AC/too hot?

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MamaJ

MamaJ

Well-known member
Joined
May 22, 2010
Messages
133
Location
Silver Spring, MD
My apartment complex has turned off the AC this past week. It has been nice and cool but the last 3 days were pretty hot. Yesterday it got up to 76 degrees in the apartment. I was on standby with frozen bottles and my car keys, ready to take my little guy for a ride, should he show signs of overheating.

He seemed to be alright. A few times he laid on his side, but he didn't go on the chiller or even went close to the bottles. I was so torn as to when or if I should be taking him out of the cage and put him into the car with AC running.

If the chin seems ok, should I just leave him alone, or is 76 just too bad? Today is the last bad day here, then its going to cool down significantly.

Thoughts?
 
meant to add, its supposed to be 81 outside today, but we are on the bottom floor, so thankfully it doesn't get that hot inside with blinds drawn.
 
he even tried to run in his wheel in that heat. I took it out for the daytime. I just want to make the right decision, move him into the car or leave him alone if he seems ok.
 
76 should be alright unless it's humid, then he may be uncomfortable. You can freeze some big waterbottles and wrap them in a towel or piece of fleece to allow the little guy to snuggle up to it if he looks too warm. I will let it get to 76 or 77 here without worrying too much, BUT I am in Arizona in a place where the humidity is often under 10%.

I'd keep a very close eye on him. Do you have to go anywhere today? As soon as it cools down tonight you'll probably want to open up the windows and get the whole apartment cooled off. We're at the point where we can open up the windows at night and subcool the house to the low 60s so we don't have to run the A/C anymore. :)
 
ok thanks, that made me feel a little better. Its supposed to get up to 80 outside today and 43% humidity. I always have frozen water bottles on hand and I just put 2 in his cage too. Thankfully I am at home all day today, so I can hover and stare at him :)
 
I totally agree with Susan. Its good to be on watch for any signs of him being uncomfortable. I would throw in a frozen water bottle or two but I wouldn't stress too bad if he is being his normal self.
 
I personally would never let my chins sit in 76 degrees for a whole day regardless of the humidity, that is just me.
 
My bedroom gets up to 76-78 on hot days (because my roommate is insane and turns the air off despite me showing her that my room is always about 7 degrees warmer than the rest of the apt) and my chins do fine with it. Since they are usually sleeping, they are not really active or running around.
 
In good news, it "only" got on to 74 today inside. I had the bottles handy and watched him closely. Normally I always keep his room at 67, so I am sure he was thinking "what the heck", but he acted fine all day. Sun is going down in half an hour and then we are going to be at much cooler temps till next summer, thank god. I will def. invest in a portable AC in the spring.
 
I hope newbies don't read this thread and think 76-78 degrees is ok long term, because its not, JMO. Those temps should only be for a short term problem.
 
yikes, I am sorry. I didn't mean to confuse anyone. As I said, i would never keep his room above 68 if I could help it and was ready to transport elsewhere if I had to.

Thanks so much for everyone's input
 
He'd probably feel really hot if he up much over 73 or 74 degrees because he's acclimated to such a low temperature. I hope that it stays nice and cool for you. We finally cooled down here, too. The chins are happy with their rooms being so chilly.
 
Thanks so much. I really appreciate the info. While I have been learning whatever i can, I am still a new chin mom (6 months into it), so I really am happy about the input I am getting. It is now down to 69 and is supposed to dip down to 54 tonight. Windows are wide open and he already looks happier.
 
That's good! :) Mine start to get so mad at me when the temperature goes up a tiny bit. They don't act like they are really hot, it's more that uncomfortable look on their little faces. "It's 74.5°, can you do something about that now?" It's just not what they are used to when it goes up a degree or two.
 
My chins start to act uncomfortable at 70. If it gets to 72, they are very upset. I keep their AC at 69 and they are so comfortable with that. I don't think it would be a good idea for a long term thing, just something to think about for next summer. We had a house once that their room got quite warm and it was after that, I got them an AC unit. The AC has been able to help me know they are safe in regards to temp.
 
My chins are super spoiled as my fiance and I hate the heat and humidity. We keep our chins with us in the basement where it is a constant 65 degrees. We use a dehumidifier to keep the humidity around 30 percent.

When we moved out of our last place my one chin go so upset by the movers going in and out he started jumping all around his cage. I noticed the temp was going up because the door was open.

Next thing i know his ears were cherry red and he was starting to pant. I picked up straight up and went to the freezer and stood with him in my hands. He seemed to settle down since i was holding him and he walked over to a bag of peas and nudged up next to them. A few minutes late he was all good again.

We covered his cage so he couldn't see the movers and kept an eye on him.

This was a big scare and it happened so quickly. Temp / humidity is really important.
 
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