Coping with hot weather

[Howard cordingley]

We are in UK which is really hot at this time around 25+ which is hard for rabbits. I wondered how others cope with this heat and any ideas to help rabbits keep cool. I try bath the ears with a cold damp cloth. I put greens in that had water sprayed on them.

 

[Karaliene]

Oh my word YES, I was struggling a bit to keep the girls cool yesterday. And today it's supposed to be worse.
I also used a little mister bottle on the ears but they disliked it, and I'm not sure whether it's best to continue or not. I also put wet greens in!
And I gave them two water bowls (partly because there have been a few spats as they settled in), and periodically topped them up with ice. Seeing as I have my buns in a playhouse, I've also got all the doors wide open (only one of them they can access, the other is for my 'storage zone') with a pallet in front of the door they could escape from.

Another thing I did was, yesterday at about 4 PM when it was hot, I let them out into the garden under the shade of our willow tree. Blossom treated me to several binkies, so it helped.

Anyone else got ideas?

 

[Abi :)]

Here's a video that may help-

 

[Howard cordingley]

Thanks yes today’s going to be hot! I use a spray too on wars which is where they sweat from during heat. I saw an idea about bottles of frozen water put in cage too that they rest against and ceramic tiles are cool too. Sounds like you have two bunnies!

 

[Apollo’s Slave]

https://www.rabbitsonline.net/threads/keeping-rabbits-cool-in-summer.98374/#post-1144241

 

[Oreo and bella]

Hi in the UK too it's been really hot was all day trying to keep my girls cool all windows open changing water bowls constantly I read tiles are good also read about the frozen bottles didn't know about the ice cubes thank for the tip

 

[BunBun71]

We are in UK which is really hot at this time around 25+ which is hard for rabbits. I wondered how others cope with this heat and any ideas to help rabbits keep cool. I try bath the ears with a cold damp cloth. I put greens in that had water sprayed on them.

You can use a cold tile or a frozen water bottle. You can also put ice cubes in the water.

 

[Oreo and bella]

I've just ordered tiles and put ice cube in the wather bowls put a can on but at very distant jeez summer it very hard I heard there thunderstorms in the UK tomorrow

 

[Eve84]

Hi,
We had 30 degrees the last two days. They are not as active as normal but I think as long as you keep them in the shade they do pretty well. I had them in the garden eating fresh grass and they enjoyed it.

I’m not sure if Ice cubes etc will upset their stomach or if very cold tiles will give them a cold so I would be careful with that. Maybe a water puddle so they can cool their feet whenever they want to?
Eve

 

[Oreo and bella]

It's a bit hard to shade them if there indoor I guess we try what we can what I've done rabbits seem ok it's there time where there playing so I will see

 

[OreoTheMiniLop]

@Eve84 Ice cubes are fine for rabbits because its just water. Cold tiles will not give them a cold. Please don't give your rabbit a puddle of water as it may stress them out.

 

[Eve84]

@Eve84 Ice cubes are fine for rabbits because its just water. Cold tiles will not give them a cold. Please don't give your rabbit a puddle of water as it may stress them out.

Yes but it is ice cold water, I know from us humans that it sometimes upsets our stomachs and also gives us a shock of temperature. They actually advice you when it is really warm that you should have a warm drink or a normal temp drink rather than a cold drink, as it looks like it helps at the beginning to cool down but it actually can lead to blood pressure problems and shock.

With a puddle I didn’t meant to throw them in I meant to give them the option to use it or not as it would happen in the nature

 

[john.thorpe1952]

Just an observation or two.Since frosted greens can cause serious issues of chilling for the stomach and intestines,I wouldn't use ice cubes personally.Given that they;ll probably melt quickly anyway they will be of little value in reality.The frozen water bottle works very well and they love to cuddle up it.I also rig up an electric fan( making sure that any plugs,connections to extension cable drums etc,are covered to avoid accidental water splashes or unexpected rain,and that the plug is connected to an emergency circuit breaker device in case of anything untoward happening.This works very well and distributes cold air around the cage.It goes without saying that the fan and cables are outside the cage,not inside it-for obvious reasons! By the way, I read many years ago,and it was taken as a fact in many books on rabbit care,that giving wet greens was a bad thing and casued diarrhoea and gut problems.I believed it myself and have told others about it in the past,until my vet pointed out that if this was the case then wild rabbits which ate wild plants full of dew or rain water after a shower,would have problems.He was of the opinion that it was a myth,and a misunderstanding,since the real problem was not with the water,but with greens from a refrigerator or from the ground in Winter ,which had been frosted and given while still in this condition.Seems to make more sense,and I have made sure that I never feed anything with too much a chill on it.

 

[OreoTheMiniLop]

@Eve84 Oh! I thought you meant put them in water!

 

[Button]

I found that mashing up a banana and mixing in other fruits or veggies and then freeze them is a wonderful way to cool down a bun as well as giving a treat!

 

[Blue eyes]

Cool tiles and frozen water bottles are both good options. Some rabbits ignore the frozen bottle no matter how hot it gets .

Most rabbits will lay on cool ceramic or porcelain tile.