Playtime for outside buns

[Augustus&HazelGrace]

I am a breeder and all of my buns are outside, right now it is winter where I live and it has been staying under freezing all the time. I have been keeping them warm with heat lamps and straw. Most of my cages are 3 ft by 3 ft. I hate to keep them in there all the time and I would like to take them out to the playpen, but is it too cold? and how cold is too cold for them to be out in the playpen the cages are not terribly small but they still have room to binky in there and run around a little. Should I just keep them in the cages in the winter to keep them warm, or could I still let them out in the playpen for short times? Bringing them inside is NOT an option for playtime.

 

[Hermelin]

Do your rabbit have winter fur and how cold is it outside, if they have winter fur they can handle the cold really well up to -20 C. But if they don’t have winter fur, they won’t handle cold that good but can still spend a short time outside and play. But the temperature need to stay between 0 to (-10 C).

My outdoors rabbit have been outside the whole winter, playing in the snow and digging. When they get cold, they might jump into the cage but most of the time they spend in the snow.

 

[Augustus&HazelGrace]

They have been outside for two years so I would say they would, but I mainly have mini rex.

 

[Hermelin]

You can let them play outside but they should have a chance to jump up into a cage or run to somewhere warm. I don’t have a Rex rabbit so don’t know how well they handle cold.

My indoor rabbit can spend 30 minutes outside playing until he wants to run in and sleep next to the elements.

So if they have winter fur they should be able to stay longer and play in a pen.

 

[majorv]

Do you have a garage that you could set up a temporary pen for them in, and then take it down when finished?

 

[Augustus&HazelGrace]

No, but they are all fixing to get moved to a storage building when it gets here. That will be their new permanent home. But I don't think my parents will let them be in the playpen in there due to the fact that they may pee and stain the floor. I have an indoor playpen that I once used for a pen but now they are only allowed inside if we have a tornado warning, or temps get extremly cold. But I have a outdoor playpen that we built it is made out of wood and wire and can only have 2 rabbits in it at a time same with the other one but during the summer I bring the indoor one outside so I can have more than 2 playing at a time.

 

[JBun]

I would say if it's above 30 degrees f and not windy or wet, I wouldn't think a bit of playtime would be a problem. I used to let my buns have a run in the snow in those conditions, for a short time.

With your storage building, if you put down a solid sheet of vinyl flooring, that will protect it from any urine, then you could let them have turns running around and playing in there. The floors will need to be covered and protected with something resistant to fluids anyways, as rabbit urine always seems to get sprayed everywhere somehow.

Be careful with the heat lamps and be absolutely certain no straw or flammable materials get close to them.

 

[Imbrium]

Have a little confidence in your "mommy/daddy" instincts. Rabbits deal with cold temperatures wonderfully - it's warm temps (above 80F) where they struggle. If $ is a problem, you can get tarps from Dollar Tre to line a playpen area.

 

[Augustus&HazelGrace]

Well, its just last winter the hutch wasn't as ready as it needed to be for winter and snow got into the hutches and their ears were frozen together. I brought them in thinking I was going to lose the whole herd. I'm thinking about doing hanging cages up against the walls. What could I use to protect the wall and what would be the best waste removal system? I have been thinking about doing two sheets of flat tin and angle them to a gutter in the middle and they go to a five-gallon bucket. Would this be good or does anyone have a better idea? And @JBun the heat lamps are in a separate cage with several inches between the lamp and the next cage, and I make sure that if any straw gets into that cage I take it out as soon as I see it.