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winter care for rabbits

22 11:25:11

Question
Hello,
  I have a 7 year old (spayed) big fat rabbit.  She lives outside in a large 8x12 foot dog kennel.  The kennel has 6 foot walls, a dirt/grass floor (with wire mesh a few inches under the surface), and a large waterproof dog house, there is no roof on the kennel.  I often catch the rabbit out of her house and playing in the rain and snow.  She seems to be very happy in this run, she often lies in the sun on cold days and clicks her heels up when she gets to play in the snow.  She seems to get very angry with me when I bring her in the house on cold nights, when she sees me comming to bring her in, she runs and hides, I can hardly catch her.  She only does this when she knows I am going to bring her inside. She seems to be uncomfortable in my warm house and very content outside in the cold.  Her house is strudy, dry, and has warm bedding, but, I worry about her getting wet all the time and not having enough sense to come in out of the rain and snow.  I am wondering under what conditions I should make her come inside for the night, or even during the day. I also wonder if it is ok to let her run around in the snow and the rain. Could you give me a specific low temperature that she should not be exposed to?  

Answer
If it is really cold, say below freezing, or you have freezing rain, those would be good times to bring her in.  The abrupt change from very cold to very warm may be upsetting to her, she may do better going in on a porch or garage where it isn't so warm inside.

The only info I can really find on a low temp is at http://www.petplace.com/article.aspx?id=2455

She sounds like she is happy, so maybe she likes being outdoors.  Just if it's so cold her water is freezing, then she'd have to come inside.

Kim