefer it to be a good bit warmer than that - I was using a space heater to warm just their cage area and wanted to make sure it didn't get too hot or too cold. I ended up with the thermometer that you can monitor from a distance not because it's so convenient (though it is!) but because it was the cheapest option I found at Walmart, lol.

I know I wouldn't have paid more than $10-15 for a basic thermometer, so that one had to have been in that general price range. It shows the current temperature as well as the highest and lowest temperatures that it's recorded recently (not sure how long it tracks those for, seems like at least 8-12h unless the battery gets replaced, though).

Edit: oh, and the part that actually takes the temperature is probably around 3'' long, 1'' wide and 1/2'' thick; it's solid plastic, has no buttons or anything that screams "chew me" to bunnies and it's got a hole in the top where you can put it on a hook or put a string through it to hang it .