Hi all, first time poster looking for some advice,

Up until recently I had two pet rabbits who were at least 9 years old (I got them 9 years ago fully grown), a male Kashmir rabbit and a female lionhead rabbit - the male Kashmir died a few weeks ago having never spent more than 12 hours apart.

I'm now quite concerned given the predictions that this winter will be another bad one that it will be very difficult for the remaining rabbit to survive for the first time alone.

The hutch is fairly large (2 'stories') and during the winter is covered by Perspex on the front to prevent the weather getting in, and a blanket over the top. It is regularly stuffed to the gunnels with fresh bedding on top of some newspapers to help keep the heat in.

For this winter, to replicate the body heat of her old buddy I was thinking about either putting a hot water bottle in every night or making some brackets to put oven heated bricks in and attaching to the underside of the 1st floor of the hutch.

Does anyone have any suggestions/comments? I would prefer to keep her outside as she can hop in and out of the hutch freely and loves doing so

Have you thought about getting her another elderly rabbit for company...and warmth? xx

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MY ZOO-LET
Syrian: Dini
Winter Whites: Alaska, Apollo, Hero and Ares
Bunnies: Saffy, Gus, Cookie and Cream and 5 babies!!
Piggies: Bubble and Squeak

RIP Tilly, Thom, Tiny, Cassius, Stuart Little, George, Baby Pom (Mice), Melvin (Chameleon) Harry (Cambells Russian) Charlie and Roma (Syrians) Eros (Winter White) Jet, Rainbow and Angel (Rabbits) Neva (Ratty girl)

You can buy a hot water bottle designed for small animals(rabbits and guineas) called a snugglesafe and that would proberly be the best idea
I have had old rabbits on their own thru harsh winters tho and they have been fine, without any hot water bottle, although they were in a shed in hutches. Lots and lots of bedding, it sounds like you have been doing everything right For 9 years

*Heidi*

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Don't know if you're anywhere near Surrey but this little man needs an elderly friend..

Ugent home needed for 9 year old male rabbit - SURREY

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My beautiful buns - Tess and (RIP my beautiful boy) Toby

Good idea! I'd think about that little man.

rabbits cope a lot better in cold weather than they do in heat. It sounds like your doing lots already to keep her warm. As Hazy said snugglesafe are very good and stay warm for up to 8 hours so ideal over night. They just go in the microwave for a couple of mins and are made of a hard plastic that they can't chew through, I would be worried about using a hot water bottle as its soft rubber that can easily be punctured with one bite and scold bunny. If the weather gets really harsh would it be possible to move the hutch to a shed or garage? Temp change won't be too much and will give more protection. Make sure her hutch stays dry and is in a sheltered corner of the garden to minimise wind and rain.

Remember sudden changes in temperature are more harmful than constant cold or warm. If she is to stay outside through winter leave her outside even if it snows. Bringing her into a warm house even if she looks cold and you feel sorry for her as it will do more harm than good. Moving her to a shed or garage is ok though for the extreme weatehr as the temp change won't be as drastic but will give protection from wind and rain.

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I was thinking about this post too!

He looks so sweet and it sounds like he'd be the perfect companion

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Sorry for the delayed posts - been busy over the last few days!

Unfortunately another rabbit is not really a viable option at the moment. The lovely looking chap posted above would indeed be perfect, though he looks far too much like a less fluffy version of my old rabbit - it would feel a bit too much like trying to replace him , not to mention Surrey is a good 4.5 hour drive - I don't think he would appreciate being in a noisy uncomfortable car for that long!

I will have a look for those snugglesafe things - thankyou!

The hutch is kept in a sheltered corner and so get's very little weather inside (Living near the sea means wind and rain only really go in one direction!). If the temperature get's really bad I will move the hutch into the shed down the side of the house, it's normally reasonably warm in there compared to outside but does mean she will be in the dark most of the time staring at a brick wall!

Anyway, I think she needs to be introduced;



Her name is Choccy, and she is lovely - a bit timid but loves being handled and petted once she is used to you.

And this rather handsome ball of fluff...



...was her companion, Speckle - a real softie, he would regularly fall asleep when on your knee, and had a real taste for my parents garden! He wasn't afraid of snow either... though he did sometimes misjudge the depth;