Instinctive? Getting ready for winter?

[FuzzBun]

So our little girl bunny Jax has a pretty sweet life. She is indoors at night and during rainy days and all winter. (We live in northern Alberta and its just too cold for a mini rex here) She however does have a crazy awesome large rabbit hutch for outside and it sits inside a big homemade cage that’s the side of a medium dog cage (husband is a carpenter and made it) It large enough a few adults can go in and sit and hang out with her. So she’s afforded tons of exercise and can do all things bunnies love…dig, eat fresh grass, clover etc all summer long

So also dug herself a den…Its massive I’m not sure how big it is but a long time ago I did send my arm in there with my cell phone recording and the flashlight function on and its pretty cool, I got up to my shoulder and couldn’t go any further …I tried to measure the length with something smaller and she’s got quite the elaborate little tunnel going on thats at least 3 meters long last I measured it. 

The other day she traded digging for gathering grass and bringing it down. And she’s been frantically doing this for hours and hours the last two days. So is she stashing up grass for winter? lol Tonight while inside the house and running around she started gathering for of my knitting yarn up and was looking around for a place to stash it. So something this triggering in her I’m wondering if it is because its getting slowly cooler up here in the north and she’s just instictively getting ready. And if so soon she wont have her spoiled outdoor area to go to, so what can you peeps suggest I construct for her inside to mimick her outside dug den. She really loves spending most of her time on it. I was thinking getting a bunch of cardboard and constructing tunnels and a make shift den out of that. 

She’s going to likely be so crushed once the cold of winter comes and she’s inside all the time so I want to have things that hopefully she can enjoy doing like she does outside.

Little info on her incase its relivant. She’s approx 7-8 months now, not spay and a only bunny  

[FloppyBunny]

I’m thinking that she might be having a false pregnancy since she’s not spayed. However, is it possible for her to still go out during the winter? My garden is rabbit proofed and last year my rabbit spent all year outside during the day. I opened the patio door and let him choose if he wanted to go out or not, and he rarely chose to stay in. At first he thought snow was weird but then loved digging in it. He did stay out for less time though. Usually he would ask for the door at dusk, but during the winter he would stay out for maybe 2-4 hours when there was snow. If your hutch has a roof, she might still be happy there. However, next spring get ready for a HUGE molt. My boy started molting in the spring and he still is now. He’s never molted this much before, but it’s because he had a lot more winter fur.

[FloppyBunny]

Also, how deep into the ground is her tunnel? Not the length but how many inches below “dirt level”? I was wondering how deep I really need to put the fence for rabbits.

[FuzzBun]

I’m not sure she’s having a false pregnancy…I have seen her being quite hormonal over a month ago but she since has simmered down and shes been mellow since. lol She’s still been down for before bed cuddles she loves loves loves flopping down before its time for her to go into her inside cage and getting petted.Before when she was having a hormonal break through she was acting to nutso to settle down for anything

And ya were I live it is generally -25c to even -40c for most of the winter. She will have still a good couple months to hang outside, Doesn’t get too bad out there till about October. But yes her hutch has a shingled roof just her being one bunny by herself and and not a heated hutch she’d freeze to death. And her tunnel she couldn’t have picked a better location…behind her hutch is a raised bed with railway ties and she dug towards and under them… so from ground level she is no more than a foot under dirt level. I just check here and there personally for new exit spots, so far nothing. I’m outside majority of the time she is and if I have to leave for awhile I put in inside her hutch which is a cage within a cage haha. I don’t worry too much about her tunnel out though and making a get away she’s obessed with her tunnel and would stick close to it I’m sure.

[Bam]

It still sounds like a false pregnancy to me. Buns don’t store food and they never line their warren with soft materials except right before they are having babies. If a bunny trusts her human, she won’t be opposed to the human being near her kits or herself when she’s “pregnant”. If she has hormonal swings, it’s best to have her spayed – girl rabbits are prone to uterine disease like endometriosis, pyometra and uterine cancer. These very serious conditions are brought on by hormones. A girl rabbit has a much better chance of a long life if she’s spayed.

-25 to -40 C is of course too cold even for a bun. I assume you’d just have to bring her inside and make her a dig-box with shredded paper and/or shredded fleece, give her a few tunnels (cardboard tubes for casting concrete works, or there are cat-tunnels) and await spring when she can go out again. She will most likely molt like crazy, as Floppy Bunny says.

She sounds like a very lucky bunny, to get to do all that digging!

[FloppyBunny]

I agree with Bam. Since it’s much colder where you live, she’ll have to make do with the digging box. I really recommend her being spayed. I’ve seen in another of your posts that there isn’t a good vet near you. If you can make a road trip, it would be best in the long run. Also, you were worried about her small size. Don’t worry. My girl is about the same size and she recovered very well. Without her reproductive organs, she now weighs 2lbs.

[Mikey]

If you have other rabbits (wild ones) around, she very well could be actually pregnant. These are definitely signs of being pregnant, or of a false pregnancy

[Author]

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