[As I learn more and more about how to keep our rabbits cool in the heat of summer, I will add new tips and tricks to this post. Please check back over the summer to see if I have learned any new tricks, or if I have made any changes to reflect what has worked for us, and what has not. I desire to give the best information that I can in hopes that I can help you keep your bunnies cool and comfy during hot temperatures.]
Where we live, it can get up to 107 degrees in the summer. While temps that high don’t happen all too often, we do have a couple of months where it is consistently 100 degrees during the day. Since rabbits are fragile creatures that have a difficult time surviving in extreme heat, I am constantly looking for ideas that I can use to keep our precious bunnies cool and ensure for them a long and happy life.
Inside of Alice’s side of the hutch, I keep a thermometer so I can monitor how warm it gets for the bunnies. I try my best to keep the temps in there below 85 for their comfort. If ever I can’t do that, I will need to bring them inside.
Rabbits are generally fine in cooler weather, but do not do well in temperatures over 85 degrees. It’s best to try to keep the temperature in their hutch below that for their comfort. If they begin to hyperventilate (you’ll see them breathing heavily and their whole body moving with their breathing), or if the area around their nose and mouth is wet, they are close to, or are already experiencing heat stroke. For more information about heatstroke in rabbits, click here.
So far this year, we’ve touched on the high 90s this Spring (a few weeks ago, and yesterday) and generally have been experiencing mid 80s, so as you can imagine, we are paying close attention to our rabbits and their responses to the heat, as well as studying and trying all of the different methods of keeping them cool as necessary. Here are a few ideas for keeping your rabbits cool that we have tried:
This is our setup. The fan is set back about 4 feet from the hutch. |
Set a fan in front of the hutch so it blows directly on the rabbits on extremely hot days, and above them (so as to move the air ar0und a bit) on less hot days.
Set frozen water bottles in the front of the hutch, so the fan carries the cold air that is coming off the bottles into the hutch, creating an A/C affect.
Put an ice cube or two in their water crock or a few pieces of ice in their hanging water bottle to keep it nice and cold.
Make sure water is always readily available to them to prevent dehydration.
Use a mister to bring the temperature down at least 10, if not 15 degrees cooler.
Put a ceramic tile in the hutch for them to lay on. The ceramic stays cool, and if you use the misters, it will get damp and provide a nice cool place for them to lay.
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| The 1/4 inch mister system that I’m using attaches to a nearby hose, and is attached with mounting clamps around the doors of the hutch. This does present a problem with the wood on the hutch–it can become warped and cause problems in the opening and closing of the hutch. For now, it’s not been a problem, and while this isn’t the most desirable of setups, it’s keeping the bunnies cool. |
And here are a few ideas that have been shared with me by other rabbit owners:
Hose down the top of the hutch a few times per day, or cover the hutch with wet towels (I recommend keeping the towels wet during the hottest hours of the day).
Provide pesticide free frozen fruit to help cool them off on the inside, too. (Please keep in mind that fruit contains a lot of sugar, and only to give fruit in moderation. There is much information and opinion on the internet in regards to whether or not a rabbit ought to have frozen fruit, so I suggest that you do some research before using this piece of information.
For more information on caring for rabbits in hot weather, visit the Caring for Rabbits in Arizona page.
How do you keep your rabbits cool in the summer?
This post is part of Wildcrafting Wednesday #41 and:
I’ve had good luck with putting frozen water bottles IN the cage with Gohan. He’ll lay against them and stay nice and cool.
Thanks Ann! So many people tell me that their rabbits like to lean against the frozen bottles in the summer. For some reason, ours have yet to use them to lean on, but perhaps they will learn soon. Lord knows it will be hot enough that they would definitely benefit from it!
Every time I think about this, I’m out in the rabbit barn…where my computer is not! But I was thinking about some stuff. It’s not anything I ever read anywhere or heard anywhere, but more the sort of things I would think would help if I were a rabbit.
First…I think that digesting food generates heat/uses energy, so feeding in the cool part of the day would make a lot of sense. I have read that if you can, feed rabbits at night, but so far I’m still on an am/pm sort of schedule, giving them half each time.
Then…I got to thinking about healthy size, and how being fat makes me hot. So I would guess that a fat bunny would be hotter too. I often do read that many rabbits are overfed. If a rabbit is chunky, it would be that much more uncomfortable, yes?
So those probably don’t help much, but I keep thinking them when I’m in the bunny barn.
I also found something in a book about draping the cages with burlap and turning a fan on them (unless there is a breeze). It would work much like a swamp cooler.
I even saw something once, that I still can’t find, about wetting the burlap, then having the top portion in one of those troughs like you use to wet wallpaper…filled with water. This gets set up so the burlap drapes in front of a box fan (it was for keeping people cool).
I hope something there is somehow helpful!
Also, what kind of bunny is Michelle Belle? She looks just like my Shadow…and despite my hopes, I was told most emphatically this week that she’s far too small to be a NZ.
Oh, good idea with the burlap, and yes, your suggestions make a lot of sense. Sky has to watch Michelle’s weight, being that she’s a show rabbit, so she can’t get too chunky. I’ve actually followed Sky’s lead of switching the girls to something like 1/2 cup of feed (versus free feeding) every day with more available timothy hay to free feed on (though they often eat it all before I get to giving it to them again).
I just found some burlap in my stash, but it’s a turquoise color. I wonder if I could use it the way you described without exposing the bunnies to unnecessary chemicals? Hmm.
Michelle is a mini-lop, Laura. She is just under 6-1/2 lbs, which is her limit for showing. Do Shadow’s ears lay down (are they lopped, I mean)?
She’s not lopped…but that’s about her size. She is a good mother, and a sweet, friendly rabbit.
Also, I didn’t mean to imply that your rabbits were fat – just that in general, I would think a chubbed out rabbit would be less comfortable. And since I don’t especially like being called fat, even though I very much am, I’m probably being weird, but just mark it off as me being over sensitive, lol. But your rabbits look very healthy and well cared for, and I hope I didn’t say anything insulting.
mew.
Oh—no way! I’m sorry if I made it sound that way. I was just, ya know, conversing. I didn’t take it that way in the least.