Overheating

[Teema]

Hi everyone!

In Scotland we are currently having a heatwave at the moment and I am so worried about my two girls.
Our flat gets very hot during the day (infact, it’s just hot constantly at the moment) and I can’t do anything to try cool the place down as we don’t have an A/C (we do live in Scotland after all!) We do have a fan in the living room (where the girls live) but as far as I know you’re not supposed to point a fan directly at them as it can cause breathing problems, is this correct?

Also, the flat is hot everywhere and there is nowhere we can move their cage to cool them down, it’s the same in every room, even opening windows isn’t doing anything at the moment.

My girls live inside and we have tried everything to help them stay cool, bathroom tiles, a huge frozen water bottle, we even went and purchased one of those pet cooling pads today, however, to no avail, my girls still seem to be way too hot but they make no attempt to use any of the things we have provided to try and keep them cool!
Of course water is the most important thing and we are refreshing their drinking water constantly at the moment and of course providing lots of tasty cold veggies for them but they still appear to be overheated (back legs sprawled out, very tired etc).
They run away from the cooling pad we purchased, they never go near the frozen water bottle, and the bathroom tiles were useless (apart from the fact the girls weren’t interested, they didn’t even stay particularly cold).
We are just at a loss and I am so concerned and I can’t seem to get them to make use of or even go near the frozen bottle or cooling pad. We just don’t know what to do, I know how uncomfortable I am in this heat and I feel so, so sorry for them and I am so worried about my piggies, please help!

 

[Piggle]

My girls are having the same issue down in the Midlands! I tried the tile idea, the cooling pad and frozen water bottle but nothing worked for me either.....until I tried something new today. Cucumber/melon juiced into ice cubes. Mine love licking it to get to the cucumber or melon. The sweet flavouring makes it really palatable for them and it has cooled them right down! They can't have that much fruit but in a pinch of hot weather it's great.
I hope this helps

 

[Wiebke]

Hi everyone!

In Scotland we are currently having a heatwave at the moment and I am so worried about my two girls.
Our flat gets very hot during the day (infact, it’s just hot constantly at the moment) and I can’t do anything to try cool the place down as we don’t have an A/C (we do live in Scotland after all!) We do have a fan in the living room (where the girls live) but as far as I know you’re not supposed to point a fan directly at them as it can cause breathing problems, is this correct?

Also, the flat is hot everywhere and there is nowhere we can move their cage to cool them down, it’s the same in every room, even opening windows isn’t doing anything at the moment.

My girls live inside and we have tried everything to help them stay cool, bathroom tiles, a huge frozen water bottle, we even went and purchased one of those pet cooling pads today, however, to no avail, my girls still seem to be way too hot but they make no attempt to use any of the things we have provided to try and keep them cool!
Of course water is the most important thing and we are refreshing their drinking water constantly at the moment and of course providing lots of tasty cold veggies for them but they still appear to be overheated (back legs sprawled out, very tired etc).
They run away from the cooling pad we purchased, they never go near the frozen water bottle, and the bathroom tiles were useless (apart from the fact the girls weren’t interested, they didn’t even stay particularly cold).
We are just at a loss and I am so concerned and I can’t seem to get them to make use of or even go near the frozen bottle or cooling pad. We just don’t know what to do, I know how uncomfortable I am in this heat and I feel so, so sorry for them and I am so worried about my piggies, please help!

Hi!

If your girls are not going near frozen bottles or tiles etc., then you are doing a good job at keeping them cool enough. They only do snuggle up to them when they feel the need.

PLEASE do NOT feed frozen veg/ice cubes! It can and has caused bad injuries to the tongue if it gets frozen to the ice in greedy piggies.
Some crushed ice in the water to keep it cooler for longer while you are at work (but don't turn it into an deep freeze, please) and a larger piece of cucumber from the fridge that keeps cool inside for longer for edible fluid are much healthier than any showy tricks and gimmicks and much less likely to cause tummy upsets.
Replace the water with fresh, cool (but not icy one) one when you come home and DO NOT overfeed on watery veg.
The temptation to overfeed watery veg and fruit in hot weather!

Keep the curtains pulled on any windows exposed to the sun. If necessary, place a damp towel or sheet on the side where you have a fan or over the top of the cage if you haven't; the evaporating water will cool down the surrounding air. Make sure that the cage is out of any direct sunlight.
More tips on keeping your piggies cool while you are out: The temptation to overfeed watery veg and fruit in hot weather!

 

[Betsy]

When I put mine outside in this weather, I always cover the run with am old damp (not dripping) duvet to try and keep them cool as mine won't go near anything like iced water bottles either, can you cover the cage with something that's damp?

 

[Teema]

Thank you so much everyone! And yeah we are careful to not overfeed watery veggies and just to let you guys know the veggies weren’t frozen, they were just straight out the fridge so really nice and cold. I have been feeding some cucumber too but again just don’t want to over do it with watery veg, thanks so much for your reassurance! How much would you say is too much for things like cucumber?
And yes we did try a cold, damp towel over the cage and then blowing the fan on it but not even kidding within about half an hour/one hour, it’s basically warm and not doing much (it really is that hot here! 27°C! for Scotland that’s crazy lol).
Just a heads up for anyone reading this, the cool pad we got was one from Pets at Home and tbh, I don’t even think it’s that cold incase anyone was looking to purchase one (plus the fact, if anyone’s piggies are like mine and like to be totally awkward, I say that with love, they actually need to sit on it to activate the cold!)
Will place another damp towel on the cage before I head out to work today and another frozen water bottle, and will try a little crushed up ice in their drinking water, that shouldn’t block the drinking pipe/tube though would it? I guess it would melt in time anyways.
It seems we have rain and cooler weather on the way now anyway, great for piggies but not for me
Thank you all again for your advice and help, I was really worried they were over heated so thanks for your reassurance that, if they’re choosing not to use the cool pad/bottle etc etc then maybe they’re comfortable enough.
Thankyou xx

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you so much everyone! And yeah we are careful to not overfeed watery veggies and just to let you guys know the veggies weren’t frozen, they were just straight out the fridge so really nice and cold. I have been feeding some cucumber too but again just don’t want to over do it with watery veg, thanks so much for your reassurance! How much would you say is too much for things like cucumber?
And yes we did try a cold, damp towel over the cage and then blowing the fan on it but not even kidding within about half an hour/one hour, it’s basically warm and not doing much (it really is that hot here! 27°C! for Scotland that’s crazy lol).
Just a heads up for anyone reading this, the cool pad we got was one from Pets at Home and tbh, I don’t even think it’s that cold incase anyone was looking to purchase one (plus the fact, if anyone’s piggies are like mine and like to be totally awkward, I say that with love, they actually need to sit on it to activate the cold!)
Will place another damp towel on the cage before I head out to work today and another frozen water bottle, and will try a little crushed up ice in their drinking water, that shouldn’t block the drinking pipe/tube though would it? I guess it would melt in time anyways.
It seems we have rain and cooler weather on the way now anyway, great for piggies but not for me
Thank you all again for your advice and help, I was really worried they were over heated so thanks for your reassurance that, if they’re choosing not to use the cool pad/bottle etc etc then maybe they’re comfortable enough.
Thankyou xx

An overheating piggy will pancake in the coolest spot. If your piggies aren't doing it, then they are not overheated. It is really as simple as that.

Spare a thought for me! I've got up specially at 6 am to cool down the lounge for the day and get the most labour intensive cages cleaned while the air was still fresh only to find that my dear husband has NOT turned down the heating for the summer and has instead whacked on another degree on the thermostat when he had the cold last week, so we now have two degrees more in there while the outside is warming up too quickly to flush out the excess heat.
I'd hoped to keep the lounge to 25-26 C with temps soaring over 30 C outside but I can say goodbye it this - and that with four very elderly and very frail sows...

 

[Teema]

Oh my goodness bless you. Hope the sows are okay
If it’s any good for you you can get a portable A/C off Amazon for about £30 you just fill it up with water would hopefully cool the lounge down a bit quicker before it starts to get too warm outside! Cleaning out day is enough of a work out as is, never mind in this heat! I am not looking forward to it!

 

[VickiA]

My girls are having the same issue down in the Midlands! I tried the tile idea, the cooling pad and frozen water bottle but nothing worked for me either.....until I tried something new today. Cucumber/melon juiced into ice cubes. Mine love licking it to get to the cucumber or melon. The sweet flavouring makes it really palatable for them and it has cooled them right down! They can't have that much fruit but in a pinch of hot weather it's great.
I hope this helps ❤

I really wouldn’t recommend this due to the risks to piggies of ice burn and upset tummies.

 

[amber89]

Oh, @Wiebke and all others. I know exactly what you all are going through. Fingers and paws crossed that all your piggies get though this heatwave. Vienna reached so far up to 36C and on Monday we are expecting up to 38C. My apartment reaches 30C and I have no A/C and the usual wind that should blow here during the night is gone, so no cooling of the apartment.

Anyway, wanted to ask if anyone already tried cooling their piggies from the top, instead from the bottom? I have gotten this tip from another forum and I have already tried it on my piggies. The girls loved it (my castrated boar really hates me at the moment, so he preferred to stay behind it). I have built from leftover grids from the play-pen and towels a "bunker". The cooling pads/bottles of frozen water are put on the roof of the bunker. For the roof I have used perforated tiles. Everything is covered with towels (so that as little cold air as possible is lost upwards). As we all know, cold air sinks to the bottom, so the area inside of the bunker is way cooler than outside of the bunker.
Depending of the capacity of your freezers and the stability of your constructions, you can use larger volumes of frozen water, since they last longer.

I am attaching a picture of my "cooling bunker", so that you get an idea. Inside of it the temperature is at least 2C lower than in the rest of the cage.

 

[Guineautopia]

I bought a cooling pad last year but not one Piggie went near it. Well yesterday I thought I’d try it again but this time I put a thin puppy pad over the top of it. Well that worked a treat! I had a happy boy flat out on it
I would say a piece of cotton sheet over it would work just as well too.
I guess they just didn’t like the plastic feel before.

 

[Teema]

Hi again everyone!
Just thought I’d pitch in again about the cooling pad. I decided to stick it right where there hay rack is, so my girls cannot resist their hay at all so at least I know when they’re munching away they’re sitting on the pad for five/ten mins every so often throughout the day (also really helps cleaning up spilled hay/spot cleaning, just lift the mat and empty into the bin!)
Thankfully weather has gone back to the good old Scottish ‘summer’ i.e grey and miserable. Hope everyone else’s piggies are doing okay! Xo