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Uk Warm Weather Care Warning!

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Wiebke

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Can I please remind our members to make sure that your guinea pigs have either good tree shade or otherwise have a good-sized area of double shade in their runs at all times to protect them against the heat. Please be aware that any plastic pigloo is bascially a heat trap in full sun and not enough protection; it needs to be kept out of the sun.

The same goes for any hutches - guinea pigs can die from heat stroke!

Please also consider giving your long-haired/thick coated guinea pigs are summer haircut now, so they do not have to walk around with the equivalent of wearing a ski suit on a tropical beach! If you do not want to give up the long-haired look (although that will have grown back by autumn time), then consider at least to cut the undercoat short to give your piggies relief. You will notice that they are suddenly a lot livelier and more active when wearing their "summer clothes"!

Lots more tips for lawn and hot weather/heat stroke care in these links here:
Hot Weather Management And Heat Strokes
Feeding Grass And Preparing Your Piggies For Lawn Time
 
here in Rome we have now 27-28°C and the worst still has to come! here piggies are kept only indoor and when air conditioning is not available, vets suggest to keep their external fur wet and put some iced bottles/freezer boxes (I don't know the english name... those boxes which keep the cool temperature inside bags for food) into their houses.
Many years ago I owned another pig... poor pig, he was hot and looked like a pancake when he used to lay down on the cool floor. Then we installed air conditioning at home and the 2 stray cats living in the courtyard downstairs started coming upstairs. Unfortunately I have no picture of my pig and the cats all together under the cool current of air :D
 
here in Rome we have now 27-28°C and the worst still has to come! here piggies are kept only indoor and when air conditioning is not available, vets suggest to keep their external fur wet and put some iced bottles/freezer boxes (I don't know the english name... those boxes which keep the cool temperature inside bags for food) into their houses.
Many years ago I owned another pig... poor pig, he was hot and looked like a pancake when he used to lay down on the cool floor. Then we installed air conditioning at home and the 2 stray cats living in the courtyard downstairs started coming upstairs. Unfortunately I have no picture of my pig and the cats all together under the cool current of air :D

I use cool blocks, too. I have made little fleece covers that go over them (I even leave them on when I put the blocks in the freezer) so that the piggies aren't in direct contact with the frozen block.

I love the image of all your piggy and cats seeking out the cool flow of air from the AC unit :lol!:
 
here in Rome we have now 27-28°C and the worst still has to come! here piggies are kept only indoor and when air conditioning is not available, vets suggest to keep their external fur wet and put some iced bottles/freezer boxes (I don't know the english name... those boxes which keep the cool temperature inside bags for food) into their houses.
Many years ago I owned another pig... poor pig, he was hot and looked like a pancake when he used to lay down on the cool floor. Then we installed air conditioning at home and the 2 stray cats living in the courtyard downstairs started coming upstairs. Unfortunately I have no picture of my pig and the cats all together under the cool current of air :D


I would not wet the fur directly, but I hang dampened towels over the cages on very hot days to help cool down the surrounding air, as well as providing wrapped cool bag blocks. If temperatures go over 30 C, I also put the microwaveable snugglesafe pads in the fridge for my elderly piggies to lie on with a layer of fleece in between.
If you use a large fan or A/C unit, please make sure that you do not aim the full blast directly at them!
You can find even more tips in the guide at the top; I have collected all the ones that are safe. ;)
 
thank you! anyway now at home the temperature is fine... for piggies and for us humans! :D I would die without air conditioning...:woot:

Sadly no air conditioning here unless the climate gets hotter still. But if global warming continues, I will want at least one room in the house I am not perishing in!

We just don't have that many heat periods because the gulf stream has been keeping the UK climate very moderate without too many heat or heavy frost periods - when you consider that we are as far north as Canada.

But as Britain is an island, the air is generally much moister and the houses are not built for hot weather; we don't have shutters in this country that keep the sun away from the window glass for instance. :(
I can stand 30 C in Switzerland without problems, but I suffer at 25 C here because of the higher humidity. :(
 
I'm a good piggy slave, I've got 3 fans, 1 in the kitchen for the cook. 1 blowing over the front of the guinea
& ditto 1 for the hamsters. While I'm very hot & melting.
 
Mine live outside but I put frozen water bottles wrapped in old towels for them to lie on and feed them cucumber out of the fridge. I also cover part of each mesh door with a damp towel and they are still running around as usual!
 
I was hanging curtains in the garage last night, braving many spiders may I add, to stop the south facing piggy palace from turning into a green house and added a couple of more fans. The damp towel seems like a good idea too, I might try that.
Just put the microwave heat pads into the fridge ready for tomorrow, but if my office hits 34° again I might need them more!
 
Sadly no air conditioning here unless the climate gets hotter still. But if global warming continues, I will want at least one room in the house I am not perishing in!

We just don't have that many heat periods because the gulf stream has been keeping the UK climate very moderate without too many heat or heavy frost periods - when you consider that we are as far north as Canada.

But as Britain is an island, the air is generally much moister and the houses are not built for hot weather; we don't have shutters in this country that keep the sun away from the window glass for instance. :(
I can stand 30 C in Switzerland without problems, but I suffer at 25 C here because of the higher humidity. :(
and Rome is wet as well, especially when the winds are from the south....... I saw tourists fainting here... an old lady in my building died last year for the hot temperature at home. The volunteer of the rescue who visited us before declaring that our home was adequate for adopting two piggies, noticed the air conditioning units and was satisfied. (Of course pet shops don't care anything of that!)
 
My entire flat is south facing. It would get ridiculously hot in here if I didn't have blackout blinds on every window!

I manage to keep it very cool in here considering the outside temp. My dogs and cats are all fine, no panting or seeking out cooler areas so I'm sure my piggies will be fine too. Hopefully the heatwave will be over by time I collect them!
 
I've sorted out my cold aiair blower It's like a mini fridge but it's job is to cool the surrounding air
It is pritty effective
 
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