Since our heat is soaring today and tomorrow (at least) into the 90's, it's awfully hard on my poor rabbit being stuck wearing a fur coat. He'd like to dig a nice burrow, but having been that route with other rabbits, I won't let him.

So, I found this idea on a rabbit website on how to deal with the hot weather for rabbits. Take an empty half gallon plastic milk jug (or two liter soda pop bottle) and fill it mostly full with cold water. Leave enough room at the top for expansion. Freeze it overnight. (even refrigerating will help...if you don't have room, try sinking them in the lake, pond, or stream to chill down)

On hot days, give one of these to your rabbit. Smart bunnies will lie alongside the nice cool object and not fry little bunny-brains out.

-- Anonymous, June 25, 2001

Answers

It really works julie, I have been doing it for years. It seems in the summer I usually have the most empty space so it is energy efficient as well since a full freezer uses less energy. A fan circulating the air in the rabbit barn also helps a lot.

-- Anonymous, June 25, 2001

I froze a bunch of bottles once and the combine expansion opened my freezer. As fate would have it, it was cool for a few days so I didn't need the ice bottles. Most of the meat was defrosted but hadn't gone bad. Food shelter ate well that week.

-- Anonymous, June 25, 2001

I wish I could use 55-gallon barrels and do that for my sheep. I can't fit the barrels in the freezer, though! Seriously, this is a great idea. My neighbors have bunnies (just had 8 babies, too) and they might appreciate my sharing this information with them. thanks

-- Anonymous, June 26, 2001

I give my pups frozen 3 liter bottles. They love them. They lay on top of them. My bunnies are in the oak garage/barn and it's cool in there.

-- Anonymous, June 26, 2001

Yup, it's so nasty here today that the guinea pigs have been temporarily moved to the basement where it's about 10 degrees cooler. Bunny doesn't like having to stay in my garage, but it is under another part of the building so that stays cool too, and I figure that outside, he'd just want to stay in a tunnel anyway where it was dark and cool, so what's he missing?

Did I mention it's hot? Over 90, next two days are supposed to cool down to around 85+....

-- Anonymous, June 26, 2001

Wow. It got up to 65 here yesterday. Day before, in Pe Ell (toward the coast) it was all of 39 in the a.m. Great....groan.

Glad we are going to CA and AZ in a few weeks... We'll need those frozen bottles then, for sure!

-- Anonymous, June 26, 2001