How much draft is too much draft?

[urockstar]

When I get my C&C cage together I'm going to be rearranging things in my bedroom. Right now I have my cage on top of a dresser, away from any breezes or anything that could get them sick. When I get the huge cage set up, it will obviously need more space, and I was thinking of setting the cage up near my windows. I have two windows separated by some wall space in my room, so they wouldn't be directly in sunlight. (perhaps one end of the cage would be, but I do have curtains so I think they should be fine there) However on the other window I have an air conditioner set up - obviously I'm not using it right now as it's freezing outside, but I know there must be some slight air coming in through those AC edges you pull to fill the window. If I put my hand there I feel no breeze but some coldness. I don't know if this might affect the pigs or not if they are near it? (Again, won't and wouldn't turn on the ac with them near it when it gets warmer) -- However, when it does get to summertime my room gets very hot and stuffy, so I will need to turn the AC on - at that time I will move the cage to another area of the room, but since the AC will be on, should I put a towel over their cage or something to keep them from getting any of its draft? It seems like a tricky situation because the heat won't be good for them, but the draft won't be good for them either. I don't understand how people risk taking their pigs outside at all for the same reason. If breezes really affect them or cause them to get URI, why would you take them outside when, on almost any day, it could be a bit breezy. Any tips/advice? Thanks.

[Char-x]

I'm no expert on this but I think there is a difference in the breeze than a draft. Of course it's best not to take you're pigs out on a day when the wind/breeze might be up, but the gentle breezes in the summer they can go in is more circulated around them, than drafts which is coming constant from one small gap. If that makes any sense, I could be wrong.

My cages will be on the floor and I'm going tomorrow to try and get a draft guard for the door but if not I will use fleece and cover any gaps until I can get one. I'm sure there are many things you could use to maybe fill up any gaps that could be bringing air through? My windows do the same, fortunatly my cages are enough away. I put them on the floor because my windows are the biggest risk for URI's than anything (although no problems yet) and I monitor where the breeze comes in and its higher than the pigs so misses them. I guess if you cant find anything to stop that breeze/draft/coldness you could use the a fleece/towel to block it, not sure though.

[alerz]

In order to remedy the problem of air coming through the sides of the A/C right now, you could try using some clear packing tape to secure these parts for better insulation or even placing towels within each nook. During the summer when it gets hot, I think it would be a good idea to move the cage away from the A/C. Just as mentioned above, I'm not an expert either, but I think that as long as the stream of air from the A/C does not directly hit the cage, then the guinea pigs should be fine.

[clotho]

You can also get clear plastic that you put over the window - tape around the sides - and use a hairdryer to shrink the plastic to fit the window. You could probably use that over the air conditioner.

Silly question - but why not just take the AC out of the window until summertime? Solves the whole problem!