Is It Ok To Keep My Rabbit Outside

Nosotros oftentimes get questions from new rabbit owners virtually how to intendance for rabbits in the winter and asking if their pet rabbits volition be happier inside during winter. We've put together the advice nosotros commonly give in this weblog, so that everyone tin can make their own decision about whether bringing the rabbit into the firm or keeping your pet outside is the best option for you lot.

Tin can rabbits live outside during the wintertime months?
But will they be happier inside?
How cold is too cold for rabbits?
What can I practise to assistance my rabbits in winter?

Can rabbits live outside during the wintertime months?

Aye, every bit long as your pet rabbits are healthy and have a hutch that will keep them warm and dry, letting your bunnies stay outdoors for the winter months shouldn't be a problem.

Both wild and pet rabbits cope relatively well with colder temperatures (they really struggle a lot more with estrus), equally long as they take a dry and sheltered area where they can hide in cold weather. For wild rabbits, this is their underground warrens, and for your pet bunny it will be a well designed hutch and run.

It'southward of import that yous brand sure that your rabbits' home has got everything they need to keep warm and dry while information technology is yet nice and warm outside. If the hutch is damaged in any way you will desire to accept time to gear up it, or to become a completely new house for your bunnies, before information technology gets too cold.

The Eglu Become Rabbit Hutch with insulated walls will protect your rabbits from the wind and rain, and go along them warm even when the weather gets really bad. The draft free ventilation makes sure fresh air moves around the hutch, without making it clammy or common cold.

But will they exist happier inside?

Not necessarily. Indoor rabbits will need to arrange to their new abode, and if information technology'southward the showtime time they are taken indoors, this can be a bit distressing to starting time with. You will need to provide them with a rubber surface area where the temperature won't fluctuate massively they volition get enough exercise and mental stimulation throughout winter.

The of import thing when it comes to keeping rabbits in winter, whether you lot decide to stick with the outdoor hutch or let them come inside the house, is to make a decision and stick to it.

When summer is over and the temperatures beginning dropping, the rabbits will abound a thicker winter glaze and fur pads on their anxiety. This volition gradually get thicker equally the months go by. The coat is not bad at keeping the rabbit warm outdoors, but once the rabbit is fully prepared for winter, you will take lost your window of opportunity to motility them indoors.

A rabbit with winter fur should non be taken indoors unless absolutely necessary. Rabbits can't sweat, and the sudden heat volition apace heighten the rabbit'due south torso temperature to dangerous levels. In serious cases, this temperature shock can be fatal, so make certain you make a conclusion about where the rabbits alive, and keep them there permanently.

How cold is as well cold for rabbits?

Information technology's difficult to say a specific temperature at which you should start worrying about the wellbeing of your bunnies. If information technology has gradually got colder over a longer menstruum of time, your pets will have thickened their coat, and will be fine in temperatures as cold every bit -10. It'south more problematic if the temperature suddenly drops, every bit the rabbit will not have had enough time to become used to the cold.

If you're worried, consider the choice of moving the hutch into a shed or garage. Rather than moving the bunnies indoors directly away, you can keep them covered and sheltered for a bit earlier you decide if they can go dorsum out into the garden, or if they demand to movement inside permanently.

If you permit the rabbit live in a warmer area, he or she will inside a few days first shedding its thick fur, and afterwards about a calendar week you will not be able to move them out into freezing temperatures again. This is another reason it'south important to choose a course of action and stick to information technology.

Any animal in distress should be taken straight to the vet to get assist and advice. The chief worry for a pet rabbit living outside in cold weather condition weather is hypothermia and pneumonia. To prevent these owners must bank check on their pet regularly and make sure their dwelling house is condom, warm enough and free from damp areas.

What can I do to aid my rabbits in winter?

This advice applies if you lot go on rabbits in an outdoor rabbit hutch and run. If you're moving your pets inside yous won't have to worry too much about protecting them from bad weather.

• Exercise

The rabbits even so need to run and exercise every bit much as they do in summertime, but make sure y'all're as well giving them the opportunity to become inside the hutch and remainder if they need. The Eglu Go Hutch with run connected to a Zippi tunnel with additional runs and play pens lets the animals run betwixt different areas as and when they like. Moving about volition aid your rabbit stay warm, and will continue them physically and mentally stimulated. Provide a few extra toys, tunnels and hidey-holes that they tin can run between.

• Position and cover

Move your outdoor rabbit hutch to a sheltered expanse of the garden, facing abroad from the prevailing current of air and rain.

During the day, cover the roof of the run with a clear comprehend that volition prevent your rabbits getting wet and damp, while even so letting the lite in.

• Bedding

Provide plenty of extra bedding in the hutch, and put an extra layer of newspaper and harbinger at the base of the hutch if you're worried moisture and common cold air volition get into the hutch that mode.

Regularly check the hutch and make certain your pets have enough of dry, warming bedding. Blankets or hot water bottles are not a good thought as the rabbits are probable to chew them, simply you tin put a microwavable rut pad in with the hay that will provide extra warmth to your pet.

• Food, water and treats

If they are living outside, your pet rabbits need to eat more in the winter to stay well. Digesting food volition heat their bodies and help them keep warm.

Nosotros advise giving your rabbits more food gradually as the weather gets colder. Check if anything has been left at the end of the mean solar day, and so yous are giving them also much. Give them plenty of treats, both salubrious vegetables like broccoli and cabbage, and shop bought chew treats that will wear down their teeth. Ever brand sure they have a good corporeality of hay in the hutch, as hay should make upwardly a high per centum of your bunny's diet.

Check your rabbit'due south h2o canteen regularly to make certain the water is fresh and hasn't frozen. It may be good to take ii bottles, then yous can swap them every time you go outside to see your animals.

This entry was posted in Rabbits