Back Outside?

[Zaiya]

My rabbits have been inside for almost 2 weeks, now. They are mainly outdoor rabbits, so this is only temporary. My parent's allergies are going crazy, and they want the rabbits to go outside asap. This week is going to be between 80° and 90° F. Today is about 80°, and it will gradually build to 90° next Wednesday, then go back down to 85° or so. Would it be OK to put them back outside now (with ice and mist)?

Thanks!

 

[Bonsai]

I live in TN and it gets VERY hot and VERY humid here. Heidi does reasonably well outside with just a frozen two liter. She doesn't pant/breathe heavy or anything. But she is also placed in the shade and has an added piece of plywood on top of her cage to give her some extra much-needed shade.

Some people freeze marble tiles but the frozen 2 liter works for Heidi very well so I kinda swear by those, haha. I think your rabbits should be okay, just put them somewhere shady and keep the frozen ice rotated out in such a way that they don't defrost completely. I have 3 two liters for Heidi frozen in the freezer; when I add my Netherland Dwarf to my family, I will be using about 5 smaller 20oz water bottles to rotate out for him. The smaller the ice pack, the more often it will need to be rotated out!

 

[Zaiya]

We have a couple of gallon jugs I could use...

OK, thanks! I'm just a little paranoid since Moss got heatstroke last week!

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

I think they'll be ok, but be sure to freeze and change out lots of ice bottles frequently. I also like to put a fan in front of Taffy's (our outside bunny) hutch and that works well.
Also be sure the bunny has plenty of shade. I drape blankets over the end where sun could hit the hutch.
Also, I've found putting marble tiles in the freezer for a bit or sticking ceramic tiles in the hutch for the bunnies to lay on. Ripley loves his tiles so much.

 

[Zaiya]

In the early afternoon, the hutch is shaded by a tree, then in late afternoon the sun reflects off of a white "reflector".

We have like 7 bottles in the freezer XD Including a couple of gallon jugs.

Here is my setup. You can see the white reflector on top.

 

[Azerane]

You could put them outside, you would just have to give them cool water, ice bottles and make sure they have a breeze to cool down. If you think they're struggling with it (and Moss may have trouble after his heatstroke recently) could you bring them inside for a couple of hours during the hottest part of the day? Then you could have them outside the rest of the time. When you first put them back out there, I would do it in the late afternoon/evening. Because they've been inside for two weeks, they might not tolerate a hot day straight away, so if you put them in later in the day, they can spend the night and then be more adjusted as it warms up through the day.

I like your idea of having a thermometer on the hutch.

 

[majorv]

I like the hutch, but it looks like it's in a closed in area. It's important that they either be able to feel a breeze or have a fan set up for them. I agree with waiting until early evening to put them back outside, so they have the night and next morning to get acclimated before it gets to the hotter part of the day.

 

[Zaiya]

Ya, it has a fence on two sides, and a hen house on the other side. Luckily, we had some wind today, so hopefully we will for the rest of the week.

At some point we'll go to Home Depot and look for marble or ceramic tiles that I can freeze.

They could probably come inside during the hottest part of the day, since my parents will let me if it gets too hot.