Rabbits in hot Florida: How to convince parents to bring them inside?

I recommend introducing Fluffy in a large clean cage with plenty of room for her to move around and clean soft bedding such as Care Fresh or soft wood shavings with plenty of food, toys and ideally a sheltered portion of the cage where she can hide/not be visible. Rabbits are prone to overheating and should be maintained at a temperature of about 15-21 C (60-70 F). If moving her in the winter, be sure to put her cage far from heater, if moving her in the summer (now I assume it is summer in Australia), just make sure that her room is air conditioned /does not get too hot. Offering fresh veggies and treats daily will likely minimize the stress of the move. In addition, try to keep Human/pet traffic/noise in her room at a minimum. Good luck!

Hi, it is best to keep rabbits inside at night in very hot or very cold weather. They can go outside in nice weather and back inside at night. Predators love rabbits, since they have no way to fight back if another animal wants to eat them. Also, outside they are prone to get fleas, ticks, and other external parasites on their bodies. They can also get internal parasites from eating brush and dirt. If you live where dogs and cats go, I would only allow your rabbit outside in a very secure cage. Make sure it is large enough for the rabbit to get exercise, has shelter, and food and water available. It also should go underground a half a foot so predators cannot dig under the fencing. So in light of the set up it takes to safely keep a rabbit outside, it is better to keep them indoor where they are safe. Rabbits can be leash walked with a small harness for outdoor activity. Good luck, I hope this helps!

Great question! Generally over 26C is too hot for rabbits, but I know Australia gets very hot in the summer time! Much hotter than that. It would be best to keep Fluffy indoors where it is cooler for her. If you cannot do that, make sure her outdoor hutch provides plenty of shade for her, and continually give her fresh cool water. Watch for signs of overheating which include fast and shallow breathing, hot ears, and listlessness. If you see any of those signs, rush her into a vet immediately. Good luck, I hope this helps!

You must make sure they have a good shed to be in with enough shade and cover. make sure they have fresh cool water at all time. you can place blocks of ice warped in blankets in several corners of the run, they can go near them if they feel too hot.

Hello. Yes, it is safe to bring them indoors when it is especially cold & wet. They would do best in a cooler part of the house, even the garage, but they will adapt nicely when out of the worse of the weather. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I recommend bringing as much of the outside in as you can. For example, bring some of their toys or bedding that they've had outside to the inside of your house, so that it is familiar to them. If you think the inside of your house will be noisy, you can buy them a white noise machine to help drown out any strange noises they may not be used to, and eventually wean them off of this. I hope this is helpful!

You can get a fan and direct it towards them. You can get a large sponge, wet it and direct the fan at the sponge. As the fan dries the sponge it emits cool air as the moisture evaporates. Keep your bunnies out of the sun.