Warming a Rabbit

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Loz n Ebony wrote:
Carolyn wrote:

? If you must bring your rabbit inside,put him in the coolest room so that when you take him back outside, thedrastic change in temperature won’t shock his system.



Would it be okay to give my rabbits excercise in the kitchen and then put them back to their hutches outside?



Hi Loz,

Always good to see you.

I wouldn't bring them in to exercise in the kitchen. If you were tobring them in, I'd go into the basement with them if you have oneavailable to you.


If not, I think it's better they stay outside and perhaps romp aroundin the snow. Bringing them into the kitchen exposing them to suddenwarmth and then having to go back into a shocking cold isn't the way togo. It's too much of a sudden change on the rabbit.

-Carolyn

 
how can u tell if a bun is cold?my bunny lives inthe basement because my brother has allergies...:(. well anyway lastwinter, everytime I came down, my bun was huddled in the corner andwhen she was let out to play, i felt her ears were very cold. does thismean shes cold?cause even though shes not outside, she is still in thebasement and its pretty cold down there. since then i've made her anestbox (and put a towel inside), i dunno if this will help but sheseems to appreciate it.
 
I'd have that towel cleaned each day because youhave to watch out for bacteria, SpoiledBuni. As long as youprovide some hay for your little one, so that she has a place tosnuggle up to if she does get cold. Rabbits do better in thecooler weather than the warmer weather. Drafts are thebiggest concern. As long as she's in the basement withoutdrafts, I wouldn't worry too much.

If she's anything like Tucker, she likes a nice comfy bed, whether it's cold or not.



The smaller breeds of rabbits tend to have a tougher time with thecold, but as I said, as long as she's protected from the elements andable to snuggle up with some hay if she does get chilly, she should befine.

-Carolyn
 
SpoiledBuni wrote:
thanks carolyn, i think i'll take the towel out then. by the way do carpets have bacteria like towels do?


Yes. Carpets can hold bacteria too.

-Carolyn
 
Carolyn

Our Lola "eats" the bedding if we put it on the inside of hercage. She is an indoor bunny at all times. We havea double wire-mesh cage. When we put in timothy or alfalfahay. She will eat it. We are scared she will eat herself todeath!!!:D

Any suggestions?
 
Hi Annkierst1,

I wouldn't put bedding in there if she's eating it, or put a straw matdown or something that if she does eat it, it won't harm her.Be careful of things that can hold bacteria. You do, mostdefinitely, have to be careful of her eating the bedding. Itcould cause a blockage and be fatal to her.

Since she's an indoor rabbit, I'm sure that her being warm in the winter isn't much of a concern.

I feed my rabbits unlimiited timothy hay. It passes rightthrough them and is good for their digestive system,movingblockages, good for their teeth, and they love it. Just makesure to remove hay that she's gone to the bathroom on because she couldget sick from it if it gets moldy, and there's always the coccodiosisissue that you have to keep in mind.http://homepage.mac.com/mattocks/morfz/rabrefs.html#coc

-Carolyn


 
Thank you Carolyn.

Here's another question. I was told that if I put a litterbox inside of Lola's cage she will use it. You see Lola onlygoes to the bathroom ( for whatever reason I do not know) on one sideof the cage. And in the corner. So a person thathas had a rabbit once told me to place a litter box inside ofit. I cannot see placing a litterbox inside of hercage. I am thinking lola would not go into that and she wouldprobable knock it over. My question is,is that possible? And if so how would she react toit. Lola still knocks over her food bowl. If Isecure it, eventually she will unsecure it. Lola is very verymischievious!

Thanks

Annette and Kiersten

Bunny Lovers for Life
 
As for placing a litter box in the corner whereshe goes... it is a good idea. Provided there is enough roomin the cage. That was how I litter box trainedGuin. She only pees in one of the many boxes we have eitherinside her cage or outside. Pellets are a bit of a problem atthe moment as we have just added a baby bunny. They both aredropping pellets like mad everywhere, tho the baby is learning to gopee in the box.



As for knocking it over, yes that will probably happen. Guinused to do it a LOT until she let me know I was putting it in the wrongcorner. Now that it is in the right corner, she only flips itwhen it is in need of a cleaning.

Did you try one of those ceramic crock food bowls? They are harder to throw =)
 
Hi Annette and Kiersten,

Wholeheartedly agree with all of bunsforlife's suggestions.

As for the litterbox getting knocked around, Buck Jones will drill asmall hole in each side of the litterbox and wrap a wire around it andthe cage to secure it. This prevents the litterbox getting thrown allover the cage when 'the fit' begins.

As bunsforlife said, you can also use ceramic bowls which they can'ttoss, or there are different types of bowls that attach to the cage.Tucker's a bowl thrower too. It always reminds me of a prisoner wavinghis tin cup against the bars. BOY, do I know it when I'm five minuteslate getting supper to him.

-Carolyn
 
LOL I tried the holes and wires with Elf's litterbox. She got SO peeved that I had done that! When she found out that noamount of tugging would move her box, she dug everything out. Pellets,newspaper and Yesterdays News were alllllll over the cage floor, allover my couch, all over the living room floor, on my desk..... Well,you get the idea.

So...I untied the box. Now she will still occasionally move the litterbox somewhere else in her cage (until I notice and move it back), butshe hasn't flung everything out again since I untied it. Maybe that wasall she needed. hehe

Just a thought, in case it happens to you
 
Elf is such a cutie!

Yeah, Guin didnt like it when I tried to tie her box down... Shetrashed her cage bigtime. So I leave it unattached.If she wants to throw it, then she has to wait for me to clean up thepoops, and she likes a tidy house. Pain in my arse =D
 
Thanks Elf_Mommy and bunsforlife.

I do know that Missy used to dig at the litter as well.Calbert gave up pretty quickly once he realized the box wasn't goinganywhere. Perhaps things have since changed, but it's funnyhow the both of you had to remove the wire.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Fall has arrived in Northeast America! It seemed toannounce itself onSaturday.



-Carolyn
 
Hey Guys,

Thanks for the info. The way Lola's cage is made, I slide outthe drawers underneath to clean them and then slide themback. I don't know what's going, but lately she has beenpeeing and missing the cage. I mean most of it goes in thecage but when I lift up her cage, there are wet soil right where shepees. As far an any and I do mean ANY ATTACHMENTS in hercage. Lola has a fit. She is the only bunny I know thatdoesn't like things in her cage. Newspaper, toys, the thingsyou give them for their teeth, etc. Ane every morning approx6:30 SHARP, Lola is pushing around her food bowl. I tried totake the food bowl out so she won't wake up Kiersten and well she"thumped her hind legs" Almost sounds like someones knockingon the door!:shock:Lola is a mess truly. I fuss ather and she just put's back those antennas and turns her back towardme. Isn't that something. I guess she dosen't carewho buys the food huh?!^*:p I really don't think Lola wouldenjoy a litterbox and I think it would be more than I want tohandle. We are all females in this house and I when I think Iam the "Alpha" guess what?

AnnKierst
 
hi,

Great info. I was did have something improtant that I wanted to add orhave people watch out for. I have english lops (their the ones with therealy realy long ears.) I also have flemish giants. Our rabbits live ina heated area during the winter since in Iowa the conditions do getpretty bad. With the lops you need to raise up the water bowls, or usethe water bottles if it isnt freezing temps yet. If you dont theproblem is that the lops can easily get their ears wet, or even frozenin the water bowls. My first english lop that I got did this. I wentout one night when the temps droped for the first time. At that time wedid not heat where the rabbits lived. I heard Fionna my english lop doeplaying with her water crock. I thought that is wierd she never didthat before and when I came around the corner and saw in her pen I sawthat she wasnt playing with her crock she was playing with her toy (ithink it was her ping pong ball) and the crock was frozen on the tip ofher ear and just sliding around with her. Scared me to death. I knewright away that I needed to get it thawed off her ear, and that her earwas going to be frost bite once I did. Just too many blood vessels inthe ears. The hard part was that I bought her breed and she was due inthree days and not use to me and being handled:(. The hair dryer scaredher too much and I was terrifyed that it would cause the ice to crackdamaging the ear farther. So I had to put it in a bowl of cool water,and then added a little bit of warmer water every few seconds just tookeep it cooler untill the crock completely thawed and then I left italone for a little while later while I did the same thing with the earstill in the water bowl. That night I snowed as well, and I could notget her to the town where our vet is. When I did get her to the vet thenext afternoon (once the roads were plowed) I found out what i alreadyknew. The ear was frost bite. Once the litter came we had herear operated on and fixed (just the tip was removed, if too much ear isremoved a rabbit cannot cool itself right.) Something else to watch outfor is a rabbit that ears get too cold (I suspect that this happendswhen the ear gets numb like your fingers or toes do when they get cold)a rabbit will try to fix it on their own. If a rabbit can reach itsears withits mouth(like for example the englishlops can or the french lops) they tend to start to chew on their ears.Now this can realy alarm a person if they go out one night and findthis so that is why I decided to tell you all about this problem Fionnadid this when her ear got frost bit. Now dont worry or over think this.It realy is not that grose of a sight, they dont totally mutate theirears or anything like that. It is usauly just the edges of it, or evenone bite alot of times. It is most common in english lops because theirears are not usauly that well covered with hair, their ears are alotthinner than other rabbits ears are, they are farther away from therabbits body so the blood flowing in it is alot cooler by the time itreaches the ends of the ears, and their ears are more exposed. Alot oftimes people dont even notice that the rabbit has chewed on the earunless they make the edges un even, or the hair grows back white( likeon a colored rabbit). When 4-hers brings a rabbit to our fair (I am cosuperintendent of our counties rabbit department) and it is a longeared lop i can look at the ears and tell them if it is a rabbit thatwas housed outside during the winter in a unsheltered cage because thetips of the ears will not be rounded, or the edges of them will bebald. I just give them instructions for next winter that sounds justlike what you just gave.

Another thing I have encountered in my english lops are chapped ears.In the winter they can get dry, and red. I put petrolium jelly on themand it seems to work well.(if you have bedding inthe cage this can make a mess)Oh but if you have a rabbit that licks itoff (havent met one yet that has though) you should mix it withsomthing, Im not sure what you call it but our vet gave it to us forFionna when she chewed on her ear, I think it was called sour apple. Isaw it before at a farm supply store its for horses, but check beforeyou use anything thats not aproved for rabbits on rabbits.

I wanted to tell everyone about a item that is just for rabbits thatyou might think a little about for next winter if you think they need awarm box. There is a actual rabbit nest box warmer. It is metal and sonothing for the rabbit to chew on or through. The cord has a metalpiece around it and the rest of the cord has kind of like a metalspring on it. It is pretty nice. Ive also heard of people using it forthe water bowls they just set the water bowls on top of it.

I hope that this helps just some more info.
 
My bunnies have a hutch outside for warm weatherand stackable cages in the basement for winter. I am actually thinkingof bringing them in this weekend. I do get tired of checking the waterbowls, and this way they are safe from weather. Even though my bunniesdo not like to be handled, they still love for me to talk to them andgive them treats. They just love fresh pineapple..even though theydon't know that it helps with hairballs!!!
 

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