Hot Weather Care for Rabbits
Hot, hot, hot!!! That is how our summer is going. Everyone is cranky and tired of the high temperatures. As hard as the heat is on us humans it is even harder on our little rabbit friends. If you have a bunny at home it is very important that you know how to take care of it during the hot months of the year. Good hot weather care for rabbits is essential to their well-being.
Hot weather is actually harder on rabbits than the cold weather is. A rabbit’s normal temperature ranges from 101-103 degrees. Add in extremely high temperatures outside and you’ve got yourself one toasty rabbit.
If you are new to rabbits you might like my post Bringing Home a New Bunny
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Signs your rabbit is hot!
2. Labored breathing: heavy and shallow, opened mouth panting (very bad sign).
3. Decreased appetite.
6. Dehydration: lack of urinating.
Tips to help your rabbit stay cool in hot weather.
- Mist their ears down with cool (not cold water): rabbits regulate their temperature through their ears.
- Make sure they have plenty of cool water to drink. Add an icecube to help it stay cool longer.
- Check and refill waters several times a day.
- Run a fan: make sure it is not blowing directly on them.
- Wet towels (wring them out!) and hang them over the cage and blow a fan on them if it is super hot. As the water evaporates it will cool the area down. Make sure you are keeping an eye on the towels and wet them again when they dry out.
- Freeze water in soda bottles and place in cage. The rabbits will sit against the bottle to cool themselves down. Make sure to remove any wrapper from the bottle first.
- Keep cages out of direct sunlight.
- Cut back on feed. Just like you increase feed in the winter to keep them warm, decreasing in the hot months will keep them cooler.
- Bring them inside if it’s cooler in the house. We’ve had a few that were struggling so we brought them inside for a little while to give them a break from the heat. On the very hottest of days we’ve put them all in carriers and brought them inside until the temp cools off in the evenings.
Before we know it Fall will be here and our focus will turn to cold weather care!! Until then, good luck with the heat. If you have any other good ideas for hot weather care, I would love to hear them! Please feel free to comment below.
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One Comment
Amy
Thank you for this helpful information.