Getting Cold Here....

[jil101ca]

It's going down to -29C here which is -20 F, I turned on a little heat for mine. They are use to the cold but not this cold.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Be careful with the clamp light. I only say that because we used them one year on the sheep pens with the new lambs and just a little moving around from them caused the lamp to slide down a bit and when I walked into the barn (our neighbor's where we all helped with the sheep cause we had some there also) the wooden pen was smouldering. Plus if the wind would blow straw or something up in it...... I'm just really afraid of those lamps!

I know not everyone uses litterboxes.. especially outside - in the winter...... I mean I can see how that would all freeze up and be nasty. However, you do want areas for them to stretch out and lay down. I don't think that's an issue here.

Make sure they cannot get to the plastic and eat it is another concern.

Zin brings up a great thing also - black oil sunflower seeds. Giving them some of those actually helps to keep them warm.

I think when we start leaving Tony out in the winter - we'll find a heated water bowl that will be safe for him. It might take some custom building of a "seat" for one where he can't get the cord, but we have those for the sheep and horses, and our outside dog (she's inside right now tho - too old for the cold temps and any dog would be freezing their hiney off in this weather!)

This is cool but Tony would eat that plastic in a heartbeat! I'd have to find a way to hang it outside of the cage. That's what we do inside. Keeps them from chewing the bottles.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=6067+18379&pcatid=18379

Done rambling! Great that you are seeking ideas tho!

Ideally, we could all have little bunny sheds with heat and a/c and auto-clean litterboxes! :biggrin2:

 

[FallingStar]

About the clamp lamp, I haven't kept it on all night. I hardly ever use it. I think I've cleared everything out of the way that they can get to and eat, but I'll check it over again today.


The black oil sunflower seeds sound great. Bo B Bunny, do you have any idea where you may find them in Washington? Because I know we have a feed bin (but I haven't seen them there and a Dels. Would you find them at a farm supply store or some where else?



I wish we had little bunny sheds with heat and a/c and auto-clean litterboxes! Then everything would be perfect. Well pretty much.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Try birdseed places. Like a Walmart might even have them with the birdseed.

 

[FallingStar]

Hmmm, ok. I'll go there today or tomorrow. Do I just give the buns the seeds only on cold nights? Or is this a treat I can give them anytime?

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

I know how FallingStar has her rabbits set-up, Montana, and by no-way whatsoever is there cage small. It's two cages hooked together.

FS, I recommened putting some little beds of thickly-laid straw and then some straw w/hay in the nestbox. You could also put some boards up against the sides, and maybe drill some holes into the boards and string them to the cage with wire? That would get the drafts off the bunnies and not suffocate them, like plastic does.

Emily

 

[GoinBackToCali]

FallingStar-
Some feed stores sell them by the 25 or 50 lb bag only, some sell by the lb, best to call around and find out who sells what, because I believe for the 50lb bag it is close to $26, but when I buy by the lb it is .50 cents a lb..

They like the seeds all the time, but I don't usually give them to them except when it's a bit chilly..

Personally, I think your doing fine...don't let others criticism or negativity discourage you.

Zin

 

[FallingStar]

Thanks Zin. Well I have this treat mix(for rabbits) that has sunflower seeds in it. And I'm picking through and taking all of the seeds out.

I also put easy matts and boards down and put a layer of straw on it for them to lay in. But they seem to want to eat it. But can rabbits eat bird seed? Because I know that bird seed have sunflower seeds in them.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

They really aren't supposed to have bird seed. Bo sneaks a few bits if Casper flings some on the floor and he finds them, but it's not a good thing for them from what I know.

The seeds in the treat may not be black oil. With just 2 bunnies, I bet you could get a nice bag for like $2 or $3 at a store. If you go to a feed place like Zin suggests, you can sometimes buy it in bulk. Meijer stores I think sell it per pound if you have one of those.

Do you have bunnycicles? or are they staying toasty?

 

[FallingStar]

Darn it! I can't so to a store now, the little feed bin just donw the road is closed by now and all I got is that...

 

[FallingStar]

I meant on the post above that the store might be closed by now. But my mom suprised me and came home with a 25lb bag of Black Oil SunFlower Seeds!! I have no clue why she got a 25lb bag but it works!! I'm so happy rightn now! I gave some to my buns and they love them!

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Awww that's great!

Plus, isn't it fun to give them something that they like so well? I love that!

 

[RAL Rabbitry]

I was in the feed store the other day and saw heated water bottles.

They were nice because the cord was well away from the bunnies. I will

have to get the name of them when I go back this weekend.

Roger

 

[FallingStar]

I know they love them! I'm going to give them some in the morning too because it's still chilly outside.

Heated water-bottles?! That would save the day if I had one! So was it in your town's little feed store, RAL?

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

FS, I actually have seen heated waterbottles before. When I was in Oregon over Thanksgiving break, I went to this huge feed-store with my dad and grandpa and there was heated water bottles. They are about $20-$30 (each)depending on where you go, and they are very cautionary. You must make sure the cord is out of reach of the bunnies, that the water stays at an OK temperature for drinking, and so forth. I would really like to have heated water bottles, but, they're much like a watering system, because watering systems don't freeze as they constantly have water moving through them, and it's easy to get the water warm, because the contents flow from a bucket. So, instead of putting cold water in the bucket, you might just put luke-warm water in there.

But I would really love to have an automatic watering system or heated waterbottles!

I have one question, why is it called "luke" warm water anyhow?

Emily

 

[Hazel-Mom]

Well, no.... Hot water can indeed freeze faster than colder water, but only under the right circumstances. And it's not because the molecules move faster, since they have to loose heat and energy, and slow down to arrange themselves into the bond necesary to form ice.
The "hot water freezing faster" is called the "Mpemba effect", and usually happens when water is really hot, too hot for buns to drink anyway. It has to do with faster evaporation rates and densities and convection of water (you can Google it if you want to read more, or go to http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/General/hot_water.html ).
So if you have a well insulated bottle or crock, and they aren't in direct contact with a cold surface (i.e. sitting on straw instead of ice), lukewarm water will take longer to freeze.

Emily: It's called lukewarm from the Middle English word "luke" or "lew" and "warm".
(gosh, I sound like an encyclopedia sometimes )


aurora369 wrote:

Hot water freezes faster than cold water because the water molecules are moving faster.

The water molecules have to arrange themselves into a crystaline structure in order to form ice. Arranging themselves into that structure takes energy. Cold water has less energy than hot water, so it takes longer for the molecules take longer to re-arrange themselves than hot water with more energy.

Dunno it that makes any sense or not, but that's the way I understand it.

--Dawn

 

[BlueGiants]

Hazel-Mom wrote:

(gosh, I sound like an encyclopedia sometimes )

And thank goodness we have our Hazel-Mom encyclopedia! ...Other wise we'd have to go look it up ourselves! (I remember my Mom hollering... "Look it up yourself or you'll never learn anything!" LOL!) :biggrin2:

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

Thanks Hazel, lol, but I still have no clue how "lew" and "warm" has to do anything with it, lol.

 

[Hazel-Mom]

Well, "warm" has to do with the temperature of course, it's between "hot" and "cold", "lukewarm" meaning "moderately warm". If I'm correct, "luke" means "tepid" in Middle English.

BlueSkyAcresRabbitry wrote:

Thanks Hazel, lol, but I still have no clue how "lew" and "warm" has to do anything with it, lol.

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

Ok now I understand, thanks for clearing that up Hazel!