Yorkshire Rabbit Retreat

28/05/2026

With this hot weather forecast to continue we thought we'd remind you of a post we did last year:
🥵🐇 ☀️☀️☀️
Summer Heat and Bunnies
It’s that time of year when temperatures are soaring and our buns need to stay cool. Extremes of temperature are not good news for our furry friends; and heat can kill!

Rabbits cannot sweat or pant like a dog would to lose heat; it takes them longer to cool down, most of their heat is lost through their ears.

Please note if you have artificial grass that rabbits have access to the temperature of that grass in the sun can be as much as 20C degrees higher than that of real grass!

Here are a few things you can do to help prevent your rabbits being affected:
☀️ For outdoor buns their setup needs to be in a shady spot if not already. Hutches act like ovens and retain heat!
☀️ Exercise time in the garden should be limited to cooler times of the day (if at all on really hot days) and ensure shade is provided.
☀️ Always have clean, cool fresh water in a bowl for them to drink from; bunnies can quench their thirst more easily from a bowl; which is a more natural way of drinking for them.
☀️ Very long haired rabbits would benefit from a trim.
☀️ If using fans to cool their area / room don’t have it directly blowing on them. If it’s facing them leave it on oscillating; and remember to rabbit proof any electrical cables. If you have air conditioning in their room then again if it’s portable protect the electrical cables.
☀️ Give them a cool surface to lie on. This could be a hard floor such as lino or tiles. A large ceramic floor tile placed in the freezer to cool beforehand is an easy way to cool them if they are on carpeted flooring.
☀️ Cool mats are useful too but not if you have a rabbit who chews things. You could use frozen water bottles for your rabbits to lean against but not all rabbits like them.
☀️ Rinse any forage / greens in cold water to help with their fluid intake too.

If you see any sign of heatstroke or your rabbit is obviously struggling with the heat you can hold a cold damp cloth against their ears to help them to drop their body temperature. It is important that you ask advice from your vet or get them booked in for an emergency appointment.

26/05/2026

🥳🥳 Aubrey and Wilbur have been keeping a secret......

For the last week they have been bonding with Mylo and they went off to their new home yesterday!!!
Some of you will know that this pair have been with us since 2024! With a brief trial in a new home over Christmas but the bond sadly didn't work.
Mylo was the perfect candidate to join this duo as like them he has the snuffles which is a respiratory problem.

Even in this red hot weather they chose to chill together 😍
We are so happy for them to finally have a home to call their own. Thank you so much Gemma 💚💜

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25/05/2026

Can we just take a moment to admire these tremendous whiskers?! 😍

Those whiskers belong to beautiful Maggie.

She came from a small hoarding situation resulting in her having two back to back litters in foster care. No more litters for you Mrs.....
Thankfully the babies have found rescue space elsewhere.

Maggie is due to be spayed at the beginning of June and then she can start searching for her forever after

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21/05/2026

19/05/2026

"our rabbits don't get on so we need to rehome one"

This is a reason we get regular with surrender requests. But before you come to this conclusion there are a few key questions:

1. Are all your rabbits neutered?
This is a big one and neutering could easily solve all the problems you're having.

2. Are you using the correct bonding method?
For example, fighting between a fence does not mean your rabbits won't get along or they don't like each other. They may not like each other in that moment because they are seeing the other bunny as a tress passer to the area they are in. Bunnies are very territorial and a neutral area for initial introductions is very important.

3. If they have fallen out, are there any reasons for this such as being split after an illness or have there been any changes such as being moved or any new toys etc?
9 times out of 10 rabbits can be rebonded who have previously had a good bond.

We will not consider taking in your rabbit(s) unless all avenues have been explored that may enable you to keep your pets

** photo features Basil our naughty little sanctuary bun 🤭 who is available to sponsor!

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14/05/2026

Did you know......?

We no longer feed vegetables to the rabbits under the care of YRR. No, we aren't being mean 😆 it's for good reason.
We often hear that people sadly lose their bunnies to GI problems and the only big difference we could see was that we had never fed a whole lot of fresh vegetables whereas we see lots of photos of rabbits with mounds of veg in front of them. Of course there are the bunnies who are extra sensitive and do struggle no matter what you feed them.

If you think about it, veggies can be gassy for us humans so to give them to an animal who has a complicated digestive system probably isn't the best idea. Also wild rabbits will have very limited access to these veggies, but they would opt for grasses, wild plants and bark etc.

What do we feed instead?

This time of year is perfect for bunnies, grass and dandelions are plentiful and all their other favourite things are growing too. Brambles, sticky w**d, plantain, willow, apple, clover, hawthorn etc and not to forget our edible garden flowers such as Roses, Lavender, strawberry plants, Geums and the list goes on. There are many different health benefits from these plants too!! Such as antioxidants, anti inflammatory etc
Please do ensure you do your research before giving your bunny any wild/garden plants as there are many toxic ones too.

In the colder months we will feed lots of dried forage which we dry ourselves or buy in. The exception to the rule is herbs such as dill, coriander, parsley, mint, basil which we will buy in for them but remember moderation is key.

Here are 2 of our permanent bunnies Cecelia and Onyx enjoying their grass.

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13/05/2026

Bruno and Henry are our most recent additions at almost 2 years old. They find themselves in rescue due to no fault of their own.
They made themselves at home with our fosterer in less than 24 hours as you can see in the photos!
Lovely friendly boys who love their herbs! 🌱 🌿

Watch this space... You will soon find them on our website 🐇 🐇

08/05/2026

Have you hopped over to our online shop recently? We’ve got some gorgeous items on there which we will be adding to shortly; so please keep checking it out.

Here are a couple of items that you might like:
Forage bag - hand painted by a local artist and a cute Forget me Not rabbit pin badge.
Link to page below: https://www.yorkshirerabbitretreat.org/category/all-products

07/05/2026

Even though we have over 50 years of combined experience with 1000s of beautiful bunnies, many people like to challenge our knowledge and think they know better after caring for a few or sometimes just one rabbit. Maybe they will listen to the blue Cross???..... Maybe not but we can try

It's genuinely soul destroying to find people who aren't willing to listen or make life better for their pets

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Did you know that rabbits are one of the most misunderstood pets?

Rabbits are naturally social animals. In the wild, they live in groups for safety and comfort - never alone. Without companionship, they can become lonely, withdrawn, and deeply unhappy.

Give them the companionship they deserve. 💔

Learn more about bonding and companionship here 👉 https://bit.ly/3PDcD1w

06/05/2026

Just a quick thank you to the person who very kindly sent us these gifts from our amazon wish list. There was no note with these 🐇 🫶

https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/18O5COIRNXYO7?ref_=wl_share