I don't have AC in my house but we do have fans and things and we stay pretty comfy. I know about the frozen water bottle thing and I plan to keep a close eye on my piggies when I get them. Does anyone have any other tips specifically for a non AC house?
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Keeping COOL (summer woes and cooling tips for cavies)
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 AngelicPiggyLover |
Can Piggies survivie in a house w/o AC? | #41 | ||
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Posts: 4 05/12/04 11:23 PM |
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PooksiedAnimals |
Re: Can Piggies survivie in a house w/o AC? | #42 | ||
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Posts: 4114 05/13/04 12:19 AM Moderator |
Do you have a basement? My pigs would be banished to the basement on really hot days. The house upstairs would be in the upper 80s, but downstairs, even on a hot day, was in the 70s or cooler. Made them very depressed, but it at least kept them cool.
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AngelicPiggyLover |
house w/o AC | #43 | ||
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Posts: 4 05/13/04 02:34 AM |
Nope, no basement....what should I do? There's gotta be a way I could keep them comfy and safe. Where there's a will there's a way, right?
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icesprite |
Re: house w/o AC | #44 | ||
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Posts: 240 05/13/04 03:22 AM |
My house isn't air conditioned and I do feel sorry for the pigs in summer. However, with a fan or so and couple of bottles of frozen water, it is actually remarkably cool in their cage.
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AngelicPiggyLover |
house w/o AC | #45 | ||
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Posts: 4 05/13/04 04:57 PM |
That's good to hear, icesprite. Also, I'm going to make sure and get a thermometer and put in their cage, just to make sure that things are nice and comfy for them. I know I don't like being hot, but I'm a lot tougher than a poor little Guinea Pig in the heat.
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Philbert |
re:icecubes | #46 | ||
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Posts: 22 06/04/04 08:22 PM |
I freeze chopped up bits of my piggie's favorite vegetable treats in the ice cubes, like parsley and cilantro. They go insane with happiness!
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natgirl05 |
fans | #47 | ||
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Posts: 15 06/09/04 12:27 AM |
i heard that if you left a fan blowing directly at a piggy, he/she could get too cold... however, i will put an oscillating fan near him and try the water bottle/gel pack idea.
should these be enough to keep him cool? my house has no AC and my mom doesn't want to put him down in the basement for fear he'll be lonely. |
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PooksiedAnimals |
Re: fans | #48 | ||
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Posts: 4114 06/09/04 03:01 PM Moderator |
I usually keep a small thermometer near the pig cage, so I can tell how hot it is in their section of the room. A fan directoy on them is not good, but a fan at the cage is fine. An oscillating fan should be fine.
Our pigs, on really hot days, were banished to the basement for the day, and came back upstairs as soon as it was cooler. It made for some very unhappy pigs, because they could never figure out why we put them downstairs. It was rare we did that - only a few times during the summer, when they really looked hot. But I'd rather have unhappy pigs for a few days than face heatstroke. |
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renee675 |
plastic stainers | #49 | ||
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Posts: 5 06/12/04 03:11 PM |
did you turn the strainers on their side or did you cut a hole in them for the piggie to go into. I have tried clay pots on their side but my stubborn piggies will not go in them and I am afraid they will not go in the srtainers on their side. I have wooden house for the one piggie that has two holes but the other is mad at me because I took her pigloo away from her for fear of heatsroke
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Speck2004 |
Re: plastic stainers | #50 | ||
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Posts: 10 06/24/04 08:21 AM |
I am so greatful for these ideas. The heat finally hit and I came home tonight around 10pm and my apt was about 87 degrees F. My little pig Speck got a nice cool haircut and a cool bath. I also love the frozen water bottle idea. He snuggles with the bottles, its so cute. Ive also got 2 small size fans on him day and night, angled in such a way that if he wanted to he could get away from the breeze. He's looking a lot less like a puddle and much more like a cool pig now. :) Thanks again for all the great ideas! -Julia and Speck
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paulagallon |
Re: keeping cool | #51 | ||
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Posts: 2 07/04/04 10:36 PM |
I put a page together on keeping animals cool with the help of the people on Chinchillas Unlimited last summer. Many of the ideas there are good for guinea pigs as well and it is worth reading for the section on what to do in the case of heat stroke.
www.erodent.co.uk/KeepingCool.htm Angel my sheltie gets a really close cropped haircut in the summer. She really appreciates it particularly since she detests being combed. Paula |
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natgirl05 |
??? | #52 | ||
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Posts: 15 07/23/04 09:58 PM |
OK, so i had a fan going to keep my piggy cool, but a friend of ours who used to raise guinea pigs came over and said that since pigs can regulate their body temperature, keeping a fan on might make him sick. i turned the fan off and DID notice that he had been sleeping more than usual. what do you guys think? should i fan my pig or not?
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PooksiedAnimals |
Re: ??? | #53 | ||
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Posts: 4114 07/23/04 10:09 PM Moderator |
You shouldn't have the fan pointed directly into the cage at the guinea pigs. However, a fan in the room, even pointing towards the cage, to circulate the air in the room is fine.
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natgirl05 |
Re: ??? | #54 | ||
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Posts: 15 08/02/04 01:52 AM |
thanks much...i will do that....
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xRain Dancer |
Re: keeping cool | #55 | ||
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Posts: 18 08/18/04 03:52 AM |
What i have tried was putting towels in the freezer and then put it in their cage. They love it. They lay on it and i had one roll on it like a dog, it was so funny.
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Banana |
Temperature | #56 | ||
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Posts: 4 10/02/04 02:48 PM |
Can anyone tell me what the temperature would be when your starting to worry it's too hot? I'm not quite sure when i should be worrying about keeping my girls cool, it probably doesn't help that i'm totally farenheit illiterate ha ha, but i'll learn to convert...
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ktn |
Re: Keeping COOL (summer woes and cooling tips for cavies) | #57 | ||
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Posts: 105 01/12/05 02:10 PM |
I read somewhere that you should get worried with anything higher than 28 deg celcius, which is alarming for me as my house gets ambient at 27 so far this summer.
Since this is a sticky thread, would it make sense to add here what are the signs of heat stroke? I can research this myself, but would appreciate if owners can give their own personalised experiences here. |
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Beowulf1976 |
Re: Keeping COOL (summer woes and cooling tips for cavies) | #58 | ||
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Posts: 88 02/17/05 06:06 PM |
You all advise to remove the "pigloo" when it's hot... but... surely they'll get stressed if they've got nowhere to "hide"?
Just a query. |
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Rosalee |
Open concept shelters... | #59 | ||
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Posts: 234 02/22/05 11:49 PM Moderator |
Hi Beo,
If your home is not air-conditioned, its best to remove the pigloos (and any PVC tunnels as well). During the summer you would provide your animals with more open concept shelters which will allow for increased ventilation. As an example... a) cardboard boxes -with 3-4 entry holes or, -with 2 entry holes and a roof flap (& window) b) plaster shelves (grid top) or small plastic stools. -you can drape pieces of light material over certain sections so they still feel secure (but cool). c) a suspended roof top at the end of a pen/cage. Please keep in mind that a fan (oscillating is great) is not a luxury item when you own cavies, it is really a necessity. A thermometer is also a sound idea. Best Regards, Rosalee |
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Beowulf1976 |
Re: Open concept shelters... | #60 | ||
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Posts: 88 03/25/05 01:09 AM |
in the set-up we have now, they have the sleeping compartment which is rather large in comparison to them...
in the run, there's a couple of wooden shelters (those sticks bound together that you can buy at pet stores, shaped into semi-circles)... and two large cardboard tubes, we did away with the pigloo when we bought the new hutch/home. The conservatory has two "fan lights" those fans which are run by electric and there's lights on them too.. we also have a large fan (which doesn't oscilate but it's bloody big!) which is about 23 inches in diameter.. it's bloody powerful too! lol Also the double patio doors of the conservatory open fully, so they'll be plenty cool enough.... I'll also be putting pop bottles frozen in their sleeping compartment when the weather gets warmer... I also keep the curtain closed so that the sun never directly shines on their housing - as I know that it'll get pretty hot even when it's not too hot outside as it'll be shining through glass... as a general rule, I work on, if my kids are complaining that they're warm, then I know the piggies will be warm, so I check on them and make preparations for them to be cool. |
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