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ValencianFigs

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Dec 11, 2011
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Location
Virginia
Hello,

Can rabbits play in the snow? I have seen some pictures online with rabbits in the snow and they dig in it too. But I was thinking that it may be too cold. And if they can what should I do after they play in the snow. I have a run that has chicken wire under it so they can't dig out the ground.
 
Ooooooh! Bunnies in the snow- the photographic possibilities...

I think I'll give that a try too! I would just dry them off as well as possible and make sure they are out of drafts while still damp... preferably picking a windless sunny day for snow play! I don't know how cold it gets in Virginia though- here in CA it doesn't get that cold, although at our elevation we are blessed with snow at times.
 
i wouldnt recommended it. My lil sister took a pic once..i think its actually in my pics on here..and it looks lik hes in the snow but hes not..its an illusion. But people proly let rabbits play in the snow but id think they would get sick...idk then again im thinking michigan snow..ya know lik 10 feet lol
 
Yeah being a Michigander I immediately had this horrible mental image of taking my best bun and tossing him in a frozen snowbank eight feet high in our horrific wind-swept "lake effect" winters here. ;)

It is hard to convince my outdoors-loving dogs to go outside for ANY reason (let alone potty breaks) so I doubt my rabbits would like it. :)
 
Probably actually doesn't cause a problem in most cases. Of course I would not want to be in the snow on one of our well below 0 days but they hardly react until the temp gets down around 0 and then mine just keep their ears tucked a bit more. At -20 and -30 they were still fine although they preferred to have some straw or hay they could sit in. If people can keep them outdoors around here I'm sure in milder temps they'd be fine in the snow. Some even maintain outdoor colonies in areas that get snow.

The species of our domestic rabbit has been introduced and survives on pretty much every continent. Only the coldest and hottest parts of the world do not have invasive escaped or purposely released rabbits of that species somewhere in the area. While some of our breeds and lines are probably not as hardy as some of the rabbits released many years ago that were closer to their wild version I still doubt most breeds have a problem with snow when it isn't exceedingly cold out. I'd be a little careful with a handful of breeds such as those often raised in heated or air conditioned buildings for various reasons and I found netherlands to be a bit sensitive but my mini rex, argent breeds, and mutts probably wouldn't think twice about digging in the snow.
 
The way I see it, dry snow on a cold day might be better than wet snow when the temperatures hover around freezing. It's getting soaked to the skin that could cause problems because that could cause chilling. I do know that people with outdoor colonies report that the rabbits love to be out on the snow, so as previously mentioned, it is likely fine if they are acclimated to it. After all, cottontails have no problems with snow and although they are a different species they have similar fur.
 
It barely get below 14 degrees Fahrenheit in Virginia. And we usually get dry snow, so I will just do a little test with my rabbit and see if he likes it or not.. I am kind of shocked that it is december and we haven't even received any Snow. It actually got around 65's this week.
 
I took a past rabbit out in dry snow on a leash. It loved running back and forth, digging holes and hopping in and out of them. Cold is no problem to rabbits, have you ever seen the thick fur on their feet?

I'm in VA, too. I'm not surprised we have no snow, every year we get less and less of it. When I was a little kid, we used to get 2ft, now we get 1in and then it's gone the next day...lame...lol.
 
Years ago...( like about 20...) we had a rabbit get loose. We could not catch that critter for Months !! It was bopping around all winter outside ! Where DH had blown paths in the sn*w... the rabbit had a raceway. Somewhere in a scrapbook i have a photograph of that rabbit and the gingerbread house from Christmas. Priceless !
 
Somebody on here some time ago... or maybe it was over at HT... posted pictures of their rabbit colony after a snow. The rabbits were out of their tunnels playing in the snow, lounging in the snow, anything but taking cover. I remember distinctly one rabbit just completely laid out on its side on top of the snow, like it couldn't possibly be more comfortable. :)
 
I finally located the photograph of the rabbit in the sn*w. then found out that our 'printer, scanner, copier' ... would Not scan To the computer...grrrrrr. So i took a picture of the picture...cropped it and here it is... a tiny bit blurry... but visable.

I think it is kinda neat !
 

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