How to keep your PETS COOL in Summer

[Die Fledermaus]

OK, by request, here is a thread for your ideas about keeping pets cool in the heat. Somebody start. . .

[Dezzi]

those saucer things you put pots on, cool treats, a cool room...

[hamwolf89]

~ Put ice in the water bottle

~Wet and freeze a cramadic pot and place it in the cage

~Get a cold damp towel over the cage and have a fan blowing (lightly) on it

~Put an ice pack on the bottom of the cage.

~leave a bag of ice near the cage

[Die Fledermaus]

Put ceramic tiles in the freezer; after a time, put in cage.

Frozen peas and frozen blueberries.

Put water bottle in freezer. When it starts icing up put in cage. If glass do not let it freeze all the way as it may crack.

Freeze one of those special bags you get for putting in picnic chests, the ones that freeze and stay colder than water. Put on top of cage out of reach.

[pinky]

I needed this thread in summer 2000 and summer 2001, when Critter and I lived in an apartment with ceiling fans only and the indoor temperature sometimes got into the mid to high 80s. But she lived to 3.5 and died in February, so she was none the worse for wear.

[adoptaratcanada]

A couple of years ago I used ice in plastic ziplocs, inside stainless steel containers, and also aluminum (I think) sports bottles filled with cold water.

It all got a rather fiddly so I shelled out for an air conditioner last year. And it makes ME happy, too ;D I'm a big baby in the warm weather. lol If I used a fan to direct the cooler air out of the bedroom, and use the signboard to aim the air into the rat room, it worked fairly well. It rarely got above 80 with or without the a/c. However, when it's approaching 80, or going to be very hot for a few days, I just move the rats right into the bedroom so the air can be contained there better.

I was at the pet food place a couple of months ago and SuperPet is selling slabs of granite, called the Chin-chiller tinyurl.com/5xvl3w I bought a couple just to try them out since I was there, but I'm told you can get the same thing at a place like Home Depot for a fraction of the price. What I liked about it, was that it was VERY cool to the touch even before putting in them in the fridge (where they now live, just in case). They are easy to clean, too, which is nice.

I wonder if we could put in the original post perhaps, what an acceptable range of temperatures is safe for each rodent. And even the "feels like" temperate which takes humidity into account (if someone knows where one can find that info). For instance, I think the Ratguide or the Rat Fan Club recommends no higher than 75. I think they say the range for rats is ideally between 65-75F, with cool temperatures being better for rats. When it's got close to 80 here the rats don't seem bothered. Early in the week it was around 77 and Hugh still pulled his blankie over himself!

The hot weather is one thing that really makes ME worry in regards the rats. Ok, so I'm a worrier!! ;D I'm horrified to think what if the power goes, so we can't run the a/c for the rats!

Someone online suggested that rats are starting to feel the heat when they are flopped out all over the cage. Being the worrier I am, I'd probably flip if they got to that stage! ;D She used a painting to demonstrate her point....I wish I could find it! (edited to add: YAY, someone found it for me...it's below the original)

It's a rattie spin off of the famous Dali painting:



Bella has lots of nice rat art on her website, bellaratta.com

[Dezzi]

I don't know temperatures for rats, but I do know the wild ones were able to survive in the barn in the summer. They used to hide in the hayloft.

Anyone know what the temperature for hamsters is supposed to be at?

[Die Fledermaus]

Not sure. In the wild they surely must deal with temps in the 90's F. But then when it gets that hot they might just burrow deep underground and stay cool.

If it gets above 85 in here the ac goes on.

For some cages I have a small fan on top of it blowing air in. I got that idea from the big dog cages at the Madison Square garden Dog Show.