Do Rabbits Hibernate?

During the Winter months, it’s often noticed that wild rabbits seem to disappear, when they usually have frequent sightings in the warmer weather. It might seem like they hibernate but wild rabbits don’t actually enter into a state of hibernation during the inter, or at any other time for that matter.

Hibernation allows animals to survive winter months when food becomes scarce by entering into a bit of a stasis where they will sleep heavily. Their heart rate will slow down along with their respiration so that they conserve as much energy as possible. Prior to entering into hibernation, they will eat as much as they can to give them as much sustenance to take them through the harsh weather.

While rabbits don’t hibernate, they do burrow underground which is why there are often fewer sightings of them. As the weather gets colder, they spend more time underground staying warm and keeping out of the bitter winds or rain. They are less active but are still awake and alert. Most of what they eat is grass and small foliage off the ground but in winter it either dies away or can get covered by snow. Rabbits will use bark and small twigs to help sustain them through the winter.

While domestic rabbits are much like their wild cousins in that they don’t hibernate, you may notice that will choose to stay snuggled up in their bed area and only venture out to briefly stretch their legs and eat or drink. Rabbits are capable of staying warm in temperatures as low as 10ºC, however they do need time to prepare for Winter.

They can’t go from living indoors through the Summer and Autumn to living outdoors during the Winter. They need time to gradually grow accustomed to the cold and develop a nice thick winter coat to keep them warm. When kept in pairs and social groups, rabbits will snuggle and sleep together to stay warm. As long as they are kept out of needless draughts and their hutch is kept dry and warm, they can continue to thrive through Winter outside.

If you think your bunny might be getting too cold, the easiest way to warm them up is to bring them inside. This can be done temporarily until you can make their hutch more insulated or to keep them indoors through the worst of the weather.

To prevent your rabbit from getting too cold, you can give them an extra thick layer of bedding like bedding hay that will keep them nice and comfortable while also giving them something to nibble on when they’re less active during the colder months. An important part of your cleaning routine should be to remove any dampened bedding. Damp bedding will make it harder to keep heat in the hutch and removing it will keep it nice and warm even when it’s cold outside.

If your bunny loves to curl up on a blanket, you can add a self heating pad under their bedding to heat their bed when they first cuddle in. The weight of them sitting on the mat will cause it to heat up and stay warm until their body heat takes over. A microwavable heat pad like the Snugglesafe Heat Pad is great for keeping their bed area nice and snug and is super easy to reuse.

While rabbits don’t hibernate through the winter, they still need to keep nice and warm to make sure they stay comfortable. For all of your bunny winter necessities, take a look in store.