I thought this might be a good idea since the summer months are upon us and not everyone has air conditioning. If your bunny is "panting" feel their ears, they may be too hot. If your bunny is suffereing heat stroke, wet the ears with cool water and blow on them or use a fan (make sure the fan doesn't frighten them). Here are some other cool bunny tips for the hot months in your area:

• Lay frozen water or soda bottles in the cage for them to lay next to.
• For a heat-stroke bunny you can also fill a plastic bag with ice cubes & a bit of water and hold next to them, be sure that they do not eat the plastic and do not leave them unattended.
• Place natural stone or porcelain tiles in the cage, if natural ones or slick on the finished surface, flip them over to the "wrong" side so your bunny has traction. They stay cool and bunnies enjoy laying on it in the heat.
• Wet a towel and hang on the side of the cage and place a fan so it blows through the towel into the cage. Voila, bunny air conditioning. = : )

Anyone else have tips of their own?

Great idea.  It has been hot even around here! (San Francisco), so I use all those tips!

Moistening their ears with water also helps them keep cool.     Of course, it dries up in about 10 minutes, but it can still offer a some temporary relief.

Depending on where your rabbits are (inside or out).. Mine are outside right now in a poll style building with tarps shading the top and I lower the tarp on whatever side the sun is hitting.

I have a mister and fan set up for temps over 80. The mister is set p in a way so that the air is cooled but the rabbits are not wet.

 We're up in the 100's right now and so I'm going out and taking my spray bottle and giving everyone a sprtiz every so offten. I keep a spray bottle in the fridge at all times.

I also freeze tials and put them in the cages in the afternoon.

What I did for my buns when it was hot was to place a marble stone in their cages for them to lay on.  I tried freezing the small water bottles, but they would try to eat the plastic so that was out!  I also have a fan that blows intermittant air so it's not constantly blowing directly on them.  It was over 100 degrees in the Bay Area (California), so I was really getting worried.  I have two long-hair lionhead rabbits. But they went through it just fine.

bunnies4ever - I couldn't believe how hot it was getting here in the Bay Area either!  Some places outside of the city were over 115 C. That's just insane to me.   I'm a real heat wimp

My bunnies love to hang out on ceramic tiles and slate when it gets really hot. Same kind of idea as the marble.  A great way for them to stay cool. 

That's funny about the waterbottles.  My bunny, Rucy, can't chew it, but she ends up nudging and pushing it around.  She's not too fond of them either.   

Lionheads are really cute.  What color are your two? 

My two buns are Kahlua and Chloe.  Kahlua is chocolate brown.  His foster mom is Hawaiian so that's how he got his name.  At first she told me that Kahlua was a girl and when I took "her" to my vet for a check-up he told me that she was a he!

Chloe is silver gray.  She's the feisty one.  She's younger than Kahlua and gets into the most mischief. She even passed on her bad habits to Kahlua.  Kahlua is content just hanging out in his cage, or sleeping in his litterbox.  When they are in their exercise pen, Kahlua just binkies and Chloe likes to run through (and chew) on her cardboard tunnel.  She is always looking for stuff to get into.  They are about 4 lbs each and I love them to death!

They sound beautiful. 

Wow, what a surprise that must have been to find out she was a he.   I bet Kahlua is happy that everyone has finally got it straight.    That is so strange though about the mix-up.  I am figuring he was neutered, so the original vet had to know.   Wonder how that all happened. 

My Rucy is dark grey, and she can be pretty feisty too, but her rabbitude is mellowing with age.

What an adorable picture, and Smarty Pants Bunny.  I'd love to put that up in the gallery.  With your permission, I can copy and save it to the right place.

Just let me know!

What an adorable picture, and Smarty Pants Bunny.  I'd love to put that up in the gallery.  With your permission, I can copy and save it to the right place.

Just let me know!

I know this thread is a little old but summer is just around the corner again. I had a pic of Beelsee laying on her tile from this past summer and thought I would add it. It was very hot summer and with the tile and also some frozen water bottles (not shown) she stayed nice and cool. I would place an old sock over the frozen bottles and lay it on the back of the tile so the ice would keep the tile really cool. She just loved laying on it. I kept a few bottles in the freezer and rotate them day after day. One happy buns!

Great idea and we also have it in our FAQ section - I'll ask Binky Bunny to post it on the Home Page when the time gets nearer too!

Here is another discussion we had on it as well:

Temperatures in the Summer: (How hot is too hot?)

http://binkybunny.com/Default.aspx?tabid=54&forumid=1&postid=40288&view=topic