Worried about cold bunny.

[gigigrace]

Our five month old boy is very loved. We make sure we spend a lot of time with him, play and cuddle him. He gets plenty of exercise. During the day while we are are home, we bring him into the kitchen and he can roam freely there and be around us till around 9 at night. Then we put him in his hutch. It has straw, and a bucket with a safe blanket in.

This has been working fine until now. I'm just really worried about him now the weather has changed. Everyone is telling me 'it's a rabbit. They live in the wild'... well yes but those rabbits don't come into warm kitchens and then get put back into the cold. I'm worried I may be doing him more damage by bringing him in to play.

But then if I don't, I don't feel he will be getting enough attention. In fact I know he won't.

Any advice? Or does anyone do similar.

If you've had your bunny in the house at all regularly in the run up to cold weather then you CANNOT put it back outside.
Rabbits acclimatise to the freezing cold by building up a winter coat as the temperature outside gradually decreases and if you bring them indoors it interferes with this process, leaving them incredibly vulnerable to the cold.

Catalina has explained it much better than I did .

“ think all dog cages are too small, in length at least.”

You get 4 foot long dog crates and they’re about twice as wide as most hutches.

Mine are outside, but, there's four of them (so lots of shared body heat) and there's a heater in their shed which is now on overnight (much to the bemusement of everyone who hears that).

My childhood rabbits came into the garage during the winter. Before it got too cold, though, my mother had a complicated system of layers which would go onto the hutch depending on the temperature Teletext said it was going to be overnight (it included tarps, blankets and a duvet). It was far easier once they came indoors.

A dog cage is fine. Two of mine were in the house in a cage last winter (they were very ill and would not have survived being outside even with a heater - I had to keep a very close eye on them). It did mean I had to keep them in until about May, when the weather warmed up enough for them to go outside.

Definitely indoors for a single bun. :) you have time to socialise with him, get him through his neuter, then can look for a spayed female for him in the new year. If you look in rescues, they'll have already spayed girls and be able to help with tricky bonding.

And you're right to worry about the size of indoor cages, most are utter rubbish. My two have the whole of the spare bedroom but I understand that's not possible for everyone. You can either build a pen, or buy pen panels like the ones by Manor Pet Housing.

Just an update. We've put his run in the spare room with a blanket underneath to protect the carpet, and his litter tray in. I have a feeling this is going to make my house smell?!
Does anyone have any advice or reassurance to give me?

. Hes kind of litter trained. He will only poo and wee in his 'bed' area of his hutch, which also has a tray in. He doesn't just do it in the tray, but in the whole of that room.
And he only poos and wees in the downstairs toilet room and never in the kitchen. So he knows where he's weeing and pooing.

Spot clean the litter tray at least twice a day and you should help eliminate smells. He'll also smell better when he's neutered - unneutered boys are stinky little things ;)

He's been in there an hour and he's already made such a mess love him to bits though...

My buns were 8 months before being neutered as they are really small Netherland dwarf bunnies. They were just too tiny to operate on before reaching full size.

They can be neutered as soon as their testicles descend. Body size is irrelevant.
Regardless, they need other rabbit company 🐇 🐇

Ok so he is now inside. But while the weather is like this (none degrees during day), is he ok to be in his hutch while I'm at work. I do think he loves his hutch

Its currently one degrees at the moment so I'm glad I have him inside. Just don't want him to become a complete house rabbit. I'm hoping march time he will be back as an outdoor boy.

As PP mentioned, look at snugglesafe on Amazon. It might be useful

Kept me awake all night by trying to dig up the carpet and the room stinks of rabbit. Not looking forward to these winter months

If you put loads of hay (about 3-4 shoeboxes worth) in with him it should stop the digging. He’s trying to cover himself up to sleep. Otherwise a cardboard box with two exits full of hay should work.

Also as soon as he’s neutered he will stop smelling so rabbity. I think it’s the wee that stinks. If he’s 10 weeks get him booked in ASAP. The sooner he’s neutered, the sooner he can have a companion and you can start introducing them back slowly to living outside/ in shed/ garage.

Give him a box to dig in. This is a posh one made specially for buns, but you can DIY it:

www.manorpethousing.co.uk/digging-box

Posted before I'd finished typing!

We let him downstairs this morning Nd he's currently binkying away out the garden. I on the other hand, feel like I have a newborn 😂