Tempature and the Limits!

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Blarklark

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 1, 2009
Messages
75
Location
New England
How high can the temperature get for a chinchilla before you have to start to worry?

I planned on keeping my chinchilla in my bed room. One breeder I went to. Has her chinchilla's in a room that was so hot me and my mother .. were swetting. I was thinking to myself, hey if she has them in a room that causes me to prespire and they are still alive my room should be fine. When I'm in my room I don't swet. I'm comfortable.

However, me being the super safe freak I am. I put a thermometer that you would use for say a lizard cage? On one of the shelves in my chinchilla cage.

All day it stays in the 60-70's.. however.. at about 3:00-4:00.. It jumps to 80-83.. then it dies back down.

Is that safe for a chinchilla? I plan on getting those marble slabs and freezing them.

How do you guys keep your chinchilla's cool? If you don't have an air conditioner? The windows in our house don't open top to bottom. They open left to right.

Our basement has humidity problems where moisture is everywhere.. Plus my cat lives down there. :(
 
There's not really an option other than a/c. Putting a marble slab in there is not enough, that's for emergencies only and really does not keep a chin cool.

The breeder you went to, I'm going to say, is probably not the best breeder. If they were, they should know to keep the temps down.

I don't like it to get over 75 degrees. Anything lower than that is ideal. I know my chins are happy in the mid 60s in the winter in my basement.
 
Well I live in Phoenix, so I could never go without having AC on since the heat index is around 115 every day. I try to keep my room 65, none above. I was freezing one day so I turned off the ac for about 10 minutes and it had already got up to 75 and Bryson's ears were very red and warm to the touch and he just looked miserable (It could be that he is just a spoiled chin and hates it being above 65). But I think you should be fine during the 60's-70's, but when it jumps up to the 80's, AC should probably be used. I also have fans going. I know they say fans do nothing, but for me, it blows the cold air down from the ac vents since they are on the ceiling and it really does make a difference. He also has one of those granite slates (Got it for free since they left extra granite after building my house) but he doesn't seem to know what it is used for.
 
Blarklark said:
Ug, so what should I do? I there are those.. portable AC units. hmmm..
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Are you saying you don't have AC? If that's the case, then I would move your chin into an area where it's the coolest, has the most air circulation and is away from the sunlight as much as possible and keep multiple fans in the room. Also, do you currently have the chin, or are you thinking about getting one? If you don't currently have a chin, and have no way of keeping it at the right temperature, then maybe a chin isn't the best pet.
 
You can get a portable a/c that sits in the room and then has an exhaust pipe that vents out the window. I do believe they made adapters for windows like yours.
There really is not an option to not have an a/c when you have a chin.
 
I dont have one yet nope. Thats why I'm here to figure all this out. And my windows are not designed to fit a AC window unit in it. The entire house is this hot. However there is the basement. But its moist down there.. and a cat lives there. We have one room with an AC unit. However, its my mothers sowing room and it gets hotter then my room.
 
Well, you could take a trip to a home improvement store and tell them your situation. As alli said, there are ways to convert an ac unit into virtually any window, you just have to ask the right people.
 
Also, we use a house fan. I have a Huge fan in my bedroom and a ceiling fan. They are quiet.. But that's how we move air around.. Its how we all keep cool here. So the air is not just sitting. Its constantly moving.

And no, the first breeder I went to seemed alright.. but that temperature problem was bad.

I'll do that, thanks :) I didn't know that was possible. hmm.. our windows open in to out though. They are very old windows. But anyways, thanks
 
Could you freeze some waterbottles and maybe put those in the cage? I don't know. The window a/c may not be an option, but they have portable units that you can run almost anywhere. If a window can be opened just a bit, they usually will work.

80 to 83 is a little dicey. You would have to have chinchillas that are fully acclimated up to that point. Mine would probably be absolutely miserable. We keep it around 75 to 76 here.

The air circulation is a must with those types of temperatures...definitely keep the fan going. That will help some.

I always forget how some people don't have air conditioning back east. Here it's completely necessary!
 
Yeah. Just go there and ask about portable AC units, they should be able to tell you how to hook it up properly. Good luck.
 
Definitely look into the portable units. Our chin building is the same way as your room - it stays very cool until the late afternoon/early evening and then gets warm, then cools back off once the sun fully sets. We keep the AC going regardless, with a fan running at all times (even if it is not hot enough for AC). Best of luck!
 
Your basement, if it is humid, will not work either. Especially since there is a cat there, and left unattended, that would be waiting for something bad to happen.

As stated above you need to get an A/C. Fans will not work, as chins do not sweat. If you do not remedy this, you may end up roasting your chinchilla unintentionally. Especially if you get a hot day you were not expecting. IMO, anything over 75 is risky, at least here.

My guys ALL get warm up past that, and that only happened to be discovered when the power flickered and I was not home. It was 77 in here and my babies were HOT.

I always keep it 68 year round. Imagine sitting outside on a warm day in a fur coat say in 80 degree weather, I dont think you would like it for too long.:wink2:
 
Hmm, This is what I have been through so far.

I asked my rents, to see about getting an AC unit. They have one in their bedroom that they use. My father apparently is forbidding even my mother to turn them on. Due to costs for using them? I never looked at the bill or paid it so I can't really say too too much about that.

After the fall comes in our house gets MUCH cooler. I used to have guinea pigs in my past. I would take them to the basement. They had open top cages they lived in. The cat also lived in the basement She never really cared to look at them. She is Extremely old and overweight..

What I'm thinking is this, during the summer take the chinchilla to the basement where its nice and cold.

Our basement does have a little bit of humidity, but we don't have puddles or anything like that. I would just have to keep a close eye on the substrate and the food conditions.

Does that seem logical?

This might be the deal breaker :(

lol my family thinks I'm nuts. I'm running around the house taking temperature readings... lol
 
Humidity is never good for a chinchilla. This would mean giving them dust baths more frequently, which would then result in their skin becoming too dry. I'm not 100% sure, however, because, well, where I live it's only 4% humidity. lol. I'll let others who are more up to speed with the whole humidity thing help you out with this one. But I dunno if it is a good idea. You're right, it could be a deal breaker. Heat and humidity are the 2 enemies to chins, and unfortunately, you have both with no way around it. And just remember, depending on your age, you will be in this house for a while, that means moving the chin around for as long as you are there, which could be stressful to him.
 
I am worried you did not do a lot of research before getting the chinchilla, and if not turning on the AC is the final answer, then I would say you need a different pet.....

I do not think a humid basement with a cat is acceptable.
 
InkedupTara said:
I am worried you did not do a lot of research before getting the chinchilla, and if not turning on the AC is the final answer, then I would say you need a different pet.....

I do not think a humid basement with a cat is acceptable.
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Ditto . Why do you even want a chinchilla anyways? I know I have had people come over and think they are the coolest things, and think they are so easy to take care of and wanna go out and buy one:banghead:, when in reality, they are a HUGE commitment. They can live up to 20 years, but yours would not live long in a humid basement with a cat and being moved around so much, stress is a killer, as is heat. I think you need to do a bit more research, and if the ac is still a no go, then cross a chinchilla off of your list. ;)
 
As I repeated above. I don't have a chinchilla yet. I have been dancing around the idea for the past 3-4 years. I'm 23.. just graduated out of college. I came to this website to LEARN about how to care for them and ask major questions before taking on the task. SO please don't ask me rude questions that offend me. That's not what this site is for. Thank you.
 
I forgot you dont have the chin "yet". I do believe all around, if you can not run the A/c unit, you may need to pick a different pet. Sorry, I know that is not what you want to hear.

Maybe ask your father, if you can pay like 30 bucks a month towards electric, and then you can use a portable AC?
 
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