Keeping Cool No AC, will pigs be fine?

[PeanutnCookie]

So today our air conditioning broke. I'm in Northern California and outside its like over 100, and not much better inside (probably at least 90 if not higher). I'm literally sitting here dying, and the pigs are all stretched out in their cage. My mom is dying too, so we are going to my cousin's house for a while until it cools down. We have to leave the pigs home, but I don't know how they will do. Right now we have fans and stuff on, but will probably have to turn them off when we leave. Is there something I can do to help cool them down, or do you think they will be ok in the house? Thanks in advance!!

 

[Beatrix187]

If you are too hot and have to go somewhere, so do the pigs. No fans, AC, and left all by themselves with it being 100 degrees out there? No way. They could die of heatstroke. Something you could do to help them is freeze some water bottles, wrap them in towels, and put them in the cage. But thats definetly not enough, if you go, the pigs must go. Or stay home and leave tons of fans on. Or leave and have the fans on, which I personally wouldn't do. I am sorry you are in this tight situation, but I think thats really all you can do.

 

[bpatters]

They'll die if you leave them in 90 degree heat. If you have to go, so do they.

 

[PeanutnCookie]

Ha oops over-exaggerated, it's only 82, but yes I agree that is still hot. There is no way, unfortunately, that I can bring them but I can leave fans on and I'll put an ice pack in the cage. There's not much more I can do at this point, though.

 

[lunarminx]

Ha oops over-exaggerated, it's only 82, but yes I agree that is still hot. There is no way, unfortunately, that I can bring them but I can leave fans on and I'll put an ice pack in the cage. There's not much more I can do at this point, though.

If its only 82 why do you have to leave, that isn't hot at all for humans but for pigs it is hot. You need to suffer, stay with the fans and keep them cool with fans and ice packs. When they thaw who will be there to switch them out?

 

[PeanutnCookie]

If its only 82 why do you have to leave, that isn't hot at all for humans but for pigs it is hot. You need to suffer, stay with the fans and keep them cool with fans and ice packs. When they thaw who will be there to switch them out?

I left and came back already, and I was only gone a couple hours. My mom is very heat-sensitive, and I knew if she was hot, the pigs would be hot, but again, not my decision to leave. I would never leave them alone for longer than that, I know better than to leave them alone for long periods of time in the heat. The ice pack was still half-frozen when I got back. It has cooled down a great deal since I left, too, and the pigs are fine.

 

[CavyHouse]

It's going to be 90 in Mountain View on Friday.

 

[PeanutnCookie]

I realize the dangers of leaving them alone, and I would never leave them if I had the opportunity to bring them with me. However last night was an emergency, and by emergency I meant that we were going to leave last-minute with no time to make arrangements for them to come with us for a couple hours, and I wanted to find something to make them as comfortable as possible in the time that I would not be able to be there for them. I definitely do not want to experience one of my babies having a heat stroke, which is why I came and asked if there was something I could do for them.
I now realize my original post sounded WAY more casual then I wanted it to, and like I didn't know/understand the dangers of leaving them alone. I was in a rush when I wrote that, and I should have put more detail.

 

[lunarminx]

Peanut do you have extra grids? I bend two together to make a tunnel, cover it and place icepacks or frozen water bottles on them.


If it happened again would she allow you to stay with them? I know when I was still working my sister took a half a day at work to come home and stay with my pigs( we share a 3rd floor apartment and it can get hot up here quick and it got hotter than we thought it was going to get that year.)

Just explain to her they can go into heat stoke after 82 degrees and it would be a shame for them to die from not making sure it didn't happen.

 

[lunarminx]

I make tunnels from just one bent grid and cover it with an extra large book cover. Maybe a bare grid tunnel would be better for cooling if they will use an uncovered tunnel?

But that is kind of pointy and the ice packs won't lay flat on top. The reason i cover is it absorbs the condensation and in my mind, helps hold the cool air in.

 

[PeanutnCookie]

I have a couple extra grids, and that sounds like a really good idea, i will be sure to use that if anything happens again. We were able to get air conditioning guys out here today, and they were able to fix the problem. Thanks for all the advice, it was all very helpful! I ended up just wrapping an ice pack in an old towel and putting that in the cage when I left and had a fan in the room with them (not pointed directly at them).

 

[lisa325]

I think spydoc's tunnels are an excellent idea for warm weather hidey places. I had tried this with a piece of fleece over the top of the bent cube but my Mario likes to chew the bars, :crazy: lil' bugger. I'm gonna look about for the book covers and try this method.