Can i put rabbit into the coop at night?

[Bunnylady]

A rabbit can lick and chew the ice that has frozen in a bowl, which isn't ideal, but at least they get some water that way (as opposed to none at all with the tube on the water bottle frozen up). Rabbits need water to process their food, so a rabbit that can't drink won't eat, and that can kill a rabbit quickly in cold weather.

 

[NatJ]

A rabbit can lick and chew the ice that has frozen in a bowl, which isn't ideal, but at least they get some water that way (as opposed to none at all with the tube on the water bottle frozen up). Rabbits need water to process their food, so a rabbit that can't drink won't eat, and that can kill a rabbit quickly in cold weather.

I probably forgot to state, but I assume that fresh water is given AT LEAST two times per day in freezing weather. That often means the rabbit has liquid available for hours in bowls, but only minutes in bottles.

Big bowls freeze slower than little ones--I prefer bowls that hold 1 to 2 quarts (or liters) of water.

I grew up in Alaska. Our rabbits lived in outdoor cages--roof, windbreak, free-choice pellets, replace frozen bowls with fresh, warm water twice a day. We never had any rabbit die of cold, hunger, or thirst. The only rabbits that ever died during the winter were before we learned about dog-proofing the cages.

Heated water might be a nice thing, but carrying water two or three times a day can work just fine, if your schedule allows it.

 

[Birdielee]

Guys, I only read page one and 5. Ok, if you want to absolutely devote your life to the care of an animal, that's ok, I guess. But there are other ways of doing it.

Tell your mom what I said about rabbits not stinking any too.

Or if you want you can tell her what someone else's mom ( me) said: rabbits will make your house smell like a rabbit bathroom. And they will eat holes in your air tubes for your fish tank and chew through all the phone charger cables they can find, and the internet cable, and they will eat the wood molding in the bathroom and they will also use the litter box, then hop out and also use the floor in 3 places. If it were a male, like mine, it would also spray and leave dark spots 4 feet high on the wall. Even though they supposedly don't spray until 9-12 months. Mine was about 4 1/2 months old. We got him a nice hutch outside, we clean out the poop 2 or 3 times a week, he has hay on top of the wire, and now he also has an outside run with wire even on the top. He's now having fun digging out, but he goes in his hutch and we latch it at night.

Maybe some don't smell. But some definitely do.
We buy timothy hay in bales for 7-9$ each at a feed and fuel store. And a little bit of alfalfa pellets to get him inside at night. In the winter we give him water at least twice a day, a cover on top, and sometimes on the sides, depending on the temperature. He had lots and lots of hay to sleep in.

I repeat. He was a smelly disaster inside the house.

 

[Birdielee]

Any tips how to make her trust me and calm her?

Just keep visiting her and bringing her clean water and yummy weeds to eat. Talk to her gently and say nice things. Pet her gently and stop if she seems to want you to. Clean out her house and put fresh yummy hay in it. She'll figure out you're her friend

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I wouldn't use the cages that rabbit farmers have. They usually are wire bottomed which are very painful to rabbits as they dont have paw pads and it could cause bumble foot which is expensive to fix.
Instead I would suggest having an outdoor run where they'd be safe from predators and they would be much happier.
And if you can convince your mom after 5he first rabbit you could make a section of the basement a rabbit area. Do you have a lot of space in there? Do you have a bunch of furniture or anything? Just wondering about how much space they could have

It's not humble foot, it's sore hicks and to be fair, some rabbits get those from solid floors too.

If they mean stackers, those are just fine to use, and way easier to keep clean. Depending oon the breed, they may or may not get sore hicks from wire cages

 

[Birdielee]

When I first got my hen, she was banging herself on her cage at night, so i put her in the rabbit cage. The rabbit was in the wire half and the chicken in the wood half, with a door closed in between. In the morning the rabbit was in the wood box and the chicken was now in the wire part. The hen didn't hurt the rabbit.

More recently, i let the rabbit out on the grass with the hen, in a fenced area. The hen pecked the rabbit's head until I took the rabbit back out.

 

[EverythingDucks]

Guys, I only read page one and 5. Ok, if you want to absolutely devote your life to the care of an animal, that's ok, I guess. But there are other ways of doing it.

Or if you want you can tell her what someone else's mom ( me) said: rabbits will make your house smell like a rabbit bathroom. And they will eat holes in your air tubes for your fish tank and chew through all the phone charger cables they can find, and the internet cable, and they will eat the wood molding in the bathroom and they will also use the litter box, then hop out and also use the floor in 3 places. If it were a male, like mine, it would also spray and leave dark spots 4 feet high on the wall. Even though they supposedly don't spray until 9-12 months. Mine was about 4 1/2 months old. We got him a nice hutch outside, we clean out the poop 2 or 3 times a week, he has hay on top of the wire, and now he also has an outside run with wire even on the top. He's now having fun digging out, but he goes in his hutch and we latch it at night.

Maybe some don't smell. But some definitely do.
We buy timothy hay in bales for 7-9$ each at a feed and fuel store. And a little bit of alfalfa pellets to get him inside at night. In the winter we give him water at least twice a day, a cover on top, and sometimes on the sides, depending on the temperature. He had lots and lots of hay to sleep in.

I repeat. He was a smelly disaster inside the house.

Well, that's why you bunny proof. It's simple and effective. It also would very much help if you were to get them neutered. Their poo doesn't smell, it's the pee. And if you litter train them at a young age it makes it easy.

 

[KranK]

Neutering isn't an option here. I noticed she doesn't want to drink from the bottle so i gave her a bowl. She doesn't drink much but maybe because she ates a lot of juicy stuff (yesterday: corn, fresh grass, an small apple, beetroot leaves). I'm trying to get her hay today so maybe she'd start drinking more in the grass, dandelion etc were only "a treat".

 

[Teneniel]

To actually answer your repeated question:

Mine finally started coming running when they knew I was bringing weeds and branches to chew. They seem to like forehead pets and cheek scratches best. My babies will come right up to me if they escape to the yard but the older ones know it just means I’m going to pick them up and put them away

bonding with any animal is all about trust and meeting them with their own language. And food.

 

[NatJ]

She doesn't drink much but maybe because she ates a lot of juicy stuff (yesterday: corn, fresh grass, an small apple, beetroot leaves). I'm trying to get her hay today so maybe she'd start drinking more in the grass, dandelion etc were only "a treat".

It does not matter if she gets her water from a bowl, a bottle, or the plants she eats. As long as she gets enough from any combination of sources, she will be fine. Of course leave the bowl available, but don't worry if she only drinks a little bit.