Keeping Rabbits Cool in hot temperatures

[BranscumFarm]

Check out this video. My rabbits are loving the ice and I don't have to worry about them eating the water bottles. I'm also going to give frozen fruit as a treat.
https://youtu.be/Qmi-Pn_JpMM

 

[michaels4gardens]

great idea, I used quart containers , the ice was dumped out for the rabbits each day- and, then refilled and refrozen each day to keep the rabbits cool [-when I lived in N.Ca. -heat was brutal, often reaching 120 f outside temp] the containers I used looked a lot like this picture I found on the internet.. https://www.google.com/search?q=picture ... 2368623716

 

[akane]

That would actually be just as useful in front of the fan they appear to be running anyway. In a wire cage with an easily stripped floor underneath you don't have to worry about the water. In colonies or probably also for people who can't frequently strip a dirt floor or outdoor ground underneath I ended up with a cocci outbreak just from the condensation running down closed containers of ice. To avoid chewing I just use thicker containers. Rabbits usually don't get through thicker juice bottles compared to some of those exceedingly cheap plastic water bottles. Simply brand lemonade and orange juice also make a water bottle sized single serving and occasionally I'll grab one because the citric acid helps with electrolyte imbalances in heat rather than drinking straight water. If you freeze it with some space on it's side glass can be used but you have to properly account for the expanding ice and over a given area. If the top freezes first on a deep container the bottom will still crack. You can also freeze soda cans refilled with water and only bending a bit if overfilled but not having a resealing top they will spill if not secured upright. Water bottle wires or sliding them into 2 rings of heavy zip ties stops most from messing with it. You have to get more creative in an a/c failure emergency with chinchillas that can't be over 80F. Water bottle material lasts some of my small exotics seconds. That's where the ice in front of a fan instead of in the cage cools a larger area from a single large container that is not around the animals. Only if you even have electricity though.

 

[WVForestGirl]

Awesome, I'm going to try that since my fridge keeps making ice and I never use it anyway! I tried the frozen bottles but I can't fit enough in the freezer. Frozen fruit is also a great idea, thanks!

 

[a7736100]

Would it be helpful to mist the cage area in hot and humid weather or would it just make them more uncomfortable?

 

[Marinea]

I put my frozen bottles next to their ceramic tiles. Some of the coolness seems to transfer to the tiles and they lounge like mad.

 

[guardianoasis]

I put my frozen bottles next to their ceramic tiles. Some of the coolness seems to transfer to the tiles and they lounge like mad.

We usually put ceramic tiles in our deep freezer and use those. Hoping this year doesn't get cold enough to need it though

 

[michaels4gardens]

I put my frozen bottles next to their ceramic tiles. Some of the coolness seems to transfer to the tiles and they lounge like mad.

We usually put ceramic tiles in our deep freezer and use those. Hoping this year doesn't get cold enough to need it though

love that idea...

 

[akane]

Would it be helpful to mist the cage area in hot and humid weather or would it just make them more uncomfortable?

With little evaporation any reduced temp by cool water mist will be pretty instantly negated and you'll be back to hot and damp without any noticeable break in the heat. Most small-medium animals rely on their fur pulling heat from their body and air movement or cooler air removing it rather than sweating. As well as the blood running near the surface of the ears so it's the temp of things touching them and movement of air away from them that makes the most difference. Frozen containers even pull moisture out of the humid air it cools and will condense in large amounts during summers here. The only purpose of the water is that there is a lot of volume to absorb a lot of heat into the ice before melting. Anything of equal mass you can get just as cold would work but solids tend to be too thin to alter temp much or too slow to transfer it. Trying to freeze a large enough solid object quickly takes more than even a large deep freezer many have at home so whether contained or left open to the air liquids are more efficient for heat transfer. That's the only point of using a liquid material in this manner rather than the evaporation cooling that things like swamp coolers rely on.

In ground pens some do use brick and concrete blocks for animals to lay against and you can chill flooring tiles but blocks are heavy for cage wire and tiles are too thin to remove heat for long. It can work to put your contained ice on a metal pan or the flooring tiles to dissipate heat over a larger area than the container of ice can by itself. If I place a container of ice on every metal pan in the chinchilla cage stacks I can lower the entire area of the 6' long and 2 high cage blocks 5-10F for a few hours. I also use natural stone flooring tiles both for heating up and cooling down around the reptiles and chinchillas. I have a lot of $1.50 slate tiles because they survive impact and disperse heat better than ceramic but at temp extremes and exposed to water they will eventually just split in half as you go to pick them up. I also have a lot of slate tile chips and halves.... :lol: Marble on the other hand may cost $5-$15 per 12x12 tile but I've stuck -100F dry ice on it to chill them and heated past being able to handle them without showing damage on even the cheapest ones.

 

[michaels4gardens]

when I raised rabbits in N.Ca, it was hot in the summer, temps sometimes exceeded 120 f , I had an insulated rabbitry with two commercial size evaporative coolers ["swamp coolers" don't work in humid areas] - I had a backup generator, and lived in fear of power outages in the summer heat- with 200 + does- frozen water bottles was not an option... i had a sprinkler on the tin roof that helped a lot [the rook sprinkler turned on and off with the cooler thermostat ]

 

[Marie28]

We've been freezing glass containers like (old salsa containers seem to work the best). Its a slight pain to figure out which ones will break in the freezer (we but them in plastic bags in the freezer) and how much water to put in them but they cant chew the glass and we havent had a single one break inside the cage. We also freeze tiles.

I've been thinking about putting ice cubes in the metal food cup or freezing the metal bowl with water in it for a solid block of ice... but I'm gonna need more freezer space.

 

[SixGun]

I honestly find that frozen ceramic floor tiles are the absolute easiest option; smallest freezer area commitment, rabbits get the coolness to their bellies where they need it, and a lot less "moisture" to work with that can cause any number of disease outbreaks.

 

[akane]

Unless I use dry ice I found ceramic tile only stays cool about 20mins. After that it's no different than putting a room temp tile in for the amount of body heat it will help remove so it was kind of pointless to try to stick them in a freezer. I also have broken every single ceramic tile within a month of buying them.

 

[SixGun]

I've only ever broken one, and i honestly can't even remember the incident now. But yes, they will break. I've found them to hold the cooler temp a bit longer, and a switch and rinse and back into the freezer just works for us, but, experiences will definitely vary.

 

[BranscumFarm]

I'm glad my idea helped some. I never use all the ice from the fridge so it is an easy and simple solution.

I want to thank everyone that watched my video.

 

[golden rabbitry]

if you have a very strong fan, you can put a wet rag over the back to make a swamp cooler

 

[BranscumFarm]

My husband also bought these Granite Stone tiles from Amazon that are working great. They are working better then the cheep ceramic tile and hold the cool much longer. You can follow this link https://amzn.to/2J4uh0a to check Amazon for tiles. I love them so far and the rabbits seem to love them also.

If you want to watch my review of the tiles check out this video. I also talk more about keeping them rabbits cool.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqNqap4VXY8&t=63s

 

[akane]

You should be able to get basic stone flooring tiles from most local hardware stores (home depot, lowes, menards all have them here) for cents to a few dollars each depending on material. I don't buy the chiller tiles for my chinchillas because they are way overpriced compared to what you can source as building materials in marble and granite. Also landscaping or gardening centers often have broken pieces of larger cut stone but it may be too thick and heavy for most floor wire. I found a whole pallet of mostly intact 2x4' pieces behind the stacks of mulch at Earl May. The guy at the counter just decided to price them out at about $2 each. At over 1" thick though while they will not break and spread a lot of cold or heat I have bricks between them and the floor because I'm not even sure my cages of bolted together wire bar panels would hold them without support.