UK heatwave

[Plumbo97]

Hello, I hope you all are doing well today considering it a hot weather today and worrying about our piggies.



I have read through Hot Weather Management, Heat Strokes and Fly Strike that Wiebke kindly created and recommended.



I have 4 guinea pigs which is 2 female and 2 males, separate cages and away from each other. My two female’s are outside piggies while the male’s are indoors piggies in the shed.



I am going to work tomorrow from morning till evening and I am concerned about my piggies. I have given them cold tiles, cold frozen bottle, water and a damp clothes to keep them through the day in the shade outside today. I am not comfortable leaving my boys in the shed as it get hotter in there so I took them outside today and in the shade as well.



Since I am working tomorrow, is it best to leave my girls downstairs in the living room and my boys upstairs in my bedroom that not facing the sun or keep them outside? I am not comfortable leaving my piggies outside while I am at work when it going to reach 30/34 degrees and I am not there to protect them.

Enjoy seeing my little piggies in the picture

 

[Mrs Tiggy Winkle]

I don't know myself but I seem to recall reading here that you need to really really watch it if your guineas live outside and it's a heatwave. Like, you're moving into dangerous, heatstroke territory.

So I would assume they would all be safer indoors so long as you take the usual precautions like covering windows in wet sheets etc.
Checking with @Piggies&buns who will hopefully be on the forum before you leave for work tomorrow!

 

[Piggies&buns]

It certainly is hot here at the moment!
We had 34 yesterday and continuing potentially up to 39 by Friday.

Please do bring them indoors into the coolest rooms you have.
Once the temperature gets to 25 degrees, any outside piggies (including those in a shed, unless the shed is fully air conditioned) are at risk and need to be brought indoors. 25 degrees is the point at which heatstroke can occur.

Don’t use runs on the lawn at all once at 25 degrees or more. Even runs in the shade are exposed to sun heated breezes which can make the temperature inside higher than 25.
(Any hutches outside will certainly be hotter inside than the outside temp suggests)
It’s best to only allow run time in early morning and late evening once it has cooled down.

Mine live in a shed which gets unbearably hot very quickly

 

[Wiebke]

Hi

If you live in any area of the UK is touching or surpassing 30 C, please place your piggies with the attendant cooling measures in the coldest rooms of the house (if necessary a restricted space in the bathroom for the sows). Make sure that you air and cool the rooms as much as possible overnight and don't allow any breezes in while you are away. Be aware that with tropical nights over 20 C, cooling indoors is going to be very difficult.

We are sadly contacted by cases of piggies dying indoors from supposedly 'cooling' sun-heated breezes of over 50 C every year. The sun needs to be down and the air outside cooler than indoors to be safe. Usually, this is only the case in the early morning hours before 6-7 am on the sunny side and 8-9 am on the north facing side at this time of the year when the days are longer. I have got up at 4 am (dawn) in order to flush my dual aspect house where the lounge is in the sun from 7 am until after 9 pm as much as possible so I can close everything on the sunny side as soon as it starts heating up and protect that side with dampened sheets in order to keep the sun from heating up the window glass as much as possible.

Wishing you all the best. These are worrying times for us all.

For the upstairs room, a damp sheet over the cage or between a fan and a cage can help to locally cool the air when the water evaporates. Don't direct a fan or air condition unit directly at a pet cage. A wrapped frozen bottle of water can also help. If you find your piggies close to to or plastered to it, they are overheated. Ideally, your piggies ignore cooling measures.

I am adding the link to our extensive hot weather guide with lots of tips and measures as well as heat stroke and exhaustion guidance in case this thread comes up in searches. It is usually a combination of several measures (as many as you can put in place) that is most effective. Just one or two may sometimes not be enough if you are unlucky to be out of the house in extreme conditions.
Hot Weather Management, Heat Strokes and Fly Strike

 

[Plumbo97]

Thank you everyone, I have brought them inside.

I am going to ask my Dad to pick me up to check on them in the middle of the day.

The boys have blind and window closed in my bedroom with the air fan on, the fan not near them but it is circulating around the room

The girls are downstairs and I close the blinds in the kitchen where the window is facing the sun but they’re in the living room

I think they’re enjoying being inside as it been years since the girls last been in the house and first time for the boys

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you everyone, I have brought them inside.

I am going to ask my Dad to pick me up to check on them in the middle of the day.

The boys have blind and window closed in my bedroom with the air fan on, the fan not near them but it is circulating around the room

The girls are downstairs and I close the blinds in the kitchen where the window is facing the sun but they’re in the living room

I think they’re enjoying being inside as it been years since the girls last been in the house and first time for the boys

You are doing great. Put a wrapped cooling element of some sort in the cage for the afternoon.

 

[Roselina]

You are doing great and @Wiebke advice is very good
I hope you can keep cool too and try not to worry