Heat question

[Brittany_Lynn]

Not sure what the temp in my living room/kitchen area is (Rodya, Sonya, and Pico are in the Living Room, Mork is in the Kitchen), it feels hot to me but I've been checking on everyone every 30 minutes (and getting superkacks for it), and every time I feel their ears, they're almost cool to the touch. Definitely not room temp. Is that okay? I have an AC in the window of the living room, about 8 feet away are Rodya and Sonya (on one wall, stacked cages), and just as far away is Pico, but against a different wall. Through the doorway is Mork, but he is actually against a wall with a window that has a window fan on it, and Mork likes to sit there with his face on the bars of the cage, level with the fan, ears blowing in the wind lol.
Anyway, if their ears are fine and they're acting normal, I shouldn't be worried, right?

 

[Laurie]

I go by ears and behavior. I know my chins do quite fine with 72 degrees--ears are not pink, everyone is active--but when it hits 73 or 74 ears are pink and they are very quite--about 74 and Bobo will lay down--this is always the indicator for me. Being upstairs in an apartment I cannot put in a window unit, so I have to rely on the livingroom A/C to cool off my room. I try to keep that room at 72 or below--I know they are fine if I have to sleep with a sheet or blanket on.

Definitely keep an eye on the ears. You also might want to buy a thermostat you can hang up in the rooms to see the actually temp--that's what I did for all my rooms.

 

[Dragonflye]

I have a thermometer in my chin room, I keep the temp. between 68 and 70. I like it to be consistent. I guess I don't trust my perception of the temperature. Mine has a humidity reading as well which is helpful.

 

[mishellyshel]

my guys do ok until it hits about 76ish. but my house is on 70 pretty much all year, cooler in the winter actually.

the downstairs never gets warm and i run a dehumidifer. but sometimes the air can not compete with the outside heat & humidity and it will get up to about 75, i have ceiling fans running and no direct sunlight and they are fine.

i think in addition to the heat, you need control the humidity. i believe peggy once said it should be at 50% ???

 

[Sandi]

Humidity should be below 50%. As I've been told and read that mold can grow above the 50% mark. Also, it's not good for the fan to be directly blowing into the chins cage. Can you put Mork into the room that has the a/c as well? Definitely get a thermometer asap. They are as cheap as $1.00 at Wal-Mart. I bought a digital one that has the temperature and humidity reading for $7.00.

 

[lauralynne]

Definitely get a thermometer asap.

Amen. You HAVE to have a thermometer. You cannot just go by how you feel alone. The ear indications help, but that's not something I would rely on. You NEED to know what the temperature is where your chins are located.

 

[Pleiades]

Welp, I just got done migrating my boys and their Martin cage down to the basement where it is a relieving 68F. They are a little bewildered with the change of scenery. Our central air broke last night, and we can't have someone out to fix it until later today. It's getting on 77 upstairs and I'm dying! I'm going to go downstairs and hang out with the sleeping boys, probably. Argh, I miss Winter!

Boy, that was a hassle but I'd do anything for my chinnies :hearts:

 

[mishellyshel]

I had to do the same thing last year. Our central air broke and for 2 days we all migrated to the basement.

 

[Stackie]

Amen. You HAVE to have a thermometer. You cannot just go by how you feel alone. The ear indications help, but that's not something I would rely on. You NEED to know what the temperature is where your chins are located.

I agree...a thermometer is definitely a must. I would not risk at all just guessing the temperature. Their ears may not appear red but they still may be uncomfortable. Generally if it feels warm to us, most likely it's warm to the chins. We aren't even wearing a fur coat like they are....

 

[Jenn]

my chin does alright with temps up in the mid 70's, but I feel much better now that we got an a/c installed last summer and I can keep the temp down to the upper 60's to 72-ish. Right now it is 80 outside and 67 in the chin room. I agree that monitoring your chin's behavior is good, but I am imagining you can't be there all the time, and sometimes what feels comfy for us may not be the same for our furry friends. A thermometer is a must, and an a/c unit.

 

[caiti]

I always know that if I'm freezing, Chloe's doing ok. I get cold easily and have actually been getting back problems because I sleep curled up in the fetal position every night since I'm so chilly (Chloe's in my room)!!! Knowing the temp and humidity really helps. When I first got a hygrometer with temp gauge I didn't realize how much the humidity can alter how hot or cold it feels. Plus, then you can know what range your chin is most comfortable in by observing them and looking at the temp/humidity.

 

[Brittany_Lynn]

Thanks everyone, I will get a thermometer, look into a humidifier, and see what I can work out with getting Mork into the AC room. He's just about as close to the AC as the others, but there's a but of a wall between his cage and the AC.
They haven't been lethargic or anything I was just worried because I get paranoid about my animals. They haven 't changed their behavior at all, actually. Lol.

 

[caiti]

Do you need a humidifier where you are? Or do you mean hygrometer (humidity gauge)? Some temperature gauges come with a hygrometer so you can read both on the same display. You can get a digital one or a dial one for pretty cheap.

When my little AC is just not cutting it, I put a fan in my room and point it upwards. It makes a difference, trust me. I guess it's just the fan on the AC can't really circulate the cold air that well and bringing in a fan helps a lot.

 

[threewingedfury]

Thanks everyone, I will get a thermometer, look into a humidifier, and see what I can work out with getting Mork into the AC room.

You definitely don't need a humidifier - if anything, a dehumidifier, but no need to get one unless your humidity is really high. What has been mentioned in this thread is to get a small thermometer that also measures humidity. You don't want to increase the humidity in the room with a humidifier.

 

[Ash]

Not sure what the temp in my living room/kitchen area is (Rodya, Sonya, and Pico are in the Living Room, Mork is in the Kitchen), it feels hot to me but I've been checking on everyone every 30 minutes (and getting superkacks for it), and every time I feel their ears, they're almost cool to the touch. Definitely not room temp. Is that okay? I have an AC in the window of the living room, about 8 feet away are Rodya and Sonya (on one wall, stacked cages), and just as far away is Pico, but against a different wall. Through the doorway is Mork, but he is actually against a wall with a window that has a window fan on it, and Mork likes to sit there with his face on the bars of the cage, level with the fan, ears blowing in the wind lol.
Anyway, if their ears are fine and they're acting normal, I shouldn't be worried, right?

I'm confused. A) is the window open with the fan pulling in air? If so, that's not going to keep it cool enough for Mork. B) Is the door closed or does it have some sort of block (heavy blanket/sheet) to keep the cool air in if the window IS open?

Why can't Mork be in the same room as the other chinchillas? That would probably be the best scenario.

 

[Brittany_Lynn]

Oops, I meant DE-humidifier..it was really humid here the past week, that's why I was thinking about it.

Yes the window fan is on an open window, pulling air in to him.
The Living Room has 2 open doorways, without doors. One leads to the hallway, the other to the kitchen--RIGHT on the other side of that small wall/doorway is where Mork is located.

I've been trying to figure out a way to move everything around so that Mork can fit, it's just hard because he has to be on a separate wall or else he goes crazy and tries to kill whoever he's next to, and Sonya will spray him if they're near each other cage-wise. Ideally I would put Pico and Mork together so that they could share one cage, but I've tried twice now--once in the bathroom, just as a neutral territory thing, then once in the living room with cut whiskers and vanilla, and both times Mork was hyper aggressive and Pico had some fur slippage--the second time, Mork bit Pico just hard enough to break the skin in one area (I separated them immediately after wards, it was the first time Mork had gotten to Pico [please don't think I just let him beat up Pico!]). If I were ever successful, Mork and Pico would be in one cage, Rodya would be in another, and Sonya would be in her own on top of Rodya's cage (until I get him neutered). For now I might just rearrange the living room so taht Mork is where our endtable currently is...

 

[Ash]

Can you put Mork's cage on top of Pico's?

And if the windows are open with air pulling in that's not going to keep him cool, and if you have the AC on in the other room with the window open and nothing to keep the cool air blocked into that room, you're pretty much wasting electricity because even though there's a fan in the window, you're drawing hot air in to mix with the cold AND the cold air is going to get out the window. You might want to think of hanging a blanket or something in the doorway to block the cold air.

 

[Brittany_Lynn]

Can you put Mork's cage on top of Pico's?

And if the windows are open with air pulling in that's not going to keep him cool, and if you have the AC on in the other room with the window open and nothing to keep the cool air blocked into that room, you're pretty much wasting electricity because even though there's a fan in the window, you're drawing hot air in to mix with the cold AND the cold air is going to get out the window. You might want to think of hanging a blanket or something in the doorway to block the cold air.

Mork's and Pico's cages are both too large to stack.
I didn't even think about that, wow, I feel like a total idiot. Taking the window fan out now. :wacko:

 

[Idgie]

I have a dehumidifier in my basement, but Idgie doesn't live down there. It's just a must for my furniture and belongings. We have central air and we keep it at 75. And remember that 75 with air is way more comfortable (b/c the humidity level is down) than 75 with the windows open. And even at that temp, Idgie gets a little warm, especially at playtime.

 

[Chub_Chub]

Anyone ever try one of those remote temp monitors that emails or texts you when the monitor registers above a certain temp? We're thinking about getting one for the chins since it is sooo flippin hot lately.. I'm getting a little paranoid about it.. We can't do a window ac because we're on the second floor. The apt below us is vacant (read "not cooled") and the weirdo on the other side of us barely uses ac (he had his windows open till a couple weeks ago.. We've had the ac running since late April). If, for any reason, the air went out, my apt would turn into an oven VERY quickly.:waiting::temp: