AC issues

[Luci]

i know there are numerous threads about having ac problems and what to do to keep chins comfortable. this morning, our ac went out and usually work orders take forever to be filled (i live in an apt). i went out and bought a small fan (at least to keep air circulating), and a terra cotta plate to put in his cage along with the chin chiller. while i was at class, my roommate told me maintenance had come so i was excited. but i just got home and turns out, it went out again. the guy just opened all the vents (i had closed them a month ago to get colder ac in my room) and changed the fliter. but still a problem.

i hate my apt complex but cant get out now cuz of my lease. aside from chin chillers, how else do i keep gizmo happy? i just checked on him, hes not all energetic like usual but his ears arent red and they feel normal (not cold though). temp in my room is 85 and unbearable for even me. anyway to insulate his cage and keep it cool???

please any ideas/help would be amazing!

 

[Cat75]

Are they coming back NOW to fix it? You may be forced to move him somewhere that has A/C until yours gets fixed and able to cool your place down.

 

[Essentia]

Considering the temp. is so high now, I would bring him to the car and turn the AC on high in there. Unless they are coming out now to fix it you may have to get a hotel for the night. You don't have to go with something crazy expensive, just something that you feel comfortable in that has AC (pretty much all motels and hotels). This is also $$$ you should demand to get back from your apartment complex. Keep your receipt.

 

[alli713]

85 is wayyyy too hot for a chin! And a fan will not cool your chin down one bit since they don't sweat. At that temp, chinchillers are not really going to help. I would be packing up to go to a friend's/relative's or even a hotel if you don't have anywhere else to go. Or call around and see if any boarding facilities will take in a chin if they have a/c. Temps that high can be deadly.

 

[Luci]

good news is they just got to my apt to fix the ac again. lets see if it works this time. i sat down with gizmo for a bit and his ears were normal and his paws felt normal too (still not cold like usual, but not warm). he was more active and started to run in his wheel. lets see if they can get the ac going. if not, i'll take him to work with me (libraries are so cold and gizmo can read magazines while he waits).

 

[Essentia]

Any news on the AC?

 

[Luci]

so an update...
i had to take gizmo with me to spend the night at a friends. when i went back to get the last of my things, my thermometer read 90 in my room alone (thank goodness gizmo was already at my friends). so he and i are still at my friends place waiting. my roommate says the ac is fixed but i may wait a bit to make sure it doesnt go out again.

at the moment, hes in a small pet carrier but gets playtime in the bathroom every few hours for 15 min. mostly so i can clean out his cage and he can stretch. but umm...i think he managed to sit in his pee before i got to clean it. his fur at the bottom isnt wet but you can tell it was. do i clean him with a damp cloth or just leave it?

 

[Luciole]

A damp cloth wouldn't hurt.

 

[Rickman]

Unscented baby wipes are a good thing to have around!

 

[Essentia]

I would put a bit of bedding at the bottom of the carrier. Even a few paper towels or some newspaper will do. That way when he urinates it has somewhere to go other than just sitting there and getting absorbed into his fur.

 

[fluke]

my a/c was screwed up in my apartment for two years (leaking freon). It went out literally around 15 times last summer. They've finally fixed it but I was almost to the point of getting some kind of thermometer that transmits the temp to my phone or something. But yea 85 is way too hot I think. I mean some chins maybe can handle it if they're coat is just not as dense but I wouldn't risk it. When mine wouuld go out, if I was too broke for a hotel, I got like twenty pounds of ice, filled my tub with it and sat their little carriers on top. If you close off the bathroom and get fans going in there too it can actually get pretty cool. Think at one point I had the bathroom nearly ten degrees lower than the apt. But sometimes you just have to take your chins and sleep in your car.

I read something once online though about making a little air conditioner type thing with a regular fan, an aquarium pump, an ice chest, and some copper tubing.

 

[whiskers387]

Yeah the bathtub idea sounds good, another thing i heard is filling a bucket with ice and putting a fan right behind it

 

[Cat75]

Were you able to move gizmo back to the apartment?

 

[HaleyGoBoom]

I have AC but my room is probably the warmest in the house, so I still provide them with some extras that might help keep them cool but can't replace AC.

-The chinchiller-zilla I built, basically a wooden frame with a tile on top, underneath the tile are icepacks that cool it. There's a thread in chin chat or housing somewhere.
-Pickle jars filled with ice (just make sure they can't break it or open it)
-Putting bath dust in the freezer
-At night I run my fan by the window to bring the fresh cool night air in since we don't run the AC at night and my room gets stuffy on those 100+ days.

Mostly these are things I do when the AC isn't running, but the temp never goes above 80 ever, the AC turns back on before then so, don't use these as a means to keep them alive, just a little extra comfort on those warm days.

Can't wait to welcome Sunday, 103*