Rabbits do well both indoors and outdoors, but they cannot handle certain weather extremes.Hot Weather
Rabbits do not handle hot weather well at all. To them, 80 degrees is hot. In order to prevent your rabbit from suffering in
heat, there are several things you can do.
1. Make sure it has fresh, cool water throughout day. 2. Put water in plastic soda bottles or milk jugs and freeze them. Place onein cage and rabbit will lean against it to stay cool. 3. Make sure rabbit's hutch or cage is fully shaded. 4. Set up a mister system or a fan near your bunny's cage.
Those things will generally keep your rabbit cool enough. However, be on lookout for signs of heatstroke. These include heavy panting and wet mouths.
Another side affect of heat is in reguards to breeding rabbits. Bucks may go temporarily sterile, especially older bucks. Does may refuse to breed or loose litters.
Cold Weather
Rabbits usually handle cold weather a lot better than they do hot weather. So long as they are kept out of wind and are kept dry, they usually do fine. However, if they are not used to cold weather, or are particularly sensetive to it, there are some things you can do to help.
1. Provide hay for them to eat and to dig into. The hay will create extra calories for them to burn, which makes more body heat. They will also nest in it, trapping body heat close to them. 2. Be sure they have fresh water at all times. If water freezes, get ice out and give rabbit fresh water. Ice is not enough for a rabbit. Do not give them warm water, as that actually freezes down faster than lukewarm water does. 3. If you do bring your rabbit inside, do not put it in a warm room. Keep it in coolest room you have, or when you take it back outside, temperature change will be a drastic shock on its system. 4. Place tarps or blankets over hutch or cage, leaving a corner open for fresh air. This helps retain rabbit's body heat in cage, increasing temperature a bit.
