# How to tell if rabbit is cold



## steph66419

So I live in New York and we are expecting a really bad storm starting tonight going into Wednesday. Of course perfect timing our furnace just broke today. My parents got a heater for our rooms right now but I don't wanna put it in my room because I'm afraid it catching on fire. So how would you know if your rabbit is cold?


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## LadyBug101

It is quite easy to tell if your rabbit has a cold, or a cold-like illness. Your bunny should give away various symptoms such as running nose, running eyes and sneezing. In fact, if your rabbit is acting out of the ordinary in any way, contact a vet, or do some research. I hope this helps.


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## RavenousDragon

When rabbits are cold, their ears may be cold to the touch (sort of like when our hands or feet are cold) and they will lay more wtih their feet tucked under them than sprawled out. They may be a little less active if they are cold as well (none of these automatically mean the rabbit is cold, but they can be hints). Good luck and stay safe with that storm!


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## Blue eyes

Rabbits can handle the cold better than we can. If you are handling the indoor (albeit colder than usual) temperatures, then your rabbit will be just fine.


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## ladysown

your rabbit will be just fine...he has a fur coat. as long as no breeze is on him he'll be fine.


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## Preitler

LadyBug101 said:


> It is quite easy to tell if your rabbit has a cold, or a cold-like illness. Your bunny should give away various symptoms such as running nose, running eyes and sneezing. In fact, if your rabbit is acting out of the ordinary in any way, contact a vet, or do some research. I hope this helps.



I beg to differ here, rabbits do not get a "common cold"

The above symptoms could be dusty hay (in the best case) or snuffles or another disease( in the worst), but not just a "cold"

Rabbits can deal with low temperatures very well, but if you worry offer it a rather small hide box with an insulated floor, and maybe a blanket on top, but you may be surprised that the rabbit doesn't think he needs it much


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## Aki

So, last year my furnace broke down just when I came back from the Christmas holiday. It was horribly cold (I got to bed with socks on and a blanket on top of two duvets and I was so cold I couldn't sleep). I worried a lot about the rabbits, but they didn't seem to be all that bothered. Nevertheless, I had the furnace repaired the next day and my rabbits are a pair so they could snuggle for warmth.
Inside the house, it won't be freezing so your rabbit probably won't get sick over it. Give him hay to snuggle into - a cardboard box filled with hay is a good way to create a warm spot. A small cushion or a blanket might help too (I put one in the rabbits' room last month because the temperatures were unusually cold and you could feel it despite the heater and they spent a lot of time laying on it - they looked really glad to have something to warm their bellies). If the situation last for more than 1or 2 days, it might help to give your rabbit more to eat so he has calories to burn.


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## LadyBug101

Preitler said:


> I beg to differ here, rabbits do not get a "common cold"
> 
> The above symptoms could be dusty hay (in the best case) or snuffles or another disease( in the worst), but not just a "cold"
> 
> Rabbits can deal with low temperatures very well, but if you worry offer it a rather small hide box with an insulated floor, and maybe a blanket on top, but you may be surprised that the rabbit doesn't think he needs it much



Sorry, I got that wrong. As I said, I am fairly new ro rabbit owning, and I made a dumb mistake. Your reply was both informative and helpful, though, so thankyou.


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## steph66419

Okay, thank you all for the information. He seems to be running around a lot. He's not cold to touch really either. I took him outside on is his harness and leash. He liked it yesterday. But today he was just not having it. Too windy for the fella. He's just mad at me now because I won't let him under my bed lol. But besides that he's running around. So thank you all for helping me out! It means a lot!


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## Lokin4AReason

good to know info in this thread ....


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## UFCreel

Rabbits handle cold way better than they do heat. If you are really concerned give it a box with straw in it and block wind/drafts.


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## hillary

I am in Ontario and it gets really cold. What I do is put a heating pad under his pillow bed and it provides some warmth but not enough to make his too hot. In my experience it works really well. Hope I can help.


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## Johndxu

Rabbit can handle -15C easily if without wind or rain. In the wide, rabbits find spots when wind or rain. My two NZ runing free in my enclosed backyard. Once it is wind or rain, they find spots or go the open door cage which is just full of hay to sit there. I noticed when tempreture went under -10 C, they stayed in the cage, otherwise they prefer running outside even on snow. But be carefull if they delivering baby. Sometimes the doe does't pull enough fur to keep baby warm enough. By the way, I am also in Ontario.

Rabbit can easily die under direct sun light in summer. They have fur coat which can not be take off.


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## Barbara

hillary said:


> I am in Ontario and it gets really cold. What I do is put a heating pad under his pillow bed and it provides some warmth but not enough to make his too hot. In my experience it works really well. Hope I can help.


Just curious. What do you do with the cord? From the heating pad. And what if the bunny chews the pad? I wouldn't be able to sleep at night worrying about if he was going to electricate himself and start a fire.


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## Watermelons

Please dont use heating pads or anything that you cannot physically control the temperature on. 

For OP for yourself you are safer to get an oil filled radiant heater that has a proper thermostat you can set to exact temperature. These are one of the safest type of heaters. Obviously keep the cord protected and out of reach. 

And rabbits do not "die in direct sun light". They ard not vampires. Depe ding on the breed their coats that help keep them warm also help keep them cool in the summer and protect them. Same reason you should never shave a husky dog in the summer.


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## hillary

Barbara said:


> Just curious. What do you do with the cord? From the heating pad. And what if the bunny chews the pad? I wouldn't be able to sleep at night worrying about if he was going to electricate himself and start a fire.



I have a wood house that he sleeps in in my room. I made a hole in the back that the cord goes through and the pillow is larger than the heating pad so their is no visible pad for him to chew on!


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## hillary

Watermelons said:


> Please dont use heating pads or anything that you cannot physically control the temperature on.
> 
> For OP for yourself you are safer to get an oil filled radiant heater that has a proper thermostat you can set to exact temperature. These are one of the safest type of heaters. Obviously keep the cord protected and out of reach.
> 
> And rabbits do not "die in direct sun light". They ard not vampires. Depe ding on the breed their coats that help keep them warm also help keep them cool in the summer and protect them. Same reason you should never shave a husky dog in the summer.


I do use a heating pad but only when it’s really cold and you can control the temperate pretty well!!


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## Johndxu

Watermelons said:


> Please dont use heating pads or anything that you cannot physically control the temperature on.
> 
> For OP for yourself you are safer to get an oil filled radiant heater that has a proper thermostat you can set to exact temperature. These are one of the safest type of heaters. Obviously keep the cord protected and out of reach.
> 
> And rabbits do not "die in direct sun light". They ard not vampires. Depe ding on the breed their coats that help keep them warm also help keep them cool in the summer and protect them. Same reason you should never shave a husky dog in the summer.


I agree an oil heater is safe, but really rabbit will not die from direct sunlight? Maybe in the wide, they can hide from sun? My friend had a rabbit died in a summer morning, while he forgot to move the cage to shadow.


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## Preitler

With unregulated heating pads you need to know what you do, what kind of insulation and power level is safe. 

Direct sunlight doesn't kill rabbits, as long as they don't get too hot. They definitly prefer the shade in warm weather, but especially my old girls like to bask in the sun in spring.


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