Need advice on housing!

[Maddie_20]

hey everyone.. i was just in need of some advice.. I am thinking of making a run area for minnie and mickey downstairs in our fully finished basement, but it is kind of chilly down there so wondering if it will be super cold for them if i put them downstairs?


Thanks,

Madhura

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

I'm thinking in Canada, you could use some space heaters down there that should work well, just keep them a bit of distance away.

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

I know that our basement gets cols in the winter. I wouldn't put my bunnies down there without additional heat.
Rabbits so better in the cold vs the heat, but it is still not fun to be cold all the time. If you can get a portable heater for the room, it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

I agree with everyone else, a portable heater or maybe two, would be excellent to put near the cage/run to make it a little warmer. Try finding the kind that requires it to sit up to be on; that way if it falls over, it shuts off automatically.

I have one that I have used in my shed, that has a button on the bottom and the button must sit on something solid to be pressed into the bottom to turn it on. If it were to get shifted and have no weight on the button, it'd turn off, and if it fell, it'd turn off.

Very handy so that if it were to fall on a pile of hay/shavings it doesn't start a fire

Emily

 

[Pet_Bunny]

Maddie_20 wrote:

I am thinking of making a run area downstairs in our fully finished basement,

It should be fine to let your two run downstairs. Your house is already heated, and the basement is only a few degrees cooler than upstairs, so there is no problem. It's not that chilly, and you aren't going to leave them there all the time.

I let my two run in my unfinishedbasement for 1 or 2 hours a day. It has the concrete floor andsome tiled carpets in their run. I have the heat registers open, but don't need any extra heaters.

 

[Maddie_20]

hey guys,

Thanks... They will be there during the day and I will have the basement heated during the day so it shouldn't be a problem.. it isn't that cold.. and I am going to be putting some extra carpets down just so that they have a little more warmth on their feet. But thanks for the heads up guys!

 

[MyRabbits]

Just FYI, excerpting from "Care of the Domestic Rabbit," by Dr. Chris Hayhow, current president of ARBA:

"The ideal environmental temperature range for the rabbit is 55 to 70 [degrees] F (13-21 [degrees] C). . . . Rabbits are much more tolerant of lower temperatures than higher ones, and often their activity level will increase during extremely cold weather . . .

I don't think spending time in the finished basement would impose a stress on their temperature regulatory system; they might even like that it was a few degrees cooler than the rest of the house, depending on how much you heat your house. . . .

You did say that this was a finished basement, but you did not indicate what kind of flooring it had. If it is a bare floor, I would really recommend adding some throw rugs so that the rabbits can get enough traction to hop comfortably and enjoyably. . .