AC problems. Need help.

[Luciole]

The outside temp is well above 90 with high humidity and I think that my AC might be low on freon. It is on full blast, but the temp in the chin room reads 72.9 degrees (a second thermoter says it's 70, but whatever). I usually keep the room at no greater than 67. One chin is showing some signs of overheating (i.e. stretching out on his platform). What can I do to cool them?

TIA

 

[alli713]

As a sort of last resort, you can get marble tiles at Home Depot and put them in the fridge and then rotate them in and out of the cage for them to lay on.

I hear you on the temps, it's horrible right now! Do you have a basement you could move them to while you get your a/c fixed?

 

[threewingedfury]

72.9 degrees isn't really that bad - my chin room is normally 72-75 degrees, and it's hard to keep cool and has very high humidity (40-55%), even with a dehumidifier. I'm sure I've seen it hit 78 degrees or so once in the room, but never really had any problems, at least so far. I've been told by quite a few ranchers that 82 degrees or below is fine, as long as you have proper ventilation and air flow. I know this isn't ideal temperature, but they can survive at the temperature. I'd try the chin-chillers, or maybe a frozen water bottle wrapped up.

 

[Luciole]

Thanks :thumbsup:. No basement, I live in an apt; maintenance will come in tomorrow to look at the AC. I have extra marble tiles that I could cool, but they are too big to fit on the upper platform of one of the chin cages and this is the only place that chin wants to sleep right now. I'll look around to see if I have anything smaller that can be frozen.

 

[Chinmama]

I'm no expert, but I think that like us, once our chins become acclimated to a certain temperature they feel the heat quicker at a higher temperature. I can tell a difference in my chins at 70 degrees, compared to the regular temperature of 65.

My chins cages have marble slabs but I also keep some terra cotta pots in the fridge in case our air goes out or if it just can't keep up with the heat and humidity (it's really old). With the pots, they can perch on them or get inside if they want, I just lay them on their side.

Do you have central a/c or a window unit?

ETA: If you buy or use terra cotta pots, made sure they are lead free in case your chin decides to chew.

 

[alli713]

I'm personally not comfortable having my chins in the 75+ temp range. Like Chinmama said, I think like us they can acclimate, but that doesn't mean that's the ideal temp.

Here in WI where I live it hit 95 outside today. I know if we didn't have the a/c running it would have gotten well over 75 in here. But my chins are in the basement, so temp wise they're fine all year long.

 

[Luciole]

Hi Alli. Fellow Wisconsinite, here. The weather is horrible right now. I, too believe that they have become acclimated to mid to high 60s and become stressed when the temp increases by just a few degrees. I might have an old clay tile somewhere that I can freeze. Now where did I put that...

 

[alli713]

I don't really know how much this helps, but I sometimes do it for my chins.. I put their dust in the freezer for a minute or so, just until it becomes cool then I put it in their dust bath and let them roll around. I don't know that it really cools them off, but I'm sure it feels nice.

I found that with my glass dust bath, I couldn't stick the whole dust bath in as then the glass got condensation on it, but if you had a plastic one, you probably could.

 

[Luciole]

Great idea --that is really clever. Maybe I could put a small bag of dust in the freezer and then add it to their dust house right before they bathe.

 

[Laurie]

Alli what a great dust idea! I know my chins are used to temps up to 78 with no issues, but also with no humidity. When is hot outside and humid I do not allow playtime and I encourage naps and sleeping LOL! The wheels also come out of the cages. Yesterday morning when I came home Stewart had the a/c cranked so high it was 50 in the house! Chins were loving it, not so much me! I was freezing so I readjusted it to 72 ish and even then I was still freezing! Good old Wisconsin weather LOL!

 

[Chinniechantel]

Can you maybe get a window unit to add to her room? I would not let it get about 75, with 60% humidity is when I start to worry. It has been 100 here with 97% humidity! Yuck. I like that cold dust idea too, I will have to try that for them. What color is your chin...if it is a beige variation you can see red blood vessels on their ears when they start to get hot.

 

[fluke]

beware also of apartment people trying to skip out on fixing things that may be messed up. I mean like, if they have to recharge your A/C with freon often, that means theres a leak which means it will continually go out until the leak is fixed. That was the problem I had for a long time and when it started getting warm this year and they said they wouldn't fix the primary problem, I was beyond livid. My power bill doubled last summer just because of that aside from the A/C going out numerous times. Just ya know a warning because apartment managers/owners/whoever are gonna try to do anything to avoid spending money on replacing or really fixing your A/C.