How cold is too cold?

[hannahbeth]

I'm going on vacation from December 23rd to January 1st. I'm having someone come check on Roo once a day, however, I have no central heat in my house; we only use electric space heaters, and it is way too much of a fire risk to leave them running. I am in Alabama, so it doesn't get extremely cold. I've looked at the extended forecast, and the lowest expected temperature is 25 degrees. My house is well insulated, so it will likely stay around 50 degrees inside.

I know we frequently worry about temperatures being too hot, but how cold is too cold? Worst case scenario, if it were to get down to 40 degrees in my room, would Roo be alright? He has plenty of fleece in his cage. Suggestions are welcome!

Thanks!

 

[tunes]

"Likely" isn't a reliable way to predict temperature. I would not let my chin barn get below 50. They have been at 50 and have been fine, but IMO 40 is too low, especially for a lone chin.

 

[hannahbeth]

Thanks for the input!

I suppose I could bring him with us. We're staying in a condo; it's in a complex that has a no-pet policy -- and I hate to break rules -- but it would make me feel better. It's a 5 hour drive; I'm assuming it would be alright for him to be in his carrier for this amount of time? I would need to purchase a smaller cage to set up at the condo. What size cage would be acceptable for a week?

I'm thinking it would be less stressful for him to stay at home, but I have no way to make sure that the temperature stays above 50. I want to do whatever is best.

 

[Idgie]

Could the person who was checking on him take him to their house?

 

[akane]

We and many others run a space heater all the time in one room of the house. Maybe you just need a more expensive one with better safety features. For our hedgehogs we even run it year round because they need mid to high 70s. My mom has been running a small one in her basement office for the past 10years 24/7 all winter. I ran one in the chicken coop instead of heat lamps because it was safer with all the features new ones have. If it gets beyond a certain temp it shuts off, if it gets knocked over it shuts off, if air flow is interrupted it shuts off... The only thing I had to protect it from was chicken poop. I put it in a wire cage and covered the top in plastic. The new one we have for the hedgies because we blew a circuit breaker running stuff to the coop and destroyed the fancy space heater I had out there has a fine mesh surrounding the heating elements so even if shavings or something falls on it there is no danger. It's also radiant heat so it has no fan to pull stuff in or get clogged. The one we run in the bathroom isn't so fancy with an open front and no thermostat but we only run that one for a few hours a day. We'll turn it on and then run to the store or something so it's warm to take showers when we get back. Plenty of people have to keep things heat without central heat. Most use some type of bulb which is far riskier than a space heater and only rarely do you hear of an accident. I can't say I've ever heard of a fire from a space heater. They are standard household items from nov through feb. I came closer to starting a fire with a mini fridge that had a blanket fall against the vent in the back. Cooked everything in it.

 

[ninjaturtletayy]

I've taken Stanley on a 6 hour car ride home and then again back up to school. in a carrier I got off of amazon. It's big enough to fit his wooden house and still give him half a carrier to move around in. And it was tall enough for him to sit on top of his house, which is great since it's his favorite thing to do. I just made sure he had hay and things to chew on. Just don't let the car get too hot.

As for how big of a cage you would need for a week, I'm not sure. I had people telling me the carrier I had for him was more than enough. I just had to give him sufficient playtime. While I did give him tons of playtime I just felt horrible thinking of him being in the carrier for a long weekend so I ended up getting him a cheap three level cage off of craigslist. Works out well in the end because now he has a cage at my Mom's too.

 

[hannahbeth]

Could the person who was checking on him take him to their house?

She lives in an apartment with 2 roommates and 3 cats, and while I trust her, I don't trust her roommates to be persistent in making sure the cats don't have access to the room Roo would be in.

We and many others run a space heater all the time in one room of the house. Maybe you just need a more expensive one with better safety features. For our hedgehogs we even run it year round because they need mid to high 70s. My mom has been running a small one in her basement office for the past 10years 24/7 all winter. I ran one in the chicken coop instead of heat lamps because it was safer with all the features new ones have. If it gets beyond a certain temp it shuts off, if it gets knocked over it shuts off, if air flow is interrupted it shuts off... The only thing I had to protect it from was chicken poop. I put it in a wire cage and covered the top in plastic. The new one we have for the hedgies because we blew a circuit breaker running stuff to the coop and destroyed the fancy space heater I had out there has a fine mesh surrounding the heating elements so even if shavings or something falls on it there is no danger. It's also radiant heat so it has no fan to pull stuff in or get clogged. The one we run in the bathroom isn't so fancy with an open front and no thermostat but we only run that one for a few hours a day. We'll turn it on and then run to the store or something so it's warm to take showers when we get back. Plenty of people have to keep things heat without central heat. Most use some type of bulb which is far riskier than a space heater and only rarely do you hear of an accident. I can't say I've ever heard of a fire from a space heater. They are standard household items from nov through feb. I came closer to starting a fire with a mini fridge that had a blanket fall against the vent in the back. Cooked everything in it.

Thanks! I'll tell my dad this. I don't know anything about wiring or electrical safety, but when I asked him if it would be alright if I ran my space heater on a low setting, he said that our house was built by his grandfather and that the wiring was not done correctly. As a result of that, he's worried about melting/over heating wires or outlets. I'm not sure if this is a practical fear or if he's just paranoid, but ultimately the decision is up to him.

I've taken Stanley on a 6 hour car ride home and then again back up to school. in a carrier I got off of amazon. It's big enough to fit his wooden house and still give him half a carrier to move around in. And it was tall enough for him to sit on top of his house, which is great since it's his favorite thing to do. I just made sure he had hay and things to chew on. Just don't let the car get too hot.

As for how big of a cage you would need for a week, I'm not sure. I had people telling me the carrier I had for him was more than enough. I just had to give him sufficient playtime. While I did give him tons of playtime I just felt horrible thinking of him being in the carrier for a long weekend so I ended up getting him a cheap three level cage off of craigslist. Works out well in the end because now he has a cage at my Mom's too.

Thanks! Roo has been in his carrier (a small ryerson carrier) for several hours once before; we had a power outage and it was 90 degrees inside our house, so I sat in my car with him and turned AC on. He did fine then, so I'm sure the car ride wouldn't be a big deal.

If I decide to take him with me, does anyone have cage suggestions? I need something that folds relatively flat, is fairly light and portable, and adequate size for Roo to be in for a week. Preferably something that I can pick up in-store (petco or petsmart), since I don't know if I have time to order anything online. We're leaving on the 23rd. Any plastic would be taken out of the cage, and any wire grates would be covered by fleece -- so don't worry about that.

 

[DevnChip]

The Midwest Wabbitat looks nice. I'd need a second cage if I was traveling anywhere other than our regular spot. I have a feisty ferret there. My single Ware three level would only cover one of my chins, but it's a good size even for a permanent cage. It breaks down fairly flat.