So is taking my house rabbit outside safely impossible? Did you know taking your house rabbit outside safely is instrumental in saving its life in the long run? Although rabbits are instinctively wild animals, they tend to get domesticated when they live with and are provided for by humans.
After being a house pet for a while, it will be quite unfair to take your pet rabbit back in the wild. Also, it is not good practice to just leave a pet rabbit outdoors and expect it to thrive.
Certain procedures must be adhered to when handling a pet rabbit out in the open. Remember, they are very fragile animals and will require a certain level of attention and care when handled.
This is what forms the topic of discussion for this piece: Taking Your House Rabbit Outside Safely. The following topics will be covered as they concern handling your rabbits when out in the open:
- Can I take my indoor rabbit outside?
- Is it cruel to keep a rabbit outside?
- What temperature can Rabbits be outside?
- Can a house rabbit survive in the wild?
For would-be rabbit owners, read on to learn these few rules whenever you are taking your house rabbit outside.
Can I Take My Indoor Rabbit Outside?
So when asking if taking your house rabbit outside safely is possible, the answer to this is YES. You can take your pet bunny outside. Taking your pet rabbit makes for a wonderful and exhilarating experience. However, there are several rules regarding how you go about this to ensure your rabbit remains safe. The reason you must take precautions when taking your rabbit outside is that house rabbits do not possess the top skills to survive outside by themselves.
Now, here are a few safety rules to observe if you are thinking of taking your pet bunny out in the open:
- Be mindful of the area you choose to take your rabbit out to. Certain places with grasses may have been fumigated with pesticides which can ultimately harm your rabbit if they ingest them.
- Leaving your pet bunny out in the open unattended puts it in danger of being attacked by predators. Even when not attacked, the presence of a potential predator can frighten your bunny to death.
- Your pet bunny can get heatstroke when left out under the sun for too long. Be mindful of when the sun gets too hot.
- Some plant species contain poison that can kill your rabbit if they ingest it.
- Your pet rabbit can be bitten by mosquitoes, bugs, or flies and can transmit deadly diseases in the process. Always inspect your rabbit’s body once you get it back indoors.
- Lastly, you can build a safe playpen outdoors to prevent your rabbit from straying away and to prevent predators from getting in.
Is It Cruel To Keep a Rabbit Outside?
Some rabbit handlers choose to leave their pet rabbits outdoors. However, this practice may not be the best for your rabbit. Leaving a rabbit outside reduces its average life span by half and generally puts it at risk of extreme weather, illnesses, and attack from predators.
There are just so many downsides to leaving your pet bunny outdoors. Even when you make adequate shelter available for your pet bunny, the mere sight of a potential predator can send it into a fix. It can even die from a heart attack.
Outdoor cages are great when you are raising rabbits purely for commercial purposes. This has been a common practice for ages. But it is never conducive to raise a pet rabbit outdoors. Wild rabbits may have the survival skills to run around in our backyards, but their domesticated peers have completely lost those primal skill sets.
If you own a pet bunny or hope to own one someday, it is advisable to keep them indoors especially at night when everyone’s inside. We however do not rule out the need for a rabbit to stay out in the open. Just like how we build dog cages outside, rabbits may from time to time need their privacy outdoor. In this instance, a cage may come in handy during the day when they play out in the open, may need to take shade, and or use their litter tray.
But for the most part, domesticated rabbits are meant to stay indoors as part of the family, away from the harsh realities of the outside.
What Temperature Can Rabbits Be Outside?
Rabbits cannot function under extreme weather. The ideal temperature for a rabbit on average is somewhere between 12 to 21 degrees (55F to 70F). Some rabbits may withstand hot weather of about 30 degrees. Anything higher than this can lead to heatstroke.
Rabbits do not have mechanisms to regulate their body temperatures. Because of this, they may not even be aware when they are overheating and may get carried with their playtime under the heat of the sun. This is why it is advisable to keep a keen watch over your rabbits as they play and exercise outside especially in the hot summer.
Once you observe a rise in temperature outdoor, you should quickly take your pet rabbits into their cages to cool off. Or you should bring them inside the house and put them in a cool area. Choose an area most preferably with tile works. Tiles are known to have a cooling effect even on a hot summer day.
Tricks to Keep Your Rabbit Cool
To make sure your rabbits remain cool in the heat of the day, you can employ these few tricks below:
- Change the position of their cages away from direct sunlight.
- Take your rabbits indoors once you notice a rise in temperature outside. Open up the windows indoors to let fresh air in.
- Installing an air conditioning set is equally a great idea.
- Getting rid of excess fur on your rabbit will help to cool its body.
- Try some ice therapy. Place some bottles of ice in their cages so they can lay next to them on a hot day.
- Spray cool water sparingly on your pet bunnies if you notice they are starting to overheat. (Do not ever give them a full-body bath. They can go into shock.)
- Whenever there is a temperature rise, try damping their ears with a towel dipped in cool water.
- And lastly, keep your pet rabbits hydrated always by ensuring they have access to an adequate amount of clean drinking water. Providing them with lots of green vegetables (because of their high water content) is also a great way to keep them hydrated.
Consequently, rabbits do not also do well in the blistering winter cold. Make sure your pet bunnies remain indoors during these times.
Can a House Rabbit Survive in The Wild?
Unlike other household pets like cats and dogs, bunnies are built for a life in the wild. Rabbits are naturally not raised to be domesticated house pets. So primarily, rabbits are descendants of wild rabbits.
There is the common notion where pet handlers may decide to release their pets into the wild for posterity’s sake. This practice may be good in certain considerations, especially when you are dealing with a species on the brink of extinction. But this is never a good idea in the case of a rabbit.
Domesticated Rabbit Back Into the Wild Don’t Work
Trying to release a domesticated rabbit back in the wild is wrong even where you mean the best intentions for the said rabbit. This is because, after years of living among humans and becoming domesticated, rabbits tend to lose all their survival skills and coping mechanisms required to survive in the wild.
Remember, rabbits in the wild have naturally adapted to the everyday rigors of jungle life. They have to struggle to find food. Their shelters are pieced together with great improvisation without any human help. Rabbits have also found a way to survive under harsh weather (rain or sun), and best yet, they possess the sharp instincts to shield themselves from the wandering eyes of predators.
So there you have it. These and many more are the attributes that come with being born and raised in the wild. But can the same be said of a domesticated rabbit?
Most pet rabbits, including those born in the wild but taken in as babies to be domesticated, have shelters and are cared for all their lives. They do not know what it means to survive on their own.
All their lives, they have been cared for, sheltered, and fed all day long. They have been provided with the comfort elusive of their peers in the wild. They have no idea how to live and provide for themselves. So this puts them in a precarious state where they cannot use their initiative to do anything. Case in point, they have completely lost their survival instincts.
In a sense, one can say that releasing a house rabbit into the wild is as close to killing it because it would not last a day.