Rabbits stay warm at night by burrowing into thick, dry bedding like straw, huddling together for body heat, and fluffing their fur to trap air, relying on their natural adaptations and insulated shelter (like hutches with newspaper, blankets, or cardboard boxes) to block drafts and stay insulated from the cold ground. They also increase their food intake in winter to build fat reserves for energy.
The best way to keep both indoor and outdoor rabbits warm is to put plenty of extra, dry bedding material in their sleeping and sheltering areas for them to burrow into. For outdoor rabbits, make sure that their hutch is sheltered, out of the direct wind and rain and covered.
They are best kept at temperatures of 55°F (12.7°C) to 72°F (22.2°C) and 30% to 70% relative humidity. However, rabbits can even be housed outdoors if necessary in temperatures under 40°F if protected from the cold."
Observe your bunnies as well as the weather in order to gauge how cold is too cold for your rabbits. If temperatures have been gradually declining over several weeks, your rabbits' coats should be sufficient to keep them warm enough in even sub-zero temperatures.
Do rabbits need bedding? Outdoor rabbits need insulating material to keep them warm when the temperatures fall, but indoor rabbits can do without traditional bedding. But you can still provide a soft surface for your bunny to sleep and burrow, such as paper, fleece, or cage liners.
The 3-3-3 rule for rabbits (and other pets) is a guideline for adjusting to a new home: 3 Days for the rabbit to feel overwhelmed and hide, 3 Weeks to start settling in and showing personality, and 3 Months to feel truly at home and build a strong bond. It helps adopters manage expectations, understand that fear and skittishness are normal, and encourages patience as the bunny decompresses in its new environment, emphasizing providing a safe space and routine.
Rabbits staying outside in the winter
Make sure your rabbits' home is sheltered from strong winds, rain and cold draughts. It will need insulating – with a special cover or blankets or old carpets – with a waterproof cover on top. But do make sure it's well-ventilated.
Hunched posture: When feeling cold, rabbits often adopt a hunched posture, keeping their bodies close to the ground. This posture minimises heat loss. Cold ears & feet: A recommendation from Darren is to check your rabbit's ears and feet; if they feel cold to the touch, it indicates that your rabbit is too cold.
Litter such as straw or paper should be spread generously and thickly on the ground; this insulates well against the cold and gives the rabbits nice warm nesting material.
Do Bunnies Need Bedding In Their Cage? Absolutely. Bedding offers warmth, absorbs waste making cleaning easier, and provides an area where they can burrow – a natural behaviour among rabbits.
Heat lamps are a must when below freezing for our farm. Some other rabbitries use straw and pack it into each cage for the rabbits to burrow but I prefer an actual heat source for our buns. Remember to always securely attach the heat lamp to the outside of the cage or hutch.
Indoor housing is recommended for all rabbits because of environmental and health concerns with outdoor hutches. In addition, the temperature should remain ideally around 60-75 degrees Fahrenheit because rabbits do not have sweat glands and can overheat easily.
Temperatures over 80º Fahrenheit can be dangerous for a rabbit. In hot weather, please observe the following to protect your bunny from overheating: NEVER leave a rabbit unattended in your vehicle.
Rabbit bedding is simple. A good handful of straw or hay inside the bunny box makes a soft and warm winter bed. If it is a quality timothy hay, don't be surprised if the rabbit nibbles on it.
Your rabbits' sleeping area should be warm and dry, and away from any draughts. Use a rabbit-safe bedding, like paper bedding, such as Burgess Excel Nap and Nest, or dust extracted bedding straw to create a comfy bed.
If your rabbit lives outside, we recommend bringing them indoors at night to protect against predators. Even a smaller indoor space like a bathroom or utility room is safer and starts to integrate them into your family. Transforming an “outdoor rabbit” into a “house rabbit” isn't complicated—it can start tonight.
The 3-3-3 rule for rabbits (and other pets) is a guideline for adjusting to a new home: 3 Days for the rabbit to feel overwhelmed and hide, 3 Weeks to start settling in and showing personality, and 3 Months to feel truly at home and build a strong bond. It helps adopters manage expectations, understand that fear and skittishness are normal, and encourages patience as the bunny decompresses in its new environment, emphasizing providing a safe space and routine.
Hutches should be completely stripped out and scrubbed ideally once a week during the summer and more regularly during the winter when rabbits spend more time inside. Blankets or towels are good bedding for litter-trained house rabbits.
Their coats thicken naturally in winter, and fur pads on their feet provide insulation. Rabbits can also conserve heat by reducing blood flow to extremities such as ears and noses. Furthermore, sheltering in burrows or huddling together helps retain heat.
Rabbits have evolved over the years to deal with cold weather, even domesticated rabbits, so how do you care for rabbits in cold weather. The ideal temperature for a rabbit is between 15-20°C, anything below this puts a rabbit at risk of health problems.
Fabrics like towels and blankets can serve as excellent enrichment tools for rabbits, providing them with a sense of security and an outlet for their natural digging behavior.
However, if your otherwise healthy elder rabbit begins to exhibit these signs, it's possible that his or her time is coming to an end.
Quite simply keeping a rabbit alone in a hutch without the opportunity to exercise, display normal behaviour or without companionship is not acceptable. It does not meet any of the animals fundamental requirements, or any of the owners responsibilities under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
Depending on the outside temperature, rabbits may need a heat lamp. It must however be properly installed and used.
Some owners house rabbits outside during the spring and summer months but move them indoors in the winter, where it's warmer and easier to keep an eye on them. It's important to minimise the stress for your rabbits, so you need to think carefully about their needs when moving them from one environment to another.