possible to catch a cold??

california has finally been getting some rain (quite a lot of it for the past few days), especially in so-cal where i'm currently staying!!
i have only two rabbits currently (one being adopted), due to city conditions and school making it difficult to take care of more than that, and so far they've been housed separately. the hutch has two compartments (one on top and one on the bottom) and so they each have their own separate space.

it's been pretty cold - for california at least!! - recently, and i was wondering if one or both of them would be susceptible enough to the temperature to catch a cold, and pass it on to the other rabbit?

Short answer is no. Long answer if interested or for a wider variety of people in other parts of the country is: Getting chilled by itself does not cause a cold even in humans, you still need exposure to the illness, and rabbits don't get the exact cold virus humans do but a variety of other things both viral and bacterial that can range from serious to you notice a little discharge one day and it's gone without doing anything different. A dangerous virus would usually have to be brought from an ill rabbit at a pet store, show, other rabbit owner, etc... This is a concern you should always keep in mind when visiting places and not just when there is something like temp changes going on. Many rabbits do carry a variety of illnesses constantly but they have become immune to it and won't get sick even when stressed if housed properly so they'd need exposed to a new virus or too much bacteria from poor care to fight off. Humans are not different. If you've ever had a cold sore it's a virus about 80% of people get usually when very young so you don't remember the initial infection and it shows up in a few people when their bodies are stressed. Responsible breeders do not continue to use offspring from rabbits who show symptoms of something when stressed so this is much rarer with well bred show and meat rabbits. Rabbits bred for pet stores or with no plan in mind may be at increased risk of losing the fight against these commonly carried diseases because the breeders have not been careful to avoid rabbits with weak immune systems.

As for specific temperature I've had rabbits in -30F perfectly fine except they flatten their ears to help keep them warm. If the temp drops very rapidly such as going between 20+ degrees F, especially repeatedly, it can cause stress and like I mentioned that can make them sick if they are weak to something or their housing is not clean. It is still more likely it is a minor illness and they may recover on their own when in a constant environment again rather than one of the serious diseases passed between rabbits unless exposure to a sick rabbit happens during that time. Like I said it takes a large temp change and a sudden one for a well kept, healthy rabbit. Usually carrying them in and out of the house and back to a cage without any temperature control in an area with cold winters or very hot summers is the trigger. People think they are helping them out getting them warm for awhile but the repeated, rapid change just makes it difficult for their bodies to switch heat production. I do not move a litter raised indoors to the outdoors if the temp will be more than 10F different over the next few days. The more extreme the temp is the more strict I follow that. Slow temp changes over the day and night usually aren't a problem and even less in rabbits used to being outdoors. Here in Iowa it can go from 40F to 10F to 60F in a few days or right around freezing to below 0F to back up above freezing. It's not uncommon for temp swings here and not everything falls sick each time. It does make it a bit more common in all animals kept outdoors and the livestock require more feed to produce body heat or cool down suddenly from one time of day to another. Usually aside from the very young and very old those that actually get ill enough to need treatment are still in bad living conditions or have weak immune systems from poor quality breeding lines. Even indoors my house goes through probably 10F in a day due to poor insulation, being an old drafty house, and it's been 30-40F in the day and 10-20F at night. (That's a nice warm Jan and I've been out hiking :lol: ) I have space heaters strategically placed to even the heating and counter drafts and some animals have heat lamps if normal room temp would not be suitable to them but they see at least a 5F change regularly in their room.

Funnies50, I’m in So-Cal, too. Right near Irvine. It sure has been a wet winter around here, compared to most years, hasn’t it? Personally, I’m thrilled, but I hate driving around here when it’s actively raining. I mean, if the forecast even says as much as a 20% chance of rain, people here start driving like it’s the end of the world (and they’re generally pretty rude to start with, but that’s a whole other topic). :evil:

I still haven’t gotten our bunnies, so I’m no use to you on your actual question. I just wanted to pop in and validate your statements on the weather and Californian (humans, that is) perspective. Best of luck with the 2 buns!

opcorn:

Nymphadora":xnrhi6ky said:

Funnies50, I’m in So-Cal, too. Right near Irvine. It sure has been a wet winter around here, compared to most years, hasn’t it? Personally, I’m thrilled, but I hate driving around here when it’s actively raining. I mean, if the forecast even says as much as a 20% chance of rain, people here start driving like it’s the end of the world (and they’re generally pretty rude to start with, but that’s a whole other topic). :evil:

I still haven’t gotten our bunnies, so I’m no use to you on your actual question. I just wanted to pop in and validate your statements on the weather and Californian (humans, that is) perspective. Best of luck with the 2 buns!

opcorn:

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thank you!!! <33
drivers here are better than some other places, but wow, when it rains :roll:

akane":xnrhi6ky said:

As for specific temperature I've had rabbits in -30F perfectly fine except they flatten their ears to help keep them warm. If the temp drops very rapidly such as going between 20+ degrees F, especially repeatedly, it can cause stress and like I mentioned that can make them sick if they are weak to something or their housing is not clean. It is still more likely it is a minor illness and they may recover on their own when in a constant environment again rather than one of the serious diseases passed between rabbits unless exposure to a sick rabbit happens during that time. Like I said it takes a large temp change and a sudden one for a well kept, healthy rabbit. Usually carrying them in and out of the house and back to a cage without any temperature control in an area with cold winters or very hot summers is the trigger.

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if i'm reading this correctly -- it's the stress, not the temperature itself, correct?