Anyone know about rabbits?

[Skye727]

I'm sure someone can tell me if it ok. I have three house bunnies in a three story cage. My husband hates the smell. I clean it every other day and it still smells as soon as they use the liter box. I have a nice deck right off my bedroom that they would go perfect on. Is it too late to acclimate them to the weather? It's 55 to 60 during the day and 45 at night right now. They would have it half enclosed to keep the wind out. There are three of them so they could snuggle and keep warm. Thanks for any non chicken advice.

 

[Fletch83]

Hi there, I have a house bunny myself. How secure is the deck and their bunny house? My main concern, more than the weather, would absolutely be predators. Raccoons will definitely try and get to them unless they are 100% secure. Rabbits can also tolerate cold better than they can tolerate heat, so you would have to be very careful when the summer rolls around again. I also wonder how much room they have to roam around, and if their cage has a wire bottom?

 

[Peeps61]

I am going to have a similar issue soon. I inherited 2 lionshead rabbits from my daughter. Both are male, so they have separate cages. We put them outside in an area that gets morning sunlight, but is in the shade most of the day. I also made places where they could get out of the sun if they desired. They are thriving and seem to like living outside much more than being in the house. We plan to built a hutch for them that will be more secure than the cages, have a house for each of them to go into and make a nest for themselves so they can stay warm during cold spells (we live in NW Florida, so it doesn't get below freezing too often here) and a hardware cloth divider so that they can see each other, but not fight. I think that will help with the predators too and the hutch will be much more secure than the cages. Hopefully, this information has been helpful to you! I am reading and learning about the rabbits as I go.

 

[Fletch83]

Hey there Peeps, not to jump in or anything, but you might be able to bond the two rabbits if they were both neutered. Decreases hormones, etc. Then they could live together, and have a buddy.

Predators are definitely as big of an issue for outdoor rabbit as they are for chickens.

 

[Skye727]

The deck is on the second story. So no predators can get them. I have a wire bottom
Cage with towels to lay on in their house. They lay in the liter box too. They have two levels with just wood.

 

[Peeps61]

I had read that about maybe getting a spayed female for each of them, or having them neutered. I am going to have to wait and see what our new vet is capable of doing or if he will handle rabbits. Our other vet got arrested for abusing his prescription writing authority and is spending some time in jail. This is unfortunate - he's a great person with a big heart and a wonderful vet. Just made some bad choices. The ladies the clinic said it would be business as usual with a new vet, but I'll wait and see. The rabbits are sitting next to each other, so they can see each other and visit, just not get to each other. I do know of a vet who handles exotics - maybe I'll give him a call and see what it would cost.

 

[Skye727]

I got my lionhead fixed and he is much calmer. It was almost $200 with meds and the collar. I used care credit. You shook check into that!

 

[Peeps61]

Hi Skye,

I am fortunate that I can afford to pay for the neutering - but I will need to plan when we do it and so forth as the Holidays are upon us. Hard to believe, isn't it? We will be out of town some, so I'll have my older daughter come stay at the house to keep an eye on the varmits. I'd rather not have them neutered then because she'll want to hold them, etc. since they were once hers. Maybe after the first of the year, things will calm down and we can do it then.
I would have the rabbits in the house if it were up to me, but my husband put his foot down on anymore house animals, so I took them with the understanding that they could "visit" in the house, but would live outside . Since he's been so sweet about my whims with having animals, I didn't want to push his good nature any further! He's also the one who wants to build a fairly maintenance free hutch for them.

 

[nayeli]

I have a rabbit that makes her home on my sunroom. I'm actually considering bringing her in at night now that its getting colder but she has no snuggle buddies. I'm sure your 3 guys will be fine! Also the smell is gone when they are outdoors but they reak inside!

 

[Skye727]

I put them outside with lots of insulation. I opened the door so they could run around the deck. I put a heat lamp in there for night time until they get used to the cold. They wouldn't go in the house at all. Not even when I took the heat lamp out when my husband said they don't need it. We had to make them go in. I think they are pretty happy!