not sure what to do with the rabbit over winter?

[kerryk]

we got our first rabbit last november and as he was a baby we kept him in the outhouse as it was warmer than the garden. we moved his hutch into the garden during the spring.

unfortunatly he died in august and we got a new baby rabbit a week later. he is now about 18 weeks and getting quite fat but i am wondering if we should keep his hutch where it is (sheltered in the garden) or would we be better moving him into the outhouse as well for the winter?

our old rabbit was given the run of the garden but the new one is still smaller/ shyer than he was so i dont want to let him roam just now incase he does manage to escape or spends all his time petrified under the hedge, he spends the morning in his run then comes into the house in the afternoon for a run about before going into his hutch at night.

i had been thinking about making him a house rabbit but am not sure what to do about chewing and house training (he craps everywhere!!!) plus he seems happy enough in his hutch.

We're going to keep our rabbit in it's hutch, there are two 'rooms' to the hutch, and one is very enclosed and we will fill that up with plenty of straw so I'm sure it will be warm. Also the hutch is under a shelter so is protected from the worst of the rain. I suppose if it gets really cold with days of frost, we may move it into the shed but that's a bit dark and depressing.

most of the day the rabbit is free to roam in the garden, and the hutch has a little door so it can go back in when it wants to.

we kept our rabbit in its hutch
whne it was cold we put a blanket over the front of the cage to give him a bit of extra warmth
don't forget to take the bottle inside at night as the water freezes and the bottle cracks
Line the hutch with newspaper, lots of straw in the bedding compartment to make it warm too

Our bunny was a house bunny ove the winter months and it worked really well. She stayed in her indoor cage over night or when we were out and in there she had her litter tray which she nearly always used. She was a chewer though and I had to accept that any wooden furniture would be nibbled (despite providing chewy things!)

She got so much more attention this way and often used to snuggle up with us on the sofa.

Sadly she had to be put to sleep yesterday. Despite being vaccinated she caught myxomatosis and developed pneumonia . You will actually help avoid this by keeping him inside too (although he still needs his jab).

Hth!

sorry to hear that hereorthere.

Good point about the water bottle freezing.

If you decide to keep him outside you could always get a hutch snuggle. They're about £20 and fit snuggly over the hutch with a see through window.

kerryk....remember he is only 18wks old atm. He isn't fully grown and therefore not able to keep as warm as an adult bunny. I would definitely think about putting him somewhere warmer during the Winter nights. Also if you're letting him have the run of the house during the afternoon and then putting him back outside into his hutch at night - the difference in temperature could be quite harsh for him...warm indoors to chilly night outside, iykwim!

thanks everyone.

had never really thought about doing him any harm by letting him in the house for a while!

think i will move the hutch back into the outhouse (wont do any harm) he is only in there at night anyway really as he loves the run and it had a shelter but on it.

with our old rabbit we used to throw a old curtain over the hutch at night but i will see if i can find one of the hutch snuggle things.

the temp has dropped so much here over the last few days, i would hate to think he was suffering.

kerryk...if you look on eBay you can pick up the covers for the hutch quite cheaply. Problem with hanging curtains or blankets over a hutch is when it gets cold/wet it easily soaks up the dampness in the air and make it colder for him and not very insulating. Maybe next Winter, when he is a lot older, he can stay out in the garden in his hutch but I wouldn't think he was quite old enough atm to be big enough to remain warm.