More hot UK weather on the way!

[Wiebke]

Please brace yourself for more and very muggy hot weather in the southern half of the UK! the combination of high humidity and heat is as draining for the piggies as it is for us humans, but especially for the risk groups.

Here is the largest collection of tips you can find again. It is the combination of several of them that is the most effective; not just one or two!
Hot Weather Management, Heat Strokes and Fly Strike

 

[Flutterby]

We are prepped and ready!

 

[DougalandDiego]

Never dreaded the warm weather like I do now I’m a piggy slave. My thermostat in the pigs room has been saying the humidity has been around 70% Can’t wait for cooler weather... whenever that may be!

 

[Piggies&buns]

Good to go here too - cage set up indoors, cool packs at the ready, sheets over windows ready to be watered

 

[Siikibam]

All set with bottles in freezer.

 

[Rivervixen]

Ice packs and tea towels ready

 

[Piggies&buns]

The thermometer is showing 37 and a bit degrees in the shade. The piggy shed shows just over 40 degrees. But indoors it has been between 24 and 25 all day - piggies, bunny and people all indoors and staying nice and cool thanks to wet sheets on the windows (amongst other things!)!

 

[PigglePuggle]

Stay safe everyone in the heat! We were expecting a hot day here, forecast said 27, but its been overcast and breezy all day, a steady 21 degrees inside and out if a little humid- I'm ready with the fan and frozen bottles and damp sheets for tomorrow and sunday though just in case!

 

[KHBz]

It has been very hot here so our outdoor piggies will be watching TV in the sitting room for the second time this year! It needs to get a lot cooler outside before they can go back to their hutch.

 

[Claire W]

It’s been breezy here and overcast at a steady 25C so the piggies are currently out on the grass and have been all day. But we have frozen bottles at the ready should it get hotter over the weekend

 

[DougalandDiego]

Hope everyone is managing ok! I can’t believe how humid it has been outside the last few weeks!
Can I just ask what an ok temp for the pigs is? Highest and lowest? We have recently bought a portable air conditioning unit for the pigs which works amazingly but I don’t like to have it on all day as I worry about the pigs getting too cold? I’ve been turning it off after their room gets to about 19/20 degrees and turn it back on when their room starts warming up again (about 22). Unfortunately it doesn’t stop when the room is cooled hence having to turn it on and off. Is this a problem for the pigs does anyone think? Like I said I don’t let the temperature suddenly drop and rise again and shock them but worry about the room getting too cold if I leave it on too long?

 

[rp1993]

Our flat got to up 27C today and was 35C on our roof terrace! Piggies have been keeping cool next to their cooling blocks, they really love them!

 

[PigglePuggle]

Hope everyone is managing ok! I can’t believe how humid it has been outside the last few weeks!
Can I just ask what an ok temp for the pigs is? Highest and lowest? We have recently bought a portable air conditioning unit for the pigs which works amazingly but I don’t like to have it on all day as I worry about the pigs getting too cold? I’ve been turning it off after their room gets to about 19/20 degrees and turn it back on when their room starts warming up again (about 22). Unfortunately it doesn’t stop when the room is cooled hence having to turn it on and off. Is this a problem for the pigs does anyone think? Like I said I don’t let the temperature suddenly drop and rise again and shock them but worry about the room getting too cold if I leave it on too long?

Piggies can't cope with sudden temerature changes at all, but 18-22 degrees is pretty optimal, and if they are at 18-19 degrees and the temperature drops to 15 overnight or over a few hours thats ok. Similarly if they are at 21-22 mostly and it slowly warms to 25 this is ok if they can seek shade or a cool spot.
So 15-25 is broadly ok as a temperature range but they couldnt go straight from one to the other without some time to adapt to things!

 

[DougalandDiego]

Piggies can't cope with sudden temerature changes at all, but 18-22 degrees is pretty optimal, and if they are at 18-19 degrees and the temperature drops to 15 overnight or over a few hours thats ok. Similarly if they are at 21-22 mostly and it slowly warms to 25 this is ok if they can seek shade or a cool spot.
So 15-25 is broadly ok as a temperature range but they couldnt go straight from one to the other without some time to adapt to things!

Ok thanks I’ll try to not do any sudden temp changes. Their room with the aircon varies around 18-22 depending on whether I turn the air con off to give them a break from the humming/vibrating noise for 15 mins. Does that sound ok? I worried 18 was too cold but that’s good to know! Probably just feels cold for us going into the room because it’s so hot in the rest of the house!

 

[DMS260820]

36 where I was working. It was like I was drinking water and it was coming back out of my skin seconds later

 

[Piggies&buns]

Ok thanks I’ll try to not do any sudden temp changes. Their room with the aircon varies around 18-22 depending on whether I turn the air con off to give them a break from the humming/vibrating noise for 15 mins. Does that sound ok? I worried 18 was too cold but that’s good to know! Probably just feels cold for us going into the room because it’s so hot in the rest of the house!

That sounds fine.

 

[DougalandDiego]

That sounds fine.

Perfect thanks. I’m sure once we’ve had it longer we will be able to regulate the temp better. I’ve just tried keeping their door slightly open instead of shut and it seems to be a steadier temp so far so that may a better option!

 

[Helen C]

I hate this heat. The girls have been moved to the basement, which seems blissfully cool to us since the temperature in the rest of the house is about 28-30 degrees.

It's still 26 where they are.

Thankfully I'm on holiday so I can keep the cool pads coming (they ignore them so far) but I'm so stressed they'll get too hot...

At least three more days to go...

 

[teddymouse]

Remember to look after yourself too, you need to drink more, if you are only peeing once or twice a day, you are not drinking enough. That was my doctors advice.

 

[PigglePuggle]

Going to be hot today in Liverpool!
Currently 22 on the shady side of tje house so hotter in the piggy room that gets the morning sun... they have fresh chilled drinking water, 2 frozen bottles in socks to sit on, and a damp pale cotton sheet draped over part of the cage- after a lot of initial suspicion 3/6 piggies are now under their shady damp canopy sheet, Jezzy is a bit obsessed with the chilled drinking water, and Blodwen has reluctantly overcome her terror of an unexpected cold purple sock creature in her hidey house!
Piggle is admittedly still in a fleecy tunnel, but at least in the shade...