In the spring, our local grain elevator sells baby chicks and during the summer they’ll often sell newly weaned, cute little bunnies.
We often hear and participate in the impromptu question and answer sessions as soon-to-be new rabbit owners pepper the store staff with questions about rabbit care.
In the hot weather, we inevitably we hear questions such as: Can Bunnies Sweat? and Do Rabbits Have Sweat Glands?
Here we answer these frequent questions for you.
Technically rabbits can sweat, but not well enough to cool themselves by sweating. They have small sweat glands in their mouths but rabbits are nose breathers, so the sweat glands in their mouths are not effective. Furthermore, some overheated rabbits try to pant like a dog, but this is not very effective either.
How Weird Is That – To Have Sweat Glands In Your Mouth!
Read On To Learn How To Help Your Rabbit Stay Cool!
Do Rabbits Have Sweat Glands
Yes, a rabbit has small sweat glands in its mouth. However, these sweat glands are very ineffective, if not useless, particularly since a rabbit breathes through its nose.
Rabbits do not have other sweat glands and do not perspire like humans. Thats right: your rabbit is not able to sweat like a human or a horse!
This is why rabbits do not do well in the heat, often struggling to keep cool. This is also why owners must be very diligent, especially during the hot summer months.
Rabbits are really at a large disadvantage in the heat because their lovely, thick fur coats make it hard for their body heat to escape.
How Do Desert Rabbits Stay Cool
Desert rabbits and hares are in their burrows and cooler hiding places during the heat of the day.
Twilight hours, early morning and early evening are cooler times for the crepuscular rabbit. In addition, desert evenings can be chilly even in the summer!
Desert rabbits thrive by only being active and exposed during the cooler hours of the day.
How Does A Rabbit Cool Off And Control Body Temperature
Heat naturally transfers from a place of greater heat to a place of less heat, and the Michigan State University Extension explains how rabbits use this fundamental law of physics to cool their body temperatures:
Rabbit ears have the least fur and often the most surface area of their body. So, as the rabbit’s body temperature rises the blood vessels in the rabbit’s ears expand; this allows more blood to flow through the ears.
The warm blood warms the rabbit’s ears and the big ears act as radiators, radiating the heat away from the rabbit! Furthermore, the slightly cooler blood cycles back to the rabbit’s core body from the ears and is reheated by the core body.
The blood then cycles back through the ears to give off some more heat; and the rabbit’s small cooling cycle continues. Interestingly, elephants use this same technique to help cool their body temperatures with their large ears.
Additionally, wild rabbits often retreat to their underground burrows or warrens during the heat of the summer day. A burrow or warren that is 3 or more feet below ground level is much cooler than the above ground temperature.
In most places on the planet, a burrow 3 ft (1 meter) underground will be much cooler than the air above ground. Remember that the steady temperature of the Earth’s crust is around 55 degrees F (that’s almost 13 C).
Do Rabbits Overheat
Yes, during hot summer months, rabbits can overheat. Overheating is known as hyperthermia, heat prostration, or heat stress.
If your rabbit shows signs of overheating or hyperthermia then you have to act fast to help it cool down and consider seeking medical attention from your veterinarian.
We can not think or assume that our rabbit is comfortable with the temperature just because we are comfortable with the temperature. Rabbits wear a thick coat of fur and are not able to sweat or pant.
Signs your rabbit is struggling to cool off and is at risk:
- Trying to pant. This looks like mouth breathing and gasping for air
- Reddish ears – due to more blood circulating through ears to help cool the rabbit
- Lack of mobility, reduced mobility, clumsy mobility
- Lethargic and not eating
- Convulsions or Seizures
- Body Temperature over 103 F (39.44 C)
- Blue-ish lips and tongues
- Increased heart rate and breathing rate (respirations)
- Wet noses and mouths (trying to sweat using those sweat glands in their mouths)
- Bubbly (frothy) discharges from nose and mouth
.
How To Help My Rabbit Stay Cool
Here are several proactive ways to help your bunny stay cool when it is hot outside.
- Groom Your Rabbit – regularly comb and brush your rabbit to remove unnecessary fur and hair. In the late spring a rabbit should shed its heavy winter coat while it grows out a lighter weight summer coat.
You can groom your rabbit through the spring and summer to help reduce excess fur. Grooming will also result in a stronger relationship between you and your rabbit. It’s a win-win!
- Cool Damp Cloth – As you groom your rabbit you can apply a cool, damp cloth to the bunnies ears to help with the transfer of heat away from the rabbit.
- Access to Unlimited Cool Water – Ensure your bunny has plenty of Cool water. This may mean changing the rabbit’s water several times a day during the high heat of summer. Additionally, you can put some ice cubes in your rabbit’s water. Some rabbits enjoy chewing ice cubes.
- Ceramic Tile – Make a ceramic tile or cooling mat available for your rabbit.
- Fans – Place a small fan near your rabbit’s cage or hutch. A well placed fan also helps keep flies and other stressful pests away from your rabbit.
- Hutch And Cage Placement – Ensure your bunny’s hutch or cage is not in the direct sunlight. If your rabbits are usually housed outdoors, then on the hottest days of summer consider bring your rabbit inside for the mid-day and early afternoon hours (this can be done by using a pet carry cage).
Emergency Actions For Rabbit Hyperthermia
In an absolute emergency, you can place your rabbit in a bucket or foot tub of tepid or slightly cool water but be sure to support the rabbit’s head and keep it out of the water as a hyperthermic rabbit may not be able to keep its own head out of the water.
Tepid means only slightly warm, as in 70 to 80 degrees F (21 to 27 degrees C)…placing a bunny in cold water will very likely shock the bunny and may kill it.
Note that 70 to 80 degrees F is roughly 20 to 30 degrees less than the Rabbits normal body temperature and will do plenty to help cool down the hyperthermic rabbit’s core body temperature (this is similar to placing a young child with an extended high fever in a tepid bath to help cool the core body temperature).
Why Does My Rabbit Smell Sweaty?
Rabbits have scent glands under their chins and around their genitals and anus. But typically, rabbits don’t smell; a healthy bunny is meticulously clean!
Rabbits use these scent glands for marking territory as well as communicating with other rabbits. Now if their genital scent glands get blocked, this releases a brown wax responsible for the sweaty, foul smell.
Most rabbits can keep their scent glands clean and clear by grooming, but older or sick rabbits may have a hard time reaching their scent glands for grooming. As such, you may have to help them by cleaning their scent glands once or twice a month.
You can do this by gently holding your rabbit and using a wet Q-tip to wipe around the rabbit’s genitals and anus. A little bit of vaseline to lubricate the Q-Tip can be very helpful.
Do Rabbits Sweat Through Their Feet?
Rabbits don’t sweat through their feet because their sweat glands are inside their mouth.
An interesting study in the American Journal of Psychology confirms that rabbits don’t contain sweat glands in their feet and therefore do not sweat through their feet.
Do Bunnies Overheat?
Bunnies can definitely overheat when it’s too hot outside.
It is always better to prevent hyperthermia in bunnies than to have to try and treat it. Owners of older, overweight, or immune compromised rabbits should be extra careful and very observant of their rabbits in the heat.
Frequently Asked Questions Related to
Do Rabbits Sweat
Do Baby Rabbits Sweat?
No, baby bunnies do not sweat.
Additionally, their ears are still relatively small and do not radiate heat as an adult rabbit’s ears. As such, baby bunnies are particularly susceptible to overheating.
Why Is My Rabbit Panting and Laying Down?
If you see your rabbit “panting” and laying down when it is extremely hot or humid, then it may actually be mouth breathing and gasping for air, trying to cool down.
Rabbits can’t really pant effectively. A rabbit that is “panting” and laying down is likely overheated and needs proactive attention right away.
Why Is My Bunny Sweating?
Your rabbit is not sweating. The Rabbit does not have sweat glands, except for the small ones in its mouth.
Instead, it may be drooling from the mouth as it tries to cope with overheating. Alternatively, your rabbit may have just been sprayed by a territorial or aggressive buck.
Final Thoughts on Can Bunnies Sweat
Here are the main take aways:
- Rabbits have small sweat glands in their mouths but they essentially don’t sweat.
- Rabbits can not pant like a dog.
- Radiating heat from their ears is rabbits’ primary way to try and cool their body temperature.
- Underlying health conditions, old age, and high humidity can increase the risk of overheating, so you must be extra cautious in these situations.
Please take a moment and review the list of indicators that your rabbit is overheated, along with the list of preventive and proactive steps you can take to help keep your rabbit from overheating. These lists are rabbit life-savers in hot weather!