AC is out -- looking for best solution

[inkling]

Not sure if this falls under emergencies, so please feel free to move if necessary.

I am currently away from home and have been for the last 5 weeks. My chinchilla has been in the care of my boyfriend and roommates while I've been gone. I won't be back until the end of July.

The issue at hand, however, is that the air conditioning has gone out. The repair man was in today but we need a new blower, so this may not be resolved until Monday. My chinchilla is in PA, near Pittsburgh, and I'm down in North Carolina. Today the high in PA is only right around 80 degrees for a short time, and with his granite slab and the room he's in, he should be fine. My room stays the most well-controlled temperature-wise and it is only around the low 70s or so. He seemed just fine yesterday and has been fine so far today from what my boyfriend and roommates tell me. He's still active, still himself.

The problem, however, is the weekend. The weekend it's going to get much hotter, 86 and 88. I have a few options.

Option #1: Move him directly downstairs to the office I work in (and my landlord also works in over the weekends). This is in a basement and would be cool. He could be moved, cage and all, downstairs for the whole weekend. The change in environment may freak him out, however, and he hasn't met my landlord/boss before.

Option #2: Move him downstairs to the office but in his carrier for the hottest parts of the days this weekend. However, this may be for four to five hours. He would also be left with my landlord at least on Saturday, who again he hasn't met before. (He IS extremely friendly and eager to meet people, but it may still stress him out, all of this happening at once.)

Option #3: Set up fans in the windows of my room, with the windows open and the fans facing outward. This would suck out all of the hot air. Keep his granite slab frozen for during the day and keep his cage covered to keep hot/humid air from coming in, etc.

Option #4: My boyfriend is going to a friend's tomorrow afternoon for a cookout. They have guinea pigs and a nice cool basement. He could bring my chinchilla with him in his carrier and keep him in the basement away from everyone, and then check on him periodically so he knows everything is okay.

I'm not sure what the best option is. I want to avoid the heat, which he so far has been unaffected by because my room is generally nice regardless, but I also don't want to unnecessarily stress him out.

Advice? Let me know if anything needs clarified. Thank you.

 

[obcsed]

If the office has A/C, move him down there until yours is fixed. Making one move to some place with stable temperatures is going to be easier on him and evertone else than trying to keep juggling to keep him cool.

 

[Basket_of_Chinchillas]

Is the basement guaranteed to be cool enough for him the whole weekend? Is it temp controlled? If yes, I would be leaning towards option 1. That way he gets to stay in his cage, his 'zone', and he will not get heat stroke. It's just for a weekend, he'll have food, water, etc., everything he needs.
Option 2 sounds more stressful, since he'll be stuck in the little carrier and someone will have to be continually checking on him and whatnot.
Option 3 just might not work. Too high risk for my liking. Also, keeping his cage covered is just as likely to trap the heat in, rather than keeping it out.
Option 4 could work, but it just seems easier to go with option 1.

 

[kenko]

It sounds to me like option 1 is the best out of all of these. As long as your boss/landlord is on board with the idea (and agrees to some chin rules) and your office isn't loud or has lots of people coming in and out, I really don't see the downside to this one. We moved our chin to the basement for the summer and he was a little bit grouchy for a few days, but he quickly got over it.

Option 2 + 4 also involves moving him to an unfamiliar location plus keeping him confined to his carrier for hours on end, and with 4 there may be the worry of communicable disease with the guinea pigs. Fans may move air around, but if the air it's moving is already above optimal chinchilla temperatures it doesn't do a whole lot of good.

 

[inkling]

My landlord/boss immediately offered to have him down there and to take care of him for the weekend. It is either cooler or air-controlled, but it is still an unfamiliar space (and an unfamiliar person, but for him that generally just means he'll try harder to jump out of his cage). She does have a Yorkie, but I can probably ask her to leave her at home for the weekend.

The office isn't very busy at all, especially over the weekend, and the phones won't even be on. Only my boss's personal cell phone. She'll probably put him in the back, as well, which is farther away from the entrance, although again, generally no one comes in anyway.

My boyfriend has my keys to the office so he and my landlord both could just check his food and water levels over the weekend without much hassle.

My only concern is at what point the AC is fixed. If he has to be in that office on Monday, this may be a different story. I have a co-worker who is very loud and boisterous and would possibly be too aggressive in trying to interact with him. And if I ask my boss to make sure this doesn't happen, she'll probably be pissy all day long. And, she gets louder as people come in and out of the office. If he's in the way, way back, he probably wouldn't be affected by this, however, as long as they aren't trying to bother him.

 

[chechinchillas]

I haven't ever tried this before, but I was told if you get a large bucket or wash tub of ice and blow an electric fan across it, that it will cool a small room down. I would take him to a basement to be safe. IF the basement is cool enough you could cover the front of his cage with a thin sheet, so he wouldn't be as stressed. It would be fine to have him in a carrier for just a couple of days as long as it's all metal and he can't chew out.