30/11/2024
How to keep are outdoor rabbits and guinea pigs, safe, happy, and warm in the colder months 🐇🥶
As the temperatures start to drop, out outdoor rabbits and guinea pigs will need some extra help to stay warm. As they are only small, they can become victims of hypothermia very quickly. Luckily, there are loads of ways to keep them safe and happy during these times👇
👉Extra bedding - rabbits and guinea pigs should have more bedding in their enclosures during the colder months. Straw is a cost effective and efficient way to keep your small furries warm. Just make sure its soft, dust-extracted, and designed to be used as bedding. 🚫Hay should not be used instead as it is not a great insulator🚫�
👉Heating aids - there are some great, pet safe heating devices available; the ones we would recommended are "snuggle safe" heating pads. These pads are hard plastic so cannot be easily chewed, and will stay warm for hours when put into the microwave. When using heating aids be sure to never use aids that are electronic, never use hot water bottles, and never allow pets to sit directly on top of aids, they must be wrapped (luckily snuggle safes come with their own fleece pouch). Always make sure animals can get away from heating aids if they want to 🥰
👉Enclosure and hutch covers - Insulating hutch and enclosure covers are available to help keep your pets enclosure warm and snuggly. Please note, rabbits and guinea pigs should never be kept in hutches as their only source of enclosure. They can be used within runs as a nice place to hide and stay warm, but they shouldn't be shut in or kept in hutches 🛖
👉Increase their cleaning schedule - make sure that you are keeping your small furries bedding clean, dry, and warm by increasing how often they are being cleaned. When its cold, damp, and dark, rabbits and guinea pigs are likely to spend more time inside, so make sure they are having dirty bedding removed atleast once daily 🧹🧽
👉Check their water - water bottles and bowls can easily become frozen in these temperatures. Insulated bottle covers can be used to prevent bottles freezing. You can also pop a bowl on top of a snuggle safe and wrap it in a towel to help stop it freezing. Make sure that you are checking your rabbit and guinea pigs water sources a minimum of twice a day to make sure they have access to water. It is also a good idea to provide multiple water sources incase one freezes ❄️
👉If in doubt, bring them inside. Make sure they are secure (we would recommend a puppy pen), have places to hide, familiar items, and are kept away from other pets, children, or in areas with lots of foot fall and noise. Always keep them away from electronics and be aware that they are likely to chew soft furnishings. We would recommend this especially for young, old, or recently unwell/recovering rabbits, or at night time when the temperatures decrease further 🏡
For more great tips on , or in general, please feel free to give us a call ☎️ and/or visit the Rabbit Welfare Association and Fund web pages where loads of great information can be found at https://rabbitwelfare.co.uk/
