Chinchilla and heat

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maelos

Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2017
Messages
16
Hello guys :) I'm afraid for the upcoming of summer with my chinchilla

I saw on google that they allow 16 to 21°C (I guess i can push it to 23) so it's 60-70F. Here in france, summers can rise up to 40°C often...

Is there any practical way to cool down my little chin ? I thought about a fan but I don't know it can make her sick and it doesn't really work that great. I can't afford those machine that make the room cold. i also thought about a giant ice cube in a bowl so the water don't spill, I know it works for cats but chins ... Idk

Any tips ? :)
 
It doesn't get too warm here in Britain but little ice packs secured in fleece pouches (so the chin can't get to the plastic) would allow them to cool off a bit. I also found a metal cookie tin or glass mason jars and put a bag of ice in there so that they could get as close as they wanted to to something cold. Everything I read said to rinse the jar/tin off first so that the chin isn't exposed to freezer-burn.

During a couple of warmer days when I got worried I would move them to the coolest room in the house and put metal baking trays on top of the cage with ice packs all along it. Since cold air sinks it was always at least a bit cooler in the cage as the ice melted. I'd wipe down the tray every so often, or leave a towel to absorb the moisture though so that the condensation wouldn't drip on them at all. People also recommend keeping marble/granite slabs in the fridge and putting them in for them to lay on. You can swap them out every so often so that they stay cool as long as possible. Black out curtains to ensure the sun doesn't get into the room will also help keep the temperature down at least a few degrees.
 
Unfortunately you really don't want to push it more then about 25C in the room at the very highest assuming it's only for an hour or two and the humidity is low (well below 50%) and the chin isn't playing. The chin will die if kept in temps that high for any real length of time. A fan will do nothing but blow hot air around and likely make your chin sick if it's blowing on her. Chins don't have sweat glands, they are from a cold dry climate so sweating would naturally be bad. Fans can be good to help circulate already cool air around, or to pull cool air into the room if it's colder outside to cool a room down (assuming the chin is not in the path of the air flow) but that's about it. A bowl of ice is not a good idea either, it might work as a very very temporary fix until you can get the chin into a cooler room, but chins should not get wet, their fur will get moldy and fall out if not completely dried off. Also a chin could drown in a bowl of water. Some people do use bottles of water wrapped in fleece to keep them dry, as a temporary fix, but those need to be changed out every hour or so and only work if the chin is willing to go near it. Stone tiles, frozen and changed out every half hour can also be used in addition to help, but really are for additional cooling in an already cool room and once again only if your chin is willing to sit on it. As ticklechin mentioned, if you have a basement or something that is cooler that can be another option, growing up we never had ac and kept the chins in the down stairs with the cages on brick and concrete, with heavy blinds to block any sunlight, the room never got too too hot. Not sure exactly sure on the actual temp but probably in the 20s C even when it was close to 40C outside on occasion. Oh and just so you know, no playing with or touching the chin if it's hot out. Having a thermometer near the cage that also measures humidity really helps to keep an eye on what the room is like.

An air conditioner is really the only way to keep the temp and humidity at the right levels for a chin (below 25C and below 50% humidity). If you can't afford one or have a room that the chin can go that isn't going to get much past lower 20s C I suggest you look into rehoming your chin with someone who can. Also, I don't know what it's like in France, but if an ac unit is out of your price range you might want to keep in mind that most places vet bills can easily reach the hundreds to thousands of dollars since chins are exotics and need to see an exotic specialist that knows chins.
 
It gets to around 35°C here when its very hot

I guess I can buy an air conditioner, just hoped there would be another way

All the rooms here are the same, no basement, so it won't change
 
there rly isnt much of an option regarding air condition for a chin. They can over heat and die quite easily. You want it 70F or less. 73+F is pushing it.

Fans can help with air circulation but thats it. The reason a fan cools us some is because we sweat. Chins cant do that. So a fan on them just feels like hot air being blown in there face. The draft can also cause upper respiratory infections.

Chinchillers and ice packs are only a temporary short term solution. Good in a pinch but will not last very long. They must be kept cool. Air condition is really the only option if they are at a location that gets hot.
 
70°F sounds very low already to me :eek: we're barely in april and it's 20°C in the room already (so ~67°F)

I don't mind buying an air conditioner, its not like I won't have any use of it myself

Though I've heard of air refreshener (I couldn't find the exact word in english) it's pretty much a fan that uses frozen water to cool down the air it blows... Ever heard of that ?

https://www.amazon.fr/Klarstein-Max...8-c367-4193-9234-547be923bc0a&pf_rd_i=desktop It looks like this (its french sorry as i said I can't find it in english for some reason, air refreshener doesn't exist)
 
I can't read french and the pic in the link just looks like a portable ac unit. But from what you are describing it sounds like you are asking about a swamp cooler (also known as evaporative cooler). They work well if you live in a very dry place, like the desert, since they work by adding moisture to the air to basically suck the heat out of the air by evaporating. I have heard of people using them in places like Arizona, but since they add moisture to the air you would also need a dehumidifier to help keep the humidity down unless you live in a very dry area. Humans are fine with more humidity in the air, but as I said chins are not, ideally you want it 40% or lower for them, 50% is the highest assuming the temp is low.
 
I'm not sure that's really a swamp cooler, it uses water to purify the air (somehow, don't ask me how) and you can put ice in it to breeze cool air

But anyway, i'll just buy an air conditioner it's not as expensive as I thought a 200euro one should be plenty for my 15m² room (161 square foot)
 
From your description it sounds like a cheaper inefficient version of a low tech AC. It really wont be enough for a chin that needs temperature control 24/7. Iv seen several people over the years try to get around this. But there really is no good alternative then a AC of some form.

You want to keep it at 70F or less. - It is the same over here this week too. Yesterday was like 80F out side. Today is even warmer. While its not as big a deal for me because i like warmer temperatures. Its very bad for chins who need colder temperatures.

Right now, since it is the start of the warm season, i have not put the window unit AC in my chins room. So i have to use the central AC. I close off all vents in the building except the chin room so it only cools that room. But i have to manually turn it on and off since the temperature gauge is in another room. - I got a little side tracked earlier today and when i remembered and went into my chin room it was 75F. Which is more then i ever want it to be. Its dangerous. And my one girl was lying there looking hot and exhausted. I had to turn the AC on right away and put some chinchillers in the cage for fast temporary cooling. (Chinchillers= a granite type slab that is cold from the refrigerator. Not sure if that would translates over well.)

But yea.. really no substitute for AC if anyone lives in a place where it will get over 70F.
 
It's fine I bought the AC today, didn't try yet but it was cheap-ish and made for small rooms like mine so it should be enough

Thanks guys :)
 
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