# Best way to keep your rabbit cool in heat and/or humidity?



## MsBunBun (Apr 27, 2011)

So it's April here in New Jersey and it's been slowly getting warmer and on some days (like this one)....extremely humid.

He's an indoor bunny, and we have air conditioning but it only goes on once my parents feel like it's right to turn it on. They're too stubborn to turn the air conditioning on till mid-May or so . I tried doing it myself but I just end up getting into arguments.

_(Yeah. I'm 25 and still living with my parents. I would have moved out earlier but personal things happened. Bad things health-wise and ex-boyfriend related. Though I have a good boyfriend now and we're planning to move out next year or so.)_

Sorry, I didn't mean to tell you a life story, I'll stop there haha.

So anyway it reached about 85 degrees Fahrenheit (29 C) today, the humidity is terrible, and it's making it feel even worse.... not to mention my room feels somewhat like a sauna.:coolness: It's 11:25 PM right now and it still feels awful. I have a fan on and I have it pointed down to the ground on a low setting so my bunny can go to that spot, LOL. He's actually there right now as we speak, enjoying the cool breeze from this fan :biggrin2:

So with that out of the way, do any of you have any tips on keeping my rabbit cool until my air conditioner goes on? Or do I just keep pointing the fan at him or towards his cage?

Seriously though


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## Bunny parents (Apr 27, 2011)

You can freeze a bottle of water and put it somewhere on the floor where your bun has access to. So he or she might lay next to it. It can help cooling them down. Last Summer I did that and my girl loved it. It was around 28-32'c during the day and we had no air conditioning. Another thing I did for my girl is giving her green which is soaked with water. I just wanted to make sure that she had enough water. If your house is floored with carpet. Maybe find a piece of tile for your baby, so he/she can lay down on it. My husband calls it a Summer bed  Hehehe.
Hope this helps.


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## elrohwen (Apr 27, 2011)

We keep a couple frozen gatorade bottles in the freezer and will put one in the cage on hot days. Tile to lay on is also a good idea. Make sure his cage isn't in direct sunlight and keep shades drawn - this can really keep the temperature down during the day.

We also set the a/c to come on at 80 degrees when we're not home - would your parents agree to that? I don't live too far from you and it hasn't bee so hot that the a/c would come on every day, but it can be nice to know it's there when you're out of the house and it starts heating up.


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## Bluesmaven (Apr 27, 2011)

I used to have a kiln but I stopped doing pottery and the kiln was old and big and in the way so I got rid of it but kept the shelves that went in it for some reason. Last summer I realized the kiln shelves stayed cool to the touch, so I put the shelves in the rabbit room and they like to lay on them and chill. I think those concrete stepping stones would work the same way.


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## MiniLopHop (Apr 27, 2011)

I have large tile pieces that were about $1 each from Home Depot that I put on the carpet. Each bunn can stretch out on their own tile.

I found that my angora really likes sitting in the fan breeze all year round. I leave it on high, but it goes across the short side of their space so the bunns have a choice to be in the breeze or not. It is so cute when he puts his face up against the bars, a couple inches from the fan. The fur blows back like a puppy sticking its head out a car window.


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## Honey&Minstrelxxx (Apr 27, 2011)

My girl loves to get some water down her back!! I usually put some cold water on a face cloth and stroke her back with it and just LOVES it!:thumbup


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## befulina (Apr 28, 2011)

I second the frozen water bottle idea!

We had outdoor rabbits when I was younger, and in the heat of summer, we would always freeze 2-liter bottles of water. We'd constantly find my buns laying sprawled across the bottles.


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## pamnock (Apr 28, 2011)

Rabbits primarily cool through evaporation of moisture through respiration. Humidity can be a major problem when the moisture doesn't evaporate - keep a fan going to move the air.

Heat stress in rabbits article: http://nockrabbits.com/heatstress.pdf


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## MsBunBun (Apr 28, 2011)

Thank you, all :biggrin2:

I ought to try all of those.

I particularly like the idea of wiping some cool water on my bunny's back... I never thought of that before.


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## Must_Love_Pets (May 5, 2011)

I am very worried about my Flemish. He is in a shaded area in my backyard and has a full run with access inside and out of his hutch. I have placed about 4 frozed bottles in his hutch and confined him to his hutch so he uses them to cool himself. If I let him have run of the run then he always ignores them not knowing it will cool him and he will lay under his hutch in the part dirt and part cement. So this way I feel he is forced to lay next to them. Anyways it is now getting into the low to to high 80's and I sit at work worried the whole day that he is miserable and I will come home to a dead Flemish which would just break my heart. Am I just a worry wart. I never use to worry that bad about my bunnies when I was young and showed them in 4H. My Lionhead om the otherhand is indoor durring this hot weather because he is so darm fluffy and gets hot a lot easier than my Flemmie. I think th enext is to freeze some granite or marble peices to lay on the floor of his hutch. By the time I get home form work it will all be defrosted. I dont want my Flemmie to be miserable. Should I let him have run of his run or keep him confined where he is forced to use the frozen bottles to cool himself. UGGGG!!!!


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## SRGBUGS (Jun 3, 2011)

In addition to the frozen bottle/fan idea, take an empty spray bottle (preferably those that are sold in beauty supply shops/ $.99 cent stores) and fill it with cold cold water and mist their ears a bit to keep it fresh. You might also want to add some crushed ice cubes to his/her drinking water bottle to keep the water cold. Oh, and remember to groom as much as you can!! Buns tend to shed their winter fur for summer.


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## doodlebugger (Jul 1, 2011)

We have a flemish giant, and we are new to the whole rabbit thing....our problem is that where we keep his hutch, it's been running about 90-100 degrees here in Kentucky. His hutch is on the side of the house where the sun comes up, and it doesn't get shade until after 4-5pm and then it's still too hot because it's all cooling down. We've tried the ice in the water bowl, the fan, and the frozen water bottles (2 liter, gatorade, and small water bottles). It just seems like he still can't get cool enough....so we've been bringing him inside, but because he's not completely litter box trained and we have an indoor dog that is not willing to share his humans, we have been keeping him in our laundry/utility room. My daughter has been staying there with him because the room is not completely bunny proof. Are there any other options besides bringing him in??? We feel like we are tied down right now....but he has been sick, so we don't mind, but soon my daughter will be going to camp and then back to school a few weeks later. I can't be bunny sitting all the time!


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## MiniLopHop (Jul 1, 2011)

Can you get an exercise pen to put him in that is inside the house? Then it would be bunny proofed inside of the pen so he would be ok on his own for a while. NIC cubes also make great flexible housing indoors. I would worry about taking him in and out frequently because it would make the heat stress even worse when he goes out if he gets used to the cool.


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## woahlookitsme (Jul 2, 2011)

Can youmove the hutch under a tree? Just being in the shade would help some, along with the other things you're doing.


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## James (Jul 14, 2011)

I mainly keep mine cool with cool water and rub it all on there ears they love it, also i dampen my hands and rub it also on there fur to keep them cool

I think there ears are where most of there heat escapes from, so keeping that cool is a good idea


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## Kizza (Jul 17, 2011)

I spray water on Rocky while he is in the baackyard and wipe water on his ears. If it is really hot and humid (last summer the temp was over 45 degrees and 90% humidity on some days, I will put him inside with the fan and just keep his ears damp.

The ice block idea is great i will remember that next summer


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## Stone_family3 (Jul 18, 2011)

I wanna thank you all for the tips, I tried the frozen water bottle and Belldandy loves it


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## gale (Jul 19, 2011)

It is crazy hot and humid here and will be for at least another week. Wednesday will be the worst so far. I'm very worried about our bunnies. We can't bring them in because there's not enough places for them-they fight so they have to stay separated. We don't have any rooms that aren't carpeted. I have one cage but when I put our recently sick bun in it in the house, she wouldn't go potty at all, even with a litterbox in it, so the vet said not to bring her in. We tried fans and they avoid them. We put out ice bottles but our freezers are having trouble keeping up with freezing them completely. We have 6 two liter bottles in rotation and it's rare that we can get fully frozen bottles anymore. Our big freezers are in the garage and the heat is probably causing this so I put them in our freezer that's attached to our fridge tonight-hopefully it'll do a better job since it's indoors. We are giving them fresh water with ice cubes several times a day and misting their ears. So far they are acting pretty normal but I can't lie-I am worried. They aren't in a cage outside-they're each in a big dog run with shade so they get lots of air circulation but dangit it is HOT. Even now, at 4 am, it's still 81 degrees out. I'm praying that we get a decent breeze and some rain in the next few days to help them cope better. 

And to make it even more fun we have a dozen chickens that I'm also worried about. I hate this dang heat.


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## Spikethebunny (Jul 20, 2011)

So glad to read these tips! We are having record breaking temperatures here and, although we have a portable a/c unit that is working it's butt off, our place isn't exactly freezing. I don't want Spike getting too hot. Apparently tomorrow is the worst of it. I now have water bottles freezing just in case, and some tile for him. 

Is it okay to have an oscilating fan on his pen? I only have it in one spot so he has the choice to be in front of it, and he seems to like stretching out in front of it.

I hate the heat. Spike and I have that in common.


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## MiniLopHop (Jul 21, 2011)

With this crazy heat wave there are rumblings of the power company possibly using rolling back outs to handle the surge in power ussage. I am so worried without any ac, fans, or the dehumidifier that my kids who are used to these things are going to have a very hard time even if it is only for a couple of hours at a time.

Has anyone else had to deal with their home loosing the ac in the summer? I will try to stock pile frozen water bottles to be ready just in case. Other than that I don't know how to prepare?


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