Buns in the winter

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Skapprentice

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Apr 12, 2013
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Location
Australia
Hey folks,

In the state where I am in Australia, winter temperatures at night get to about 5 degrees C, or 41 F if that makes sense.

My bun (Professor Pumpkin) has the option of being an indoor bun, or an outdoor enclosure bun where she lives happily in a living room sized space with lattice walls and a secure roof that we use for entertaining, as well as a home that she shares with a guinea pig and a fair few wild mice. We have a nice two story dolls house for her full of straw, a dog-run tube to simulate burrows, and the top of a plastic dog house that is really good for small tighter shelter spaces. We also have a couch for her to sleep on, plenty of blankets and a plastic/straw mat covering majority of the floor. We leave the door open so she can come in, but she refuses to.

I tell you this so you can get an idea of just how many options we have provided her with for winter shelter.

Instead of using any of these options, she sits on the cold cement patch behind a chair, pressed up against the windy walls of the lattice in a furry bundle.

We have tried putting blankets down in that exact spot, but she gets reallllly annoyed and will pick/dig it up and throw it away (literally). We have tried putting a wind blocker in the way of the lattice, but she just moved to an unblocked area. We've tried putting a blanket on her before we go to bed, and she just won't have it.

Is this at all dangerous for her, like... is she just being silly? Or does she know whats best and just... likes the cold? Should we keep her in a smaller enclosure at night for her protection (despite annoying her) or let her do her thing?

:/ She has a LOT of attitude.
 
The temperatures we get really aren't a problem for rabbits, but the wind is generally considered to be the thing that can cause problems. Since she's been outside all this time, her coat is perfectly suited to the outdoor temperatures and in fact coming inside, she probably gets too warm. If she's sitting there, she must be comfortable. If you are concerned about the wind though, is there any chance you could attach something to the outside side of the lattice so that she can't get to it to remove it? Otherwise, strapping something on with cable ties on the inside might work too if you are worried about the wind.

I loathe to argue with a determined rabbit though ;)
 
Thanks for the advice.
Shes just the sort to stop sitting in her favourite spot if I put something up to block the wind, because we've tried in the past haha. She does like it when there is a lil bit of sunlight, but that's more of a summer morning thing than winter.

Her ears are just cold!
Should I knit some ear warmers or something? Gosh!
 
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