moving my Gracie outdoors....

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mskoala

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We're trying to find a way to keep our grace. We need to use her room in the fall for the baby (assuming all goes well) and that is graces room right now. We have a fairly small house and the only other place we would really have to move her to that's indoors would be the basement. And I don't want to do that b/c we don't get down there that much and its dark and fairly cool. I'm thinking about moving her outside to a hutch. Is that a bad idea? She lives fairly enclosed now so the space change wouldn't be a huge thing. But i'm just not sure about the temperature changes. We have a nice shaded area that she could be in, a overhang/patio area at the back of our garage that goes into the yard, but, I'm jujst nervous. We have a few months before this needs to happen, but I want to take plenty of time to deal with it, as she's one of my babies. :) advice? :bunnydance:
 
I would think about some way of lighting your basement as the coolness of the basement would never be as bad as a Milwaukee winter. I just witnessed a horror story this Sat.....some ignorant girl brought in several rabbits as " giveaways at Petco" one of the rabbits ears had dead tissue (the ears fell off) which she attributed to the cold. She had her rabbit outside without protection. Thank God a kind woman took the rabbit and was going to the vet. This kind of blatant cruelty makes me unable to see straight. If you do decide to keep your bunnies outside be sure to talk to people on this forum who know how to do it it right. :X
 
My bunnies are indoors, but you can PM Rabbitgirl about caring for outdoor bunnies. You will need to take care about insulation and water in the winter, and heat problems in the summer. Rabbits are very sensitive to heat.

Have you looked into what kind of a hutch? There are lots of ideas here:
http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=11792&forum_id=17

And I really like this site for outdoor hutch ideas. Some of them use big sheds with attached runs- that's so cool!
http://www.rabbitrehome.org.uk/care/hutch.asp
http://www.therabbithouse.com/outdoor/index.asp

 
I've had my rabbits out for 16 years - up until last week. I got tired of worrying about stray dogs getting them which has happened before.
You'll need to wait until summer because Grace is used to warmth. This will enable her to acclimate properly to cooler temps when next winter comes. Make sure your hutch has a nice warm wooden floor area so that she can get in there for shade in summer and warmth in winter. Put a ton of hay in there for her to nibble and nest in. In winter I have a "layer" of things to help the buns stay warm. Sometimes its 9 degrees below freezing and this "layer" works. Thick sheet of cardboard on top of the wood floor, then a layer of shavings (about 2 inches deep) and then hay - lots of it. Plenty of cool fresh water in warmer weather. Winter is a challenge with the water. I go out 3 times a day with hot water and I smack the dish on the side of the hutch to knock the ice out. Then I fill it with hot water. When it's really bad out I put a tarp over the cage leaving a couple of feet from the ground up uncovered to allow for ventilation.
 
i definitely think the basement is better than outside. way too many things could happen to her outside, whereas you can definitely make her feel at home in the basement. you could get her a 20 dollar heater for the winter and even a window unit air conditionerfor the summer.. if you put some light down there and made sure the windows let in normal sunlight, i'm sure she would be very happy.
 
Is there any possible way? Or even the living room?

I agree, the basement sounds better then outside. You could also bring her upstairs to run around too so she's not alone in the basement all day.
 
The problem is that the only light she'll get in the basement is artificial light. It's an old house, and the only light coming in from outside is through the windown wells. really small window wells, and it's hardly any light at all.

I have a fairly well protected, porched in (shady)area for her to go in outdoors. And if she's in an enclosed hutch she'd be protected from predators. We could pull her indoors if it gets too hot out.

I don't know.
 
Have you thought about allowing her to be a true house rabbit or, are there
other animals in the house that would prevent this? Keeping her in the
"nursery" shouldn't be a problem. I have several "hutch rabbits" but, they
come in for the winter. They also come in during "heat waves". When they
are in, they are kept in the basement. I, too, have windows wells in my
basement. Some cages get the morning sun, some get the afternoon.
The problem that I see, whether you put her outside or in the basement,
is how much inter-action she will get from you. I have 8 free-roaming house
rabbits.....if I could allow them all out of their cages, I would. That, is the
ideal.......for both you and Gracie.
 
we can't let her roam the house b/c of our dog Samantha. She likes to play hockey with her and our vet recommended minimal interaction of the two.


 
Hi Lisa! Is there a reason Gracie can't be kept where she is right now? I guess I'm kind of confused as to why she needs to be moved.
 
the room she is in now is our spare room and we are turning that one into the nursery. the other two bedrooms are used, one by us and one as a guest room.

I don't want to keep her in there with the baby b/c she kind of tends to thump quite loudly at night, throwing stuff around and organizing herself... or wahtever she does.

thus, the move.
 
mskoala wrote:
the room she is in now is our spare room and we are turning that one into the nursery. the other two bedrooms are used, one by us and one as a guest room.

I don't want to keep her in there with the baby b/c she kind of tends to thump quite loudly at night, throwing stuff around and organizing herself... or wahtever she does.

thus, the move.
Click to expand...
That naughty little bunny! hehehe. Just tell her to be quiet. :D
 
Lissa wrote:
mskoala wrote:
the room she is in now is our spare room and we are turning that one into the nursery. the other two bedrooms are used, one by us and one as a guest room.

I don't want to keep her in there with the baby b/c she kind of tends to thump quite loudly at night, throwing stuff around and organizing herself... or wahtever she does.

thus, the move.
Click to expand...
That naughty little bunny! hehehe. Just tell her to be quiet. :D
Click to expand...


yes, because she listens soooo well! :laugh:
 
Lol!I can jus picutre her saying if you kept here in the baby's room, "Hey you don't need your sleep, do you?"

My new baby bunny does this too (originally she was downstairs with my other bunny, but I moved her up in my room). She starts racing around her cage at 6:00am and continues with that until 7:15am and then she stops 15 minutes before I have to get up. Silly bunny. The first few nights I would wake up every time she drank from her bottle.

Ok, now that I know more about the basement maybe it's not agood choice. The air is probably dusty and damp and rabbits love natural sunlight. You could also like doots does is keep her outside during mild summer weather then bring her inside in winter?
 
Spring wrote:
Ok, now that I know more about the basement maybe it's not agood choice. The air is probably dusty and damp and rabbits love natural sunlight. You could also like doots does is keep her outside during mild summer weather then bring her inside in winter?
Click to expand...


I tihnk that's a good possibility. This summer, the baby won't be here yet (not due until Sept.) So, that will give us time to bring her in if neccesary. And by the time winter hits maybe we'll have a better idea of what we can do with her. something to think about, thanks!
 
Hi again!
You mentioned an enclosed porch....
I just moved all of my guys from outside into the enclosed porch. They seem to really like it in there -- it's very small though so we're cramped. 30 INCHES x 9 or 10 feet. It's really more of a mudroom -- BUT they are happy in there so that is an option for you;) It's nice and sunny with fresh air throughout the day.
 
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