Help with heat?

[chiichan]

Currently in a heatwave where its 27-30 c a day. We have a fan running in the room, I have put cold slabs in the cage for him along with a frozen bottle in a sock. my curtains are closed and I tried putting a damp towel on his cage with a fan blowing across it but i am terrified of losing my chinchilla to heat. he is 2 and in good health. what else can I do to help? We have ordered a portable air con unit but that wont arrive for days. I have also heard they lay on their side to cool off but a book i read told me you must worry when they do this and keep moving them, is this true? I am really concerned and I have no idea what else to do, any advice would be really appreciated.

 

[tunes]

Personally I would not be poking and digging at him when it's this hot. Watch his breathing. See if his ears are really pink or red. I would skip the damp towel. All the moisture isn't going to help him cool off. Plus, it just blocks the air flow. Put some ice in a bowl (lots of ice) and blow a fan on it in near the cage but not toward the cage. You can try and make a homemade a/c for the few days until your other one gets there. You can also get some of the heat blocking stuff for your windows that might help.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTWQv-Gkkew

 

[Dreamlite]

do you have any friends or family who have ac? there really is no substitute for air conditioning. There are temporary things like tunes said but depending how hot it gets that may not be enough.

 

[chiichan]

No one really has air conditioning, it is rarely this hot in the UK. I will try with a bowl of ice. Is it a good idea to open the windows of a night when it has cooled down a little? Thankyou

 

[tunes]

Yes, you can definitely open the windows. Nothing worse than a hot, stuffy room. Let the air in as long as it's cool. If it's really cool, put a fan in the window and get the room cooled way down.

I know you guys across the pond (England, Ireland) are not used to this killer heat. I'm not sure anybody ever really gets used to it. I hate it.

 

[chiichan]

We are used to about 20c if we are lucky in the summer so this is unbelievable! Benvolio still seems really alert despite the heat so hopefully he can cope until the air con arrives

 

[Shadow]

I'm also dealing with this heat wave! Finding it very stressful as my chin had a leg amputation 3 weeks ago, and while she is definitely on the mend she isn't completely recovered. Do you have a portable thermometer you can put near the cage? I find this useful as then I know the exact temperature my chin is experiencing. Even if its 27C outside I find in the coolest room in my house it can be 5 or 6 degrees lower than the outside temp.

 

[X Amy x]

I am feeling exactly the same about my two chinchillas!! We have had such gorgeous weather but am soo worried that its too hot for my boys : ( I am at work all day and don't get home till 5.30.... I leave two windows open for them, put ice in their water bottle, but really don't know what else I can do to keep them cool... Any ideas???

 

[Brian123]

As a last resort, do you have a vet with AC that can board them during the heat wave? Might not be feasible if the heat is expected to last for weeks.

Maybe a friend or family member has a basement that's naturally cooler despite not having AC?

 

[OahuChinny]

I live in Hawaii in a cottage that can get pretty hot, even with the air conditioner. I ended up moving my chinchilla to a smaller room that was easier to cool. Before I moved my chinchilla to a different room, I had a couple of tricks. 1) Cool granite or marble slabs placed on each level of ferret nation. Not a foolproof way of keeping him cool though. 2) I kept a good stock of flat ice packs and freezable wraps for injuries. I would wrap them up in a baby blanket so that our chinch couldn't access them, but the coolness could still get through. I placed the wrapped up ice packs underneath all of his huts/hideaways. He ignored them if they were placed out in the open. He LOVED this, and would roll around on top of them to cool down, then settle down for a snooze. These ice packs keep cool for about 4 hours, then I would replace them and hopefully by that time the sun would not be baking the house as much and the house would start to cool down. Still do your best to run your AC as much as you can