HELP please, quickly too!

[nysheikaj]

It's 95 degrees where I am and our central air has gone out! How do I keep my piggies cool while its so hot? I bought a fan for them, but it's so hot in here that the fan is only blowing hot air. Right now they are in my bath tub with 1/4 inch of cool water under them, cool romaine and I turned their pigloo upside down so they can get out of the water if they want to. Any suggestions? And I don't have any friends nearby to hang out by.

[TipiDancer]

What you need to do is put something that conducts heat in the cage. Like a floor of bricks. Then Freeze a big bottle of water, and put it on the floor. They should be fine.

[nysheikaj]

Bricks won't be too rough on their feet?

[PiggieMom]

I'd put a couple of full water bottles in the freezer. After they have turned to ice place them in the cage. This way they can lay on/near the ice bottles to keep cool. I'd also make sure their water bottles stay full, and feed them wet veggies.

EDIT: Opps I'm too slow. Don't cover the whole cage in bricks so they can get off them if you want to. They should be fine. Watch them closely for heat stroke though.

[aqh88]

Do you have any cold packs or water bottles you can stick in the freezer? Otherwise you could just stick ice in plastic bags. Make sure they can't get to a bag of ice or cold pack by wrapping these in a towel and place in their cage. Frozen water bottles can be left unwrapped and set near houses or other places they like to lay down. Also make sure they have plenty of water in their bottles and aren't in too much sunlight.

[Percy's Mom]

First, you should take them out of the tub. You're going to end up with your pigs walking around in pee and poop soup. You can get a bowl of ice cubes and blow the fan across that to get them cool air, or like already suggested, put a frozen bottle of water in the cage. If you go with the bottle option, make sure you wrap a washcloth around it, so it's not too cold for the pigs when they lean against it.

[TipiDancer]

Of course I wouldn't lay bricks through the whole cage. But just in one corner. It should be fine on their feet.

[nysheikaj]

So, just lemme make sure I got it... Freeze water bottles, wrap them in a towel and they'll lay next to them to keep cool. Or I can have a fan blow over the ice to cool the air. Right? And what are the signs of a heat stroke?

[aqh88]

I leave frozen water bottles unwrapped. Pigs aren't dumb they'll move if it's too cold plus they have a layer of fur that works much like wrapping in the washcloth instead of like us where the cold is directly against our skin and can damage the skin. They also love to lick cold water bottles to cool their mouths and since most animals cool their blood by running it through their head and ears keeping their mouth cool seems like it would only help. That's why in middle school they always told us we had to have hats in cold weather. Your body eliminates alot of heat through your head.


Guinea pigs that are getting too hot will lay usually as stretched out as possible, breathing heavy, and be very inactive.

[Piggiemum]

I find that if you put the frozen water bottle in a sock and tie it closed, you don't have to worry about the towel coming off. I also get the bottle a bit damp to help release the cold. As a bonus, the piggies like to chew and nuzzle the bottle and roll it.

[aqh88]

Just noticed GL has a 2 page thread on keeping pigs cool and a/c if you want to check their ideas. http://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=30155

[daftscotslass]

Make sure that the pigs are dried properly before you start putting fans on them. The sudden changes in temperature are particularly bad for them.

[nysheikaj]

I dont have a frozen bottle yet, but i put them in my hall with their fan (behind a barricade of course) blowing at a ceramic bowl of ice water. They have cold veggies again. they both are popcorning now! As soon as I get some water frozen, I'll put it down for them. Thanks a bunch everyone!

[VoodooJoint]

Just so you know, if you suspect heat stroke or heat exhaustion DO NOT submerge them in water or pour water directly on them. Doing so can cause cardiac arrest.

Instead soak a towel in cool water, wring it out and wrap the GP in the towel. I recommend then quickly getting the GP to a vet as it may need subcue fluids and further medical help.

If you happen to have any ceramic tiles around, the kind for flooring, those are great for them to lay on to stay cool too. In fact you can leave a couple in the cage and have another one or two that you refrigerate (not freeze) and put then in the cage as well. If you have many you can keep several in the fridge and switch out the fresh, cool ones for the warmed ones. The GPs can choose whether to lie on the refrigerated tiles or the non refrigerated ones depending on how warm/cool they feel.

[janetangel]

Whew! Glad they are okay and glad to know the info. It is hot in AZ, summers are over 100 degrees F. daily. I will proly do the frozen bottles. I love the sock idea.
I will also get some ceramic tiles for the summer. Your fright was my gift to my piggies for the summer after we adopt next week. I got a lot of good info. from this thread I had not thought of before. Thank you.
My son and I were planning the lay out in his room tonight...where we will put the table and cage along with his stuff already in there. I got further on the cage. It is easy to build, I just get distracted with things like this forum, refereeing my sons fighting and visits from my dogs and cats. Tonight my husband is complaining he has no room on the bed because there is a big cage being built on it. Too bad for him, I guess he will have to sleep somewhere else.

[Texas Rustlers]

Hi Nysheika

Juat saw your post, do you have your air back on? We have 2 portable a/c units that are free standing if you need to borrow them

Julia