Rabbits in a west facing bedroom

Hey everyone Sorry I've not been on here so much lately!

I am hoping for a little rabbit-related advice what with this heat we are having.. I am a bit worried about our buns at the mo.

Our house is in an (almost) east to west position and the rabbits live in the bedroom that faces west. This side of the house gets A LOT of sun at the moment and while we are at work we don't open any windows for safety reasons. Due to this we come home in the late afternoon and their room is HOT Windows are immediately opened, ice pods changed, and water topped up, but it's still so so so warm.

I was wondering if anyone thought black out curtains would be a good idea, or would it make the room warmer? It's the only thing I can think of

I don't have a west facing room but my bunny does live inside and we close the curtains early morning/early evening, it definitely makes a difference! We get other light in from the hall though, so I'd do it as long as there will be another source of light coming in and the buns aren't in darkness all day :wave:

They have plain curtains and blinds at the moment but they are thin and white.

If we put up blackout curtains they would be in the dark all day, but then when we come home we would open their bedroom door and let them into the rest of the house, so it wouldn't be all day.

Surely it isn't too bad for them to be in darkness all day as it simulates a warren?

smudgiebun said:

They have plain curtains and blinds at the moment but they are thin and white.

If we put up blackout curtains they would be in the dark all day, but then when we come home we would open their bedroom door and let them into the rest of the house, so it wouldn't be all day.

Surely it isn't too bad for them to be in darkness all day as it simulates a warren?

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As long as it isn't ALL day, then I'd have thought that would be OK, yes I'd definitely think black out curtains/blinds would make a difference. Can you also leave their bedroom door open all day or would they escape? Like, if you put up a baby gate or something, could that keep them in but let some air flow through? You may have other animals, of course, in which case it wouldn't be suitable, but if that's possible then I'd definitely do it.

No other animals, and they would only have access to the landing, stairs and hallway, but I'd worry about them doing something stupid on the stairs/bannister unsupervised :lol:

What about getting mesh for the windows, they do something designed for cats that live in flats.

My bun is in a west facing bedroom and the room gets a lot of sun from late morning to evening, so far he's surviving pretty well though!
We have quite thick curtains in this room which really help keep it shady, and I tend to half close them so that half the room is in shade and the rest gets a bit of sun (sometimes he likes a flop in the sun) which he seems ok with. I always have the window open for a breeze, and I check the the room temp every few hours. If it's too hot I shut the curtains
He also has a big fan, I've covered all the wires to it and it's facing into his enclosure (he's free range but tends to sleep in there) so he's normally ok!

I've got the same problem with the guinea pigs. I'm finding the hottest part of the day is about 5 pm, and that I need to have the windows closed between about 1 and 7 pm, as the air outside is hotter than the temperature in the room between those hours.

Forgot to say, I have blackout blinds in there, and they do help a bit - again, I close them about 1 pm, but it's not the end of the world if they are closed all day.

Holhol that's interesting you mention the fan because I've heard that fans won't help a rabbit as they don't sweat? I'm not sure how true that is though!

Ideally you want to combine blackout lining with a wool interlining. You can buy this from any curtain shop - or just use an old woollen blanket. This will help keep the room cooler, but not sure how much.

Ideally you want to open the windows at night to let the cool air in, then close them during the day. This keeps the cool air in (once you've got your window insulated).

I also leave lots of celery around - as it doesnt dry out like other plants, and they seem to like it whereas they barely touch their water bowl.

Curtains help a lot, in summer we keep the SE facing rooms' curtains shut and it makes a big difference. I have a cheap white roller blind from Ikea at my bedroom window (which isn't SE facing), would that work? Bounce away the heat and light but keep in the light in the room currently? Could you put a baby gate at the door? that way light and air from the rest of the house could still get in.