summer heat!!!!!

Question
QUESTION: I have a fan in my room. is it okay if when I'm not home i put the fan on LOW with the fan pointing directly at my rabbit? with this heat i don't want him to over heat. I also don't want to give him a cold.


thanks a bunch

ANSWER: Dear Morgan,

Because rabbits can't sweat, fans are not as effective for cooling them as other methods.  A fan will offer *some* convective cooling, but your bunny's fur will still keep him pretty warm unless you provide other ways he can stay cool.

You're absolutely right to be worried about him in the heat, since rabbits start to feel pretty miserable once the temperature gets above about 78 Farenheit.  Rabbits can easily suffer heat exhaustion or even heat stroke if they're not adequately equipped with ways to avoid the summer heat.

When you leave, I would recommend leaving a frozen water bottle on one side of his hutch so he can lean against it and lick it if he wants to.  The air coming off the melting ice will help keep the area around him cool.  Just be sure he can also get *away* from it, if he wants to.

Another way to keep him cool is to drape a wet towel over his hutch and make sure *some* of the fan breeze hits the towel.  The evaporative cooling will help keep his hutch comfortable.  But avoid placing him in a direct draft that he can't escape.

Always be sure he has plenty of fresh, cool water, even if you add an ice cube to a big bowl that he can't tip over.  Keep his greens wet, too.  He'll need more water when the weather is warm.

Direct drafts are not a good idea, if he can't get out of the fan's way.  Stick to the ice jug and evaporative cooling, and always be sure your bunny has a variety of places he can retreat so that he can behaviorally decide what temperature he wants.

If you have air conditioning, keep it at 78 Farenheit or below, and he should stay comforable until the weather cools off again in the fall.  Hope this helps!

Dana

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: umm..I don't have a hutch I have a big cage...would the frozen water bottle still work?

Answer
Dear Morgan,

The frozen bottles will work as long as the cage is big enough for the bunny to get away from the bottles if he wants to. (If the cage isn't big enough for that, then it's also probably not big enough for the bunny, anyway.  Any cage should be *at least* big enough for the bunny to stand on his hind legs without bumping his head, and at least 36" x 36" to allow room to stretch and jump.)

Good luck,
Dana