Cooling down

Secuono · Nov 18, 2011

I've read a lot about fur keeping animals cool or not at all over the years. I'm wondering if you shave the sides of a rabbit for late spring and summer, if it would help cool them some.
I'm actually wanting to do an experiment come spring! How would I check their temps? How would I know if a fully furred rabbit is too hot compared to a partly shaved one?
I also wanted to get cat litter boxes and fill them with dirt/peat moss and wet it down. So they can hop in to cool themselves. Not sure how well that would work either.
Using frozen water bottles will not work, we do not have enough room in our freezer for so many bottles to be constantly changing out.

Has anyone else experimented on different ways to cool rabbits? What did you come up with that worked the best?

I'm in Virginia, humid summers, so misters are a no-go.

akane · Nov 18, 2011

Removing fur can actually cause major problems. If your animals are out in the sun they may get sun burnt. It also has not been shown to help with cooling unless the animal has long fur that gets tangled easily. Well brushed straight fur pulls heat from the skin to the end of the hair to help remove excess heat. I don't think experiments in shaving rabbits would be a good idea. The only real way to tell exactly how much the heat is affecting them is to see if you lose any and that doesn't make for a very good experiment. Various rabbits will be more or less sensitive so unless you take things to the extreme or use a lot of rabbits the data would not be accurate.

I tried offering mine damp places and water containers but they turned it down and when forced to use them came out rather dirty which eventually led to fur issues and probably made things worse. That whole tangled versus smooth fur issue again that changes how well the fur pulls away heat. I decided to only get the body wet on rabbits that were showing definite problems with the heat. Wetting ears is the most useful because that's the most important part for keeping a rabbit cool. You also want to make sure your rabbits are not in the sun but have good air flow. Containers of cool water can help even if you can't freeze them. We fill 3 and 5 gallon containers from the well which is about 60F year round and they'll lay next to those. They also like really smooth surfaces. They will lay on stone tiles or bricks as well as scraping away the bedding in the colony and laying straight on the rubber stall mats that keep them from digging in to the floor. Surfaces like that don't insulate well and instead pull heat away. Last summer even the still blind kits wiggled out of the nests in the colony and gathered on the cleared areas of the stall mats.

Secuono · Nov 18, 2011

Hm, alright.
I plan on making and moving all my rabbits into long cage sections under pine trees[lots of full shade 24/7] and it will also have full air movement, before spring fully blooms.
We also have well water, so cold water for everyone, I love that.
Our chickens dig holes and dust bathe in them or lay in them when it's very hot, so I thought the rabbits could or would do the same. Chickens shake off excess dirt when they get up out of the holes.

MamaSheepdog · Nov 18, 2011

Shaving animals repeatedly also affects the quality of the coat- schnauzers and fox terriers lose the wiry texture when shaved instead of plucked, huskies get abnormally long undercoats, aussies lose that beautiful overall flow of the coat... my first job was as a brusher-bather in a grooming shop, and at that time a LOT of people shaved their goldens, GSD's, and the breeds referenced above. Dogs that had gotten summer cuts for years had some pretty strange coats...

If you intend to show or even want to use the pelts, I wouldn't do it. Plus I think they would develop pressure sores especially if kept in wire cages.

As for taking temps, use a rectal thermometer (lubricated) and record temps at specific times through the day to establish a baseline for each "experimental bunny". I would use calm bunnies because if they are freaking out all over the place their temp will go up.

akane has some great tips, and I love the stall mat concept for a colony setting! Good to know about the cool water helping also. In the winter our horses stand against our 5000gallon water tank because it is warmer than the air, so if you filled buckets w/ warm or hot water in winter I bet they would like that too!

I've used tile in the cages also, but some buns will potty on it, in which case I remove it. Could you set up a couple of box fans? I don't know if draping a wet towel in front of the fan making a "redneck swampcooler" would help in the humididty or not, but I might try that myself now that I've thought of it.

I freeze bottles of water too, but when they melt some of the rabbits chew them. Has anyone seen problems with rabbits chewing/eating plastic? So far I've taken them away but they would make good toys for them if it is safe.

You might try growing some tall plants around the cage area to provide natural shade. I have about a zillion Hollyhock seeds if you want some! Better yet, grow sunflowers- shade AND food.

Chickiesnbunnies, our dogs make wallows too!

Secuono · Nov 19, 2011

My predator dog loves to dig holes to cool herself in, she HATES being indoors, period. Lol. She is an outdoor dog all on her own choice. Our Dober rather be with us no matter what.

They will be in all wire cages under trees. Trees will shade them year round, winter I will cover them to insulate them. But I know that rabbits do better in winter than the summer heat.
It's all outside in the open, no barn for them, would be too much work for that.<br /><br />__________ Sat Nov 19, 2011 12:44 pm __________<br /><br />Breeders won't be used for pelts and the young wont be shaved if I did that, btw.

MamaSheepdog · Nov 19, 2011

__________ Sat Nov 19, 2011 12:44 pm __________

Breeders won't be used for pelts and the young wont be shaved if I did that, btw.[/quote]

All of our rabbits are young, but I am planning on sending the breeders to freezer camp (probably for the dogs) when they are no longer productive. I plan on doing it when their pelts are prime. That's the plan anyway... who knows when the time comes!

We had a pet mini-rex that was kept in an aviary (no birds) and the only shelter she had was a couple of hollow oak logs. She was perfectly content in the wind, rain, and snow!

Secuono · Nov 30, 2011

What about if you only trimmed all or half of their fur? Like when men go from 4in long hair to just 1-2in cut? Would that help any? What about a breed w/dense fur?

Frosted Rabbits · Nov 30, 2011

Fur was meant o insulate- against heat AND cold An Alternative to a rectal thermometer is a 'thermistor" which reads surface temps, and usually come with a targeting light so you know where the meter is picking up the temp from-- you would want to take the reading as close as possible to the skin-- a lot less traumatizing than sticking a thermometer up a butt.

Bramble Hedge · Dec 1, 2011

We have very hot summers here in aus I keep my bunnies on sand year round which I dampen in summer and keeps them lovely and cool. I chose sand ( its the clean washed play sand used in children s sand boxes), as we do not have an easy way to dispose of used litter from hutches, with the sand I just sift off the debris every day or two and every couple of weeks I rinse it off in water in a wheelbarrow before returning the same sand back into the hutch (reusable litter). I also find frozen mixed vegies are appreciated by my buns, and some ice cubes in a terracotta water crock. The terracotta pot weeps the cold moisture from the ice cubes so they like to lay near it and the crunch on the ice cubes. Works just as well with Refrigerated water in the terracotta crocks. Hope this helps.

MamaSheepdog · Dec 1, 2011

What great ideas, BrambleHedge! I especially like the mental picture of a bun lounging by a terracotta crock. Time to buy a pottery wheel and build a kiln... I'll add it to The List!