Weddingbee boards

How do you stop the water bottles freezing?

I have read that adding a drop of olive oil to the water helps to stop it freezing, has anyone tried this?

Please do not keep your rabbits outdoors. They are social creatures and very delicate, they need adequate shelter and heating/AC depending on the time of year. If your water bottles are freezing I can guarantee you your rabbits are absolutely FROZEN themselves! I really hope you'll reconsider their living situation, or if you absolutely can't keep them inside no matter what then finding them another home would be suitable because domestic rabbits are not meant to be kept outside. Just because they are still alive does not mean they are thriving or happy. Consider joining the Binky Bunny website, it is a really wonderful resource for rabbit owners where everyone is friendly and helpful. The members there will be able to help you create a better living area for your bunnies!

@ShiftedLobster:  +1

You should not be keeping your rabbits outside! Jeez if the water is freezing in their water bottle, I can't imagine how cold those poor little things are. If you can't keep them inside, it's time to find them a new home. 

@ShiftedLobster:  

@PinkMermaid:  

Thank you both. My rabbits have always been outdoor rabbits. I have checked with the vet after reading your responses and i have been advised not to bring them in for winter as they find it hard to re regulate their body temperature especially when housed indoors with central heating, bringing them indoor can make them very poorly indeed. I have been told that Rabbits thrive outdoors especially in winter, nature gives them a very thick winter coat 2 layers infact to keep in the warmth and they will huddle for extra warmth if they need it. It is definately not a good idea to bring outdoor rabbits indoors during winter. 

my family have owned rabbits for 19 years. all of them have been outdoor rabbits living to ripe old ages of 12+  these are the first rabbits i have owned whilst living on my own.

My rabbits have a large multi storey home much much bigger than any area we could provide indoors. It is insulated very very well with a very warm bedding area that is clean and dry.

The vet simply advised to use a crock pot instead of a plasic bottle to supply extra food. If i want i can pop in a heated pad for them to sit on however it is not neccessary.

I thank you for your replies and wanted to respond with Vetinary advise. i appreciate you may have been given different advise or may well even be a vet yourself, however i asked my vet and will action as i have been told.

@ChocolateLime:  Thanks for updating! I'm curious, did you consult with a regular veterinarian or an exotic vet? I'm surprised that an exotic vet (rabbits are considered an exotic species, believe it or not!) would recommend they continue living outdoors during the winter, but I do agree that going from cold weather to a heated house quickly would probably cause an upper respiratory issue. Rabbits are so sensitive and they need easy transitions - slowly easing them from outside to a garage or screened in porch area and then indoors would be best.

With that said, while I wish you could keep them indoors and it hurts my heart to hear they will continue to live outside, I am glad you have checked with a vet of some sort and it seems you have adequate shelter for them to stay out of the rain and wind. Hopefully you don't live anyplace where it gets too cold out? I haven't had any rabbits live to be 12 years old which is unfortunate but both of mine have been rescues with unknown or limited care when they were younger, so that probably played into things it as well.

I'm interested to see pictures inside the little huts on the top level of their house. Do you happen to have any shots of that? How do you clean the enclosure? My rabbit lives in a condo like this:

This is not my actual rabbit's condo but it is very similar to the one I built. It does take up an enormous amount of room in the house and he doesn't even spend that much time in there! When I'm home he is out and about, free to hop around wherever. He's litterbox trained and gets on very well with my cat and German shepherd dogs.

Since yours live outside, how much time do you actually spend with your rabbits? I've never understood the point of having an outside pet, to me my pets are family and I love seeing them for hours at a time. I'd be grateful for your perspective on this. Come visit Binky Bunny sometime and share pics of your bunnies with us!

@ShiftedLobster:  +100

I can't imagine keeping my rabbit outdoors and away from the family.  It makes me think of the super sad "A Hutch is Not Enough" campaign. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4z_Mrg-lpc

Our rabbit is an indoor rabbit that has full run of the apartment, gets along amazingly with our grumpy old housecat and is fully litterbox trained.  Rabbits are super social and thrive when they're part of your "pack", just like dogs. 

@ShiftedLobster:  I didn't read through your second post - I've never ran across a fellow BinkyBunny on another forum :D

@DrTeeth:  I didn't know you had a house rabbit too! Here is mine, enjoying a fall evening with his partner in crime:

Yup.  He's quite smug:

@Bebealways:  Yup, rabbits can be litertrained!  Here's a good information source: http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/litter.html

Different rabbits chew different.  You definitly have to bunny proof your house!  My current rabbit doesn't chew much of anything - he's a big chewer of cords though so we have to tape them up or wrap them in protectors or block him off.  That's pretty much his only thing, though.  I've had rabbits in the past who chew the legs on couches or like to dig up carpets.  You can train them against most of those behaviors or just avoid them from occuring, just like with any other animal.

i wrote a whole reply and my laptop decided to shut down for an update...attempt 2!

The sloping roof on both upper sides comes completely off for easy access with the doors that open on the front also. The lid to the run section is made out of a very heavyweight natural wood but is also completely removable (although being pregnant i have to get my fiance to do this as to not give myself a hernia!)

The picture abouve is not my actual hutch, mine has had a few customisations. doors have been added to the front of the run section for easy access and the centre partition seperating the runs has been made to be removable. i now have this as one long run having bonded my 2 male rabbits.

Last year when i only had one rabbit i did bring him in for the winter, but he developed a runny nose as a result so he promptly went back outside after a course of meds from the vet. The vet is a specialist in exotic pets and rabbits. There is only 1 vet in this area that is properly qualified to treat rabbits. He had full run of the conservatory but this year although they are free to come in if they want to he chooses not to. just pokes his head in...like this

During the day, they are free to run around the garden. They have little tunnels and access to a dog house which is filled with straw if they want additional shelter. They love siting out in the rain although i dont encourage this and dry them off thoroughly  if they get too wet. I spend at least an hour-2 hours with them each night after work, either having cuddles in the conservatory or sat outside with hem where they do big cirles around my feet making their little happy grunting noises.

At night they are trained to 'go home' to their hutch where they snuggle up together for the night.

This is Benji last year recovering from his neutering op ( obviously i bought him indoors to recover) He loves Kodi our cat - they groom each other!

This is Buddy- i got him in July

This is them right after sudccessfully being bonded

@ShiftedLobster:  I dont have any pics of the inside on the bedding area but this is where i purchased the hutch.

http://www.gardenwoodcraft.co.uk/rabbit_hutch_1

My bunnies are my babies, they get alot of attention and cuddles when i am home.

@ChocolateLime:  Love it :) 

This caught my attention because I raised rabbits for 10 years for 4-H. Show Holland Lops, not meat rabbits. They were the only pets I had growing up and I loved them dearly. But rabbits are just fine outdoors. They have a high body temperature and a fur coat to keep them warm. So it's fine to keep them in a hutch as long as they are out of the wind and elements. The summer is actually the dangerous season for rabbits. They easily be killed by the heat. 

It's a big common misconception that winter is so terrible for rabbits. You can definitely litter box train them, but some do better than others so it really depends on the rabbit. They unfortunately chew on things like cords and furniture, so it's not for every rabbit. 

@ColoradoGirl:  im glad you stopped by- i too always thought summer was the bad season for rabbits, it was so difficult trying to keep them cool this summer, i had ice bottles for them and cold frozen carrots. But after the first couple of reponses i thought i had better check with the vet that i was right to keep them outdoors. 

@amphilli:  i have never heard of a heated dog bowl might have to look into this. They will happily drink from a bowl instead of a bottle so this could be an option.

@ChocolateLime:  Happy to add my expertise to the pot! Our rabbits were always kept outside and we never had problems in the winter. As far as the water bottles - we stopped using bottles in the winter and switched to tin or plastic water dishes that were easier to keep unfrozen. The crock pot is a good idea though. And for the summer, the frozen bottles are the best. The rabbits can lean up against the bottles. You can also squirt cold water on their ears as that and panting are the only way they can release the heat from their bodies. It looks like your rabbits have a wonderful life!!