crimson
Well-Known Member
If a rabbit has been an inside bunny then gets moved into a shed would the ears get frostbitten? If a rabbit has always been kept outside would ears get frostbitten?
Frostbitten ears?
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Happi Bun
Well-Known Member
If the shed provides adequate shelter I don't see why an inside bunny would get frostbite on the ears. 
The bunny wont be used to the cold though so that could prove to be problematic. If the rabbit absolutely has be put outside while the temperature is that low I would recommend providing lots of straw or something similar to sit in and possibly even covering most of the cage with a heavy blanket.
The bunny wont be used to the cold though so that could prove to be problematic. If the rabbit absolutely has be put outside while the temperature is that low I would recommend providing lots of straw or something similar to sit in and possibly even covering most of the cage with a heavy blanket.crimson
Well-Known Member
Thanks....this is a french lop 9 week old bunny. I keep my rabbits inside in the winter. She went to a boy that has his bunnies in a she so they are not in the elements, but no heat. Her ears got frostbitten the first night he had her. I am just trying to figure out if it happened because she was not used the cold, or because of her young age.
He did move her inside after the first night and is treating the ears after talking to the vet.
I just don't want to sell another baby to someone who keeps them in a unheated area during the winter if going from the warm to the cold was too much of a shock and that's why it happened.
I have had rabbits that have stayed out in hutches in the winter without having a problem. That is why I am trying to figure out if it was going from warm to cold or if it happened because she was young without a ton of fur on her ears. She was born outside and brought in in November so all in the litter seemed to have a thicker coat, but maybe the lost some of it when the moved inside.
Sorry to ramble on just trying to decide what I should tell people.
He did move her inside after the first night and is treating the ears after talking to the vet.
I just don't want to sell another baby to someone who keeps them in a unheated area during the winter if going from the warm to the cold was too much of a shock and that's why it happened.
I have had rabbits that have stayed out in hutches in the winter without having a problem. That is why I am trying to figure out if it was going from warm to cold or if it happened because she was young without a ton of fur on her ears. She was born outside and brought in in November so all in the litter seemed to have a thicker coat, but maybe the lost some of it when the moved inside.
Sorry to ramble on just trying to decide what I should tell people.
tonyshuman
Well-Known Member
I have seen a bunny with frostbitten ears, but I think it has more to do with the actual temp that the bunny is exposed to than whether they've been an inside bunny. Really extreme temperatures may have led to this. I don't know about you, but we've just hit the coldest part of the winter, and the bunny I saw with frostbitten ears was a rex that had to live outside in the winter in WI for a few days because its owner lost her home.
Dragonrain
Well-Known Member
Yeah I see you're in New England/NH and I know the New England temps have been coooold the last couple of days! Where my parents are living in MA it got down to -10*F, -20*F when you factored in the wind chill. I know my dad was telling me last night that the news was reporting about kids going out to play in the snow and getting frost bite in a pretty short amount of time. Makes sense to me that with those extreme temperatures a bunny could get frost bite irregardless to whether or not it was housed indoors or out prior.
Plus, even with outdoor bunnies I've seen, normal bunnies never seem to have a huge amount of fur on their ears anyways. I think it would make sense that they'd be the first place to get effected by extreme temperatures - they are thin, not overly furred, and usually up away from the warmth of the body.
Plus, even with outdoor bunnies I've seen, normal bunnies never seem to have a huge amount of fur on their ears anyways. I think it would make sense that they'd be the first place to get effected by extreme temperatures - they are thin, not overly furred, and usually up away from the warmth of the body.
