# Rabbits outside in the winter?



## acjb007 (Feb 5, 2009)

Hi I have 2 baby rabbits who I keep indoors as the weather has been so bad. Once they're older and the weather warms up I will keep them outside. I was wondering what extereme of coldness they can stand? I read somewhere they can survive freezing conditions as long as they have shelter and straw. Is this true? Or is it best to keep them inside in the winter?


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## Vixxen (Jan 13, 2009)

ive never had problems keeping rabbits outside in winter...infact i have a french lop out in the snow atm looking a bit dirty compared to the white snow.


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## Bolton Babe (Feb 2, 2009)

I've nly just got my rabbit and have had the same worries. 

General concensus is that as long as they have plenty of hay to snuggle up in and some shelter from the wind they should be fine.

Tink lives in the shed atm but when it gets warmer outside i'll move her to the garden. I've heard that switching from indoors to outdoors does more harm than good but i'm not sure if that stands for babies, you might want to check up on it.

Sorry I can't be of much help :sad:


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## MelanieW34 (Sep 28, 2008)

heres my snow bunny!


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## Vixxen (Jan 13, 2009)

your snow bunny looks less grumpy than mine lol


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## MelanieW34 (Sep 28, 2008)

He wanted out to play like yours! Couldnt let him though as the gate was open and the kids were in and out. We built him a snowball and shoved some bunny chocs in to it...seeing him dig it all apart was soo funny! 

He stays out in the garden all year, sometimes when its minus whatever you can see him sitting out at 0100, he NEVER seems bothered by the cold. The wind he doesnt liek and always goes inside when its windy, i think thats to do with the noise as well though.

Plus i think he sits in the rain on purpose as he knows when he is soaking wet i let him inside to dry out by the fire! He smells like a wet dog :scared:


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## Vixxen (Jan 13, 2009)

ine stays out in the garden all day, but i put her away at night...she then throws toys around all night and generally has tantrums.


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## MelanieW34 (Sep 28, 2008)

Vixxen said:


> ine stays out in the garden all day, but i put her away at night...she then throws toys around all night and generally has tantrums.


Does she have free reign in the garden? We cant let Bumble out like that unless we are out with him as there are lots of cats and i wouldnt feel safe. he has his run attached to his hutch so he can get in and out as he pleases.

in the summer when we're sitting out, its lovely to see him run and hop about like a loony. but then we have to catch him :mad2:


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## Vixxen (Jan 13, 2009)

MelanieW34 said:


> Does she have free reign in the garden? We cant let Bumble out like that unless we are out with him as there are lots of cats and i wouldnt feel safe. he has his run attached to his hutch so he can get in and out as he pleases.
> 
> in the summer when we're sitting out, its lovely to see him run and hop about like a loony. but then we have to catch him :mad2:


haha yeah she does, shes bigger than most cats (not my own though as we have big breeds of cats) so thats not a threat, she plays nicely all day and then when its time to put her away shes trained to "go home" to her hutch, very intelligent breed is the frenchie lol

she plays with the cats in the garden


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## colliemerles (Nov 2, 2007)

great pics, here is some of mine taken today,


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## Bolton Babe (Feb 2, 2009)

MelanieW34 said:


> Does she have free reign in the garden? We cant let Bumble out like that unless we are out with him as there are lots of cats and i wouldnt feel safe. he has his run attached to his hutch so he can get in and out as he pleases.


Where did you get your hutch from?? Was it expensive?? I want one for Tink for in the summer :w00t:


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## MelanieW34 (Sep 28, 2008)

colliemerles said:


> great pics, here is some of mine taken today,


What a pretty little rabbbit Collie!


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## MelanieW34 (Sep 28, 2008)

Bolton Babe said:


> Where did you get your hutch from?? Was it expensive?? I want one for Tink for in the summer :w00t:


Our bumble is still in the budget hutch which we bought when we got him, it was £99 for the lot including bun! The run is a separate one, and my hubby somehow rigged up the 2 so that he can get in and out. This was because when they were separate, we used to put him to bed about 2300, but he had a habit of jumping out of your arms and legging it around the garden! :cornut:

We looked the other day for a proper combi as his hutch is a bit sorry looking now, and for a decent sized one in a shop you were looking at about £130, or on ebay they are around £80-90.


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## colliemerles (Nov 2, 2007)

MelanieW34 said:


> What a pretty little rabbbit Collie!


thank you, he is a little cutey isnt he,..........


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## catty (Feb 6, 2009)

hi, is that an eglu? Do you like it? I've been looking at them. I just wondered whether they were a bit small inside. It's difficult to tell from the website.


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## rach1980 (May 1, 2008)

we left our rabbits out in all weather, wind, ain, sleet, snow, sun. the only time we ever brought them in was around bonfire night.

During the cold months we used to give them extra bedding and extra hutch covering. we never lost a rabbit due to the cold


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## VampiricLust (Mar 3, 2008)

I had an eglu came here with a bun, and can say it is disgustingly small and i chucked it out. The indoor bit is not even 2 foot  No way would i have it for my buns. And the price it is, you could buy a shed and attach a run via a catflap!!


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## umber (Feb 15, 2009)

Back to orig post...sorry dont know how to quote here im new...

Your 2 baby rabbits would need to have grown winter coats in order to be able to stand the cold especially at night!

hope this helps!


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## Amyk (Dec 23, 2008)

my rabbit lived out in all weather in a hutch and run of corse and she lived a very long and happy life with the run of the whole garden. 
if the winter we gave her loads of straw, hay and newspaper and we had a very thick cover over the whole of her hutch plus the huct was raised of the ground. on the run which was attached to the hutch we covered the top and part the was down the side in a see throw plastic which helped to protect her from the wind and snow she was also in a veru sheltered part of the garden so i think we did everything we could to keep her warm in the winter and she could always come and go out in the garden as she please because we had a little gate for her on her run, she loved sun bathing in the summer she was a right poser, each night we put her in the hutch which was surrounded but the run (BIG RUN) and locked the run and also locked the hutch with a pack lock and then covered it over, we also have aload of foxes in my area so this really helped protect her from them aswell as the whether.


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