Outdoors for the summer

[ivybunny]

So my mum and dad told me that ivy has to go outside in the summers and I said Fine if she gets to come inside at night and when I’m home from school. The only problem is every morning I don’t want to have to move her litter tray,toys and bowls outdoors into her play pen and then back again… what should I do? Or I would have to put her outside all night and day in the summer which I don’t want to do but if it came to it would this hutch be okay? http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00538JYYM/ref=pd_aw_sim_sbs_86_8?ie=UTF8&dpID=51FTflbVgNL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL115_SR115%2C115_&refRID=1WVQW408RM29VVKYXWZW

[Asutt]

That’s a very nice looking hutch. Could you perhaps buy her some cheap equipment for outside (toys, litter tray, food bowls etc.)?

I don’t know what the point of a litter tray outside would be to be honest, it probably won’t fit well into the sleeping compartment and seems a bit pointless in the run area if its on grass/concrete. Also with the wind the litter may blow everywhere. If you’re concerned leaving your rabbit outside without a litter tray will make her not use it inside, that hasn’t happened with my rabbit (he goes outside maybe 2/3 times a week). 

[ivybunny]

Okay thank you the only problem is that I don’t want her peeing in the inside bit of the run because that will be very annoying to clean up… but would it be cruel to keep her outside permantly in the summer?

[Bam]

It’s not cruel to keep her outside in the summer if you spend a lot of time with her and if you can make sure there are no dogs that can scare her etc. You will need to have netting in the outside run though or she will dig her way out (and predators can dig their way in). It would of course be better if she could be inside during the night, because that’s safer (many predators hunt during the night) and she’d get to spend much more time in your presence (even if you are asleep most of the time) and that’s important for a bun.

You should give her at least two litter-boxes in the hutch, one indoors and one outdoors. It’s as you say, you must be able to clean out pee and poop. Or it will attract flies, and that’s unhygienic plus it can lead to fly-strike (really really nasty), so it’s important that she does (most of her) toileting in litter-boxes. If you use wood stove pellets as litter you can compost the used litter in your garden, so it doesn’t go to waste. Then your mum can fertilize her plants with it =)

[Asutt]

I don’t think so, that space looks pretty big. As long as you still interact with her several times a week and it is not too warm/cold outside. If you put newspaper and some kind of litter down it shouldn’t be too much of an issue but will obviously need a lot of cleaning every 2-3 days. 

[ivybunny]

Okay thank you this is really helpful!

[Love4Bunny]

I think it also helps to have a few frozen 1 litre bottles that you can place inside the hutch when it gets too hot. I grew up in a humid country, but I now live in a drier climate, so I feel that it can be worse than a humid one. Maybe also check which weeks are going to be really hot, and provide extra water or ask your parent’s if the rabbit can come inside on blisteringly hot days, as the middle of the day is usually the hottest, eg. 11am – 3pm.

[Vienna Blue in France]

Hi I.B. ! Hows life with bun bun going? Still got bunny mat that everyone wants to steal? lol
Shame buns going to go out for the sulmmer seeing as how you got M&D to keep her Inside finally !! LOL
You could always just have a manageable moveable run in the garden (rather than a hutch run) and then it can be moved around the grass so she can chomp away on it.. (A perfect lawnmower and the static position of such a big hutch/run/chicken coop would ruin the grass !!)

Definitely keep the litter trays. Mine is a 50/50 inside/outside bun and she has one in and one out… SOOOOO much easier to clean away the smelly wee from a plastic tray than the wooden floor of a hutch…..

Why does M&D want her to go out for the summer…? Just because they thnk she’ll like it more, or because they don’t want her in anymore?

Love4Bunny is right, it must be in a sheltered position away from full sunshine and from driving wind and rain. A northfacing wall is perfect.
In the nature bunnies will go underground to keep cool during the hot summer days.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I worry about outdoor bunnies for 2 reasons:

1) Bunnies do not deal with heat very well. They can over heat very quickly which can be fatal.

2) Predators can be very clever at opening hutches. My sister had chickens until not long ago in a wooden hutch. A weasel made a hole in it and killed them.

Not trying to scare you but maybe you could try to convince your parents to let bunny stay inside.

[Author]

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