Keeping Your Rabbit Cool in Summer
Rabbits can’t sweat or pant when they get too hot. In the wild, rabbits will retreat into their burrows; which being deep underground stay at an even temperature of around 16c, in order to avoid the sun and heat. Rabbits are completely covered in fur - with the exception of their eyes, which means that finding shelter is their only option to keep cool. During the summer you need to be sure to keep your rabbit in a relatively cool environment. Rabbits can really struggle once the temperatures go over 22-25c so it’s important to have a plan in place for the summer months to keep your rabbit cool and comfortable.
A Word About Ice Treats ...
Making treats to cool your bun in hot weather is quite commonly suggested in many groups, pages, websites and blogs. However opinion about the safety of this is varied. Here at WW we tend to err on the side of caution and suggest that it is not such a good idea due to the risk of it slowing the gut down, leading to stasis. A few of our group members have shared the following information with us which lends weight to our stance -
“Ice cools the internal organs and the body then draws blood away from the extremities to warm the internal organs leading to a higher core body temperature and reduced blood in the extremities to cool things down.”
- Tricia Bingham.
”Ingesting frozen food in the heat can also trick the hypothalamus in the brain into treating the body as too cold so creating a cascade of events that can lead to an animal getting very unwell.”
- Carly Milburn
Another Current Fad is Smoothies. We warn against these because as soon as you grind or smash up greens with a liquid and or sweet things like fruit - especially in summer, they begin to ferment. Giving your rabbit anything that has a remote chance of fermenting is not a good idea at all as it can cause gas and serious gut disturbance. You are far better to simply wet the greens down with cool water and offering them on a shallow plate for your bun to enjoy.
Here are some ideas -
Shade, shade and MORE shade …
Move the housing into permanent shade for the summer months or provide high shade by using a shade sail, gazebo, patio umbrella etc.
Two layers of shade work really well as the air gap means the surface of your rabbit’s housing is kept much cooler.
Try to install shade measures so that hot air can move up and out, not be trapped under the shading material - ventilation is KEY***
ICE …
Make frozen water bottle beds.
Wrap the bottle in a towel.
Y
ou can dampen the towel first.
You can also make a cool ‘lane’ for your rabbit to lay in by placing a towel wrapped bottle on either side of a ceramic tile.
Use flat frozen ‘slicka pads’ and wrap them in a wet towel.
My buns LOVE to lay on them.
Change for a fresh one once it has defrosted.
Leave frozen water bottles where your rabbit can lay next to them.
Terra Cotta Lid with Ice bag underneath.
Soak the lid in water first for more effective cooling.
Cool Surfaces
WW Foster bun Nibbles enjoying cool tiles on a hot day
Provide porous concrete pavers in deep shade and hose them down a few times a day so they soak up the water. As it evaporates it helps cool your bun.
Freeze ceramic tiles and replace when they have warmed up.
Hose a shady spot with bare soil soil down (but not so much that you make it muddy) so your rabbit can make a cool ‘scrape’ to lay in.
FANS!!!
Ventilation and air movement are essential.
Fans are priceless …
… they effectively keep your rabbit cool and also deter flies.
There are lots of options for fans - both battery and mains operated.
I use portable Ryobi 18V Hybrid fans inside in the Rabbit Room units at Westley’s World. Outdoors in the Rabbitat I primarily use Ryobi 18V Hybrid Air Cannon fans. These fans push a huge volume of air around and do a great job of keeping the rabbits cool. I use the power cord option so that I can run the fans non-stop on their highest speed throughout the heat of the day.
Where I need a wider area ventilated; in the Red Shed for example, I use the Goldair High Velocity fan whose blades oscillate within the wire cage.
In the Cabuna I use a CAT High Velocity Drum fan up high to push hot air out of the area, in combination with Goldair High Velocity oscillating fans to cool and move the air at ground level. This combination keeps the Cabuna at a really comfortable temperature even in the hottest weather.
Dampen your rabbit’s ears down with a little cool but not cold water. don’t use ice cubes either.
Rabbit’s ears are their air conditioners. This is very good first aid for overheated bunnies. Moisten a small towel with cool water and put it on your bunny's ears, and/or moisten the surface areas of the ears in some other way. The evaporation of the moisture; especially when used with a fan, will help cool your bunny's 'radiators'.
Cooling Mats …
Use pet cooling mats for you rabbit to lay on.
The animal needs to have direct contact with the pad for it to work effectively.
Make very sure they don’t chew it.
If they do you can try placing the mat inside a pillowcase.
However some rabbits will still chew them.
In that case these are not suitable to use with your rabbit.
Hydration …
Feed wetted down greens to help keep your rabbit hydrated.
Refresh your rabbit’s water bowl with clean, cold water during the heat of the day.
Air conditioning …
If your rabbit is indoors, use A/C if you have it. I use both A/C and a fan for my rabbits on super hot days indoors.
If you have a house rabbit, pull the curtains before the sun hits the window to their room. This will help keep the temperature down. Never keep a rabbit in a conservatory in the summer, EVER.
‘Poor Man’s’ Air Conditioning - Not all homes are equipped with AC. Here’s are some ways around that ...
Soak a sheet, pillow case or towel and then...
Hang it over pen and place fan nearby.
The air cools off as it blows over the damp sheet.
Mist the cloth every once in awhile to keep it damp.
On really hot days, use a whole light coloured sheet.
Cover most of the pen/cage.
Leave spaces open for air to flow through.
Hang frozen water bottles on a fan.
This chills the air as the fan blows.
Another Zero Electricity A/C idea is illustrated in the following video -
This Home Made A/C Unit is really clever too!
Grooming …
Keep up with your rabbit’s grooming so that its coat is kept as free of extra fur as possible.
Keep long haired rabbits fur trimmed/clipped short especially through the summer months.
Fly Strike is a real danger in warm weather so ensure you check you rabbit’s rear end at least once a day. Your rabbit needs to be 100% clean with no poop stuck around their bottom. You can read more about this here - Flystrike / Maggots.
Further Reading -
Warm Weather Concerns - House Rabbit Society
Heat Exhaustion and Heat Stroke