Panting

[2 bun-owner]

Do rabbits pant like dogs do? And is it bad tem
To pant?

 

[MamaSheepdog]

If a rabbit is panting, it is in distress. Their ears are their primary way of cooling themselves.

If it is hot there, the rabbit is probably going into heat distress. I would mist it with water, or you can wet a towel with cool water and wipe the ears and body with that.

photos-of-rabbits-in-heat-distress-t14903.html

 

[2 bun-owner]

Ok, jut read a tread about panting so
Didn't know if it was bad or how you could
Tell if a rabbit was panting.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I haven't actually seen a rabbit pant "like a dog" with their mouth open. But if they are breathing very rapidly for extended periods, I would consider that "panting". It is normal for them to take slowly spaced breaths intermixed with very rapid ones, though.

When the head is tilted upward, they are having trouble getting enough oxygen, either due to heat or respiratory disease.

 

[MaggieJ]

Here's the link to MSD's excellent thread on how to tell if your rabbit is in respiratory distress.

photos-of-rabbits-in-heat-distress-t14903.html

 

[2 bun-owner]

K, doe doesn't look like tht at all as my buck
Just threw heat distress.

My buck is doing fine and inside. Scared
To put him back out now as winter wil
Soon be here an we get -50 here at times
Here.

I'm thinking of heat lamps (sort of) with
A timer to Put in there box to keep them warm.

I do have a cooler pack and frozen water
Bottles in the cage now for her. It's about
80 here with a cool wind. No panting heavy
Breathing today. I did see here heavy breathing
The other day but today it's cool
Enough where she's not breathing heavy at all.

 

[MaggieJ]

That is a very challenging climate, from 80 plus in summer to -50 in winter. The main thing with cold is to keep them dry and out of drafts. With heat, lots of shade and ventilation. I find a fan really helps when it is very hot and humid.

 

[2 bun-owner]

Ya in the summer it gets from 75- 95 with heat index
Is winter it gets 40 to -20 up to -50 it
Usually doesn't get -50 to often but it has
Some years.

 

[akane]

We have the same although last summer we sat at over 100F for 2 months. Couple winters before that we were below -30F and just walking to the buildings I frostbit exposed areas of my face several times. I've never lost an adult to weather extremes though. We lost a ton of youngsters last summer. All the meat we attempted to raise. I think the hot humid weather and all the frozen containers sweating led to cocci infection that they couldn't fight off and deal with the temps. While the adults had better developed immune systems. We butchered down to minimal stock and pulled the ice containers then scraped everything down and replaced pine pellets every other day to get everything to dry. Then tried breeding in the fall and haven't had problems since. Luckily we had a mild winter and mild summer to rebuild the herd.