Sivlei
Junior Guinea Pig
Hello and I wanted to fire off a quick question. I’m probably being a bit paranoid but are humidifiers okay for Guinea pigs?
Humidifier
- Thread starter Sivlei
- Start date
Pound Shilling & Pig
Adult Guinea Pig
If your air is very dry i think they are ok. Here in the UK they are not needed, infact in the winter I use a dehumidifier for my piggy shed.
Cheekypigs
Teenage Guinea Pig
If it's dry enough that you feel you need a humidifier, it's probably fine. As Pound Shilling & Pig says, that's rarely the case in the UK.
Sivlei
Junior Guinea Pig
Ok! Thanks!
Hi
A/C units can sometimes dry out the air too much but then you have a much more hot and humid climate on the US East Coast compared to the UK in the warmer half of the year. A/C units are usually very expensive to run over here and are therefore much less common in the UK since our climate used to be much more moderate - but it also means that our housing stock is lagging far behind in terms of insulation.
In view of climate change, we are trying to work with cooling methods/little tweaks that have a smaller footprint and that are more affordable as we start to get more warmer and humid summers in order to keep our piggies cool. 30 C (86 F) are still making the headlines here in the UK and several days in a row count as a heatwave in the southern part of the UK.
Make sure that any A/C unit you are using is not aimed directly at the cage at full force or that you interpose a damp sheet of fabric in between the unit and the cage; it will add a bit of humidity but further cool the surrounding air by the evaporation of the water and will prevent potential respiratory infections in guinea pigs sitting directly in the way of the stream of coled air.
As long as your piggies are not having breathing issues, then you are usually fine with drier air. Try and see whether a piggy with rougher breathing is improving with a bowl of steaming water right next to the cage. If yes, then humidifying may help.
Please see a vet if the breathing is raspy or crackling; this is typical for a bacterial upper respiratory tract infection (URI). Clicking from the lungs when you hold your ear against the chest can be a symptom of pneumonia; especially when combined with loss of appetite and apathy. Other funny noises are usually from a temporary obstruction of the airways (mostly the nose) and are not to worry about if they clear within hours or after a good old sneeze.
Just keep these respiratory alert symptoms in the back of your mind and see a vet if they persist for more than a day. Pneumonia needs to be seen as quickly as possible; it can kill fast.
Hot Weather Management, Heat Strokes and Fly Strike
New piggy problems: URI - ringworm - skin parasites
Sivlei
Junior Guinea Pig
Thank you for those helpful tips!