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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Hot ears?

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    • Esarv
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        It seams that Todds (my bun) ears are always super hot! Is this normal? My room is not hot, i have the windows open and im comfortable considering it is prob only 60 some degrees or less.  Why are his ears so hot? And what do i do about it? He has ceramic tiles in his cage to lay on and in the summer i plan on leaving on the ceiling fan and putting 2 or 3 frozen water bottles in his cage to keep him cool since i cant leave the AC on all day while i am working…Is this ok to do? Will he be ok? Im just worried sorry for all the questions. 


      • peppypoo
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          Have his ears always been like this? How’s his activity level/water intake? If there hasn’t been any drastic change recently, I wouldn’t worry too much about his hot ears right now…just keep an eye out for changes.

          How hot does it get in the summer where you live? Frozen water bottles are a good idea for the heat…maybe you could direct a fan toward him too to help circulate the air.


        • FrankieFlash
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            Sometimes bunjamin’s ears are super hot and sometimes they’re super cool. If cool, I gently message them to help get them back to normal temperature. If hot he usually runs over to his fan after I pet him and I usually bump up AC, get him ice-buddy, etc. As for temperature of where he’s staying, I tell my boyfriend to put on a sweatshirt and then judge it. Putting on a sweatshirt is closer to him with his fur coat and that will give you more accurate judge of if it’s too hot or not.


          • Esarv
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              Peppypoo- his ears are normally hot, he always has drank a lot of water. Ive heard that there ears are hot bc that is how they release extra heat from there body? In the summer here in PA it can get as high as 100 degrees on some days. I have a celling fan that i will also leave on and also put frozen water bottles in his cage. Would it be a good idea to get a floor fan and put it near his cage so he gets more air?


            • Freyja
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                Rabbits ears are their temperature regulators and yes you’re right it is how they release extra heat from their body. 100 indoors? thats very hot for a bunny, like mentioned below i would invest in a ac unit or possibly move him into a cooler room on hot days, i mist my bunnies ears with water (outside of ears and make sure it doesnt get in them) as well on really hot days as it helps them cool down, it can get up to 115 here where i live! and yep frozen water bottles and ceramic tiles what have been put in the freezer work great. also frozen banana for a treat yum!

                 I would say so long as he wasnt showing any other signs of illness or discomfort if he has hot ears on a cool day he would be ok but if you’re really concerned you could ask your vet on your next visit


              • Monkeybun
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                  A fan doesn’t really help rabbits, as they don’t sweat. If it gets to be 100 degrees int here, its far too hot for your bun, and I would suggest getting a little AC unit for your bunny area. Anything above 80 is too hot for rabbits.


                • Roberta
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                    My Long Eared babies have their own swamp box plus frozen water bottles. The temps in Wanneroo Western Australia got up round 112 F during this Summer. The swamp box kept the room under 85 F and they loved curling up on their water bottles in the worst part of the day.

                    It’s also a lot easier on the power bills than the portable aircon units.


                  • Esarv
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                      100 degrees outside, not inside….i have an AC unit in my room but theres no way my parents will let me leave it on all day just for my rabbit. Also…what is a swamp bucket???


                    • Roberta
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                        A swamp box is an evaporative air cooler…. Works well providing you don’t have excessive humidity. Down here it gets to 112F inside the house unless you have ducted aircon, which I don’t. Although with ducted aircon it is actually cheaper to let it run 24/7 during the Summer months so that it doesn’t go into peak mode trying to cool the house if its gotten hot during the day.
                        Get a thermometer that gives you a reliable temperature and get to know how your house cycles. I.E are there any walls or windows in the room that face North and take full sun all day. If the room exposes East then it is only going to get the morning heat, West it gets the worst of the afternoon sun, North it gets the hottest all day, South then it is the coolest room in the house. Roofing material, tiles insulate better than tin. If you have a tile roof all over then the house is probably pretty well insulated if some or all of the roof is tin then those areas
                        with tin roofing are going to get a lot hotter than the tiled areas.


                      • Esarv
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                          so a swamp box is kinda like a de humidifier? I think im thinking abou this all way to much haha my parents keep telling me he will be fine…also on the hot days we either turn on the AC in a few rooms and leave all the doors open upstairs so its pretty cool and the days we dont have on the AC we always have on the attic fan, which pulls air into the house from the windows.


                        • Roberta
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                            Sounds like the house is fine. As I said get a thermometre and get to know where it gets hot. A swamp box/evap cooler works on good old fashioned heat exchange. If you want ice cubes in a hurry fill the ice tray with warm water not cold then put it in the freezer. Ever wonder why the fridge gets hot on the outside when it’s cold on the inside. In Australia in the bad old pre electric days or even when fridges weren’t portable we used to use a bush fridge, some people still fall back on it when camping. Its an open box frame hung in a tree with a piece of wet hessian hung over it. As the warm breeze hits the wet hessian you get heat exchange and the result is cold air inside the box. A swamp cooler works the same way by evaporation, exactly the same way our bodies cool by sweating. This is why high humidity thwarts the process, high humidity reduces evaporation, no evaporation, no heat exchange.

                             


                          • Roberta
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                              Oh the attic fan is probably pulling the heat out rather than the cool in. Heat rises and would evacuate through the upper story windows allowing the cool air to pool downstairs in the living quarters.


                            • RabbitPam
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                                A fan is good for circulating the air, but I’ve been told not to blow it directly on the bunny, but just above the cage. If hot ears are normal for yours, (have you asked your vet?) then it’s probably not an indication of any illness.
                                But in a hot summer or too warm room, you can bring your bunny temporary comfort and bring down the temp of the ears with a washcloth turban. Moisten a washcloth with cold water, but wring it out so it isn’t dripping wet. Wrap the ears together with the cloth. Be sure to let the cool cloth make contact with the inside of the ears. My bunny used to like to sit meatloaf style with the turban wrapped around his ears and he’d just let it stay there for a while. When he got sick of it (like if it warmed up) he’d shake it off. After a while, like in a half hour or less, check the ears to see if they have cooled down at all. You want them closer to room temp. but not cold.

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                            Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Hot ears?