Emergency- Rabbits outside in the heat

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rabbitloversd

rabbitloversd

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Rapid City, SD, , USA
I was wondering if anyone had any advice for having rabbits outside in the heat. It's pretty warm today and when I went to check them at 10, they looked pretty hot. I put a fan so that it would blow into their cage and put some frozen water bottle in there as well. I also draped a wet towel in front to give them more shade and changed theiir water so that it was cold. It is pretty sunny out right now and won't get shady in that area until later. Should they be alright? or is there something else I should do as well?
 
Can you not bring them inside? How hot is going to get? Make sure their cage is in the shade, move it if you have to. If they are looking uncomfortable you can mist their ears with cold water. Freeze water bottles and place them in the cage for them to lay up against. Remember that a rabbits internal body temperature runs between 101 to 103, so they are especially sensitive to the heat.

When the heat rises to 85 F or above you will start seeing signs of heat stroke;
  • Drooling, Wet chin
  • Lethargy
  • Heavy Labored Breathing/Panting
 
take a bottle of water throw it in the freezer and wrap it in a hand towel or something and put it in the cage so they can lay by it. is their cage covered where it gives them shade?
the fan will help and icy water bottle...not sure what else you can do. surely someone else will give input
 
I would absolutley suggest to you that you bring them inside if the temperatures are of such a concern to you. Anything over 80 F I personally worry about and my rabbits live indoors. Since we don't run the air non stop I rely on frozen 2 liter water bottles/or throwing a few ice cubes in their water to chill it.

You said it is very sunny, and there is no shade, do you not have an area in their hutch that they can go into for shade, or is it completely open?

If it gets to warm, they will suffer from a stroke, and someone already posted signs to look out for.

Beware of flies as well if it is that hot out there, they will be attracted to the smell, and will go for the rabbit.

Again consider bringing them inside!
 
It's been 90-100F this past week. My rabbits were fine without doing anything extra. I checked on them several times worried and they were acting completely normal. Sometimes sleeping, sometimes running about. My cages though are on a porch on the north side of the house with trees all around. They never get direct sunlight.

Sunlight can make a huge difference. When I was a teenager we had guinea pigs get heat stroke with one aborting her babies at less than 80F because they were left in the sun and their water bottle fell off. However we could leave them running around horse stalls in the stable well in to the 90s and they were fine provided they had water because they weren't in the sun.

I also sometimes filled short rubber livestock feeders with water so that if something did happen to their bottles or they got really hot they could stand in and/or drink out of the feeders.
 
Yikes, I cannot imagine leaving a rabbit outside in 90 - 100 degree weather and definitely do not suggest not doing anything extra in such warm weather. Obviously the area where their cage was much cooler. I believe studies have shown that 85 degrees and above rabbits start showing heat stress signs.
 
I wouldn't bring him/her inside, because the temperature change can be harmful. ;)

Is there any way you could move the hutch into an area that is shady at all times of the day? Rabbits shouldn't be in direct sunlight, even if it's just for a couple of hours. ;)

The fan, fresh cold water, frozen bottle, and wet towel on the cage, are good steps, and you should continue to do these if you are able to move the hutch into an entirely shaded area. ;)

Emily
 
I've been wondering this myself. My rabbit lives inside, but my house is hot - we don't have AC.
He has a fan just for him, which he sits under most of the time. He has been getting ice cubes in his water at least three times a day. Obviously he is not in direct sun as he lives in my dining room, but it was 88 inside tonight.

I am going to freeze a bottle of water for him for tomorrow (I've tried the frozen brick thing but it defrosts in a very short time).
 
I'm curious as to how the temperature change of a rabbit outside in the heat being brought inside to a room temperature house would be bad for its health? The rescue gets plenty of outdoor rabbits in and they adjust just fine to a controlled temperature environment. It's no worse than drastically cooling the bunny using fans, frozen water bottles, etc. Outside wild/feral rabbits will dig burrows or find ones made by other animals to escape the heat which is dramatically cooler than the air above ground.


 
BlueCamasRabbitry wrote:
I wouldn't bring him/her inside, because the temperature change can be harmful. ;)

Is there any way you could move the hutch into an area that is shady at all times of the day? Rabbits shouldn't be in direct sunlight, even if it's just for a couple of hours. ;)

The fan, fresh cold water, frozen bottle, and wet towel on the cage, are good steps, and you should continue to do these if you are able to move the hutch into an entirely shaded area. ;)

Emily
Click to expand...

I would like to say that moving a rabbit inside from the heat would not cause health problems. Rabbits can stand cold weather better than hot weather. If a rabbit is brought inside from the heat, it has a chance to cool down before have a heat stroke or other health issues.

Rabbitloversd: Another way to keep your rabbits cool in the heat is to spray their ears with cool water, because their temp regulates through their ears. Do this every hour or so, maybe less than every hour, really depends on how hot it is. This is if you absolutely cannot bring your rabbits inside. Please bring your rabbits inside, so he/she has a chance to cool down. Don't worry, the temp change will not harm your rabbits. Your rabbits will thank you!
 
slowly bring them in. put them in the shade first to bring their temp0 to normal, don't have the ac on just yet (if you are running it) so that it is almost the same temp as outside. then once they've been in the shade for about an hour or so, with water bottles and all, bring them inside. the gradual decrease in the temp won't send a shock to their system like it would if you just brought them right in from the sun. thats what my parents used to do with my outdoor rabbit when i was a kid.
 
They seemed to do ok that first day- I had used the frozen water bottle and the fan and added more shade to their area. I thought today was going to be even hotter so i brought them in last nite and took them out when i got home in the afternoon. Everyone is doing fine. No negative affects from that first hot day and I am working on a canopy to add more shade to their area during early day hours.
 
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