How are your bunnies coping in this heat

Just wanted to check how your bunnies are doing in this heat. I am a little concerned about Beauty as she seems to have stopped eating hay, she will eat pellets, greens, treats but not hay, we have tried different hay and putting it in different places as well, but nothing. Her husbun Dash is eating fine.
Beauty was at the vets last wednesday for her annual check up and booster and I mentioned to the vet about not eating much hay and she said keep trying and giving variety which we have done.
Anyone else having the same or similar problems.
Thanks Bev Les Beauty & Dash

I know someone who's buns have stopped eating pellets. Eating everything else perfectly ok, but not their pellets.

Mine haven't gone off anything, but seem a little less enthusiastic about their hay. Tbh, mine pretty much sleep all day until I put them out on an evening to enjoy the cool. When I bring them back in, they resume sleeping. :lol:

I wouldn't worry if she's still eating plenty of pellets and greens. With it being so hot I'm sure they'd much rather eat fresh and moist foods like veg and grass than eat dry hay

Baby looks to be coping badly, she spends most of the time flopped out and breathing really fast but the tips of her ears aren't hot and when I give her something cold to lay on she doesn't bother :?

DemiS said:

I wouldn't worry if she's still eating plenty of pellets and greens. With it being so hot I'm sure they'd much rather eat fresh and moist foods like veg and grass than eat dry hay

Baby looks to be coping badly, she spends most of the time flopped out and breathing really fast but the tips of her ears aren't hot and when I give her something cold to lay on she doesn't bother :?

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Have you tried a damp towel? Mine refuse to lay near cold things, but love their towel. :thumb: Obviously don't make it wet, just damp, so that the buns won't get wet.

Vegan_Bunny said:

Have you tried a damp towel? Mine refuse to lay near cold things, but love their towel. :thumb: Obviously don't make it wet, just damp, so that the buns won't get wet.

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I used a big frozen bottle wrapped in a thin towel but as the ice melted the towel did end up quite damp, but nope none of them went near it :lol: It's only Baby that appears to be getting worked up over the heat, the other three are absolutely fine :? And like I said the tips of her ears aren't hot at all, when any of my previous rabbits got really stressed or hot their ears would be really hot to touch

DemiS said:

I used a big frozen bottle wrapped in a thin towel but as the ice melted the towel did end up quite damp, but nope none of them went near it :lol: It's only Baby that appears to be getting worked up over the heat, the other three are absolutely fine :? And like I said the tips of her ears aren't hot at all, when any of my previous rabbits got really stressed or hot their ears would be really hot to touch

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It probably just affects her more than others. Xena suffers much more than Fiver in the heat (but she has a thicker coat) and spends most of her time laid on the damp towel, breathing fast. Her ears never feel hot, but do feel warm, so I wouldn't worry too much about Baby. :thumb:

Thanks for your responses. I have tried the bottle of frozen water, they were not too amused, Beauty did lay next to it for a little while. they been playing in the garden and she been doing Binkies so she must be feeling a little cooler.
I will try the damp towel and see if they like that. Dash seems to be coping better he is still eating everything you give him.

Thanks it helps to know that other bunnies are doing similar things.
Bev and gang

DemiS said:

I used a big frozen bottle wrapped in a thin towel but as the ice melted the towel did end up quite damp, but nope none of them went near it :lol: It's only Baby that appears to be getting worked up over the heat, the other three are absolutely fine :? And like I said the tips of her ears aren't hot at all, when any of my previous rabbits got really stressed or hot their ears would be really hot to touch

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I put an ice pod in with my rabbit each day, he licks it a little bit at first and then goes and sits somewhere else – rabbits hey!

Supes said:

I put an ice pod in with my rabbit each day, he licks it a little bit at first and then goes and sits somewhere else – rabbits hey!

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Ludo did the same. I'm so glad his 'ice pod' was just a packed lunch cooler I nicked from my Mum's freezer rather than one I'd bought for him especially!

mine are not liking it! the three girls outside just lay sprawled out panting all day. they have a large ice bottle which they sit against as in the pic. but you can tell they are way too hot. they stayed in the hutch almost all day today!. i put ice in their bowl and wet the ground in their run bu theres not much more i can do

the indoor pair stayed in today as its cooler in the house. they had a fan on in one room and the floor is cool for them.

poor buns

I haven't seen much difference in mine, except they need to sit down for a little longer after a mad binky:lol:, and they don't like to sit in their enclosed hutchy bit, as it heats up like an oven unless I open the little roof... which makes all the hay fly around :roll:

Today I put their run on an old glass shower door, on top of gravel which is all really cold, and they have two ice bottles which I inter-change, I also wet shredded paper and flatten it into a damp pancake which they like to flop on at midday. :thumb:

N&T are no different! Ignoring their frozen water bottles, not drinking any more than usual...nothing. They're conked out in the very small patch of sun most of the time (their run has a solid wood lid but obviously due to the suns position there's always a little bit of sunlight). They're interested in bits of apple frozen in water but only coz there's apple in it - they couldn't give a toss about ice :roll:

Our AC hasn't been working well because of lack of freon (sp?) so it's been hotter than normal in my house (low to mid 80's - usually it's in the mid to high 70's) and I've noticed my buns have been more lazy and flopped out lately. Poor guys but we've ordered freon and it should be here later this week

My buns seem to be coping ok. They are all indoors which is much cooler, probably because house is over 300yrs old, and with keeping curtains drawn, fans on and wetting their ears, they are seeming fine. Loony Tunes is still just that, maybe because she is so tiny with a very short coat. My French lop has been the hottest, but yesterday because he needed freshening up a bit in his nether region, I got my hamster's old cage base and put a couple of inches of luke warm water in it, and to my delight he was quite happy to sit in it :lol: Afterwards, I towelled him off and he fell asleep in my arms like a baby for nearly half an hour, with me gently rocking him :lol: He was top form afterwards, lovely and fresh and really cool, and actually played for a while, which he hasn't done for a few days. I guess it's all trial and error a bit as to what works best for them, and as long as we don't anything that could potentially harm them, I'm sure we get our buns through this hot spell. The only thing I'm not doing at the moment that they probably don't like is not letting them free-range the house. Only because I have got their rooms as cool as possible, but am keeping them in them. 2 are in the lounge, another 2 in a spare double bedroom, and my single bun is in the dining room, but none are in their puppy pens, and have got the whole room to move about in.

My two seem to be coping fine, luckily their hutch is in the shade all day. and when they are out having free run they seem to be selecting the shady areas I also found a bowl that you can put in the freezer so it keeps their water nice and cold all day!