Hot Weather - Many little things add up to help your piggies and yourself

Wiebke

Wiebke

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Hot weather has finally caught up with the UK.

You can find lots of practical tips on how you can keep your living and quarters and our piggies as cool as possible in the two links below. Hot weather can (and sadly does each summer) kill guinea pigs.

Lots of little, low or no cost measures will add up to a surprisingly impressive total. Don't think that just one trick is enough.

If your piggies are plastered to a frozen water bottle, they do actually feel too hot. If they ignore the bottle, you are getting it right: they don't need extra cooling because their room is not too hot! :)

All the tips for your whole home and for the cage: Hot Weather Management, Heat Strokes and Fly Strike

Our member questions, feedback and more practical tips testing and experiences for different settings: Hot weather warning for the UK - Member questions and heatwave feedback
 
I gave Misty and Bramble a "Beach Bod" the a few days ago by getting out the clippers and they had a Grade 4 haircut all over and they are now much cooler than they would have been. Fortunately, the garage where they live doesn't get above around 24 degrees even if its 30 degrees outside. They also have plenty of hay to keep cool under an can often be found hidden in it.
 
Betsy said:
I gave Misty and Bramble a "Beach Bod" the a few days ago by getting out the clippers and they had a Grade 4 haircut all over and they are now much cooler than they would have been. Fortunately, the garage where they live doesn't get above around 24 degrees even if its 30 degrees outside. They also have plenty of hay to keep cool under an can often be found hidden in it.
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How do misty and bramble react to the clippers?Mop and wigs fur grows so fast and I was debating getting some but I don't want to scare them.
 
Lying in the sunbeams vs trying to dig a cooler hidey spot in the hay is what I look for. If they were too warm they'd be finding ways to avoid it and I've watched them both try avoiding it before.

Thankfully it's roughly 3-5° cooler downstairs even with the curtains left open. It's over 25° up here, but the room thermometer that sits on top of their tent says it's about 19.7°. Hooray for no insulation, lol.
 
Betsy said:
I gave Misty and Bramble a "Beach Bod" the a few days ago by getting out the clippers and they had a Grade 4 haircut all over and they are now much cooler than they would have been. Fortunately, the garage where they live doesn't get above around 24 degrees even if its 30 degrees outside. They also have plenty of hay to keep cool under an can often be found hidden in it.
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If they feel comfortable snuggled up in the hay, then that is a really great sign. Hay is actually an insulator and is generally used in winter to keep outdoors piggies warm.
 
I got an air conditioner put in a few years ago and that really helps. I have a ten year warranty so if something happens they come out for free and fix it. I keep the house at 76⁰ F because it's kinda expensive. But the pigs seem happy.
 
Ramia said:
I got an air conditioner put in a few years ago and that really helps. I have a ten year warranty so if something happens they come out for free and fix it. I keep the house at 76⁰ F because it's kinda expensive. But the pigs seem happy.
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Air conditioners are much less common in the UK due to us having traditionally a very moderate climate and also having much higher electricity prices compared to the USA.

The guide - when you read it through (and it is worth it) - takes account of the fact that many UK guinea pig owners need to keep their electricity bills down or that they choose to lower their climate footprint.
 
Gem789 said:
How do misty and bramble react to the clippers?Mop and wigs fur grows so fast and I was debating getting some but I don't want to scare them.
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I have rechargeable pet clippers so there is no cord to frighten them. They are also a lot quieter than normal hair clippers. Bramble was fine with them but Misty was rather traumatised by the whole thing.
 
Betsy said:
I have rechargeable pet clippers so there is no cord to frighten them. They are also a lot quieter than normal hair clippers. Bramble was fine with them but Misty was rather traumatised by the whole thing.They sound good.Could you send me a link to the one you bought?
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I was concerned that my boys weren't drinking enough, despite the water bottles being refreshed several times, so I am offering syringes of cold water. It's also good syringe training for them and they enjoy it.
 
fluffysal said:
I was concerned that my boys weren't drinking enough, despite the water bottles being refreshed several times, so I am offering syringes of cold water. It's also good syringe training for them and they enjoy it.
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If your boys aren't feeling overheated and/or if you are feeding more watery veg they quite simply won't drink more because they are not thirstier than normal.

It is a faulty human thought process to think 'Heat - Need to drink more!' Humans sweat, piggies don't. Guinea pigs don't have sweat glands like us nor do they pant. Therefore they don't need loads more water in hot weather; they regulate their body temperature via increased blood flow in the skin; especially the ears.

Just accept that they are going to drink even less from the bottles if you give water in a different way (syringe or watery veg/fruit) because they do not need more.

What is crucial is that there is constant access to cool, drinkable water that is not boiling hot whenever they feel thirsty. What is much more relevant for piggies is the quality (temperature and freshness) of their water instead of the quantity.

Refreshing the water in the morning and in the afternoon/early evening is enough; if you are at home, you can refill again once temperatures indoors go up. If you are out for the whole day, use fridge cooled water or add crushed ice in the morning before you leave.

If you are doing things right your piggies won't overheat in the first place. That is where all the effort of keeping the heat off the windows comes into its own in the first place. The cooler you can keep the room without using loads of electricity, the better not just for your piggies but for you and for the environment. And the less you need to worry about your piggies... because all the emergency measures for piggies in trouble are quite simply not needed. It's called early intervention. :)

The temptation to overfeed watery veg and fruit in hot weather!
 
Anyone else up trying to cool the house down & looking like the crazy neighbour, with bedsheets hanging from the windows?!
I have bumblebee muslin from the fabric stash out the front this year.
Wally’s been wondering what all the activitiy is for the past hour, does it mean food & why is he now living in a cave!
 
AidaB said:
Anyone else up trying to cool the house down & looking like the crazy neighbour, with bedsheets hanging from the windows?!
I have bumblebee muslin from the fabric stash out the front this year.
Wally’s been wondering what all the activitiy is for the past hour, does it mean food & why is he now living in a cave!
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I am doing it as well. It does really help to keep our electricity bill down, too So, looks be hanged. I am environmentally friendly and low impact whenever somebody asks. :)

On days with temps over 25 C and strong sunshine, it is hanging out damp sheets for me and then keeping them sprayed with water from a large pumping pressure water bottle while they are in full sun - but it is the most effective cooling measure and it takes less water than the cooling down shower I do not need.
Keeping the window glass cool is the single most efficient method to keep heat from building up indoors in a country where houses have not been built to cope with very hot or very cold weather. Temperatures in the dual aspect piggy lounge (which gets the sun all day long) went up only 3 C over the whole day yesterday despite wall to wall strong sunshine and a warm breeze.

We have invested in some heat reflecting foil in the upstairs and hard to reach windows, which does at last cut down somewhat on the impact of the sun. But not on the big expanse of glass in our dual aspect lounge and kitchen where it would get too expensive. The watered sheets are more effective than the foil, to be honest.

But it certainly keeps me busy during the day. On the other hand, no need of a fan or any other piggy measures - the lounge is still comfortable all day, including me. Thankfully, we are only at the start of a rather short-lived minor heatwave. I am just not a hot weather girl, and neither is my - originally - red-haired hub. :(
 
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I’m not made for this weather either!

It’s also a bit miserable closing all the windows (and the sunny side window blinds) for hours on end, but it does seem to help. We’ve managed to keep the indoor temp about 5-6 degrees cooler than outside. The piggies are still showing no interest in the ice packs which I’m taking as a good sign! I agree it’s using the range of methods that works the best.
 
I just walked in the front door- it’s blissfully cool. Dark….. but cool.

I am not a fan of this weather either. I end up covered up from head to toe- long skirt- long sleeve linen shirt & a hat! Inside thermometer is showing 21.4 downstairs. I am not going back outside to check outside temp, neither am I venturing into the loft room to check that either! 🥵
 
My piggy lounge has gone from 21 C this morning to 22 C by 2 pm. Just with the damp sheets on the sunny side. The sunshine is not quite as intense here as yesterday though.
 
Wiebke said:
My piggy lounge has gone from 21 C this morning to 22 C by 2 pm. Just with the damp sheets on the sunny side. The sunshine is not quite as intense here as yesterday though.
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We have ended up with 24 C - again that is only 3 degrees up during the day with just keeping the heat of the windows as much as possible and no extra electricity used.
 
I’m cooling the snugglesafes and have covered up their curtains with another layer. They seem ok though. Their room is on the sunny side of the bungalow 🙁

It’s 21 in their room at the moment.
 
I've spent the last week wondering how people who live in southern France, Italy or Spain deal with their piggies in the kind of heat they've been getting. I live in Belgium, the temperatures reached a mere 33°C yesterday and despite all the measures we took (night airing, closing the shutters during the day, ice packs in their cage), it was 25°C yesterday evening in the north-facing room where we put them for the summer. The night was horrible (a very humid 20°) so I gave up and moved the cage downstairs for the day before leaving for work. My oldest girl never particularly enjoyed the heat but she seemed very unhappy this morning, poor thing. Thankfully, it's not supposed to last... Hope all your piggies are dealing well!
 
weepweeps said:
I’m cooling the snugglesafes and have covered up their curtains with another layer. They seem ok though. Their room is on the sunny side of the bungalow 🙁

It’s 21 in their room at the moment.
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Same here. We have thick curtains on both ends of the piggy lounge and I have finally got hub to put extra velcro in for the insert in our little roof window to keep the sun out there - it shaves off an extra degree in the room by the evening.

I am off to put the sheets up and close off the garden side soon as the sun is starting to come in now. We've promised our hottest day of the year so far for today. It's the high humidity that is the problem for me, less than the temperatures until the get over 30 C.

And spray the downstairs windows in the shade with water from the pressure bottle now that temperatures are risking fast.
 
Helen C said:
I've spent the last week wondering how people who live in southern France, Italy or Spain deal with their piggies in the kind of heat they've been getting. I live in Belgium, the temperatures reached a mere 33°C yesterday and despite all the measures we took (night airing, closing the shutters during the day, ice packs in their cage), it was 25°C yesterday evening in the north-facing room where we put them for the summer. The night was horrible (a very humid 20°) so I gave up and moved the cage downstairs for the day before leaving for work. My oldest girl never particularly enjoyed the heat but she seemed very unhappy this morning, poor thing. Thankfully, it's not supposed to last... Hope all your piggies are dealing well!
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Your body adapts to the heat; just not immediately - but it is boiling hot for them right now and I really don't envy them; especially all the old and ill trapped in small flats in hot cities. :(
Rooms are often higher so the heat moves up overhead while the shutters allow air movement but keep the sun off the windows.

I wish they did window shutters here in the UK! My bedsheets in front of the windows are my own improvisation but I have found that watering them to create an insulating layer of cool air between the glass and the sheet from the evaporating water is actually a very effective way of keeping your rooms much cooler. The insulation in front of the windows means that the heat cannot enter the room and you have therefore less of a job to get it back out somehow during the cooler hours when the outside is less hot than the inside.

Have you got microwaveable heat pads? You can put those in the fridge and use them for your oldies to lie on. They are not as cold as frozen bottles and need changing more often (I usually have one cooling in the fridge and one on service for each of my frailest and switch every 2-3 hours during the late afternoon and evening) but you can just slide them underneath their favourite den without your piggies moving away, as they would from a too strong source of cold.

You can also place a damp but not dripping sheet over the cage to create a cooling effect in there. Cooler air falls; hot air rises. Wetting a towel or sheet and placing it in the way of a fan can also help to cool down the surrounding air more. It's the same principle that is used in the large water filled clay vessels in North African houses - the slowly evaporating water acts as an age old air conditioning unit.
Keeping those age old tricks alive and in mind is important when extreme heat and increasing wild fires can knock out the electricity supply. Not everybody can afford spend lots of money on bills on a tight budget after all.
The principle works indoors as well as on the windows. :)

Hot Weather Management, Heat Strokes and Fly Strike
 
Not all our windows have shutters so I put sheets on the outside of the ones who don't--and I've noticed a few houses starting to do it as well over the last few years. As you say, nothing is more efficient than keeping the sun from hitting the window in the first place (something I wish employers would start to realize, honestly. I'm melting at work, it's 29° in some parts of the building).

This heatwave was supposed to be short so I was hoping the house wouldn't get warm so fast. I'll try a damp sheet over the piggies' cage when I get home. And here's to hoping it'll be over soon!
 
Welcome to Wiebke's world! Here is my extremely high tech hot weather equipment. :D

Nevertheless, with diligent spraying I was able to keep the temperature rise over the course of the day in the piggy lounge behind the bay window to just 3 C (10 F); the same as yesterday even though it was noticeably hotter here today and may have even touched 30 C.

DSCN6496_0459_edited-1.jpg

Please admire the pressure spraying bottle (it also comes with a longer nozzle for better reach, by the way) which is mainly used to keep the weeds on a family grave of ours down and my specially commissioned sheet unhooker - it's the hook from a coat hanger drilled and glued into a broom stick to get the sheet off the hooks in the fascia quickly without any climbing. I can also use it to put the sheet up but it is much more fiddly, so I prefer the steps for that job; especially when juggling the dripping sheet after quickly dampening it in the kitchen sink on a really hot day.

I still need hub to put in one more hook on the left of the bay window but I am hopeful that we get there in the next year or two...
 
How's y'all's weather now? We have a hot day today but $700 later my AC is fixed. I hope it doesn't happen to my furnace in the winter! We have brutal winters here in Michigan, getting below 0 fahrenheit.

Are you still having a heat wave?
 
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