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anxiety about the hot weather already

piggiemummy03x

piggiemummy03x

Adult Guinea Pig
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Location
hampshire
hi all looking for some advice as currently extremely stressed and anxious about this situation!

so its only may and i am absolutely freaking out about the hot weather already.. when we wake up each morning our room is so hot and i’m so scared its just going to get hotter and hotter these next few months.. i air the room out each night and get the temperature to around 20/21 degrees yet by the time we wake up its shot up to 23!
its not even that hot at the moment (15 degrees outside) so i really don’t know what we are going to do😞

all the curtains are shut closed to stop the sun coming in but if i close the windows the temp creeps up the night before and then its already the temperature it gets to in the morning the previous night and surely this means it’ll just get hotter? or have i got this incorrect?

any advice is greatly appreciated, as soon as i wake up i open our front door which circles cool air through but we have mice in the garden who like to come in so i can’t even do that anymore😩😩
 
I know what you mean. My girls have their own room but it’s the hottest room in the house which is great in winter but not in the summer 😞

I try and put them outside as much as possible during the warmer months but if it’s too hot for them to go out. I leave the blind pulled down in their room, give them frozen water bottles wrapped in old socks and a fan
 
The guides attached above are great, I also struggle as the room my boys are in gets the full sun all afternoon.

The wind is always cool where I am so I can open my window and cool things down and I keep my blinds closed.
Aside from the tips in the guide, if things get really bad you can set up a temporary cage in a cooler room.
Would you think about moving their cage? Perhaps into room that only gets the sun in the morning.

All the best x
 
Claire W said:
I know what you mean. My girls have their own room but it’s the hottest room in the house which is great in winter but not in the summer 😞

I try and put them outside as much as possible during the warmer months but if it’s too hot for them to go out. I leave the blind pulled down in their room, give them frozen water bottles wrapped in old socks and a fan
Click to expand...
it’s honestly such a nightmare! we don’t have anywhere suitable outside at the moment which is a shame but looking into getting something sorted.. ill have to freeze some bottles again too!
 
piggl said:
The guides attached above are great, I also struggle as the room my boys are in gets the full sun all afternoon.

The wind is always cool where I am so I can open my window and cool things down and I keep my blinds closed.
Aside from the tips in the guide, if things get really bad you can set up a temporary cage in a cooler room.
Would you think about moving their cage? Perhaps into room that only gets the sun in the morning.

All the best x
Click to expand...
unfortunately no chance of moving the cage I'm afraid, we live in something close to a studio flat so as you can imagine we don’t have a lot of options lol!
 
i forgot to ask.. what temperature is fine for guineas pigs until they start feeling uncomfortable? i know anything above 25 is dangerous but what temp is still classed as comfortable?
 
18-22 is comfortable.
Humidity is also going to play a part as to how comfortable they feel though - same as it does for us
 
piggiemummy03x said:
i thought we did haha! i believe they are just black out though (not ours, from previous person that lived here) x
Click to expand...
If the curtains have blackout lining, then it's also thermal lined as well. (thermal lining is treated once whereas blackout has been treated three times)
 
its 23 degrees in our room yet only 13 outside i am massively stressing out i don’t know what to do!
 
Is the wind cool?
If not, I would just close the blinds and offer a frozen water bottle in a sock etc.

Do you have a fan? I am wondering if an ice pack or something infront of a fan would give off cooler air, obviously you would have to put the fan in the other side of the room etc, that may also be the stupidest thing I have ever said so excuse me if that just doesn’t work.

I have just read a bucket of ice and water may work (infront of a fan), but just a reminder to always be careful to not overdo it as piggies are very sensitive to such and in no way would I want to advise something that hurt your piggies.
 
piggl said:
Is the wind cool?
If not, I would just close the blinds and offer a frozen water bottle in a sock etc.

Do you have a fan? I am wondering if an ice pack or something infront of a fan would give off cooler air, obviously you would have to put the fan in the other side of the room etc, that may also be the stupidest thing I have ever said so excuse me if that just doesn’t work.
Click to expand...
the air is cool outside! i have no idea why this is happening, i cant deal with this added stress😭😭😭😭

i’ve put bottles in the freezer but they aren’t frozen yet, i’m worried about drafts too.. this is honestly killing me off
 
Were you comfortable in the room or did you feel too hot?
If you felt comfortable then you do not need to be worrying at this point as they will be comfortable. Generally what goes for you, goes for them.

You need ventilation and air flow when the air is cooler outside.
Are you on the ground floor?
South facing?

Your goal is to stop sun from beating in. If trapped air is making it feel stuffy and warm then it’s a ventilation issue.
 
piggiemummy03x said:
the air is cool outside! i have no idea why this is happening, i cant deal with this added stress😭😭😭😭

i’ve put bottles in the freezer but they aren’t frozen yet, i’m worried about drafts too.. this is honestly killing me off
Click to expand...
It’s okay, honestly just take a deep breath and take a second. You are doing everything you can and it will be okay, you just need to find something that works for you.

Can you open a window if the air is cool, perhaps you could cool down the room that way.
Realistically if the bottles have been in for say a good few hours but aren’t completely frozen you could put one in the cage while you wait for the others to be fully frozen.
 
Piggies&buns said:
Were you comfortable in the room or did you feel too hot?
If you felt comfortable then you do not need to be worrying at this point as they will be comfortable. Generally what goes for you, goes for them.

You need ventilation and air flow when the air is cooler outside.
Are you on the ground floor?
South facing?

Your goal is to stop sun from beating in. If trapped air is making it feel stuffy and warm then it’s a ventilation issue.
Click to expand...
i wasn’t overly hot no but temp just kept creeping up. windows and curtains closed shut. okay thankyou that’s something i need to remember!

ground floor, i have no idea what direction though all i know is sun hits us first thing in the mornings.

what do i do about ventilation? i put a fan on but it seemed to make it worse!
 
piggl said:
It’s okay, honestly just take a deep breath and take a second. You are doing everything you can and it will be okay, you just need to find something that works for you.

Can you open a window if the air is cool, perhaps you could cool down the room that way.
Realistically if the bottles have been in for say a good few hours but aren’t completely frozen you could put one in the cage while you wait for the others to be fully frozen.
Click to expand...
thankyou so much, i have managed to get the back door open which has cooled it down a little I'm just concerned as its only 16 degrees outside atm so good knows what it’ll be like when we get the high twenties! unfortunately though we have mice in the back area and i’m scared they will
come in!
 
piggiemummy03x said:
thankyou so much, i have managed to get the back door open which has cooled it down a little I'm just concerned as its only 16 degrees outside atm so good knows what it’ll be like when we get the high twenties! unfortunately though we have mice in the back area and i’m scared they will
come in!
Click to expand...
Could you put up a little stopper, like a plastic sheet for example which would be hard to climb.

Putting a fan in a hot room will just rotate the hot air, the only way to ventilate is to keep one preferably more (windows or doors), open to keep the air moving through the room.
If you were to try the ice water for example you would want to put it as I said at the other side of the room and have a window or something open to keep the air moving.
 
We’ve all been here and it is a worry but you know what you’re having to cope with.
You can get portable AC / fans varying from a desktop one to full cupboard style one ( from £12.99-£250.99)
I’m not sure how well they work and price can be an issue but might be worth checking out
 
piggl said:
Could you put up a little stopper, like a plastic sheet for example which would be hard to climb.

Putting a fan in a hot room will just rotate the hot air, the only way to ventilate is to keep one preferably more (windows or doors), open to keep the air moving through the room.
If you were to try the ice water for example you would want to put it as I said at the other side of the room and have a window or something open to keep the air moving.
Click to expand...
yes we are already on it! was thinking a bit of plywood should do the trick!

thanks so much!
 
Roselina said:
We’ve all been here and it is a worry but you know what you’re having to cope with.
You can get portable AC / fans varying from a desktop one to full cupboard style one ( from £12.99-£250.99)
I’m not sure how well they work and price can be an issue but might be worth checking out
Click to expand...
thankyou!
 
My guinea pigs love ceramic tiles as they always stay cold. When in the cage they’re always lying on them!
 
If it's cooler outside than inside, then you only want to be blocking the windows and all when the sun would be coming in. At night, you don't want to insulate, or you're pretty much just trapping any heat you have. You want to use the cooler window as a heatsink once the sun is no longer adding heat.
So basically, when the sun is coming in or the temperature is warmer outside, you want to close your curtains for insulation; when the temperature is cooler and you're not getting solar load, you want to open the curtains to let inside temperature come down closer to the outside temperature. We do this with the south side of our house in summer ... thermal curtains get closed by midday and opened again in the evening.
Solar load will heat up darker colors faster than lighter colors, as lighter colors are lighter because they are reflecting the sunlight, where darker colors are absorbing more of the light.
 
piggiemummy03x said:
hi all looking for some advice as currently extremely stressed and anxious about this situation!

so its only may and i am absolutely freaking out about the hot weather already.. when we wake up each morning our room is so hot and i’m so scared its just going to get hotter and hotter these next few months.. i air the room out each night and get the temperature to around 20/21 degrees yet by the time we wake up its shot up to 23!
its not even that hot at the moment (15 degrees outside) so i really don’t know what we are going to do😞

all the curtains are shut closed to stop the sun coming in but if i close the windows the temp creeps up the night before and then its already the temperature it gets to in the morning the previous night and surely this means it’ll just get hotter? or have i got this incorrect?

any advice is greatly appreciated, as soon as i wake up i open our front door which circles cool air through but we have mice in the garden who like to come in so i can’t even do that anymore😩😩
Click to expand...
I feel your pain its really stressful. My guineas are in the hottest room in thr house. When it gets really bad I have spare c ans c grids and a spare chloroplast and move them downstairs. Last summer when it was 30 degree in my room it was 25 degree downstairs so I moved them there. It been 26 degree in my room tonight. I've given them a chopping board with a wet towel on it. I wet it everyday and so far hasn't dried out. Real test will be when it the summer but if they struggle I'll move them downstairs. Mine seem to be able to cope at 26 with a wet towel. I still worry but I think they'll be okay cus they got the wet towel if I'm out all day. I keep my window open all day and the blinds shut. I live in a very insulated hisur if I shut the window to keep hot air out it actually gets hotter. I bought a thermometer I keep on guinea room and I can check the temperature when I'm at work it help eases my anxiety a bit.
 
SarahxCavia said:
I feel your pain its really stressful. My guineas are in the hottest room in thr house. When it gets really bad I have spare c ans c grids and a spare chloroplast and move them downstairs. Last summer when it was 30 degree in my room it was 25 degree downstairs so I moved them there. It been 26 degree in my room tonight. I've given them a chopping board with a wet towel on it. I wet it everyday and so far hasn't dried out. Real test will be when it the summer but if they struggle I'll move them downstairs. Mine seem to be able to cope at 26 with a wet towel. I still worry but I think they'll be okay cus they got the wet towel if I'm out all day. I keep my window open all day and the blinds shut. I live in a very insulated hisur if I shut the window to keep hot air out it actually gets hotter. I bought a thermometer I keep on guinea room and I can check the temperature when I'm at work it help eases my anxiety a bit.
Click to expand...
its such a nightmare isn’t it! i’m sorry to hear your having the same struggle! its good you can move them though, we haven’t got anywhere to do that unfortunately😔
 
It's been a nightmare, more so these past few days. Pigs were moved into the shed once it was warm enough. Now it's getting to 27 in there. My pigs are more acclimatised to the hotter end as the house needs to stay warm for a disabled family member. I've got damp sheets up to provide an AC type cooling, which is helping. Cool bottles are in and I have a few tiles for them to lay on but they're ignoring the bottles and tiles at the moment. If it gets much warmer outside they'll be coming in during the hottest hours of the day. Next week is meant to be warmer so I'm dreading it.

Best thing to do is not panic. You're doing great. Have a look at our warm weather guide for more ideas Hot Weather Management, Heat Strokes and Fly Strike
 
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