Is A/C neccessary for a house rabbit?

[bunnnnnnie!]

As summer fast approaches, I know soon the air conditioning will have to be turned on in my apartment.  Here in central Illinois we get temps up into the mid 90s, with heat indexes up to 110F.  High humidity (80%+, quite often) makes for a steamy, hot summer. .

I could live without AC, but having Zeus, I keep it on for most of the summer.  Usually I can at least turn it off and open the windows at night, but during the hottest days of summer, even that is a no-go.  It makes me wonder about other bunbun owners in similar or hotter climates.  Do you have AC, or not?  Do you believe it is neccessary to have AC if you’re an owner of indoor buns, if you’re in a hot enough climate? .

I’d love to forgo the AC in the summer, as my electricity bill really spikes with all the AC usage.  But alas, to keep Zeus comfy, I have to pay the $$$.  I don’t mind though.. he used to live outside before I got him, and I SWORE when I took him in, he’d never have to worry about the weather again.  Thinking of him living in a traditional cage with NO HIDEY HOUSE for shelter, out in the elements, with nothing but a covered porch, infuriates me. 

That also brings up another good question, however.  If bunnies really cannot flourish in temps over 75-80F as cited in many sources, how do the outdoor buns survive in the summer?  I know this is a house rabbit board, but it’s an interesting question that I think could pose some great discussion as well.  

[Monkeybun]

In my opinion, yes. If it gets that hot, buns need to stay cool. Frozen water bottles just don’t cut it when it gets that hot outside. And fans don’t really help.

Here in oregon, alot of buns don’t make it outside in the summers

[bunnnnnnie!]

Posted By Monkeybun on 05/03/2011 03:24 PM

In my opinion, yes. If it gets that hot, buns need to stay cool. Frozen water bottles just don’t cut it when it gets that hot outside. And fans don’t really help.

Here in oregon, alot of buns don’t make it outside in the summers

Oh that’s horrible. 
 

[Monkeybun]

It really is Thats one reason why the humane society and rabbit advocates will only adopt out to indoor homes. Summers get silly hot here, for being a coastal region with mountains! I always hear people in the Small animal room at OHS talk about how they used to have bunnies when they were little, outside, that died in the summer. Its sad

[peppypoo]

I’m sure some bunnies can manage to survive outside in the summer heat, but it’s dangerous and really not something people should risk if they have their bunnies’ health and well-being in mind. There’s probably some degree of individual variation too; a guy I know said that he kept outdoor buns for several years down in Houston, TX, where it’s notorious for being…umm, “heckishly” hot and humid during the summer. Poor buns .

Personally, I do notice my buns become more sluggish when it gets uncomfortably stuffy during the summer. A quick adjustment of the AC brings them right back, though.

[LBJ10]

It got pretty warm here about a month ago when we had a record high of 90 degrees. We get pretty hot in the summer, but not at the end of March. Anyway, it got fairly warm in the house. We had the house fan on, but we didn’t have the air conditioner uncovered and cleaned off yet so we couldn’t turn that on. Leopold was laying around like a rag doll, acting like he was dying. Seriously, it wasn’t THAT warm in the house. I think maybe it got up to the upper 70s, which is what it would be in the summer with the air conditioner on. Wooly, oddly enough, didn’t seem to mind. And he’s the one with long hair.

[Sarita]

In Texas it is for me and for the rabbits. There are many people in Texas who still keep their rabbits outdoors – don’t know the poor buns make it.

[mocha200]

hmmmm… We don’t have air conditioning all summer. :-\ I hope my buns will be ok!

[bunnnnnnie!]

Posted By mocha200 on 05/03/2011 07:37 PM

hmmmm… We don’t have air conditioning all summer. :-\ I hope my buns will be ok!

How warm does it get where you’re at?  Do you have a basement?

My parents’ house doesn’t have AC, and last summer me and Zeus went to visit a few times.  Zeus stayed in the basement, in the guest bedroom.  I actually slept in there instead of my old bedroom so he wouldn’t have to sleep alone. .  The basement stayed VERY cool, and he loooooved the concrete floors. 

 

[mocha200]

We do have AC and a basement at this house, But at our other house (the one we go to all summer) doesn’t have AC or a basement I live in WI, so I am not far from you, but its normally 75F-85F average here but has gotten into 90F- 100F before, very rare though.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I live quite far north and we have unimaginably cold winters…however you absolutely need AC for the bunnies in the summer. In fact-it’s going in this weekend or next as we’ve been hitting 15C during the day and the temp in the house goes up. When I first had my first apartment I did go without AC but my first summer with a bunny I had to get AC -they get terribly hot and it’s just too dangerous. If it’s humid out that’s even worse so very much I’d recommend AC.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

That also brings up another good question, however. If bunnies really cannot flourish in temps over 75-80F as cited in many sources, how do the outdoor buns survive in the summer? I know this is a house rabbit board, but it’s an interesting question that I think could pose some great discussion as well.

Missed that-They live underground during the day and come out in the morning and evening dusk

[LoveChaCha]

My dad said he is going to get a new AC and let it circulate through out the apartment, so Chacha stays nice and cool. Her condo is next to the window, and I have began to leave the window open halfway since WA has been having sun lately.

[Silly Sungura]

I have been wondering about this. We live in single-wide that is set up for air conditioning, but we haven’t had one installed yet. Living in upstate NY, it usually wouldn’t even be necessary, for humans, anyway. Hodari is in the cooler part of the house. Air can be circulated through the house vents to help with cooling, and we use floor fans most of the time. Do you all think that will be enough?

[Sam and Lady's Human]

Posted By LoveChaCha on 05/03/2011 11:58 PM
My dad said he is going to get a new AC and let it circulate through out the apartment, so Chacha stays nice and cool. Her condo is next to the window, and I have began to leave the window open halfway since WA has been having sun lately.

Your dad is so sweet Makes me smile

 

We have AC, but I’m totally a windows open gal. It gets crazy humid here though, so sadly there wont be too much of that. 

 

[Tate]

 I have began to leave the window open halfway since WA has been having sun lately.

LoveChaCha- Don’t you LOVE it?!?! Hehe.

 

[Eepster]

I definitely think indoor bunnies need AC.

When I was a teenager, we kept our bunnies outdoors. Outdoors, there was a breeze most of the time. There were plenty of really hot still days though her in NJ when bunnies needed extra cooling. First, there were the frozen water bottles. You filled a half gallon (two liter these days) plastic soda bottle 3/4 full of water and stuck it in the freezer. You didn’t just have one of those though, you would have at least half a dozen in you freezer ready to go in the summer. You would put one bottle in the enclosed part of the hutch everyday. On really hot day though, you would give the bunny 2 in his enclosed part, and another one on top of the wire of the open area.  The bottles of course had to be changed several times a day.  Also, you would mist the bunny’s ears with water. Finally, you would add ice cube to the bunny’s water dish or water bottle.

At the time, it was believed to be bad for bunnies to take them indoors to cool off in AC. It was thought that the sudden change in air temperature was a shock to their systems.

None of the bunny owners I knew ever lost a bunny to heat stroke, but it was very very hard work to keep those bunnies comfortable. The group of bunny owners I knew were a very dedicated lot, so we all worked really hard to provide sufficient cooling.

[littlemissflip]

We don’t have AC in our house, and it can get pretty hot/humid at times in the summer (we live in MN). Fortunately, our yard is shady, so the house stays relatively cool, and we always have fans running. Our bunnies tend to prefer lying on the cool hardwood floors in the summer months (whereas they prefer lounging on the carpet in the winter). When it’s really hot, I’ve put an ice pack in the bunny condo, but neither of my bunnies has shown any interest in it. They do seem to have a little less energy when it’s really hot (as do the cats…and the humans).

[PB and Z]

Yeah, the AC is definitely important. I live in an apartment building on the 18th floor in Philadelphia so most times its hotter inside than it is outside (without AC). Last week it was 87 degrees outside and they hadn’t turned the AC on yet and Zatanna nearly pulled her fur out! Needless to say I made an emergency run to home depot for a giant 18″x18″ ceramic tile for them to lie on instead of the carpet and froze some giant water bottles for them. It was hilarious watching them poke at the frozen water bottle to figure out what the giant icey contraption was supposed to do when I first gave it to them.

[LoveChaCha]

Posted By Samson’s Mum on 05/04/2011 07:41 AM

Posted By LoveChaCha on 05/03/2011 11:58 PM
My dad said he is going to get a new AC and let it circulate through out the apartment, so Chacha stays nice and cool. Her condo is next to the window, and I have began to leave the window open halfway since WA has been having sun lately.

Your dad is so sweet Makes me smile

 

We have AC, but I’m totally a windows open gal. It gets crazy humid here though, so sadly there wont be too much of that. 

 

 

He loves Chacha like she is his own  He calls her ‘family.’

Tate – I haven’t been enjoying the sun.. I’ve been stuck indoors all day at work

It wasn’t too hot when I got home tonight.

[Elrohwen]

I think so, especially since most areas in the US get well over 90 every summer. If you live in some magical place where it only ever gets up to 80 degrees, then air conditioning might not be necessary (also, I want to move in with you!)

I don’t think central a/c is necessary though – just a single unit somewhat near where the bunny is would be very helpful.

We keep our a/c set at 80 degrees while we’re away. When we get home we’ll turn it off and open windows if it’s nice out, or turn it down to 75 degrees if it’s too hot for open windows.

There are actually a decent number of houses here without a/c (about 1.5hrs north of NYC) which suprises me since we use ours most of the summer. It rarely gets up into the 90s in the summer, but without a/c I’m just too hot to be comfortable when it’s above 85 (and I’m sure the bunnies are too).

[mocha200]

It only gets up to about 80F here in the summer Its really nice, were in the woods so its nice and shady and right on a lake. the average in the summer there is 80F-82F. We don’t have air conditioning their but we don’t really need it.

[longhairmike]

We bought our house and will be driving with the buns from Chicago to Mesa, AZ right in the middle of june (when the overnight low can be 80-90)…Ginormous A/C bills are in the forecast

but thats the price to pay for single-digit humidity, never seeing snow again, and wicked mountain biking right out the front door.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Last year in NB, we had a record high for summer and I hope it’s not the same this year. Worrying about the bunnies overheating pretty much ruined my summer! I’m very paranoid about it. We have a window a/c unit in the living room and it keeps the rabbit room half decent (which is just off the living room). I also always keep frozen bottles in the freezer to put in their cage in the afternoons as well as putting dark blankets over all the upstairs windows. This year we will have an extra a/c window unit and my bf and I are already arguing where it goes: he wants it in the bedroom, I want it in the rabbit room. I hate heat but I can deal with it…I’d rather be hot than stressed about my bunnies.

I also hate leaving the a/c on all day though. I’m big on environment and being green and it’s horrible to think that pretty much everyone in the province and beyond is blasting their a/c all day. We had weeks where it was high 30’s (C) the whole week, even at night. That’s rough on the old power bill. I also get nervous about leaving for the day with the a/c on. I’m afraid it shorts or something and starts a fire. Many a day last summer I was lounging by Mom’s pool and had to leave to go check on the buns. A bit of a bummer.

As horrible as it is, I know several people who have outdoor hutch bunnies who have survived 6 or more years of heat like this. I worry about them and always speak up but there is only so much I can do. We have intensely hot summers and freezing winters. I don’t know how outdoor bunnies do it. I assume they get more accustomed to temperatures than indoor buns. My buns would not make it outdoors after living such a pampered indoor life (in the winter if there ears feel cold I turn the heat on and in the summer they get cold compresses!)

[kralspace]

We get freaky hot down here in central Texas and while my older house has central H/ac, it is very inefficient and expensive (runs all the time and it’s still very hot)

I bought several window units a couple of years ago and I love them. Once it’s hot all day (like now) I close the doors to the bunny room and leave their small window unit set at 75 degrees. I bought it for around $139 dollars and it’s one with an auto temp control, the fan runs all day and the ac part only kicks on when the temp gets above the temperature you’ve set and the room is always nice and cool even when the heat index is 110 or so. The cats can get in if they want but they prefer to sleep in a sunny spot and nearly self-combust.

I have other units in the living room and two bedrooms and only run them when I’m home and using the rooms. My electric bills dropped from over $400 per month in the summer to around $175 and the rooms I use are really cool and comfortable.

[FluffyBunny]

If you can keep the bunny’s cage/room under 80 F with fans, wet towels, etc., I think that it’s fine to go without AC. I just moved to a considerably hotter part of Colorado, and our AC costs are already getting ridiculous from just a few hot days, so I’ve been looking into other methods of keeping bunnies cool. I never had to worry about it before because we would never get temperatures over about 80 F.

I do think that AC is absolutely necessary if you live somewhere that gets, say, 95+ F temperatures for days on end.

[Bl00dyPaws]

We don’t have AC and our days do get pretty hot, is it ok to put ice blocks in their water bowl? I keep a fan on Squiggles that passes her every rotation with windows open in the room.

[peppypoo]

Bl00dyPaws, this is an old topic (from more than a year and a half ago!) I’m going to lock this thread; if you have a similar question that you can’t find an answer for, feel free to start a new topic.

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