Hot Weather

How to keep your rabbits safe in the summer

Rabbits can really struggle in hot weather, it’s up to us to keep them happy and healthy.

For both indoor and outdoor rabbits they will benefit from:

• Frozen water bottles wrapped in a towel to lie against or a cool pod
• Ceramic tiles
• Fresh water (NOT cold/ice and DO NOT feed frozen veg/fruit)
• Cool breeze from a fan if possible
• Misting cool water on the ears if very hot

You will need to seek urgent vet attention if you find your rabbit has collapsed and is non responsive, or is refusing to eat or struggling to poo.

Outdoors

Outdoor rabbits in hot weather must be shielded from direct sun. This can be with canopies, cotton sheets or parasols.

As well as ceramic tiles, you can wet down paving slabs to keep them cool. If they have grass outside their run or aviary, if you hose this down it will cool down the surrounding air for a short period too.

You can hang wet blankets or wet towels over sections of their run or aviary, making sure to not entirely block air flow, as this will cool the air underneath.

You can use battery or USB powered cage fans to increase air flow.

Keep watch for flies to avoid flystrike.

Indoors

Keep curtains drawn and the room shaded.

Ensure they have good air flow. You can use battery fans or if you use wired fans, make sure you keep wires well out of the rabbit’s reach as they will be chewed!

As outside rabbits, they must always have access to fresh water and have cool quiet places to rest through the hottest part of the day.

Open windows will allow in flies, including mosquitoes, keep watch for signs of fly strike even for indoor bunnies. Flies will be attracted to litter trays so keep these nice and clean.