help with my outside rabbit and the cold

[iwannabeam3]

So outside I have my lionhead rabbit, he has been outside since about mid july. He has about a 8x8 cage to run around in and a hutch with his food water and shelter with wood chips and hit "baby lamb" that he has become attached to. But while I was out there about 30 mins ago his ears seemed cold to the touch, and he seemed to be shivering. Now he was eating while i was petting him so it might not have been shivering and just the movements of him eating. I was just wondering some easy ways to keep him warm. He is a chewer so i cant have any cords running to his hutch or a heating pad out there

 

[JBun]

Is the hutch covered in plastic or a tarp and is it lined with hay? Rabbits need the hay for insulation in the winter and the hutch needs to be protected from the wind so the rabbit can stay warm.

 

[iwannabeam3]

it has wood chips on the bottom. would some hay be better? also the cage has tarps around 3 sides with the side without a tarp facing my house.

 

[JBun]

Is it a wire floor and the wood chips are under it or is it a solid bottom floor with wood chips?

I think it would help if you also had a cover for the uncovered side that you can open up during the day when it's nice, and that you can cover the open side with at night and when it's really cold or the weather is bad.

 

[iwannabeam3]

solid bottom with wood chips on top. and would that really make a difference being its just on the cage and not on his hutch?

 

[JBun]

Sorry, I thought you meant the hutch had the tarp on it. You will want the hutch to be covered, same way, with all sides protected and one side at least, that you can open up during the day on nice days. If the shavings on the floor are thick enough, that's probably ok, but you still want hay always accessible because they need to eat more when it is cold, so that will also help to keep your rabbit warm.

 

[secuono]

Rabbits don't suffer in temps above 45F. It's far safer to have rabbits in the cold than the summer heat. If you are that worried about him, cover half the front of the hutch so he has a wind free area. Or give him a bunch of straw to tunnel into when he feels he needs to warm up.

 

[pamnock]

A wooden box stuffed with straw is a great insulator and keeps bun toasty warm!

 

[Nancy McClelland]

:yeahthat:

 

[iLuvMyLilBuns]

I keep my rabbits outside in the winter and here are a few suggestions

Put the hutch in an area that is blocked from the wind. I have my hutch with one side against our house and the back against our shed. Also, I put a big blanket over the hutch to trap the heat in.

I use this hutch and the hutch cover over the hutch to block the wind, rain, and snow. If you don't want to purchase this you can just use a tarp

http://www.amazon.com/Ware-Manufacturing-Premium-Hutch-Cover/dp/B000HGB934/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353089388&sr=8-1&keywords=rabbit+large+premium+hutch

I use this heated water bottle for when the temps fall below freezing and it even heats in below zero temps!It's much easier than refilling the water many times a day.

http://www.amazon.com/Farm-Innovators-Heated-Bottle-Animals/dp/B000TZ7496/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1353089454&sr=1-1&keywords=heated+water+bottle

I use this sunggle safe heat pad in their nest at night. I put bedding and hay in the nest with this heat pad. It stays warm for over 10 hours and you just microwave it so no worrys about cords!

http://www.amazon.com/Pet-Supply-Imports-SnuggleSafe-Heating/dp/B00008AJH9/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1353089508&sr=1-1&keywords=snuggle+safe+heat+pad

HopeI helped

 

[1357bunnylover]

My bunnies live outside too, I cover their whole hutch in 2 layers of tarp then they have a run attached so they can go out to get some breeze I also put a little square of a pram rain cover so they can see out of there hutch. I also use lots and lots of straw because straw is an insulator (not hay, but hay should given 24/7 to eat) so they can snuggle in it, I use cardboard boxes filled in straw too I wouldn't use hot water bottles, I've heard of bunnies biting a hole in them and I couldnt imagine what happened to them!

Bunnies do better in the cold than the heat so don't worry to much, it's the wind that makes them cold so make sure you cover the hutch so no wind can get in

 

[iwannabeam3]

Well turns out my girlfriend was put off by the idea of leaving him out there all winter. So he's been moved inside into a nic condo with half a room to run around in. But now is my next question. right next to his condo and his area to run around in is my other rabbit (coconut) They cannot see each other at all, its blocked by cardboard in between the nic panels. And neather of them are showing any problem whats so ever with the other there. Now I know all they can do is smell each other but once they are both desexed would this be a good sign that they will bond?

 

[Imbrium]

I wouldn't necessarily say it's a good sign, but it's definitely not a bad one. I'm glad he gets to come inside for the winter