Getting Cold Here....

Advertise with us
Shop deals on ebay
Love your rabbit
shop deals on amazon
Rabbits Online Forum

Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
F

FallingStar

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 18, 2007
Messages
1,392
Reaction score
0
Location
Thurston County, Washington, USA
Well here in Washington it's starting to get cold and my buns are outside in a covered hutch. But I'm starting to get worried about them. They have a nestbox full of hay and eachother to keep warm. But is there anything else I can do? I would bring them in the house but they get way to warm in the house because they are used to being outside. Is there anything else I can do to be sure they are warm at night? Thanks.


Karlee
 
What I do for Macey is put loads of straw in her cage, then put a layer of hay on top, and then we covered everywhere on her cage except where her water bottle is with plastic to keep the wind off and everything.

And make sure you check their water bottle a lot more if you have on so that it doesn't get frozen and the buns don't get thirsty.
 
Yeah, I put luke warm water in their water bottle. But the only thing is, their cage is the kind with the mesh floor. So all the poo falls through. I have a tarp thing over the top and pull it over on really cold nights. Do you think if I put an old blanket in there would help?

So Montana, who cover the outside of her cage with plastic?
 
Just remember not to put hot water in there, because hot freezes faster than cold water. And I think I read somewhere that if the blankets can freeze, so I don't think thats a good idea. But I'm not sure so look into that.

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/5946/dscn2449iv9.jpg

^That is what Macey's cage looks like covered in plastic. The top door is open at the moment, so don't think it's permanetly like that, haha.
And me and my mom covered it in plastic.
 
Yeah, I don't put hot water just a little warm. :D

And that's true, they can freeze. I never thought of that.


The plastic is a good idea, I'll have to look into that with my parents. The only thing is with my hutch, the roof lifts up and that's the door. But I could just wrap it around and not have it wrap around the top. :) So do your buns stay warm with that plastic around it?
 
Thats the way the bottom is on Macey's cage, itlifts up, but I still could put plastic on it. Want me to take a picture of the top for you tommorow to show you what I mean?

Yeah, if you stick your hand in there, you can definately tell its warmer. I mean its not warm warm like a house, but better than regular outside air. Plus the wind isn't blowing on her so that helps.
 
I have 2 that refuse to be caged and refuse to go in the barn.. they are in a spacious hutch.

Tonight it is 31 degree's outside. They have a seperating wall between them, and they also have the drop through mesh floor.

Here is what we have done for them, and they have survived 4 winters of temps in the teens.

We give them a meal of rolled oats, crimped barley and black oil sunflower seeds with some cheerios rolled in wheat germ oil. The ONLY thing that is majorly important in that is the black oil sunflower seeds.. it increases their core temp. The other stuff just basically insures they gobble everything down including the sunflower seeds.

We gave them each a nice heaping of hay early in the day for them to *nest* the way they like.

Keeping the North wind off is critical. My husband cuts 2 pieces of plywood the same side as the end of the hutch and screws that end. The opposite side doesn't really need it, as it is not facing the North side, but I like to add to the cozy feel. We then take a flannel blanket and wrap the front, using clothes pins to secure it to the wire. top sides and bottom, THEN we get a Wal-Mart $4 blue tarp and some bungee cords. We usually already have some screws in for the cords to hook on.. REALLY keeps the wind off.... bungee em on each corner.. tight.

If it gets REALLY cold.. like tonight.. we have a clamp light with a heat lamp on the top of the hutch. Aimed between the two, and the usually nest down underneath the lamp. There is a space of about 4 feet between the heat lamp and the hay and the buns..

Zin
 
I would put something over the floor (sheet of wood) and put a litter tray in instead to keep the poop clean. On top of that a thick layer of straw or hay (with or without a blanket underneath). If the cage isn't sectioned you can provide a box which should be solid on all sides with just a doorway to go in. It's easier for them to keep themselves warm in a small space (like a warren) than it is in the midde of a large cage.

On the outside atleast 3 sides should be solid and the open side facing the most protected direction. You can part coverthe third side - perspex is good so they get light in. Leave room for ventilation. When it's coldest (e.g. at night) cover the whole thing with carpet/blanket/old duvet or similar and then a layer of plastic (e.g. a tarp) over the top. If you can get a big enough sheet bubble wrap is good for insulating. Leave a small gap for ventilation.

Damp is a big issue, cold and dry is better than cold and wet so make sure the roof is good and it's not sitting on the floor in a puddle.

You can buy heat pads in the UK called Snugglesafe's which you microwave - not sure if they are available in the US.

Hope that helps :)

Tamsin
 
Ok, I'll try some of these tomorrow since it's already 8:45pm. I'll take some pictures and post them on here and I'll see what you guys can think up. I have a light in there, so at night-time when I ckeck on them I can see. Do you think I should leave this light on all night? It's on the side of the cage. I'll post pics on the inside and outside of the cage to show you all.


Thanks for all the help.

Karlee
 
Hot water freezes faster than cold water because the water molecules are moving faster.

The water molecules have to arrange themselves into a crystaline structure in order to form ice. Arranging themselves into that structure takes energy. Cold water has less energy than hot water, so it takes longer for the molecules take longer to re-arrange themselves than hot water with more energy.

Dunno it that makes any sense or not, but that's the way I understand it.

--Dawn
 
aurora369 wrote:
Hot water freezes faster than cold water because the water molecules are moving faster.
Click to expand...
That's only sort of true. Hot water forms a thin layer of ice faster than cool water only, but it doesn't actually freeze faster. The 'inside' water will cool down and then act like cool water and freeze at the same rate.
 
Yes that makes sense. I was actually told this before many years ago and when I tried to present the information to my dad he yelled at me and called me a dumba$$.

But now that I know its actually true I feel better.
 
I just remember having it explained to me in high school, and I haven't really investigated in anymore since then. I just remember the whole hot water has more energy thing.

--Dawn
 
Here is our Library thread on Keeping rabbits warm outside.

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=16155&forum_id=17

Why do you have them on wire floors? It's so easy to litter train a rabbit, they are really not neccessary, I don't understand at all why people use them. In my opinion, they are bad for the feet. Could you put wood over the floor? That would protect their feet and keep them warmer. Straw is a great insulator, so a whole lot of that packed in, with hay, will keep them cosy.

And I definitely advise Snugglesafes, Ebony loves hers! :)
 
GoinBackToCali wrote:
Tonight it is 31 degree's outside.

.... they have survived 4 winters of temps in the teens.


Zin
Click to expand...

Ahh, that sounds balmy to me right now, LOL. It was -4 F here last night. Mine are in a barn, which of course keeps the wind off, and I also pack all cages full of straw. I also do extra hay feedings on bad nights, the extra calories help them keep warm. I give them warm water to drink too. My dad is always asking me why I do that, because it freezes faster. I tell him, well, when you have been out in the cold you like a warm drink don't you?

Anyway, my rabbits have lived this way for years, in much more severe temps than we have right now. When I was in 4-H we had a winter where it averaged about -22 F for a couple of weeks in a row, and I had one case of slight frostbite, that was all. Of course, in those temps I also had the cages wrapped in blankets, as well as the straw bedding.
 
All day today I worked on the hutch. I put up tarps and it seems better then it was.

And Michaela, I have east matts and some boards in there so it won't hurt their feet as much. The wire doesn't seem to bug them. I have a nest book full of straw for them. I bought a bale of straw today for them. I read that post about keeping them warm, I used some of those tips on my hutch.

But the only reason I don't litter train them is because there isn't room for a litter box. They have a farely large hutch. But if I did put a litter box in there, there would be no room for them to hop around.

But if I do see signs of the wire hurting their feet, I will adjust. :)

And like I said before I have a clamp lamp on the inside of their cage. Should I keep this on all night?
 
Well, I shouldn't of said "too small". There cage is two cages but there is a hole throught the middle so they can go into both sides. And I have resting pads for them like a said above. They have a nest-box in there also, so that's why I said that. Ok?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top