Question about south Texas heat?

I got a new Chinny about two months ago & she seems to be doing fine. I live in south Texas :/ But, my house is kept at about 76 degrees... I am not sure if that is too hot for her? I do ALWAYS have a fan blowing on high in my room though. She is always really active and she seems normal, so i am not too worried.
I spoke with a woman at Petsmart today & she said her chinchilla passed away because of the heat down here. :'( This worries me & i statred thinking about my little girl. How you know if they are hot? AHH. I have so many questions!!! PLEASE HELP!!!

i live in texas as well. and let me say, this state if ridiculously hot, even now.

i lived in galveston for a while, and kept my AC at around 70. granted, i was living in an apartment with all-bills-paid. since it should only be hot for another month-ish, i say it may be in your best interest to lower the AC, and just compromise by paying a portion of the bill. 76 is kinda pushing it, in my opinion. its also pretty humid right now so thats something else to consider. a fan will not keep a room cool, it'll just blow around air. since chins dont sweat, it doesnt really cool them off.

a few things that may indicate overheating are red,warm ears, and acting sluggish. a general rule of thumb is "if you need a sweater to be comfortable in the room, then your chin is fine". other things to do, to lessen the chances of overheating are to put the chin in a room where they do not get direct sunlight, since this increases the chances of overheating, and to give playtime at night when its not as warm.

in case you do have an emergency, start looking up a vet right now. just so youre not panicked when/if the time comes.

Thanks for your reply! The humidity has not been bad at all in San Antonio, like it is in Galveston!! I do only let her play at night since she is nocturnal, & she is never in direct sunlight It seems like i am doing everything right!!! I will, however, kick the ac down a few notches, cause i want her to be comfortable!!
Thanks so much!!

I just wanted to add, that the fan running all day really does nothing, since chins can't sweat.

greychins said:

I just wanted to add, that the fan running all day really does nothing, since chins can't sweat.

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I was just going to say that. 76 is ok, if she isnt doing anything, but I think for playtime, that is a bit high. I live on a 4th floor apt and I know we had a hot summer in PA, nothing like the south, I am sure, but the 4th floor does not help, and I have a small apt, and I only cool the one room, and my bill was about 175.00 a month for electric, but it is well worth it

76 is fine if that is what your chin is used to. Since the a/c is likely running 24/7 (mine is) it is very dry inside the house which makes a huge difference.

If she has a tall cage and spends a lot of time at the bottom, she's likely hot. If she spends a lot of time at the top she's fine in the warmer temps.

I've met people who's chins have died from heat when someone's a/c went out and they got to 90. Then I've met chins that have lived outside for years in this climate and through the various hurricanes with extremes of 120. It's all about acclimation.

maybe you can also buy bags of ice to place around her cage? i don't know if it really works, but when san diego was hit with a bad heat wave of 110 degrees on monday, rutherford was really sluggish and spent a lot of time at the bottom, rather than the top, where his swings and fuzzy tube are. but after i bought about 9 bags of ice, placed it around and under his cage (on the outside, of course), he seems to be feeling much better and actually started moving around the cage. i also put his dust bath inside the fridge for a while and gave it to him--he loved it!

Sweet! Thanks for everyone's help! I do have a granite stone that I put in the fridge every day & I give it to her after playtime The reason why I have the fan on is cause (I think) it helps circulate the cool air coming out of the vent.

in a way, yes fans do help if it is already cool in the room. for instance, the ac in my bathroom keeps it at about 72, but with a cooling fan that i have, the temp gets down to 68.

thankfully, it'll start cooling down a bit now. i think this is the end of hot texas summers. im no longer in galveston- humidity isnt good for a chin- but no matter where you go in texas, its hot! lol

This is my opinion and it has been debated to death around here, but 76 is too hot. The highest temperature it has been in my chin room is 73-74 and I noticed a marked decrease in activity. I keep my chin room at 68-70 and monitor humidity. No amount of ice, tiles, fans or whatnot are going to cool a chin down with a temp. at 76.

Disagree with me all you want, but keeping chins much above 70 is just not comfortable for them. Those who can't keep the temps. low enough should not own chins- period. So to chin newbies out there- 70F or below is optimal....

I agree with Niki (Dragonflye) about 76 being too hot. The thing about Texas and especially south Texas that people don't realize is it's humid as h e double hockey sticks! That much humidity in the air with the heat is just plain not good for a chin. And while yes a fan does help circulate air around the room it does not cool a warm room. Your chin will do much better if the temp is dropped down to 72 from 76 degrees.

I'm going to have to fall with Nikki on this one. I would never intentionally allow my chin's environment to hit 76 on accident, let alone on a regular basis. I really don't buy that "if they are used to it" deal either.

Here's the thing - if you don't want to pay for a/c, if you can't afford a/c, if you can't take the cold, there ARE other pets you can get that can adapt easier. Rats can take higher heat, though I don't keep them in the 80's either. Lizards love higher temps, and you can park your butt next to their enclosure and keep yourself warm as well.

People like to delude themselves into thinking they are "doing the right thing" because they throw in a chin chiller or some frozen bottles, or blow a fan around. I walked into my barn at 3:00 this morning to a cool 57 degrees with 32% humidity and my chins were having a freaking Mardi Gras. There was jumping and playing and everybody was at the front of the cage for hellohowareya's. In the summer, when I'm fighting humidity and heat, and the temperature starts heading up, they do not do that. There is no way you can explain that away other than that they do better at lower temperatures than they do at higher ones. If you want to let them out to play and you can't because your house is too warm, then it's my opinion that your house is too warm period.

I have fits when my barn goes above 68. I run two air conditioners so that if one quits the other can handle it.

When my chins were in the house they were in the basement which is always cool. I had to run a dehumidifier, though.

In an emergency (hurricane, etc.) you take your chances, but other than that, A/C is a must. If you are going to have chins, you have to do what is right for them.

You need to acclimate for your chin, the chin should not have to suffer through acclimation for you. Trial and error should not be used to see which chin can live at 100 degrees and which one can't that was suggested here.

Spoof said:

76 is fine if that is what your chin is used to. Since the a/c is likely running 24/7 (mine is) it is very dry inside the house which makes a huge difference.

If she has a tall cage and spends a lot of time at the bottom, she's likely hot. If she spends a lot of time at the top she's fine in the warmer temps.

I've met people who's chins have died from heat when someone's a/c went out and they got to 90. Then I've met chins that have lived outside for years in this climate and through the various hurricanes with extremes of 120. It's all about acclimation.

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120? thats one tough chinny! im not sure if i can survive temperatures that high none of the less an animal with the most dense fur in the world