Winter Warmth

Well hello yes its me again

My mum has some old carpet and I was thinking of laying it down in the bottom of Bunny's hutch for the winter to keep the warmth in. Obviously I would cover it with hay and maybe newspaper too.

Is carpet okay to put in there (obviously it isn't shagpile or anything!) or would the wet weather eventually get to soak it through despite his hutch being covered?

Quite a lot of people put old carpet offcuts in their rabbits hutch which is great as long as they are 'wee' trained so the carpet dosn't get saturated and dirty quickly, which will of course be extremely cold in this weather and may cause sores on the feet. Carpet probably wouldn't do any favours to a rex or larger/obese rabbit because it can encourage sore hocks to develop.

You do want to ensure he isn't the kind of rabbit who will eat it too, some rabbits have a real penchant for pulling at carpet threads

Hiya thanks for this - maybe I should leave it to be on safe side. He seems pretty happy in the heap of hay in there - just me panicking again about him sleeping on a cold ground (despite all the hay and the fact that is what rabbits are about!).

God I'm still learning!!!!

PS Soz about chatting on other thread - my fault, I should have taken it private sooner. Hope didn't offend.

Na'h it's fine, I just wanted to preserve the original line of conversation for the other members.

Have you considered using barley straw? It's an excellent insulator in hutches.

Of course xx I will remember for future - am still getting used to being a member on her.. its the best forum I think I've ever been on.

Never heard of that straw - will investigate locally. I have been buying the meadow hay from asda which he seems to like a lot more and seems to be thicker and more protecting in the cold if that makes sense.

There is nothing wrong with using hay, I use straw because it's cheaper and the hollow tubes mean it holds the heat well. You could even use a mixture of both of you wanted!

Have you thought about a snugglesafe too?

I often wondered the difference between hay and straw but guess not much??

Funnily enough I just ordered 2 snuggle safe off ebay - at half the price they are in shops.

i have got carpet in the bedroom area of one of the hutches - so it won't get wet. Snugglesafes are ace!

when you see straw and hay together you will see there is quite a difference. and they won'teat straw. because straw has larger hollow tubes is good for trapping heat - but is also harder and less cozy so i use a mixture of the 2.

proudmummy wrote:I often wondered the difference between hay and straw but guess not much??

Funnily enough I just ordered 2 snuggle safe off ebay - at half the price they are in shops.

Do you have a link?

racheld69 wrote:and they won'teat straw. because straw has larger hollow tubes is good for trapping heat - but is also harder and less cozy so i use a mixture of the 2.

Just for Jemma's info....if you do go onto straw use Barley Straw, it's softer than most baled straw and less likely to scratch delicate eye's etc.
Scout is partial to munching a bit of straw to pass the time

Rather than using a bit of carpet. You could use really thick newspaper underneath the hay, as long as you know they don't pee on the floor. If you collect a few Sunday papers they are really thick.

We are all panicking about the cold at the moment but just to reassure you, bunnies do exceptionally well in the cold and heaps of straw is often enough for them. x

Thank you as always ladies for your advice - Johns has got mega loads of hay and seems quite content with it. Also put his little cushion bed in there but he seems to be avoiding it tee hee

Just got my Snugglesafe - turns out idiot me did it in a hurry and it was just the covers *groooan* so now got to look for a bloody Snugglesafe itself - if I get one cheap I'll put link on!

Bye for now from idiot me :o