General How hot is too hot?

[dbsam]

I've read 80 degrees can be too hot for piggies...is this true?

It is 93 degrees outside and I came home to broken AC. The line is frozen and the unit cannot be fixed for 24-48 hours. The house is still closed up and I've closed all the shades. We will open up the house tonight if it cools down.

Anyway, the piggies are on the second floor which is the hottest part of the house - probably 85 degrees. They look hot and drank a lot of water today. (They often drink a lot so maybe that is not a concern.) The main floor is currently 80 degrees and the basement (finished with a dehumidifier) is cooler. We are expecting more days in the 90's. I am planning on moving them to the basement until the AC is fixed - I believe(hope) it will stay around 75 in the basement even without AC. I think they are fine but is there anything I should watch out for?
TIA

 

[PigPandemonium]

I'm not sure about the how hot it too hot, however I do know that guinea pigs can die from heat stroke quite easily. I'd defiantly move them to the basement, maybe add some fans in the room to help keep it cool. You can also freeze a few water bottles, then wrap them in a towel and put them in the cage, they pigs can lay next to them to keep cool.

 

[Zuidy]

75 to 80 Fahrenheit and anything above is pushing it.

DEFINITELY move them to the coolest area of your house, no matter how temporary.

Also freeze a bottle of water and put it in with them even when your AC is fixed, and they can lay by it when they feel hot. You can also CHILL their bottles of water (that they drink out of) in the freezer for about half an hour too.

 

[dbsam]

Thank you! We moved them to the basement. They are moving around and eating but Duncan (who has long hair) looks disheveled. I do not have any frozen ice packs and am afraid to put baggies with ice because Caramel likes to chew on plastic things. I will think of something cold to put in there - maybe ice wrapped in a washcloth. The basement is in the 70's right now. We will all be sleeping down there.

 

[cibrown]

Our skinny pigs always feel like little heating pads. Should I take the same precautions with them as with our regular pigs or do they tolerate heat more?

 

[bpatters]

Guinea pigs can easily tolerate temperatures below 70 -- they're basically balls of fat and fur. We keep our house at 65, and they have no problem at all.

Temperatures above 85 are a problem, though, as they have trouble regulating temperature because of all that fat and fur.

Skinnies need more help to maintain body heat, and can't tolerate the cold as well as their furred relatives. But I don't know that they can tolerate higher heats than the furred ones -- I wouldn't want to risk it with an experiment.

If you put fans in the room, drape a towel or blanket over one end of the cage so they can get out of the breeze if they want.

 

[cibrown]

That's what I do with the skinnies but I thought that I would check. Thanks for replying bpatters.

 

[bpatters]

Skinnies are a whole other ball game than furred pigs. Many people say they eat and poop more than regular pigs because their metabolism is so high, working to keep their temperature up. And skinnies seem to be burrowers more often than furred pigs, apparently trying to find a way to keep warm.

It seems reasonable to me that they'd do better in warmer temperatures than their furred buddies, but I've never had a skinny, and wouldn't want someone to act on that on my say-so, because I really don't know. I do know that you have to work harder to keep them warm in cool temperatures.

 

[cibrown]

We put a heat lamp for our skinnies during the winter so that they can go under it if they get chilly. Plus there are a lot of things for them to burrow into for warmth. Their cages are big enough for them to choose where they are most comfortable. Also, we have a hedgehog that we have to accommodate too. Our hairless rat likes to be in something while 2 of the haired like to lay on a hammock. We try to figure out what each individual likes and offer a few options.