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Summer Heat
I have a giant fan in the rabbit
shed, and on hot days I put it on high. It is loud and blows really hard,
the rabbits enjoy the movement in air it gives though, and they never even
reacted to the noise. I also freeze old cokebottles with water, and give
it to them to lay up agaisnt and lick when it's really hot. They usually
don't freeze over night after I use them, so I have to keep a couple extra
ones for the ones that aren't frozen. Last year I had about 30 rabbits,
and used 60 bottles just to keep everyone cool all the time. This year
I'll probably have to have even more.
Winter Freeze
Heat Stroke A rabbit who has heat stroke will die if they are not cooled down quickly. But if you cool them down too quickly they could go into shock. In the early stages of heat stroke, the rabbit
will lay in its cage, stretched out, breathing heavy. They will often tilt
their up upward and breath heavy. I have also noticed that rabbits in heavy
heat will sweat from around the nose, and it almost looks like snuffles,
but it's not.
Treatment of Heat Stroke Take the rabbit inside, or somewhere cool immediatly. Give him water with ice in it. Crush the ice if you can and try to put some of the ice water up to his mouth and bathe his ears and face in it. Don't get it up his nose though or he may become sick later on. If this still doesn't work, fill up the sink and place him in room temputure water for a couple of seconds. Take him out and dry him off as best as you can. Try to keep the ears cool. The ears to a rabbit is like our foreheads when we have a temputure. If they are really hot, the rabbit is probably hot. If this still doesn't work, your rabbit maybe dehydrated and will need to see a vet. If you waste time trying to use some of these steps when they are clearly not working, the rabbits life will slip away. For pet owners who are not experienced with animals, I would say to wet a towel, wrap the rabbit in it, bring it ice and water to drink on the way, and rush as soon as possible to the vet.
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