Keep in mind that your bunny can DIE in 2 hours at 80 degree heat.
There are many ways to keep your bunny cool in the hot weather.
#1
Get some empty 2 liter soda bottles and fill thegGm half with water, and freeze them. Wrap in one layer of towel, and put in your buns area so he can lean up against it to cool down.
#2
Get a 12x12 inch square or larger marble tile. If they are too large to freeze, just put some ice cubes on top fpor a while and then wipe and put in your buns cage for him to lie on.
#3
Get some freezer ice=packs and some terracotta pot bottoms (the tray that goes underneath your pot to catch water overflow). Turn it upside down and put the freezer pack under it. Bunnies can sit on the terracotta to cool down.
#4
Get a fan for your bunny. Put it outside of his cage, and direct air to one area, so if he wants to get away from the air flow, he has that choice.
#5
buy a small portable air conditioner (the Sharp Library Quiet is an excellent one)
#6
Bunny Chill Box
BORROWED FROM the 3 BUNNIES RESCUE web site!
Plans for Bunny Chill Box
HELP KEEP YOUR BUNNIES COOL IN SUMMER!!
Rabbits can very easily suffer from heat stroke. In fact, it is the
number one killer of pet rabbits who are exposed to the elements.
It is important that
your rabbit can find shade (if your rabbit spends time in a cage, make
sure it isn't in direct sunlight) and stay cool. Rabbits do not have
a way to cool themselves off like other pets (they only dissipate heat
through the ears - in the wild they go
underground to stay cool. If the temperature gets warm enough
(temperatures over 80°F can cause heat-stroke), some
things you can try to keep your rabbit cool are:
- Squares of tile chilled in the freezer and then placed where the
bunny can lay on it (if you use marble, on average it stays about 10°F cooler
than ambient/surrounding air anyway)
- A cold wet towel or bowl of ice cubes, placed in front of a fan
(preferably an oscillating fan, so the bunny isn't constantly having
the fan blow on him)
- Ice cubes wrapped in a wet towel and placed where the bunny can
lay against it
- Put a plastic bottle of frozen water in the cage
(NOTE: water expands when it freezes, so leave room for this expansion
in your container)
- Ice cubes in the water crocks
- Let the bunny hang out somewhere on a cool bare floor
- Dampen the tips of your bunny's ears (the evaporation will cool
the ears)
- Block all sunlight and use only fluorescent lighting, which puts
off much less heat than incandescant or halogen lamps (this won't
help cool an area that has already warmed up - if it's going to be a
hot day and there won't be air conditioning, keep the shades drawn)
- If your bunny becomes listless and unresponsive, get him to a
vet immediately!!
You can also offer your bunnies an air-conditioned hidey box. A
really cheap air-conditioner can be made using a styrofoam cooler, a
small fan, and ice bottles. Below are simple instructions on how
to do this. Then simply
point it so that the cold air blows into their hidey box, and your
bunnies will have a nice cool place to hang out and get away from the heat.
The best way to use this design is to have the air coming out of this
"air conditioner" blowing into a box large enough for the bunnies to
hang out in when the want to cool off - not only do they have a hidey box,
but it stays nice and cool for them
Parts needed:
- Styrofoam cooler (or any plastic bin that is relatively air-tight) - insulation
is not a major factor since the fan will always be pushing hot air into the enclosure
- Small fan, like a computer power supply fan (easy to get one from one of your
geek friends - almost all geeks have power supply and/or CPU fans - it's an
unwritten law of geekodynamics) or you can find at radio shack - get one
that works on 12 volts DC).
Try to get the quietest fan possible so the noise doesn't bother your bunnies!!
- Glue (okay, fine - glue, super-glue, adhesive, epoxy (including binary epoxies,
- Wire strippers and electrical tape for the following:
- Depending on the fan, a "wall-wart" power supply (aka AC to DC adapter) rated
anywhere from 6 to 16 volts (12v fans can actually run on a range of
voltages, although giving it 12V is the best)
(a wall-wart is one of those little boxy things that plugs
into the wall outlet and has a connector on the other end - cut that off and
strip the wires, connect them to the fan wires, tape each one up separately with
electrical tape)
- If you know what your doing: You can easily do the same thing with an 110-120V
AC fan and a plug to go diectly into the wall outlet.
- NOTE: you can probably find an AC adapter somewhere around the
house that you can use
- NOTE: you can cut holes in the styrofoam with a steak knife and the
styrofoam won't disintegrate - heating the knife makes it even easier by melting
as it cuts (DON'T PUT METAL IN A MICROWAVE OVEN!!): to heat the knife, turn the
stove on to a low heat and press the blade against it for a few seconds. You'll
need to do this a few times as the blade cools.
How you build:
- Measure the diameter of the fan (about 3 to 4 inches depending on the fan)
- Cut a circular hole at one end of the top of the cooler
- Mount the fan so that it pushes air into the cooler
-
Cut small vent holes on the short side of the bottom of the cooler
about 2 to 3 inches from the bottom (if the holes are too low,
condensed water will leak out) - these holes should have roughly
the same total area as the hole for the fan
- Cut hole in cover just smaller than the size of the fan you're going
to attach to it
- Make SURE to glue the fan onto the cover so that it blows air INTO
the cooler!! And some tape to help keep it in place won't hurt either.
- Fill the cooler with ice bottles, gelpacks, any large frozen object,
or hey - even the dinner you want to defrost) or even ice (although ice
will melt quickly)
- NOTE: the larger the volume of frozen water, the longer it will stay at 32°F
(water can be both solid and liquid at this temperature) as the ice melts - so, use
the largest possible container - a gallon water jug will stay cold for almost an entire day!
- Put the cover on, add a little weight to hold it in place (the air pressure from the fan will lift it up)
- Turn the power on, and enjoy the cool air
Notes:
- because the fans are tolerant of a range of voltages, this system
can be used with a car's electrical supply or a 6 volt lantern battery
with little loss of performance
- to make this system portable, connect the fan to a cigarette lighter
plug, and wire a cigarette lighter outlet to the power supply - then
you can use the unit in the car
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