no power

[nikkimariec]

so my house has had no power for two days. I don't have my chins yet but it says it's 45 in their room. what should I do if this happens again? would they be okay in this cold?

 

[jags]

They will be fine in 45 degrees, but if you lost power this long in the summer you better have a plan to keep them cool.

 

[robertchins]

Yup. Chins in the wild live at altitude in the Andes Mountains. Cold usually isn't a problem for them. They have that great chinchilla coat you know!

 

[Zoaea]

My chins are used to 68-70 degree house, and when I moved in mid Jan our new places heat wasnt working right. With the house in the 45's my chins were pretty sad, they would hardly move from their warm spot. I made their bedding double thick and put their food/water near were they were camping out. A box helps too. Summer temps are much scarier, make sure you have back up plans including someone elses house that isnt in your neighborhood.

 

[nikkimariec]

do you know of there are portable AC that run on batteries?

 

[Cuddlebug]

That's what generators are for!

 

[nikkimariec]

ya I heard they were very expensive

 

[Mt. Zion Chins]

start saving up - they are well worth it. We have 3 and have used 2 of them several times in the last couple of years

 

[Zoaea]

do you know of there are portable AC that run on batteries?

I cant even find AC that are portable period, just the 500$ window ones. Most power outages are only a few hours, so ice packs and clay pot/marble slab work fine. Anything longer and you need aback up location.

generators are nice if you already have one for a sick person in the house ect, but not really practical for a pet owner... you do need to plan ahead though.

 

[Dreamlite]

Why isn't a generator prectical for a pet owner? Anything that makes it safer for my pets is not just practical its totally needed no questions asked. Marble slabs and ice packs do nothing for a chin. They can't cool down on those and they only work for a few minutes at best. I have 2 ac units (1 window and 1 portable) in my chin room so I'm sure I will always have at least 1 that will work. I also have a generator that is the smallest they make (rv generator) its only about 200 and will run only 1 item, the ac. I would rather spend the money and never need it, than risk loosing my chins.

 

[ticklechin]

I have a emergency power back up generator at work and a whole house generator at home, both bought because of the chinchillas 1st, the humans and business 2nd, being in earthquake country we could be without power for days or weeks after a large quake, its the responsible thing to do, be prepared.

 

[nikkimariec]

dreamlite that's not a bad price at all will look into getting that ASAP
ps I don't have my chins yet so everything is okay with them

 

[Caroline]

I cant even find AC that are portable period, just the 500$ window ones. Most power outages are only a few hours, so ice packs and clay pot/marble slab work fine. Anything longer and you need aback up location.

generators are nice if you already have one for a sick person in the house ect, but not really practical for a pet owner... you do need to plan ahead though.

If you look at places like Walmart you can find inexpensive air conditioners. I picked one up for under $100. As for having a generator, they are wonderful to have. At least once a year we have a power outage here due to winter storms. My husband has things wired in such a way that he just hooks the generator up the the house and we barely skip a beat. It needs to be done properly so that when the power does come back on the power does not feed back out onto the grid. There have been times when power has gone out for several days.
A very important thing to remember is that you need to service your generator every year. Remove the old gas and replace it with fresh, otherwise when it comes time to use it you won't be able to get it to start. Also, PLEASE make sure that you keep it outside and away from any air intakes, we don't want to hear of anyone loosing their lives because of carbon monixide poisoning.
Also if possible, please turn the generator off at night out of respect for your neighbors. There is nothing worse when you have no power, are freezing and trying to sleep and some neighbor has got a generator running at 2 a.m.
One more thing, share your good fortune, allow your friends to come over to charge their phones or cook a meal of just get warm.

 

[nikkimariec]

well said Caroline

 

[Caroline]

well said Caroline

Schmankyou!