Author Carole Kessler
of Kessler's Chinchillas
CHINCHILLAS AND HOT WEATHER
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Summer time is here and with it Hot and Humid Weather which can be life threatening for chinchillas. In this article we will present many different alternatives to air conditioners for pet owners who do not have them. In hot weather, it is very important to keep a constant temperature for chinchillas. The best temperature for them is between 65 to 70 degrees.
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The humidity should also be kept in the same range. Dehumidifiers are helpful in the summer time to keep the humidity at the proper level.
Many chinchilla owners have been kind enough to share their ideas on how they keep their chins cool when an air conditioner is not available.
I will also present my methods, which have been part of my training at the end of this article.
Kristi writes: Personally, I do use an air conditioner, and I have glass jars, thick ones, half filled with water and then frozen as an emergency backup. If the AC goes out, I would put the jars in the cages. The chinchillas get close to the cold jars as they want to.
Rick writes: Here is one idea: There are many stores that sell tins, like the ones cookies come in. They are usually chewproof, and waterproof. You could put ice in the tin or for that matter, put water into the tin to seven-eights of the way up and freeze it in the tin. Then, put the tins in the cage for the chins to snuggle up to. Just make sure the tin will fit into the cage first.
Vera from Germany writes: Unfortunately, I do not have an air conditioner and usually do not need one in Germany. I try to keep my chins cool by darkening the room a little bit with thick curtains. So far, I have not noticed a negative effect on the sleeping rhythm of my chins. I also place ice packs, (the ones you use for a picnic box), which are wrapped in a small towel to prevent chewing, in the cages. I replace them every few hours.
Connor from Ireland writes: It is very rare that we have the kind of weather that hot for chins due to the location of her cage. A couple of times this year we have already had some hot weather. What I did was to get those freezer packs that you place in your picnic basket to keep your food cool. I run them under water for a second to make it lose its stickiness on the outside. I put a load of them in front of a fan and then blow the cool air towards her.
Wanda writes: The heat and humidity is a big problem here in Louisiana. I have found from experience that if you do not have a large number of these little darlings, you can keep them in your home. Your home temp is generally comfortable for them as well as you. If you have larger numbers, and can not keep them in your home, then you need to make provisions in their area. I have an 18 wheeler back end. We went in and insulated it heavily, and put up some walls. We purchased a dehumidifier and two air conditioners in the event that one would brake. Make sure you have you room sealed well, so the humidity does not have too much of a chance of getting into their areas. Also have ventilation for the circulation of fresh air. Without these precautions you leave yourself open to sickness. I may sound complicated and a bit of a pain, but oh the sight of all these happy creature is worth it.
Yu Leng from Malaysia writes: Well, Malaysia is about as hot and humid as you get. We really had to move Cheech into the air conditioned room. But failing that, we’d try to get him to a cooler area of the house and use the fan. I know that many say fans don’t help, but I thought that it might to the extent that it keeps air circulating. Also, jars of ice in the cage. Cheech and Henry (our first shin) used to lick off the cool moisture. We bought a little meter, which measures temperatures and humidity to try to pick a cooler, less humid part of the house.
Charles and Ingrid write: We also have problems maintaining a cool temperature for our chins at times. We found that besides a jar of ice, we keep cans of soda in the refrigerator and periodically rotate the cans in their cage. The soda seems to remain cool for quite a while.
It is recommended that chinchillas should never be taken outside for fresh air. Many pet owners have done this in the past and lost their chins to heat prostration. Last year, a lady from California called asking for help with their chin. She had taken her chinchilla outside and placed her under a tree in the shade. The chinchilla was outside for about ½ hour when she noticed that she was acting funny and laying on her side. The chinchillas was taken back inside. They placed a wet towel which had been soaked in cold waterfor her to lay on. When she called me, I recommended she remove the wet towel from the cage to avoid further complications. I am sorry to say that the chinchilla did not make it. They did tests on the chinchilla and the outcome was that she died of complication from the heat prostration.
Just a few days ago another young pet owner called looking for help. He too had taken his pet outside onto his deck for some fresh air. A short time later the chinchilla was down and unable to be revived and died from heat prostration.
I have read somewhere that when a chinchillas is down with heat prostration, it is possible to submerge their body in some cool water. Naturally keeping their head above the water. Once they are removed from the water, it is necessary to completely dry their fur. Later, they can be placed in their dust bath for a short time. I personally have never done this and will look more into it and place the extra information which I acquire onto the web page. Proceed with caution before doing this and get additional help from someone who has used this method.
I also use jars of ice in my cages. I do however, place the jar in a sock to keep the moisture off the chinchillas. I personally do not feel that it is healthy for the chins to go from being hot to cold and wet as this can cause further complication such as chill. Another idea, which I use, is to place the jars on ice in a small wire container. This will also keep the chinchillas from laying directly on the jar and getting wet. The freezer packs are also used and these are also placed in a sock to keep them from getting wet, or they are placed in a special wire container, which fits the size of the pack. I really love the idea from Charles and Ingrid about using cold pop cans instead of freezer packs. I plan on giving this a try soon as I need to do so. I personally would place these in a sock as well. My husband is always asking where all of his sock have gone. Hope he does not read this as he will soon find out.
Another method for keeping the chinchillas cool, is to cool the tray if they have the solid bottom cages. Needless to say, they do not have enough room for the solid blue packs to fit under the pan, but they do have the soft plastic blue packs which can be slipped more easily under the tray. They also have the blue jell packs which would fit just right under the tray. This method would help keep the pan cool for quite a while.
If you have the wire bottom cage, you can support the ice packs so they are just below the wire bottom, and the chins can lay on the wire just out of reach of the ice packs. If you have shelves in the cages, you maybe able to attach the ice packs just under the floor of the shelf. We always need to be careful a prevent the chins from chewing on them.
I have been working on an idea of how to find additional methods of cooling the shaving pans. In my case, I need a thin layer of ice, and a chin owner named Sheri has given me the idea, which I need to achieve this. Sheri suggested put water on a cookie sheet and freezing them and then place the ice into the cage for the chins to get on for coolness. As I mentioned above, this is one procedure, which I do not recommend, but the concept for the thin layer of ice will work just fine for me. When the water is frozen, I will then break into small pieces and place these in a special bag which I will be able to seal shut. I have a vacuum pack food saver, which I can seal up and when the ice melts, it will not leak. Of course, I will need to be careful that it does not get ripped so I will wrap these ice packs in some aluminum foil for added protection. This will also help the ice to last longer. Thanks Sheri!!
Another thing I do is to place a bath towel in some ice water, ring the water out good, and then place it it on a chair (old one of course). I then place this chair in front of a fan, and let the fan blow the cold air into the room. Naturally, the fan will be faced away from the chinchilla cage, but in the same area. You can also take a large piece of ice and place it in a large pan. Placing the fan to blow on the ice will also cool the areas. Once again, place the airflow away from directly blowing on the chins cage. This method works great in my dining room, which is my hospital room.
On hot days when the air conditioner is running, I turn off the over head lights, and this helps to keep the room cooler. I have an exhaust fan in the main chinchillas room which I use when the air conditioner in not running. There is a fresh supply of air coming into the room at the other end. I the other room upstairs, I also have an air conditioner for them, but before the air conditioner is placed in the room, I use a window fan which blows out the stale air on one side of the fan and fresh air comes in the other side. This works very well until the hot weather. My exhaust fans are working even in the wintertime.
If you don’t have an exhaust fan, you can place a fan in the window, which will blow the stale air out of the room. It is very important to have a good source of fresh air coming into the room as well as the stale air going out.
I hope that these suggestions and ideas help you to keep your chinchillas cool this summer if you do not have an air conditioner. If any of you have other ideas and ways of keeping your chins cool, please send them to me so I can add yours to these.
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