Hey guys! Having issues with this summer heat wave.😬😬😬

[ChinsForLife]

So…this has been a very hot year. it’s not even summer officially until the 21st and it’s already in the late 90s and early 100s(my computer doesn’t have the degrees sign) in the afternoon and it’s putting a lot of stress on my air conditioner and my poor Chico. i have an air conditioner in my room which I keep on all day on high(its one of the older models which doesn’t have a temp. setting on it) and never open my door except to go in and I shut it right back. Despite my efforts, my room still reaches 78- even 80 at times during the afternoon and it’s worrying me! I keep a close eye on him and if it gets too hot, I’ll bring him down and hold him in front of the freezer to cool down and I’ll take him back up and do it again a couple hours later if it’s still really hot. Idk what I’m gonna do if it gets much hotter(on average)also, bringing him in another room isn’t an option as I have six younger siblings who would terrorize him, lol. I can keep an eye on him and the temp while im home but I mean, it’s summer and I have church camp to go to in July.(it’s a week long.) does anyone have any ideas on how else I can keep him cool?(I also freeze 6 oz sprite cans for him to cuddle up against(which really helps) and I have a full, tile floor in his cage. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!❤

 

[ChinsForLife]

It’s 79 now btw. I just let him cool by the freezer and he it eating a few oats I gave as a treat.(before I get all these posts saying I shouldn’t give oat groats, he hasn’t since late April or early May.) also, the humidity is 44% if that helps. The temp goes down to 70-72 at night, it’s just 11 am - 5 pm that it’s warm. I’m in Texas so it’s about 3:30.

 

[MinatoandChili]

Hi there, I’m Jessica and the owner of my chin Minato I just want to say in advance, im not expert in chinchillas but I do have one so I could give you some advice from my experience. Before having him, I made sure to take a precaution that I heard worked well with other chins: granite stone. You can find this at your local Petco or Petsmart. It’s these small-medium sized slabs made of granite that you can put in your chinchillas cage and they’ll sit on top of it. Usually when they’re hot, they can just walk over and lay on them. You can also use metal platforms/shelves. I don’t know if you use wood or what else, but metal can also keep them feeling fresh. Another thing I would maybe recommend, is to make sure they’re water is always fresh! I’m not too sure about this but you could limit playtime. This makes sure that they aren’t overworking themselves in a climate where it’s too hot. I know these pieces of advice don’t actually give you insight of how to make your room less hot, but it’s just some ways to make sure your chin is more comfortable! I hope all goes well I would also recommend talking to Amethyst, she’s very knowledgeable!

 

[Amethyst]

Aside from using tiles in the fridge as mentioned, and switching them out, you can try making a little chinchilla cooler. Basically a metal pan you can put a ice pack into, along with some blocks of wood glued to the bottom the height of the ice pack and then have a tile sit on top, it keeps the tile cool for longer. It really comes down to if your chin will actually sit on the tiles or not though, some chins just don't seem to be smart enough even if over heating to sit on the cooled tiles. Some other things would be to stick his dust bath in the freezer, so when you give him his bath he has a nice cool dust to roll in. You can get some clay pots you can stick in the freezer or fridge as well to put in the cage for him to sit in. Try to change out his water with ice cold water a couple times a day, maybe even keep a pitcher of water in the fridge to fill the bottle with or even put ice cubes in the bottle if you can (I know that might not be possible since the openings tend to be tiny). Also if you don't already make sure to cover any windows in the room so the sun isn't beating down into the room heating it up. Oh and no playtime when it's that hot, you don't want him increasing his body temp if at all possible.

Honestly the best idea would be to look into getting a better AC, but I realize that may not be an option. You can try putting a fan directly in front of the AC as well, that way it helps pull and circulate the cool air coming out of the AC a bit better.

 

[ChinsForLife]

Aside from using tiles in the fridge as mentioned, and switching them out, you can try making a little chinchilla cooler. Basically a metal pan you can put a ice pack into, along with some blocks of wood glued to the bottom the height of the ice pack and then have a tile sit on top, it keeps the tile cool for longer. It really comes down to if your chin will actually sit on the tiles or not though, some chins just don't seem to be smart enough even if over heating to sit on the cooled tiles. Some other things would be to stick his dust bath in the freezer, so when you give him his bath he has a nice cool dust to roll in. You can get some clay pots you can stick in the freezer or fridge as well to put in the cage for him to sit in. Try to change out his water with ice cold water a couple times a day, maybe even keep a pitcher of water in the fridge to fill the bottle with or even put ice cubes in the bottle if you can (I know that might not be possible since the openings tend to be tiny). Also if you don't already make sure to cover any windows in the room so the sun isn't beating down into the room heating it up. Oh and no playtime when it's that hot, you don't want him increasing his body temp if at all possible.

Honestly the best idea would be to look into getting a better AC, but I realize that may not be an option. You can try putting a fan directly in front of the AC as well, that way it helps pull and circulate the cool air coming out of the AC a bit better.

Thank you so much! I’ll be sure to do that. do you happen to have a picture or instructions on how to make the metal pan cooler you mentioned?

 

[ChinsForLife]

Hi there, I’m Jessica and the owner of my chin Minato I just want to say in advance, im not expert in chinchillas but I do have one so I could give you some advice from my experience. Before having him, I made sure to take a precaution that I heard worked well with other chins: granite stone. You can find this at your local Petco or Petsmart. It’s these small-medium sized slabs made of granite that you can put in your chinchillas cage and they’ll sit on top of it. Usually when they’re hot, they can just walk over and lay on them. You can also use metal platforms/shelves. I don’t know if you use wood or what else, but metal can also keep them feeling fresh. Another thing I would maybe recommend, is to make sure they’re water is always fresh! I’m not too sure about this but you could limit playtime. This makes sure that they aren’t overworking themselves in a climate where it’s too hot. I know these pieces of advice don’t actually give you insight of how to make your room less hot, but it’s just some ways to make sure your chin is more comfortable! I hope all goes well I would also recommend talking to Amethyst, she’s very knowledgeable!

Thank you! Those are good ideas! And yes, I actually have a granite tile floor, lol. i got him as an 8 week old kit and wanted to make sure I was doing everything I could, right. Those are really good ideas!

 

[Amethyst]

Thank you so much! I’ll be sure to do that. do you happen to have a picture or instructions on how to make the metal pan cooler you mentioned?

I got the idea from a FB group

 

[ChinsForLife]

Oh ok. Thank you! I put the extra tile I had in the freezer for a couple hours and that has helped alot too

 

[ChinsForLife]

It went up to 81 and I just couldn’t figure it out. Finally I decided to examine the air conditioner and come to find out, the filter was completely clogged. No wonder! However, I still can definitely use your advice for sure! I’m just glad I found the culprit and that it wasn’t something more complicated going on that was making it extra warm in here. it’s already cooled down 7 degrees in here in a few hours, praise the Lord! Thank you guys for your help!