Will the rabbit freeze over winter?

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Will the rabbit freeze over winter?

32 posts & 26 voices | Started 5 months ago by franksinatra | Latest reply from footflaps

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franksinatra - Member

Mrs Sinatra got a rabbit for the kids a couple of months ago. Not necessarily my first choice of pet (would have preferred a Border Collie) but he is a likable chap and the kids seems to enjoy him.

He is a lionhead rabbit so very, very furry. He lives outside in a large hutch and run with the occasional jolly into the house to chew through electrical cables.

Will he freeze over winter? It got down to -14 last year. I keep his hutch cosy with plenty of bedding but would feel dead guilty if he froze solid. What do you other STW rabiters do with yours over winter?

Posted 5 months ago #
Surrounded By Zulus - Member

This thread is going to go horribly wrong very quickly.

Posted 5 months ago #
schmiken - Member

Has he been outside as the temp drops? If so he will grow a thicker coat to manage. Me and the missus had them inside year before last (as we had a new one that we got too late for her to grow a good coat), but last year they just had a heat lamp we put on if the temp got really low just to keep the edge off.

Posted 5 months ago #
totalshell - Member

our guinea pigs are toasting in thier hutch.. made the sleeping area draught proof extra hay ( which they then eat..) made a lean to so the worst of the weather is kept off the hutch and have a roll down tarp to cover the front for really windy/ wet days.. keep em fed on veggies and the things will be fat as a .. come the spring

Posted 5 months ago #
franksinatra - Member

[quote]Has he been outside as the temp drops? If so he will grow a thicker coat to manage.[quote]

Yep, coat has really thickened over the past three weeks or so, looks like he is getting ready for the colder weather

Posted 5 months ago #
spooky_b329 - Member

As a kid ours used to just have a hutch with a tarp draped over to keep the wind and rain out, with the bed box filled top to bottom with straw which they used to make a nest in. They were fine for several years, but when the time came I think it was the cold that got them. Always felt it was a little cruel, personally I'd have brought the hutch into a shed at least.

Having had a couple of house rabbits for the last few months, I've realised how much they can crave attention. Ours spend all evening nudging your hand for a stroke, climbing over you or just following us about the house. Bring them in as house rabbits...we have only had to sacrifice a floor lamp and confine the laptop charger to the dining table, a bit of wood to block access to the TV corner and the house is pretty rabbit proof. They have free range of the downstairs when we are in. We did have to stick the bikes on a rack as they took a liking to chewing the side knobs off the tyres. Only downside of bringing them in for a trial, is you can't really stick them back out in the cold two weeks later as then they will suffer.

Posted 5 months ago #
midlifecrashes - Member

I know one who froze last year in the cold snap, it had been a regular outsider too, fairly standard hutch, plenty of bedding.

Posted 5 months ago #
franksinatra - Member

He comes in for most of the evening anyway. I just prefer him to be outside when we are not around. I also worry that, with having 3 young kids in the house, if he is in too much there would be plenty of opportunity for him to escape through doors left open.

Posted 5 months ago #
elaine anne - Member

yes it could freeze and thats what happend to our rabbit some years ago...plenty of bedding but one morning the poor little white fluffy thing was all stretched out like he was running....

Posted 5 months ago #
wallop - Member

Ye gods, if you're not sure - bring it in! Imagine the guilt you'd feel... eugh

Why do you worry about leaving it in the house when you are not there? Can't you just put it in a cage?

Posted 5 months ago #
antigee - Member

in the cold snap last year -10deg c here I know colder elsewhere put ours in cellar but in past been ok down to -3/4 - put some insulation bubble wrap on sides and roof and most important they are out of wind

Posted 5 months ago #
lord - Member

ours is outside all year round , just put plenty of bedding hay/straw and it will be fine , ours must be 8yrs old now

Posted 5 months ago #
JAG - Member

Our rabbit froze to death when I was a kid - for your own mental health bring it in if it get's below zero!

I'd feel pretty guilty for a long time if another pet of mine froze to death.

Posted 5 months ago #
spooky_b329 - Member

We keep ours in an extra large dog cage. Easy enough to secure with a padlock to stop the kids letting them out.

It makes you think, if that many die from the cold, they must suffer many cold snaps before the inevitable. In the wild, a burrow would be pretty much the same temperature all year round, unlike a hutch. Then take into account all breeds bar the standard grey rabbit have been bred for colour/size/ears etc, they are far removed from their hardy wild relatives.

Posted 5 months ago #
elaine anne - Member

yeah think about it.... rabbits live underground deep in the burrows....if they are in a cage they cant realy bury themselves deeper...just a thought.

Posted 5 months ago #
stucol - Member

Got three in a big two level hutch out back.

Having Three does mean they curl up together which helps them in cold weather.

I put clear acrylic sheet over parts of the mesh to keep the rain and wind off them in winter and also foam camping mat and a tarp over the top half if its below zero. This makes a big difference, their water does not freeze with this until about -5.

A very good idea is to line the whole of the sleeping area in 25mm (or more) polystyrene foam with plywood over it. With even one rabbit in it it heats up very well. We had down to -10 last winter with no problems.

If the rabbits ears are cold to the touch, the rabbit is cold ! But resist the temptation to bring it into a nice warm house at this point as the tempreture variation is too much for them to handle. Just give them some food and plenty of bedding hay.

Posted 5 months ago #
BenjiM - Member

Outside will be fine providing the hutch is draught proof and you provide plenty of bedding. Lionheads are a relatively new breed, just started to take off as we left the exhibitioning business. Went to my first rabbit show in 12 years on Saturday and met some familiar faces and a few lionheads too! None won though

Posted 5 months ago #
The Southern Yeti - Member

Get him a jacuzzi, he'll be right.

Posted 5 months ago #
spooky_b329 - Member

Ours had the sleeping part line with a polystyrene and ply sandwich, and the entrance was a small round hole rather than the normal big opening you get.

The ears thing...sometimes our rabbits ears are cold, sometimes hot, and this is with the heating set to 15 degrees. You can't help but notice as they are always shoving their head under your hand to get a stroke.

Posted 5 months ago #
Kona TC - Member

We always drapped a couple of carpets over the hutch at nigjt, with plenty of bedding he lived to a ripe old age .

Posted 5 months ago #
trevh - Member

last year neighbours rabbit died in the cold and they did build the hutch up to be cosy as they could for it. i ouldnt risk it bring it in or at worst garage or shed

Posted 5 months ago #
flockofffish - Member

Look on the bright side if he freezes at least he will not go off and you could leave outside for a few days untill he is ready for the pot!
Only joking. Just bring him inside if you can, if not then cover the hut with as much as poss to keep the rabbit warm. Also move hut near the outside wall.
Flock

Posted 5 months ago #
scaredypants - Member

Couple of people I know had rabbits die last winter

I wonder if it's their drinking water that freezes and then they dehydrate a bit too (seems the ones that died weren't looked at all that often )

(oh, and for SBZ: the batteries go off in the cold, unless they're lithium ones)

Posted 5 months ago #
coffeeking - Member

Our wabbits used to get moved into the garage over winter, kept the worst off them.

Posted 5 months ago #
Milt - Member

Maybe slowly freezing to death is the better option compared to being cooped upped all yer miserable life.

Posted 5 months ago #
samuri - Member

If the hutch is outside then it needs a tarp and a blanket or two over it. It should really be inside a shed or garage over winter though.

Some time ago, I forgot to roll the blankets and tarp over the front of our rabbits hutch, and it was a really cold night.

Poor stumpy. No more shagging my wifes leg for you.

stumpy by Jon Wyatt, on Flickr

Posted 5 months ago #
tree-magnet - Member

Rabbits can be trained to live indoors in much the same way as a house cat.

Mine was litter trained, didn't chew (that took a lot more training than the litter training) and had free run of the ground floor of the house.

He bullied the cat and dog a bit, but other than that he was as content as could be. If we were leaving the house for more than an hour we'd pop him in his cage (basically an indoor large guinea pig cage) and he'd have a nap and wait for us to come back.

I saw next doors rabbits freeze to death. Horrible and I can't think of many worse ways to go tbh. You wouldn't do it to any other animal (dog, cat, hamster etc) so why do it to a rabbit?

When the weather was good he would go out in the run in the garden and happily chew grass. The cat would spend most of the day sat on the run, either keeping him company or mocking him. I was never sure which.

Posted 5 months ago #
franksinatra - Member

Thanks for all the thoughts.

The rabbit is house trained (apart for nibbling wires) so not a real problem to bring him in. I would still prefer that he lives outside though and comes in during the evenings, which is the current set up.

The plan is to insulate his hutch better, plenty of bedding and move it into the garage when it gets too cold. I have also ordered a microwave heat pad for him to sleep on. Will see how that goes.

Posted 5 months ago #
kayak23 - Member

If it does freeze, then I'd suggest keeping it in its cryogenically-suspended-like state until such a time as the technology exists to bring it back to life, like in that Mel Gibson film.

Our Guinea pigs are sweating their nads off now. I bought two boiler jackets from Homebase and tacked them to cover the top, sides and back of the hutch. I then draped a tarp over all that and tacked that down too. Finally, I cut some perspex covers to fit over the mesh on the front with plenty of air holes and holes so I can still mount their water bottles and there they are...happy as something can be thats confined to a small space for much of its life (I personally wouldn't have a 'pet' but girlfriends and small children can think otherwise)

Posted 5 months ago #
jon1973 - Member

Posted 5 months ago #
GlitterGary - Member

Yeah, keep him in the garage, and get some old carpet to drape over the hutch too, that's what we used to do with Thumper. He was a dwarf, so was tiny.

Oh, and get a cat, they look after themselves and are more fun!

Posted 5 months ago #
footflaps - Member

Heating pad on thermostat under the hutch? Run it on DC so no problem if he does chew through the cable...

Posted 5 months ago #