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Hot weather!

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Michele

Thought I would start a thread so everyone can put their tips for keeping our piggies cool. Especially as we are having very nice weather at the moment.

My 2 tips are...................

bottles filled with water and put in the freezer. wrap them with a thin sheet of towel and the piggies like sitting next to these or on them.

Hot water bottle not filled with hot water but with ICE.
 
I do the frozen water bottle thing. I've had bottles frozen and ready to be put into action for about a month now. I also make sure the curtains are closed so the midday sun doesn't heat the room and extra cucumber for them to suck on. ;D

Then, as I leave the house, I say "be cool, be safe, I love you" ;D
 
My piggies have their own shed which being brick naturally stays cool. I do have a normal fan to circulate the air and an industrial extractor fan in the apex to expell hot air which rises. I have a big window which I will open (with a blind over it to keep unwanted visitors out) and I have two doors on the entrance, one normal door and a netting door to keep unwanted visitors out if I leave the normal door open. The window is opposite the door so there is good circulation through the shed.

Kat
 
KatsCavies said:
My piggies have their own shed which being brick naturally stays cool. I do have a normal fan to circulate the air and an industrial extractor fan in the apex to expell hot air which rises. I have a big window which I will open (with a blind over it to keep unwanted visitors out) and I have two doors on the entrance, one normal door and a netting door to keep unwanted visitors out if I leave the normal door open. The window is opposite the door so there is good circulation through the shed.

Kat

One thing you could do if the sun beats through the window put a car windscreen shade on it. Mine are in the garage. the side door it to has a glass bit so it has my old windsreen shade on it.
 
The shed is on a North South plan and the window is in the East wall which never gets the sun.

Kat
 
Same as Kat really. A window open and a fan on which is not directly on them. Sometimes they have a little 'piggy ice cube'. -In a ice cube tray, little pieces of food with water then frozen.
 
A thin cotton drape over one end of the hutch when I am out, an open window too. Lots of cucumber and melon.

A spray bottle of water.

Cooler baths.
 
same as Kat and Kelly my sheds have fans as well and blinds that are pulled down and double stable doors that can be opened right up, windows open with netting over them of course,
 
I used to love the hot weather till I became a piggie owner and then the worry started about the heat and the piggies. ((Ask Debbie...shes knows how bad I have been over the past year or so ;D)).

Thankfully my new animal shed is in the shade and so its nice and cool so far for all the animals. But I have had nightmares about the temps, panics etc. Its not fun.

Heatstroke in pigs is so so easy to happen, and I think we should all refresh our memories on treatment just in case one of our pigs becomes affected by it.

I have heard of one case already this year. Thankfully piggie is ok now due to fast action by its owner but it was touch and go for a bit.

Deb x
 
Deb said:
I used to love the hot weather till I became a piggie owner and then the worry started about the heat and the piggies. ((Ask Debbie...shes knows how bad I have been over the past year or so ;D)).

Hee hee oh yes - the yearly panic over the temperatures and keeping the guins cool. You'd think that we'd have got used to it by now wouldn't you? ;D
 
Its great to have a thread like this to share our tips and ideas to keep our precious piggies cool. Great for new owners to refer to this thread.
 
It really is. Summer is a very scary time for the inexperienced owner (and me and Deb ;D).
 
Deb said:
Heatstroke in pigs is so so easy to happen, and I think we should all refresh our memories on treatment just in case one of our pigs becomes affected by it.

Deb x

So how do you treat it?
 
this is the copy of the link from http://www.oginet.com/pgurney/heatstroke.htm

Heat-stroke.


The most likely guinea pigs to suffer from this are those housed in hutches at the bottom of the garden during a hot spell in summer that have no shade. Such hutches quickly turn into ovens with the temperatures soaring.

I have also seen a case and heard of others of people leaving their animals, as some do their dogs, in locked cars to cook in the summer time!.

'But they come from South America, don't they?' I have often heard said, when I tell people that guinea pigs are very prone to heat-stroke. They do indeed and it does probably gets even hotter out there than it does here. However, they are not imprisoned out in the open in a little wooden box!. Like most wild animals their senses are attuned to the weather far more acutely than our own. By the time the sun reaches it's zenith they will have found a cool spot to shelter from it.

The symptoms of heat-stroke are that the animals will be flat on it's belly, unable to move, breathing is shallow and the pulse is rapid and very weak.

Treatment must be immediate for the animal is very close to death. Soak a towel in cold water and wrap the guinea pig in it, or get a bucket of cold water and continuously sponge the animal down. If there is one to hand, an electric fan should be played on it at top power.

If you are not too late already, recovery can be amazingly quick. The guinea pig will shakily try to get onto it's feet and it should be assisted and supported under the belly once its up. At this juncture, the water treatment should cease for it could swing the other way and chill the animal.

As soon as it is able to, give it rehydration treatment, water if you have no rehydration fluid to hand. The best method of course is something like Ringers solution subcutaneously by hypodermic needle.

Those that pull through the ordeal usually make a full recovery with no bad after effects.

this is from Peter Gurney................
 
Good to know even if the boys are in the living room that doesn't get the afternoon sun. You can never be too careful
 
That guy knows his stuff! lol

My room is a suntrap! my boys are likely to get that heat stroke so we have bottles of ice that are frozen in the night and become Harrys fav toy in the daytime, they go outside in a run shaded at on end when its possible and i leave my windows open Zubin doesnt like the heat as he has black patchs and when you touch hims hes clearly very hot in these bits so i usually cover there cage with a towel to shade him, My buns love the sun they sunbathe and if i think they're hot i soak them with the hose and they love it like a child in the sprikler lol Punkin sometimes runs away but Bobbin jumps into it and then licks herself dry lol i wouldnt do it will the piggies though they may give me the silent treatment if i did lol though I'm sure Harry would love it lol x
 
Now that the summer is here and the weather is warmer, we might notice our piggies begin to shed their hair a lot and become a little sluggish, sleeping and just lazing around more often than usual.

Piggies need help in controlling their body temperatures. Generally speaking, they can handle cold more than they can heat, although both can be dangerous.

The Humphreys' Guineas and their mom Laura have compiled this selection of tips on how to keep your guineas cool this summer.

The Humphreys' Guineas Guide:
How To Keep Your Cavies Cool

Tip 1:
Desktop Fans

Buy one or two desktop fans to keep next to the pigs' cage. Set them around 2 feet from the cage; close enough for a breeze to be felt but not close enough for an icy blast!
If the cage is bigger than a 3x5 (or alternative), then set one fan at each end of the cage.

Fans keep the air circulating - making breathing a little easier - and creates a gentle breeze which can help keep pigs cool.

Tip 2:
Frozen Water Bottles

These are one of the most popular methods for keeping piggies cool. Buy a bottle of water - any size, but aim for 50cl (500ml / 0.5l) or bigger - tip some out so it is about half full and pop it in the freezer overnight.

Once frozen, wrap the frozen bottle in a towel. 2 layers is usually sufficient enough to let some cold out, but not for it to be too cold for the pigs to lay up against.

CoolIdea2-Bottle3.jpg


They usually remain cold for quite a few hours. Once they realise that laying against the bottles keeps them cool, your pigs won't be able to get enough of these!

CoolIdea2-Bottle.jpg


Tip 3:
Bricks

Pavement slabs, bricks, tiles, and slabs designed especially for keeping small animals cool are all soothing.

Wipe over with a cool damp cloth to cool the bricks, or pop them in the fridge for an hour or two to give the bricks a really thorough chill.

Many garden stores and outdoor/hardware style shops sell bricks and slabs. Pet stores may sell a particular slab of marble (or something very similar) known as Chin-Chillers. This is what I personally use and my lot love them (as Lottie shows below).

CoolIdea1-Brick.jpg

(Please excuse the poops in the pigture. You know what pigs are like!)


Tip 4:
Linoleum Tiles

You can often buy linoleum tiles in a pack of maybe 4 or 6 from hardware stores. You can stick these to any solid surface in the cage - maybe the coroplast or a square of fleece/Vetbed which you don't need to wash. Wipe over them with a cool, damp cloth to cool down. These are popular but can be a little awkward to clean at times (dry poop stuck to the tiles).

Tip 5:
Popsicles and Ice Lollies!

These may sound like a pretty surreal idea to start with. However, they are great for pigs finding the heat a bit tough to cope with.

Popsicle -
To make a popsicle, find a little plastic dish. Fill it about half-way with water. Chop up a few fruits - strawberries, melon, apple, grape and plum have all been tested by my lot - and pop them in the water-filled dish. Make sure the water covers at least half of the fruit otherwise it won't work properly.
Put this in the freezer overnight.

In the morning, you just need to pour some cold water into the dish. Tip the excess water out after a few seconds, and hold the popsicle in while you bang the bottom of the dish a little. This may not get the popsicle out but it quickens the process.

After a few minutes, you will be able to get the popsicle out of the bowl. You may want to leave it in the dish and feed to your pigs like that, and this works just fine. Some pigs do like to put their front paws on the popsicle and really get their teeth into the fruit and lick the ice, while some will complacently lick the surface and leave the hard work of getting the fruit free to nature!

CoolIdea3-Popsicle1.jpg


CoolIdea3-Popsicle3.jpg


Ice Lollies -
Squeeze a fresh orange or apple. You could squeeze the juice from other fruits too and mix them all togbether to create one unique juice. Much like the popsicle, add water to a dish with the juice in to dilute the acid a little. Pop in the freezer overnight, and do as before. Exactly the same method, but with two different tastes and outcomes.


Tip 6:
Damp Towels

Run a cold tap and thoroughly wet a small towel. Wring all the excess water out, drape over a corner of your guinea's cage. This helps keeps the temperature a bit cooler for your pigs.

Another idea is to have a fan blowing 2ft away directed at the damp towel. This cools the air as it blows towards the pigs. By placing the fan closer to the damp towel you cool the temperature even further.

You can also hang the damp towel inside the cage. Clip it to the edge and have it accessible to your guinea pigs, so they can lay up against it to keep cool. They won't get wet since the towel contains not enough water to drip or get anybody wet; just to keep them cool.

KeepCool12.jpg


You could also just lay a cool damp towel on the floor of the cage; this will get dirty but many pigs find this one of the best methods for cooling down safely.

Important Note - Always ensure that your guinea pigs have fresh water available at all times.
 
I made an ice lolly for them today. It's in the freezer. I hope it will be ready when I get home.
 
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