Are indoor pets allowed to have “play time” outside in the winter?

[Doe of Chai]

 My rabbit Chai LOVES to be running around outside on our protected deck and usually will give us an angry thump when we bring her back indoors. This has raised questions in our household about “can indoor rabbits be allowed to go outside in the winter for some play time?”. I have been unable to find information online except for that outdoor rabbits can remain outside in the winter. Im curious if going from a warm environment to a cold environment will cause shock to the rabbits system, or are they like dogs and can deal with some time outside. Our temperatures are usually minus 20 but can go to minus 30 degrees C.

Thanks for all responses!

[MirBear]

mine do. they love snow. i suggest getting your rabbit used to the snow first (like bring in a bucket of snow for her to play in, and eventually have her out side and gradually extend the time shes allowed to go out. or if you start letting her out everyday, then she’ll grow a winter coat as the tempurature gets lower. mind you it might make her a bit hot when shes inside.

 

its also very useful if your rabbit enjoys digging.

^ some pics of the buns loving the snow.

[RabbitPam]

If you do a search of the forum posts for keyword snow, you’ll probably pull up several posts on folks who have both brought snow indoors and taken their bunnies out in winter for some chilly play time. It’s a very good idea to put some snow in the bathtub to get acquainted with the cold stuff. Bunnies differ in how much they like cold temps, but most prefer cool to too warm.

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