How cold is too cold for outdoor play?

[LoveCrumb]

I live in a colder region and we've already seen a few days of snow here over the last couple of weeks. The ground unfreezes for a small part of the day and I was thinking about taking my bunny out for some fresh air. I'm wondering what your guys' experiences are with bunny tolerance to cold?

My bun has nice thick fur on his paws, but I worry that his ears have little protection. He has black fur so even in the summer he avoids the sun because it heats him up too quickly, but maybe that will work to his benefit in the winter? He's a small guy- mixed breed between a lop and a dwarf, and he's at his healthy weight so there's no junk in the trunk to keep him warmer. I've attached a picture of him if anyone's interested (the part of his harness that wraps around his neck looks like it's set too loose, but it's at the smallest setting and it was still tight enough to not cause any problems!)

He's an indoor rabbit and he's never been exposed to the cold for more than a few minutes. He's going a bit stir crazy in the house, however, since he was used to getting 3 hours outside most days in the summer. His temperament noticeably improves when he gets outdoor activity, and I feel bad for depriving him even though he's let out of his cage to explore my (bunny-proofed) room for most of the day, it definitely doesn't seem like enough for him.

 

[Chrisdoc]

He´s just adorable.

I don´t have that problem over here, we´re still around 20ºC during the day but I have seen pictures of other members buns romping in the snow and thoroughly enjoying it. I actually think that bunnies in the snow look just gorgeous.
I think that bunnies who live in colder climates tend to grow and thicker coat for the cold and I think you should be Ok taking him out to get some exercise and to have a good look around and enjoy. From what I´ve seen on here, the bunnies seem to love the snow. Hope you´ll post some pics and I´m sure some of the other members who have experience of this will come on here to comment.

 

[geekgirl101]

Bunnies have adapted themselves to live in colder weather. But for indoor bunnies the sudden change of warm to cold could be problematic and may be fatal, so you need to adjust the room temperatures your bunnies are in the most so your rabbits are feeling comfy before letting them outside. If they don't have a winter coat from being indoors then I would say play outside with them until you find it's too cold to play out yourself, then let them back inside.

 

[Back2Basics]

Rabbits LOVE cold weather. They do better in it than hot. As long as he's not out all day, and you may only want to take him in the warmest part since he is an indoor rabbit, he'll probably love it. Living in Florida we only breed in the winter months (Nov - May) because it gets too hot here.

And I agree, he is totally adorable!