Too hot for bunny

[kmurphy]

Kraken lives at college with me in my dorm. The dorms do not have separate temperature controls, it is only the whole building and we have huge radiators in each room. It has been about 75 degrees F maxing at around 80 degrees which is a little ridiculous. Kraken hates the heat and is significantly less active. It’s like 15 degrees outside but I don’t want to open a window because how energy inefficient that would be. I have summited a request for the heat to be lowered but they said that there are people from warmer climates that are uncomfortable if it gets cooler. My poor bunny is suffering in his winter coat  

I recently posted that Kraken’s water intake has increase and I have kept careful records lately and he is drinking about 20 oz a day and I think it is due to the high temperatures in the dorm rooms. Does anyone have any experience with this or advice? 

[Sarita]

Since it’s indoors and it’s climate controlled I imagine that it’s drier than normal. And being that it is indoors I wouldn’t worry too much there are ways to cool her off – the bigger concern is always those rabbits who live outdoors in sweltering heat and no chance of getting any shade.

You could try a nice cool piece of tile – you can purchase these at Home Depot or Lowes.

[Cottontail]

My Pete lived in 75-80 degree indoor temps for a while at our last place; and when it got towards 80 he did tend to slow down or take more breaks from playing. Occassionally it would start inching higher than that, or the power went out all-together, and I had to get him some chilly things to cuddle with since he refused to sit on smooth surfaces.

I found a good trick for higher-end temps is to take a pillow case and place a cold pack inside it, then folding over the extra material. Peter loved this as it wasn’t too chilly because the extra folded material was on top, but as it thawed it became a sort-of bunny-water-bed that was still cooler than most of the room. When it thawed too much I’d simply take it out of the pillowcase and stick it back in the freezer for a while. He’s not a chewer though… so it would depend on your bunny’s habits, and might still be good to monitor it anyway. Frozen water-bottles stuck in socks also make for good cool-cuddle buddies for the bun, and are a bit more secure from potential bunny-puncturing.

[Roberta]

From a health a safety perspective expecting every one to tolerate artificially generated temps like that is rather irresponsible on their part. Warmer climates or no the health standards over here stipulate a range well below that for comfort and health reasons. 75F being the maximum which is 24C, 80F or 27C is at the beginning of the scale where temps become dangerous for bunnies. If they aren’t charging you for electricity I would be cracking a window from time to time or invest in a small fan.

[Beka27]

I would definitely be cracking a window in there, that’s way too warm for me, and i don’t even have fur!

[Sarita]

I agree that cracking a window is your best option. I imagine it’s difficult to regulate the temperature in those dorms. I also think that since the dorms are for humans that they probably won’t take your rabbit into consideration if it’s too warm.

[JackRabbit]

I’m with Beka and Sarita, open a window! Here, they’d be telling people from warm climates to put on an extra layer if they can’t take cooler temps indoors — no way would they run the heat that high.

[Roberta]

Same here JR, If it’s too cold put on a sweater, don’t expect everybody else to bake for the sake of one person that can resolve the problem by dressing appropriately. It’s like some nitwits we had in the office while back, always wanting the heat up. It was pointed out to them that if they wore more than spaghetti straps and a strip of fabric barely big enough to cover their backsides they may not find the winter weather quite so debilitating.

[kmurphy]

Thanks everyone for your input! I think I will crack a window…we are all suffering from the heat though. Crazy college. I will ask other people to submit maintenance requests so maybe the temperature will be lowered.

[Megabunny]

I’m late in adding to this, but regarding your concern about energy inefficiency, I’m just thinking that they’re going to run the heat at that level whether your room is hot or cold, so I don’t think you’re adding to any energy issues. My daughter said they ran her dorm too hot too. This year, in the on-campus apartments, they went around trying to figure out why the heating is being run so high. (They almost found her cat!)

[Author]

Messages