# Soooo Cold outside!



## umber (Feb 15, 2009)

Brrrrrr its freezing! Went to drop my husband to the station this morning and made a quick trip to tescos... it was -5 degrees outside at the time yes -5 sooooo cold!

Came home and went to check on the rabbits water bottle which is wrapped up in one of those bottle snug things... it was frozen solid!!!!!

Felt so bad rushed in and filled it with warm water and took it out.... they were both fighting over it and in the end Flake won and spent a good 6-7 mins drinking non stop followed by Daisy!

So just a reminder to everyone out there with out door buns check their waters at least 2 times a day!


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## frags (Feb 5, 2009)

Thats very good advice hun.
My lot dont seem to freeze up in the shed, even when everything outside is solid! must be there body heat keeping the temp up a bit in there?


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## umber (Feb 15, 2009)

Yeah possibly thats what keeps them slightly warmer!

Flake and Daisy im sure are warm enough as their hutch is super cosy with an abundance of straw and hay which reminds me I need to go buy some more straw today plus they have their snuglle pad at night and are covered with blankets plus I think Ive managed to fatten them up a little more over the last few weeks with a few treats of weetabix and carrots etc! But their poor water bottle has nothing to snuggle into although it has that thermal snuggle safe on it... obviuously not meant for -5 degrees!!!!


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## frags (Feb 5, 2009)

I think it could also be that as Lily is hot stuff she keeps the shed warm  LOL


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## hazyreality (Jan 11, 2009)

Mine in the shed dont freeze up in the day, they sometimes do overnight, but I have socks on them and that stops them freezing 90% of the time which is good. When I give Hope a bottle of apple juice(1/3 apple juice, rest water) and he will drink for about 5 mins! He isnt thirsty but he loves it! Rascal likes it aswell, but the Girls and M&M are not so sure about the funny tasting water!

*Heidi*


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## spudsmummy (May 1, 2009)

hi there
Its been sooooo cold here too, i am in the south and its not normally this cold!! It got down to about -6 here last night!:yikes:
I have been lucky though Buzz's water has never frozen, it is on the outside of the hutch like normal but his hutch gets covered with a sleeping bag and then tarps over that to keep it dry. i also push a garden chair up again the hutch. 
I dont know what stops it from freezing i am guessing its the sleeping bag, but i think i will go put a sock over it too just incase.


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## 2rabbit&2ferrets (Oct 9, 2008)

The last couple of weeks have been hellish with trying to keep water bottles defrosted! 

It snowed here the sunday before christmas. It has snowed slightly since then, but we still have all the snow left from the first big dump! The week after christmas it was getting to temperatures of -15C at night and -8 in the day. It was very difficult to keep water bottles working! I had 2 sets of bottles for each rabbit. So when I brought the frozen bottles in I could switch the bottle snugs onto the others and pop them straight back out again. I was doing this every couple of hours, even through the night trying to keep their access to fresh water open as long as possible!

This week hasn't been much better but its getting to 1 or 2C occasionally in the daytime. Warm water doesn't work because it freezes faster than cold water. I was also reading somewhere about putting geletine (like the stuff you put in jelly) in the water and this is supposed to be great for stopping water bottles from freezing. I haven't tried it myself yet as I went out to buy some and then couldn't find the instructions that I had seen for using it in water bottles. Still trying to find it, but when I do I will share it on here.


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

its been below 0 all day here, but I have to say when I spend time with the buns they dont seem bothered by it. a few times their bottles have froze but I think the wendy house is keeping most of the cold off


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## frags (Feb 5, 2009)

Ive just travelled home from work and the whole of the area is covered in a HARD frost!!! the temp on my car was -4 so il be shocked if my bots dont freeze over tonight, we are expecting snow here in south east tomoro so il make sure i check there bottles early in morning.


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## Miss.PuddyCat (Jul 13, 2009)

I am guessing here would be a bad place to have a rabbit outside at minus 20.

Hope your guys/gals have a safe winter!


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## Emmiiee (Jan 3, 2010)

my rabbits inside now, i have an indoor rabbit cage which is going to be used for a tortoise when i get it but for now rabbit inside, he's gona stay inside till it gets alot lot warmer  x


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## Kammie (Apr 4, 2009)

I have the big water bottle for the girls outside (500ml or whatever it is) and it was frozen solid three times today even with the bottle snug, each time I changed it and used warm water from the kettle to stop it freezing as fast. For tonight in the hope it will last till morning they have a big dog bowl of water as well as the bottle just in case the bowl lasts longer as it holds more water. Given them some warm porridge which they jumped on as soon as I put it down and both heat pads, one in the kennel and one in the plastic dog bed where they like to sleep.

Temp here today has been -7 all day. Hate to think what tonight will be.


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## spudsmummy (May 1, 2009)

aparently hot/warm water freezes faster then cold water. dont ask me how it works but i think it does. it might be worth filling the bottle with warmish water then leaveing it untill room temp before you put it out might not freeze so fast


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## umber (Feb 15, 2009)

Last night was -5 -6 here so what we did was put a huge sports sock over the bottle its also the large glass one and then ontop of the sock we put the bottle snug! This morning its still -4 but the water has not frozen so try putting a thick sports sock before the snug!


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## Kammie (Apr 4, 2009)

Never knew warm water would freeze faster it sounds odd. I'll pinch one of OH's sport socks today Umber and give that a go. They didn't eat all the porridge I gave them last night and the bit that was left was frozen solid . The dog bowl was ok at the bottom but had ice on the top and the bottle was frozen only in the spout the bottle itself was still ok. Now how to stop the spout freezing so they can actually get water out.


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## 2rabbit&2ferrets (Oct 9, 2008)

I was reading a similar thread on another site. Someone there suggested using glycerine (like what you put in cakes) into the water to stop it from freezing. I am going to try it in a water bottle I am not using to see if it works.

They have used it with no ill effects on their bunnies. I though it would be worth a try.



> put glycerine in the water the same stuff you put in food or when you are icing a cake. 2 tsp per half pint. do not confuse it with glycol ethelene that goes in cars to stop freezing radiators. glycerine will not harm your animal. better still put then in doors by the fire wrapped in a blanket.
> 
> it works!
> 
> goes down to about -18 to -38 degrees


And another post when asked if they were sure it was safe



> i have in the past used this with my rabbits, about 5% glycerine 95% water the freezing point should be around -8 ;this is the same stuff you stick in your icing to stop it from going rock hard it keeps royal icing soft.
> 
> and dont forget animals will not usually drink anything unsafe they know you know my rabbits were not bothered by it at all.
> 
> glycerine is used in a lot of things not always foodstuffs sometimes handcreams and the like but i can assure you it is a perfectly safe foodstuff safe for us and safe for animals. taste it yourself you wont even notice the difference it just wont freeze as quick and as hard.


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## frags (Feb 5, 2009)

Alot of breeders use glycerine.

Im taking back my words lol my bottle's were frozen solid this morning!! will be buying some glucerine soon.

Just heard we are getting weather from scandinavia (sp) and temps will fall to lows of -20!!!! 

Keep warm everyone x


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## umber (Feb 15, 2009)

frags said:


> Alot of breeders use glycerine.
> 
> Im taking back my words lol my bottle's were frozen solid this morning!! will be buying some glucerine soon.
> 
> ...


are you serious?????? -20 no way!!!!

Ill try the glycerine thing too!


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## frags (Feb 5, 2009)

umber said:


> are you serious?????? -20 no way!!!!
> 
> Ill try the glycerine thing too!


I think the -20 was for the scotland area  my friend uses glycerine, a few drops in a watering can full of water and that works.


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## spudsmummy (May 1, 2009)

the snow is falling here and yes Buzz water bottle has frozzen  
I am going away for 2 days and my dad is coming up to sort Buzz out for me but he will only be able to come up 2 twice a day  I am worried about his water freezing while i am away. 
How long can rabbits go with out water?? My dad will be coiming up first thing in the morning and around tea time. will this be ok??


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## 2rabbit&2ferrets (Oct 9, 2008)

frags said:


> Alot of breeders use glycerine.
> 
> Im taking back my words lol my bottle's were frozen solid this morning!! will be buying some glucerine soon.
> 
> ...


I didn't know that :blush: I only just heard about it myself.



umber said:


> are you serious?????? -20 no way!!!!
> 
> Ill try the glycerine thing too!





frags said:


> I think the -20 was for the scotland area  my friend uses glycerine, a few drops in a watering can full of water and that works.


I used a 1/4 teaspoon in 1/2 pint (the stuff I have is powder) and I put 150ml in a water bottle and put it outside. I also but 150ml of regular water as the control.

The 'experiment' is currently a success. The normal water is already getting a layer of ice developing which has blocked the spout. The glycerine water is still free flowing from the spout and not turned to jelly and doesn't look or taste any different to regular water. I think I will make a batch for my rabbits tonight so that they can have some water. I live in the highlands of scotland. I'm hearing its gonna be a cold night too! Though to be honest I am rather enjoying having a proper winter rather than just rain.


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## hazyreality (Jan 11, 2009)

Sports socks for some reason work better than normal socks! I dunno why but I have found it out in the past, I brought a pack of 5 for £3 and have used all 10 as have at least 2 bottles per hutch.

Warm water freezes quicker than cold water, I think it is because with the warm water, the molecules have already been seperated/weakend, so the room between the molecules allows the cold in and therefore it freezes? If I remember my physics lessons right! I will ask my BF, he did physics A-Level!

*Heidi*


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## helebelina (Nov 11, 2009)

Wow very impressive. I obviously wasn't paying enough attention in my physics lessons  About the only thing that I know that doesn't freeze is alcohol  so maybe a drop of vodka would do the trick - although perhaps not so good for our fur-babies though  So perhaps keep the vodka to warm yourselves up not your bunnies  Keep warm everyone!


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

Tonight I have finally caved in and brought Miffy inside. She just wasnt right tonight not interested in her food at all after she warmed up she had a nibble, but wasnt her usual cheeky self. George on the other hand seems fine. Hope every1 elses bunnies are coping well. Bring on summer!!!


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## Kammie (Apr 4, 2009)

Can't see the houses across the road for the snow coming down out there and its bloody freezing. Bought the girls a nice fleecy blanket to snuggle in with the heat pads folded into it. Poor girls I feel so sorry for them, They've gone off their food a bit with the cold but still tucking into the porridge.


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