keeping rabbits outdoors ?

[STEPHANIE11]

My dad built a hutch for my bunnies tobe kept outdoors. My parents seem to think that my rabbits are makingthe house smell terrible . Well I need some tips on keeping themoutside as they have been indoor rabbits until now. I live in canada sothe winters are pretty cold how do u guys cope with winters and yourbunnies ?

 

[Haley]

So does this mean you have decided to keep Tips?

What kind of cage do you currently have inside? Having in NIC condoallows for more space when you cant be there to lethim (orthem? is there more than one?) out to run around. Also, what kind oflitter are you using? That could be the cause of the smell if youre notusing a very odor absorbant litter.

With regards to housing outdoors, I would not recommend it if yourehaving trouble right now giving your bunnies time. Once theyre outside,its very easy to forget about them, unless youre very dedicated togiving them time to run and play.

However, it can be done if youre willing to put in the time.MBB has three that she keeps ouside and she lives inAlberta,CA, but she really takes great care to give them proper time andattention ( I remember her saying she has to change the water manytimes a day in the winter to keep it from freezing).

If I were you, I would just try to make some alterations with their indoor housing.

 

[naturestee]

Maybe we could help you with the smell issueinstead? Is he neutered? That oftenhelps. I wipe the cage floors down with vinegar once in awhile to remove residual stains and smells that are tracked out of thelitterbox.

Also, wood pellet litter is the best I've found for keeping litterboxes smelling clean. :blueribbon:

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

I don't have a lot of time to reply but if youdon't have time for the rabbit inside, definitely do not keep themoutside! Homemade hutches are notoriously hard to clean, on average ittakes me an hours to clean one cage and that's just cleaning up thepoop and floorboards. Keep in mind outside hutches need to be cleanedat least every second day and daily in the summer (because of thepossibility of fly strike in a dirty cage). Outside rabbits need a verylarge hutch since they are less likely (due to weather limitations) toget out daily meaning they need enough room to get some exercise intheir hutch.

Water is a big issue, I probably change it an average of 10 times aday. I'm outside no matter what the weather -- even in -40 and below.Rabbits don't understand if you just 'don't feel like going out today'.Daily checks are crucial, you need to be extra vigilant because it'sharder to pick up diseases and illnesses in an outside rabbit.

Bedding as well as an insulated, enclosed box and a draft free hutchwith good ventilation are mandatory. Even if the cage is wellventilated, the ammonia fumes from the urine tend to sit in the hutchif it's not cleaned enough and that's not good for a rabbit. They needa lot of straw in the winter. Oh, and a predator proof hutch isnecessity.

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

One more thing, this is a really bad time tomove an indoor rabbit outdoors. For one thing, it could turn cold inthe blink of an eye. I never recommend moving them outdoors any laterthan the 3rd week of August so that they have time to aclimatize totheir surroundings and get used to it in moderate temperature (meaningno colder than outside). This allows the rabbit time to adjust beforethe stress of a season change. His coatcould take ages togrow in thick now andthe movemay throw him offenoughthat he couldn't possibly survive a winter outsidewithout a suitable coat.

It may be nice now, but in the mornings it's cold (already have ice ontheir water most mornings) and it could turn completely around by thistime next week.

 

[Linz_1987]

Well I totally dont agree with outside rabbitsnot getting enough attention. I have two outside rabbits and they getlots of attention every single day.

If he was originally a house rabbit, I wouldnt reccomend him being anoutside Bunnie. When I got Dottie from a rescue centre, theydidnt bother telling me she was an indoor bunnie. So sheconstantly is trying to get into the house. Its not very nicesaying you cant come in She has stopped doing it nowthough, but it took a good few months to stop her.

The weather I have heard in Canada is very cold winters, and its comingup. It will definetly be too cold for the bun!

Your bunny shouldnt stink if he is litter trained. But if heisnt, it is easy to train them to be. It only takes secondsto remove the urinated litter from the pan.

Good luck, and I hope he can stay an indoor bunny!

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

Linz_1987 wrote:

Well I totally dont agree with outside rabbits not gettingenough attention. I have two outside rabbits and they get lots ofattention every single day.

If they don't have time for them inside, they wont have time for themoutside. I house all 3 of mine outside and I know it's a lot more workand it requires more dedication to spend time outside with themespecially when its cold outside, especially in Canada. Cages are veryhard to clean and sanitize in the winter.

A Canadian winter is not too cold for all bunnies, but it's too late intheyear (in my opinion)to move him outdoors. Lastyear I was very lucky that it was warm for so long and it never gotreally cold because my new Holland was moved outside but she had herbaby coat still, she couldn't decide if she wanted to shed her coat orkeep it. She was continually shedding all winter leaving her with avery thin coat but she never completely lost her baby coat until shewas almost a year old because the weather change messed with her system.

 

[Linz_1987]

Sorry I thought you was talking about alloutdoor bunnies. I didnt realise she didnt have enough timefor them indoor either.

I meant that it is too late to keep them outside now. Thechange inwarmth/coldnesswill probually freak themout.

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

Linz_1987 wrote:

Sorry I thought you was talking about all outdoorbunnies. I didnt realise she didnt have enough time for themindoor either.

Don't worry, I get annoyed when people suggest such things as well, butI also know it takes a special kind of person to properly care for anoutside rabbit. and I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that they werehaving issues finding them time to do all the things with him thatneeded to be done but my apologies if I got them mixed up (I'm not upto date on the forum posts because of school).

 

[Michaela]

Linz, my three outdoor bunnies get lots ofattention every day too, but I think it's easier for us because itnever really gets extremely cold here like it does in Canada! I I don'tthink I'd be as eager to spend time out there if it was socoldonder:.

MBB you must be really commited to your three!

 

[AngelnSnuffy]

I agree w/ Naturestee. Let's try towork out the litter issue. Let us know if they're neuteredand litter trained. If so, changing the type of litter caneasily solve the problem. It's also not that expensive to getthem neutered/spayed. It is too cold where you live to havethem housed outdoors. Rabbits don't like extreme heat orcold. If their used to being inside, they should def stayinside. And maybe with all of your newfound(?) knowledgeabout litter, etc, this will impress your parents and work w/ you onletting them stay inside. :sunshine:

(Sorry outdoor bun people, nothing against you at all.)

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

Actually, a spay can be very espensive. I'm notso up on the neuter prices but when I was checking into getting Zoeyspayed, I almost ended up paying over $375 for it plus a $50 exam fee.That would have paid for the majority of my text books for my firstsemester of university. I don't know about you, but $400 is not cheapfor me. I didn't really ask as far as neuter prices go but a few peopletold me and neuters average around $90, which in that case I agree ischeap.

And just another point, rabbits handle cold a lot better than heat. Ilearned the hard way not to worry about it as long as they areaclimatized because I brought them into the garage on a particular coldnight and Spice suffered a minor bout of GI statis and Mocha keptthrashing around and panicking. Ever since then I have avoided bringingthem in and they are quite happy and content to be outside even in coldweather provided the have adequate housing and bedding to keepthemselves warm if needed. However, most of the time my rabbits spenttheir time outside in the wire part than in their insulted boxes whichIbelieve is a pretty good indicator of how well they handlethe cold since a cold bunny will stay inside the box and burrow in thebedding, not sit outside on the wire where it is cooler.

 

[STEPHANIE11]

Tips is neutered and my sisters bunny oscar isntbut tips is the one that smell really bad like the smell is nasueatinglike its terrible i use aspen shavings and i change it every other dayso it not that i dont clean thier litterboxes and i wipe the withvinegar every week.:? my sister treat oscar the same and he doesntsmell at all. I want really considering keeping them like actuallyoutside i was thinking in the garage ? :? like i have a door going outfrom my house to the garage so it would be pretty easy still spendingtime with them.
Well I am still trying to give tips away but no one has made any accurate offers so I guess I might keep him.

 

[naturestee]

Maybe Tips needs his scent glandscleaned? They're small slits on either side of his privatearea. They can get very stinky. All you need is acotton ball or Q tip and some baby or mineral oil.

And vinegar can seriously help in the cage.