We live in northeastern Oklahoma. With the temps being over one hundred during the day and the lows being in the nineties, we have 3 fans on our rabbits and frozen 2 liter bottles in each of our 8 rabbits cages. They are in a well shaded area, but still act really hot. They are very still and spread out with back legs sticking out behind them. They also are breathing sort of hard. Is what we\'re doing enough to protect them from heat exhaustion or should we bring them inside? And is there something to watch for to know if they are suffering from heat exhaustion?
Keeping rabbits comfortable in high heat (especially accompanied by humidity) can be challenging. When a rabbit is experiencing dangerous levels of heat stress, the head is thrown back and moisture can be seen around the muzzle and nostrils. In the next level, some hemorrhaging can be seen around the nostrils. Much beyond this point, and the rabbit is in real danger of dieing.
Pregnant does and very young kits are extremely vulnerable. I would recommend bringing these and any rabbits you notice experiencing the above signs into the house or basement. Wetting the ears and the nape of the neck with cool water may help, but if humidity levels are high, this won\'t be as effective as it would in a drier climate.
What you are doing sounds good. I\'m guessing it\'s fairly humid where you are, so misters might not be as effective as they would be in the Southwest, for instance.
Charlcie Gill
Zodiac Rabbitry
Astoria, OR
http://www.zodiacsatins.com
You can cool your rabbits by wetting a piece of cloth with
cold water and moistening your rabbits\' ears and fur. Or mist your rabbits\' ears. Also, you can place a square or two ceramic tiles or marble in the cage. It\'ll remain cooler than the temperature and your rabbits can rest on it. If your rabbits are long-haired, give them \"hare\" cuts. And brush the extra hair out of your rabbits.
Two of our rabbits had moisture around their nose, but seemed better after we put in the frozen water bottles. When you say hemoraging, do you mean blood? I just want to make sure that I tell my kids the right thing so that we know for sure what to look for. Our youngest rabbits are 4 months old. That doesn\'t qualify as very young kits does it? So are they OK if they are just panting and stretched out? We are somewhat humid so misters probably wouldn\'t be a good idea. Thanks for all your information. You\'ve helped us out a lot since we\'ve found this website.
Shannon
Thanks.
Yes. Hemorrhaging refers to blood. Often it\'s not a lot, but it\'s appearance is a serious warning sign.
By very young kits, I\'m referring to those 3 weeks and under. All rabbits will stretch out to help distribute their body heat. Some panting will occur even at moderately warm temps as this is how the rabbit exchanges heat and moisture. Just watch for those danger signs - head thrown back; moisture/blood around the nostrils. Take extra measures for these rabbits.
Good luck.
Charlcie Gill
Zodiac Rabbitry
Astoria, OR
http://www.zodiacsatins.com
We had a front move through last night and dropped our temps to the 80\'s. I\'m so happy! I don\'t know if the rabbits or I could handle another day over 100 with a low in the 90\'s. Thanks for all the advice. I\'ll remember the cool cloth too because I\'m sure we\'ll have some more hot days before the end of summer.
I hope that front makes it down to Texas
if you have a mud room in your house you could bring all the rabbits up every day- say from noon to 5 or 6 in the evening- they usually die around that time as the heat builds up in them all day- ones that die usually have the blood around their nose- heat is stressful for them especialy if you plan to show them this Fall
Thanks for the input. The rabbits are acting happier with these cooler temps. Hopefully that front will make it down to Texas!
Shannon
you can also put wet towels over there cages are a bowl of water under the fans
I was experiencing the same heat up here in South Dakota. I actually brought all 5 cages inside. I have ever lost a few rabbits over the years to heat and it is sad to see them suffer.
Usually once it hits 100* here -thats when I notice they start to stress in general -they stretch out, look hot, and don\'t care to do much of anything. I use a water bottle to mist them and frozen bottles but this past heat I just took out the hose and gave \'em a good ol\' squirt down. They hated it but are alive to chatter amongst themselves how mean I am! LOL
Hope yours all made it ok through this aweful heat wave.