Can a rabbit be overheated in an air-conditioned house?

[HoneyTree]

This little bun is confusing the heck out of me.

The past two or three days, as the weather outside has heated up, she has been almost constantly laying splayed out in her cage, breathing fast, and shaking. Her cage is in my kitchen, and while we don't keep the house super cold, it doesn't get over 80. She's eating and drinking fine, I think, though I did add a crock of water to her cage when it seemed as if she was having trouble getting water out of the bottle (can't figure out why that was so, but she'd clink and clink and clink at the bottle, and the ounces barely went down, even though when I tapped on the ball, it seemed to come out fine). Pee and poops look fine, though it's hard for me to tell their volume.

I keep a frozen water bottle in there with her at all times. She lays right on top of it (like here). I wet her ears a few times a day.

She runs around outside of her cage happily for a while, then she lays here on the tile floor right under the fan.

Could she really be in a near constant low-level of overheated? If so, is that stressful on their bodies? It's only going to get hotter here. Where I bought her, they had a floor fan pointed right at the cages of her dam and sire. Does that help? :-?

Thanks for any feedback.

 

[Dood]

To be certain she is over-heated you should take her temperature.

If you just got her and she is use to a cooler climate it will take a while for her to get use to the heat but rabbits can thin out their blood to help them tolerate higher temperatures.

I would try and thin out her fur so she doensnt have so much undercoat and she can cool off easier.

Keep watering her ears and you can also water her neck.

Try puting ice cubes in her crock or water bottle

Another possibility is if she has a heart condition it will be more difficult for her to keep cool and she will easily get tired.

 

[Peach]

^second that

Is that an angora? I can't really tell cause the picture is so dark. Breeders like to pluck the wool of their wool breeds in the summer. It will help cool her down.

 

[HoneyTree]

Yes, she is an angora. She's young--8 weeks old. I've been brushing her, but so far have gotten very little wool off. I'll keep doing that, and wetting her ears and neck. (Funny, she has figured the neck part out for herself, laying directly underneath the water bottle so it drips on her neck. I had no idea rabbits were such clever little creatures!)

I'll definitely add ice to her crock. And I'll have to look into the heart condition idea; something about the way she's acting does seem really, really tired in addition to being hot.

So, 101 to 103 is normal? And rectal temperature? Hm. She is NOT going to be happy with me!

Thanks for the suggestions.