Humidity and the heat with furballs...

[Cher]

HEHEHE, I am allowed to say furballs due to thefact that with all hardwood flooring I constantly find rolling balls offur when the fansare on........which leads me to myquestion......I am residing with my two buns,bornand raised (so far..) in Tainan, Taiwan-quite a bit down in the south.The humidity here has not quite kicked it to it's full extent but theheat has~already getting to the +30 degrees. These are Taiwanesebunnies as were their parents soooooooooooooo-

I am a little worried about when I go out, I close the drapes (noexcess light means less apt heat) and turn a few fans on, but should Ibe directing the fans ON them?? or in their general direction? It'stheir first summer here, yeah yeah I know its only April but NOT HERE!!I recall being hereat the end of last summer and seeingbunnies in cages ON the sidewalks (if that is what you call thosereally narrow non-walkways here) and thought to myself WOW, how canthey stand the humidity, so here I am worrying about my two inside....

Thanks for your patience in reading my extensive ramble.......HEY!! hows mah avitar coming?? *grin grin*

Cher

 

[dUtCh]

It might dangerous to leave a working fan unattended with your bunnies(short circuit and the wires).Afraid of the hot weather??

Try this...you might want to place a cool bottle beside them to keep them cool. It works quite well in hot countries though!

 

[Carolyn]

Hi HB104!

I hear what dUtCh is saying about the fan being on and unattended. Ifthe fan's fairly new though and the rabbits are in their cage, I don'tthink it's a bad idea at all to leave it going when you're not home. Ifit has a rotating feature, I use that and in the real extreme heat, Ido make sure that the rabbits feel the breeze. In the not-terriblyextreme heat, I have it blowing near their cage in the rotating manner,but not quite letting the breeze hit them.

Very wise to keep your shades pulled. That will help a lot. If Jade andJez seem to have labored breathing, you may wish to wrap some ice in atowel and touch it to their ears. On just a very hot and humid day, youmay take a cold washcloth and put that on their ears. Since the bloodvessels are near the surface of the ears, cooling a bit will be thequickest way to cooling down your rabbit.

They'll probably double up on their water intake, so just make sure they have a lot.

The cool bottle beside them that dUtCh recommended is an excellent idea.

Stay Cool! (Oh, and by the way, you use a Chinese computer too? Good God!!)

-Carolyn

 

[pamnock]

Air movement is required for proper cooling invery humid areas or mositure cannot evaporate. While many sayto never blow a fan directly on the rabbit, I recommenditwhenit's extremely hot and humid. Placethe fan a distance from the rabbit and have it gently blowing over thehot bunn. A little water can be placed on the ears,which serves to cool as it evaporates.

Understanding how the rabbit cools itself helps us to provide the most comfortable environment for our rabbits:

The rabbit is cooled by 3 primary factors: Respiration, Ears and Nasal Mucosa.

80% of heat dissipation in rabbits occurs through the evaporation ofmoisture during respiration (breathing). Fans help this cooling processby speeding evaporation.

Cooling also occurs through nasal mucosa (by air passing over mucous membranes).

The ears are also important for cooling as the blood moves to the farthest (coolest) points away from the body core.

The rabbit will also stretch it’s body out as far as possibleto cool through radiation/convection. Rabbits do not have functionalsweat glands, and only loose a small amount of moisture through theskin due to perspiration. The rabbit’s fur further inhibits the processof the rabbit being able to cool itself by evaporation of moisture fromthe skin.

Since the rabbit cools primarily through respiration, we want toprovide air movement throughout the cage to evaporate the moisture fromthe rabbit's breath. In a serious situation of heat stress,you will notice moisturearound the rabbits face (especiallyaround the mouth and nose)because the moisture is notevaporating.

Pam N.

 

[Cher]

Thank-you very much for suchinformativeposts everyone! Since the girls are NEVER left to their own deviceswhen I am out (they are in their cage) I don't have to worry about theelectrical wiring of the fans. When I am home, I have the wires way upwhere they can not reach them or on something they can not get to.Learned that VERY quickly.........mmmmmmmmmmmm........chewchew..........

Carolyn: I took a pic of Jade this morning in her sexy momma pose onthe tile floor, to send to you! Right before I took it though, I gaveher a good pet and she fully flattened...hehe its too funny (only onpic 10 of 24 though)

Was soo happy to wake up yesterday to find the heat wave had broke, anda bit of a cool breeze coming in the windows. BUT tiss good to knowthat I had been doing the right thing with the oscillating near themWonderous idea about their ears and cool cloth, also aboutthe cool bottle....may I say~

Thanxs again, you all are lifesavers in my non-English speaking world here

Cher

 

[Carolyn]

HB104,

Really looking forward to seeing Jade.? She's such a little beauty.?

I really love the avatar.? That little butt stickin up in the air really sticks out in the avatar.? It really cracks me up!?

Glad the heatwave broke!? Pamnock's information was so excellent,interesting, and informative that I had to copy and post it on the oldRabbit's Only forum because someone was asking how to keep lionheadscool in the humidity, so I was really glad you asked the question.? Wayto Go, Cher!

-Carolyn

 

[BunnyMommy]

Hi, Carolyn! Where is the old Rabbits Only forum?

I'd love to read the archived info.

 

[MyBunnyLovesMe]

GOOD NEWS!!!!!!! I saw hair on my bunnys poop!!! I hope thats a sign that her hay is working!!

 

[Buck Jones]

Bunnymommy,

The "older" Rabbits Only Forum is still functioning at DelphiForums. I'd provide you with a link, but for some reason thesite is not responding just now. It was fine a littleearlier, so I'm sure it is just a temporary thing.

I suspect reading the archived information would beadvantageous. Just be sure you are at the "correct" DelphiRabbits Only Forum. There is also a Rabbits Only 2 Forum,which while active, never had the traffic of the former.

Some of us "older" posters here, posted there before this site becameavailable, so you would see some familiar names in thearchives. Many of us still post there, as well asposting here. The archives, if you read back sufficiently,would provide you with an understanding of how all this came about.

If it comes back on line soon, I'll post the link, or maybe someoneelse has a connection that is functioning properly and can do that foryou now. In any case, I'm sure you will get access to iteventually.

There was no moderation, so it often got argumentative and was visitedon occasion by trolls, looking to start trouble. I miss theverbal jousting with such cretins, but agree that this is a mostpleasant site, populated by most pleasant people.

Buck

P.S. Here is the overall sitelink:http://www.delphiforums.com/Query it for Rabbits Only and once it comes back online, I'm sure youwill access it. Be sure it is the original, hosted byZiggy134(or some such name, who was never in attendance)and not,Rabbits Only2. You could visit Rabbits Only2 and see some ofthe stuff we all posted there as well, if you're a real glutton forpunishment.

 

[BunnyMommy]

Thanks so much, Buck!

 

[Carolyn]

BunnyMommy,

I'm Carolyn5837 in that forum.

* * * * * * * * *

MyBunnyLovesMe - :dude: !!

That's indeed a great sign of the Timothy Hay cleaning out Megan'ssystem of fur left behind that the fiber in the pellets didn't passthrough her digestive system.

Yay!! *High-Five!*

-Carolyn

 

[Cher]

Whilst we are on the subject of "furballs" (eitherthe type we find rolling across our hardwood flooring OR the name welovingly call our bun's)...........last night I gave the girls just asmidgin of fresh pineapple, since I had picked some up,pre-cutwith a little wooden stick for eating (NO, the stick wasnt for THEM)haha and this morning-funny shaped wooly like specimens were thedroppings of the night~from Carolyn's post above and others I haveread, this a good thing-correct......
Cher

 

[Carolyn]

Absolutely is a good sign, Cher. :dude:

The pineapple took out the fur that the hay and pellets didn't get.

Your avatar really cracks me up because the first thing I see is abunny butt and legs. It always makes me smile, no matterwhere I see it.

-Carolyn

 

[Zee]

*Bump*