Rabbit breeder's thread!

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

You can use a large tile (like from home depot) they can't chew it and it gives them something cool to rest on!

 

[Luvducks]

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GREAT Idea, Thanks!

 

[Louise's Country Closet]

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lol Well at least I know now that she was definitely ready to be bred! They're both experienced, it was just my first time seeing that in the few years I've been breeding lol

 

[dewey]

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GREAT Idea, Thanks!

Plus they can be stacked neatly in a box in the freezer to be handed out frozen on hot days.

 

[Louise's Country Closet]

How much do those tiles average at HD?

 

[dmiravalle]

I go to the tile store and they let me pick through broken ones. I freeze mine too, it works soooo well.

Course, we don't get very many hot days up here.

 

[dewey]

The tiles can be had for much less than $1 each. They're a nice, short lasting little treat for them in milder warm weather when time allows, but with our hot summer temps here they're good for only about 10 minutes. I'd mostly used frozen water pop bottles to help with cooling, if anything, in addition to evap coolers. Lord knows I've kept a freezer full of frozen water bottles, lol. The breeds I have should do better on wire alone, and using platforms for those can actually create hock issues. I know that some breeds are prone to issues but I don't have those breeds now. If I did, I'd use the mats with holes in them and switch them out often. They're only a few bucks each. Sore hocks that were not related to sitting on solid material of some sort (due to my own fault) were culled...30 some years ago we had mostly wood/wire hutches that only attracted issues.

I'm still very much learning as if new and sometimes do feel brand new to rabbits. Sometimes I forget the most simple things for their tx's and such until my memory is jogged...I've had chemo and medical tx's that sometimes makes my instant recall at the moment not what it used to be, lol, but nothing major that I wouldn't first seek advice on.

 

[1Chick Magnet]

around what temp do rabbits become uncomfortable in the summer?

 

[dmiravalle]

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Well, I don't have that as a reason, but boy just getting old makes a difference, I think I have forgotten more than I know.

 

[dmiravalle]

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Part of it depends on the breed, for example my angora's would get uncomfortable at 80 and when I had english lops or large earred breeds around 90 is when I would worry.

It really depends on the humidity and shade, etc....

I use a swamp cooler in the summer if it is over 95 on the rabbits I have now, but mostly frozen water bottles work if it is really bad which is rare here, I will ice the outside of their ears to cool them off quicker and make sure they have cool water to drink.

But when we had netherlands with little ears, I would say they were closer to the angora temps. That has just been my experience.