Hot Days + Anxious new owner

[Morrigan]

I've had my two chin girls for just about a month. I've always been a dedicated rat person, and I was volunteering with North Star Rescue when I met the most sweet, adorable balls of fluff. I'd never been a Chinchilla fan, the ones I'd run into were high strung and people phobic, but these girls are so friendly and fun.
It took a couple of months, but once we started getting serious adopters interested in them, I finally realized I couldn't live without them and took them home.

Yesterday was the first hot day since I've had them, temps predicted into the 90's. I went to Home Depot and picked up a giant ceramic tile, some little ceramic tiles, a terra cotta planter base and several marble slabs, all of which got put in the freezer, along with their dust.

I have a portable AC unit, and we have it in the window nearest to their cage, and I had a fan recirculating air towards them. They kept running and bouncing around, so I took away their wheel, moved their nest box to the bottom half of the DFN and locked the top half, and shut the cage door (usually they have run of a playpen set up around the cage base)

All day I swapped out tiles and slabs from the freezer, cooled water bottles and switched them often, draped a wet towel over another fan, put cooled tiles in their nest box, and gave them a cool dust bath.

For the most part, my efforts were unappreciated, though they did enjoy the bath (they ALWAYS enjoy their bath), and they did sit on the tile in their nest box, but not once did they lay down on any of the tiles.
They also didn't act hot. No laying on their sides, no panting, no pink ears or feet, and their ears and feet felt cool to my touch.

Why am I still concerned? Because it easily crested 85F in here, even with the AC and everything. Most of the websites I read made it sound like they should have been keeled over with brain damage at that heat.

Clearly, I'm glad they're doing so well, but I can't help but be nervous! Is it possible for them to have been acclimated to slightly warmer temperatures?

Is there anything else I should be doing to try to keep them cool?

 

[ticklechin]

You are going to need to get the temps under control, can you get a window unit and put them and it in one bedroom? Its not worth the risk of heat stroke even if they appeared ok, I am sure one member here will think 85 is okie dokie and chins can acclimate but since you do not know for sure other than they are not dead yet they need to be kept cooler. You get some really hot weather up there if you are near North Star, so off you go for your quest to get your temps down!

 

[StevieP]

You need a window A/C or a better portable unit with dual hoses. I am assuming that your house does not have central a/c or it wasn't turned on? If you can maintain the temps in the low 70s you probably wouldn't have to worry about putting tiles in the freezer.

 

[Godofgods]

I would deff work on trying to keep it cooler in their. It can be slightly diffacult at times, and a little expencive depending on your situation, but it is needed for them. Mine often dont stand directly on a slabs from the fridge either. And you cant rly blame them. Even when your hot yourself, you wouldnt go lay on a large cold slab, its to much at once. So often they might stnad near it, and maybe stand on it. Iv never seen mine lay on one tho.

You do have two good looking chins their tho! And they seem to like each other quite well.

 

[mishellyshel]

they are super cute! and you made so many accomadations to try to keep them cool, which is great. my guys never seem to lay on their marble slabs either!
i agree that 85 is too high. everyone's opionion will slightly vary as to how warm the environment can get but it is not just the temperature you must also consider the humidity. personally if my house gets to the 78 mark, i start to make plans on moving them to a cooler location until i can get my home under control.

 

[Snickers]

It's has been hot here in the mid 90's we are suppose to start cooling down to the 70's. I have a 8000 btu window that has been working keeping the temp to 68. I also use 2 fans to circulate the air. I would keep it cooler. I just hope we don't get into the 100's like we did about 3 or 4 years ago.

 

[ChinnyMom]

85 is much too high. when Rhino's room (my bedroom) gets up to 72 on the odd occasion i start to get worried and do everything needed to cool things down, and my humidity is never over 40% in my place.

on a side note - i'd replace their shelf cover with fleece. a towel can be dangerous due to the threads it is made of, and chins could ingest those threads if they chew the towel. i'd also replace their little bed with one that is 100% fleece, no fuzzy lining or canvas type exterior, for the same reason.

 

[Spoof]

I am sure one member here will think 85 is okie dokie and chins can acclimate

I'm not the only member, just the only vocal one.

Where is your temp sensor located?

Even with a fan the floor and ceiling temps can vary by over 20 degrees if you are only cooling the one room. Also, if the neighboring rooms are hot then the walls will be hot - throwing it off even further if it is attached to a wall. If there's nothing else you can do - turn off the fan and seal the vents and under the door. It will allow the cold air to "settle" at the lower level - making the floor colder and the ceiling a little hotter, but in effect cooling the chins more than if the fan were circulating. Fans can work against you if you don't have enough a/c cooling power.

Use the evening air to your advantage. It is still dropping into the 50's there so open the windows, vent it out in the evening/early morning and then close everything up at 4AM or so. It will keep it fairly cool into the afternoon helping the a/c unit out. It really helps if you don't enter/leave the house a bunch, but that often can't be helped.

All day I swapped out tiles and slabs from the freezer, cooled water bottles and switched them often, draped a wet towel over another fan, put cooled tiles in their nest box, and gave them a cool dust bath.

Tiles from the freezer - will cause skin damage on a chin as easily as they will a human. They have to be covered, otherwise just put them in the fridge.
Wet towel - humidity - this is your enemy. Chins can handle a dry heat - but they do not feel humidity like we do as they have no evaporative areas to cool except their ears. Nix the wet and towel.
Cooled water - Actually makes the body work harder and burns calories for the system to heat it up to body temp. Chins don't need the extra work when it's hot as they loose calories cooling themselves. Just leave it room temp.

They look very happy and healthy to me.

And yes, miraculously my chins survive every year... no brain dead ones here.

 

[Morrigan]

Thanks everyone.
Since we're near the coast, almost no houses have central A/C, though that also means that we don't have very many hot days.

For the tiles, I was rinsing them under a cool tap and then drying them off before giving them to the girls, so they weren't freezing or in danger from skin damage. I tried putting them between layers of thin fabric, but they weren't really cooling anymore.

I've already replaced the towel on the shelf (didn't have anything else when I brought them home and bedding on those shelves is such a nightmare) but I'll replace their cuddle cup too.

I'll look into getting a stronger portable A/C, since there's nowhere I can take them to cool them off.
I could also set up a small pen right next to the portable and put their nest box there, but I'd worry about them running around too much.

Thanks for the ideas

 

[SarahKay]

Now that you have your cooling question answered, I just wanted to say that you have ADORABLE girls. They're quite the pair!

 

[StevieP]

Even with a fan the floor and ceiling temps can vary by over 20 degrees if you are only cooling the one room.

No they cannot. Maybe in a barn loft but not in a home.

 

[ticklechin]

No they cannot. Maybe in a barn loft but not in a home.

I agree, not sure where that bit of info came from.

 

[Airyn]

I went through a similar issue last summer when I got my portable AC. I live in a 2nd floor, corner apartment, have single-pane windows and am not allowed to have a window unit. I went with an 11,000 BTU Delonghi Portable AC/Dehumidifier combo. Initially, I pulled all cloth items from the chins cage, had the windows covered with white trash bags to reflect the sun, and a towel shoved under the door. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough, as it was still hitting 75 degrees in there when it was 90 outside, so I had to make a few adjustments.

I duct taped a piece of cardboard over the vent, which did drop the temp down to about 73, but they were predicting temps to be over 100 degrees the next few days so I knew that wouldn't work. I had a physics-knowledgeable friend help out with designing an airflow system for me. The goal was to avoid having a stream directly on any one part of their cage since they can get sick if there's a draft. The solution was to create a cardboard vent that was about 2.5 feet long. The vent was duct taped directly to the AC at about a 45 degree angle to direct the airflow at the chins' cage a few feet away. To more evenly distribute the cold air, we stuck a box fan, facing the same direction as the AC airflow, on the opposite side of the cage to pull the cool air through the cage. We had to play around with placement a lot, but ultimately, the box fan was positioned about 3 feet off the ground and 5 inches away from their cage. After checking the temp everywhere on that cage and ensuring that I couldn't feel any air blowing on any one part, we agreed that should work. Even so, I wanted additional security, so we placed an oscillating fan about 5 feet away from the box fan to circulate the cold air around the room.

After all that, I managed to keep the temp in my room at 70 degrees and their fur didn't move at all from anything blowing on them. Good enough for me! Of course, this year, I didn't want to go through that nonsense, so I begged my landlord to replace my central air.

I'm not sure how well I explained all that, but I'd be happy to create a diagram for you if you want to give it a shot. It got me through about 7 heat waves that were over 100 degrees last summer.

 

[Spoof]

Airyn - that is an awesome solution! And an excellent example of how to use air to your advantage.

No they cannot. Maybe in a barn loft but not in a home.

Depends on your home, how many have you lived in? I've moved myself and the herd 14 times in the last 10 years. Now I own a lovely but heat-challenged abode.

I agree, not sure where that bit of info came from.

From someone who lives and moves around quite a bit in ungodly hot climates.

THIS house has a 20 degree variance - my average cajun dwelling. I have 8' ceilings. I've had apartments and condos do the same thing, all it takes is an old building with no insulation and the neighbor downstairs not turing on their system with you being on the second or third floor. It all has to do with air advection/convection.

For what it is worth I put in a brand new a/c last spring, 2 ton bigger than the old. Still can't keep the house under 80 when it gets above 115. The reality is - it gets bloody hot here and traditional cajun houses are raised above the ground. In my case - I've got 30" of space for 115 degree heat to blast through.

Having a house that sits on the ground uses the ground temperature to your advantage. Also, with less ground air movement, it allows the cold air to pool and stay cooler. Thermodynamics at it's best. )

 

[ticklechin]

Rather than use your example of a extreme dwelling, why not actually stick with a normal example of a normal house, the OP is in CA in the north bay area near the ocean, it does not get 115 degrees, she does not live in a house on stilts in the swamp where the humidity is 1000%, your examples of extreme chin husbandry does not apply.

 

[Spoof]

why not actually stick with a normal example of a normal house,

Because it happens in apartments, condos and trailers too, as I mentioned above. Eastern Washington, Oregon and Northern Idaho are very similar environments to CA that occasionally have a few weeks above 100. Not everybody lives in a house on a slab.

The thing is, it does happen. It is essential to educate people - so your floor is 68 degrees,*great. What if you've got a 6' compartmental cage on wheels and your ceiling is 78-85 degrees. That poor chin in the top compartment is getting cooked. People don't realize how hot ceilings get, nor how cold/drafty floors get because they don't spend time in those zones.

 

[ticklechin]

I have a second house in Modesto, when it is 106 degrees out and the a/c is set at 70 degrees the top of the 6ft high cages I have there do not get 85 degrees, it may get 72-73 degrees without the ceiling fan on, I know for a fact since that is where the thermometer sits.