tiles for hot weather

[lulu the bun]

Since the summer is approaching, I was thinking of purchasing some tiles for my rabbit to lay on. I’ve seen them online and at the pet store, but they’re just so small and expensive. Are there any alternatives I can buy at Home Depot or other stores? What materials are best? How many should I buy?

Thank you

[Roberta]

Do you have any tile stores close. Go in and check out there discontinued ranges. They may have loose single tiles available. People often buy them for repairs or to extend an existing tiled area. The floor tiles would probably be best as they are larger. The number would depend upon your bunnies favourite napping spots. Also check out recycled building material yards or your local paper for people selling unused left over tiles.

[Deleted User]

All of Roberta’s suggestions are excellent, but yes, Home Depot and other hardware chain stores and flooring stores will have tiles for sale. Most do sell them individually for one reason or another, and if you are buying foot square or bigger it shouldn’t cost too much. (Especially if you don’t mind getting a few different ones then you may be able to get them discounted, … but even full price the ones I’m thinking of usually run between $1.50 and $4.50 so unless you are thinking of a very large area it should be fairly cheap.) Its also worth mentioning to friends and family that you are looking for tiles, people who have had tiling done may have a few leftover.

Ceramic or a stone (granite, marble) will stay cooler, I don’t know for sure but doubt what its specifically made of makes a big difference, long as it is in those families. A thicker tile will stay cooller longer.

[Amys Animals]

I have a tile for my buns to lie on in hot weather. It’s a good thing to have if you only have carpet or don’t want buns on your hard floor. I have hard floors so I can just make a little space for them to lie on the cold floor as well as have a tile. I wouldn’t get a tile that is too slippery though. They won’t like that. I have one that is glossed but my buns don’t seem to mind. I should get different tiles though. Also, you can flip the tile over and have them on the rough side of it. I have seen that done before.

I got my tile at home depot, but really anywhere you can find a nice sized tile would work.

[BabyD]

We live in south-east Asia and it is hot practically all year round.

I went out to buy a large porcelain dish for my baby bun last Saturday night and she’s been using it to rest upon quite often from the moment I gave it to her. So I guess she likes it to keep herself cool.

[bunnylova123]

awww, sweet.

[Sarita]

That is adorable BabyD.

I imagine the cost on-line is expensive due to the weight and you may have to buy a box. You can purchase one tile at a time at Home Depot or Loews…and they have larger sizes – my recommendation is to just go to the stores and see what they have – one tile is not too expensive and it is available in store to purchase that way.

[Amys Animals]

I agree with Sarita. I wouldn’t buy online. You can get a better idea of what you want and what will be comfortable for your rabbit if you go into an actual store and it’s not expensive, depending on which tile you get anyway.

BabyD: That is an adorable bun!!

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

If you don’t care about looks, many tiles can be bought for 1-2$ per tile and if you got a 12×24 that should be big enough Rona or Home depot sells tiles out box so you can buy one or two.

[MeggoWaffle]

Like many others I got my tiles at Home Depot. I have a couple 18″x18s and several 12″x12s. They like lying on them year-round but in the summer I will rotate them through the freezer every few hours and they REALLY like that.

[Caroline22]

I bought stick on tiles from Lowes that were probably $.40-.50 and I attached them to a piece of pile wood to make my cage floor. I don’t remember what they’re made of off the top of my head, but I know I did a lot of research about it previously to make sure they were okay to use.

[Eucalyptus]

I’m going to bump this thread because I want to post about my little predicament. We bought a 1’x1′ granite tile for Java to lay on because, as some people know, he has what is basically hyperthermia, and the increasing temperatures are getting to him these days.

The problem is, it’s very slippery for non-padded feet, and he HATES it. The most he will do is sit on it sometimes (cooling off his buns!) or dig on it, which is cute because it makes a light ting-ting-ting-ting sound. But, aside from that, he avoids it and sleeps in a totally different spot if we put it in his usual area. The flooring of his upper level in his house is plastic, which is a bit slippery, but the granite is far worse. We wanted to just cover the whole top floor with granite so that all of his flooring is nice and cool, but it might make things worse from what we’ve seen so far because it’s more slippery. We don’t want to spend the money and have him completely avoid his upper level, and then we waste it.

Are there any suggestions for this? I thought he would just get used to it, but he avoids it. Maybe covering the entire floor will somewhat “force” him to walk on it, and then he’ll get used to it. But maybe someone has a better idea.

[Deleted User]

There are lots of great textured tiles out there, they have all sorts of surfaces, most aren’t at all shiny or slippery. They are more likely to be ceramic but ceramic is also cooler and should still help. I’d suggest picking out a few with different surfaces and seeing which one he is drawn too.

[Sarita]

I think a textured tile might be a good choice as well or a slate tile.

[Author]

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