Alternatives to air conditioning?

[Mokele Mbembe]

I live in California and the weather where I’m at is usually between 60-70 degrees. But there are days in the summer where the temperature gets to 90 degrees or higher.

What are my options to keep a chinchilla cool if I can’t have an a/c due to the expensive electric bill? Would an evaporative cool be sufficient if I aim it directly to the chinchilla’s cage? Would a granite slab help keep a chinchilla cool if the temperature gets hot?

 

[ChinsForLife]

In all honesty, you can't keep a chinchilla without an ac unit. They can have a heat stroke within just a few hours of the temp being over 78°.(and it really should never get above 72° as they can still suffer from heat exhaustion which can slowly and ultimately progress to a heat stroke) a granite slab only cools a chin because it stays a little cooler than the air meaning if the temp is 80°, the granite slab won't do much of anything and plus, it's really only for extra cooling. Nothing replaces an AC.

That being said, if your AC breaks down and you need to cool your chins temporarily until you can get an ac unit installed, there are a few methods to cool them just enough to keep them stable but it wouldn't be right to put them through that all the time. Unfortunately, it's simply inevitable.

 

[Mokele Mbembe]

In all honesty, you can't keep a chinchilla without an ac unit. They can have a heat stroke within just a few hours of the temp being over 78°.(and it really should never get above 72° as they can still suffer from heat exhaustion which can slowly and ultimately progress to a heat stroke) a granite slab only cools a chin because it stays a little cooler than the air meaning if the temp is 80°, the granite slab won't do much of anything and plus, it's really only for extra cooling. Nothing replaces an AC.

That being said, if your AC breaks down and you need to cool your chins temporarily until you can get an ac unit installed, there are a few methods to cool them just enough to keep them stable but it wouldn't be right to put them through that all the time. Unfortunately, it's simply inevitable.

I agree now. I’ll just stick to a different pet. Thanks for the advice!