Rabbits are especially prone to heatstroke, as in the wild they would be in their burrows.

Provide ice packs all day [2l cola bottles frozen with 10% air for expansion works well].

Hot ears are a sign of overheating – with a bowl of water wet the rabbits’ ears and nape of next thoroughly.

Put up an umbrella/sheet above the hutch to cast a shadow – don’t drape a sheet directly over it.

Electric fans can be used indoors – ENSURE the wire is out of reach.

If out of the sun, paving slabs will allow the animal to lie against a cool surface, these can also be hosed down to stay cooler.

Pink eyed rabbits cannot deal with direct sunlight well, but all rabbits MUST have shade.

Ice cubes can also be added to the water.

If there are signs of serious overheating [collapsing, panting, wet nose, lethargy strange behavior] – a hose with a sprinkler end or a watering can can be used to soak the fur in an emergency. Consult a vet ASAP.

Also – fishtanks – if it’s hotter indoors than your water – open the lid a crack to let air circulate [if you remove the lid it’d be cooler but you may lose a fish!]

A worthy message but for a moment I did wonder if this was going to be a warning of Chinese fake ‘pleasuring toys’ 😉

A worthy message but for a moment I did wonder if this was going to be a warning of Chinese fake ‘pleasuring toys’

LOL 🙂 http://www.mpoweruk.com/instructions.html

Bump for the “just going home from work” crowd.

A worthy message but for a moment I did wonder if this was going to be a warning of Chinese fake ‘pleasuring toys’

Indeed. For a moment I thought I caught a whiff of burnt Fanjo.

What about guinea pigs? Mine keep running round squeaking and begging for food.

I suspect that’s normal, but they’re also easily overheated.

A worthy message but for a moment I did wonder if this was going to be a warning of Chinese fake ‘pleasuring toys’

Indeed. For a moment I thought I caught a whiff of burnt Fanjo.

It’s the capital R in the title, isn’t it?

good psa, just been out to give ours some more shade and fresh cool water.

Overcooked rabbit isn’t too good either.

Piggies- much of that ^ applies, I keep them in the shade, I have put another shade over their run and spray with water (and the grass) they like to lie in that.

🙂

Can we skip the jokes about eating them, please. It’s really tired.

Ok 🙁

Heh. Truce.

All good advice, our two have gone from lops to flops in this weather 😀

The 4 inch thick concrete slab the run is on keeps ours cool now but before then we used the bottles of ice in boxes of hay for them to sit/lay in

Last bump for the morning crowd.

I thought it was a VW overheating thread from over the pond.

Good advice, Snaggletooth and Dandylion have not been impressed with the heat so far.

We brought our guinea pigs in yesterday- they were clearly struggling outside despite being in shade and having their water replaced with cool stuff a couple of times.

They also fancied celebrating Canada Day.

With temperatures much lower today they’re back outside in the shade.

good to see this thread, I shudder to think how many piggies and rabbits will be suffering outside at the moment.