heat and rabbits

Hi, its been here over 35C (95F) degrees for a week and during weekend when i should go for a vacation its supposed to be over 38C. I read that at 28 C bunny can die from heat.
My bunny is 8 years old and I'm really scared I don't know how does the heat affect him and during Saturday he'll be alone apart from my mother coming to give him food.
Can anyone tell me how serious it is with heat and rabbits? Should i just stay home?

Btw. he's not in a cage.

Do you have air conditioning? If so just keep the air on.

Heat can be very dangerous. If he's an inside bun, I would keep on the air con, as said before. You can also provide frozen water bottles and ceramic tiles.

If you can't check him, get someone to do it as often as possible to ensure he still has plenty of water and hay and that he's fine.

I use cold tiles, frozen water bottles and wipe their ears down with a cold cloth, heat can be very dangerous and can kill. I have my buns currently in a "shed" I have rabbit breeding banks and on the shed I have fans and heaters I also have a mist fan in the middle spraying mist on the bottom cages.

Also if you can get someone to check him then that would be great. Also leave him inside and leave the aircon on it. Could really help also maybe leave him in a cage so he can't et stuck anyone or anything

danihel said:

Hi, its been here over 35C (95F) degrees for a week and during weekend when i should go for a vacation its supposed to be over 38C. I read that at 28 C bunny can die from heat.
My bunny is 8 years old and I'm really scared I don't know how does the heat affect him and during Saturday he'll be alone apart from my mother coming to give him food.
Can anyone tell me how serious it is with heat and rabbits? Should i just stay home?

Btw. he's not in a cage.

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what does he usually do at this temperatures? Or is it the first time your location has such a heat?
I would be more concerned that your bunny isn't in the cage, especially at night. Where is he then?
I would take him to your mother's place and keep him there. Is he potty trained?

I have the same situation - outdoor bunnies who are in the yard, they have a hutch that they don;t like and they are free roam in the yard during the day (taken in for a night). Mostly they stay under the deck on cement floor - its cooler there. I throw a tarp on top of the wooden deck to keep the sun out. They are welcome to come inside the garage at any time (we don't park there). We bought small air conditioning unit for them, along with a large fan to use in garage during the summer. I can say - some of them take advantage of garage but some prefer to hang out in the yard (I have 3 buns). When it's really hot (I would say a little below 100F or higher) - I force them to stay inside garage (and close the door) during the day but let them out in the evening when the sun going down. AC unit + fan don't make it as cool as in the house, but its significantly cooler than outside.
I would say that at 35C your bun would probably be OK, depending how he is used to such heat and how well he is. It helps to provide frozen plastic jugs with ice (like gallon milk containers) but my buns don't like to use them.

Let me guess. He is indoor bun but the place isn't air-conditioned. IS this the case? I was thinking you talk about outdoor bun.

danihel said:

I read that at 28 C bunny can die from heat.

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for my outdoor rabbits, 28C is a warm comfortable day, no kidding. They certainly are not gonna die at this T. But when it gets hot indoors, it's different story

Yeah my buns love 28 degrees it is a nice comfortable sunny day and day cage time for them they love it

Thanks a lot for all your replies!

He’s indoor bunny and I have no air conditioning. He’s sort of trained to go on his toilette although as he grows older he seems to be little more reckless, so sometimes his business happens around the toilette. The bunny cage is quite big to be in the flat all the time, so its on the balcony.

I give him frozen bottle when its hot like this but after a half a minute of playing with it, he doesn’t seem to care very much to be in its presence. I also wet his ears occasionally but he doesn’t like that. As far as his behavior goes, its heard for me to estimate, since he’s got teeth problems he’s salivating all the time, sometimes he lies with his head down on the ground and sometimes he’s more vital.


It will be over 38C on Saturday, I can turn on the ventilator for the weekend but my mum will come to check on him only once. The only other option (apart from me staying home) is to put him into mum’s garden, but I don’t think that would be better as in the flat it would be at least somewhat cooler and I think tiles are better than soil (unless he digs himself in, which is very unlikely)

Maybe get someone to look after him? Like he stays at a friends house

so do you leave all windows and balcony door open when you are gone? NO concerns of a burglary? how many days will you be gone? Fan is certainly helpful but make sure he can't chew the cords.
Don't you have places where you can board your bunny like a cat or a dog? Search, as often people don't know about this options. But I agree that you have to choose those places carefully too.
Anyway, it's only for you to decide...
I would say that mom's garden sounds better for the morning and the evening (is it bunny proof though? poison plants? predators access? escape possibility?) could she keep him inside her house for a bit? If you take a whole cage there, he wouldn't be able to have an accident or ruin her belongings

Get a small electric fan, put it on low speed: swivel if possible.