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Small pets

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OK, this week is promising to be hot'n'humid= think of the Super Furry Animals

33 replies

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 14/07/2014 22:24

I find it far more difficult keeping small fur covered creatures cool than keeping them warm in winter.

They don't regulate their temperatures well. They still like to have hay and a hiding space.
Wood seems to absorb heat ,
Make sure they aren't getting full sun blasting into their living space.
And there's the ever present risk of flies, flystrike, blardy slugs, and the neighbourhood cats and foxes like to be out and about more.

Small caged pets - make sure they're not near full sun through a window.

Freeze some bottles of water, ready to wrap in newspaper. They can have a 'cold water bottle' to sit near.
Pop an ice -cube in their water bowl to keep it cooler without chilling the animals.
Slices of cucumber, watermelon,juicy peppers, selected salad leaves (I give them a cold rinse to try and sneak some fluid into them)
Keep an eye on their pee production too.

And (as the mum of a red-eyed agouti and a red-eyed Himalayan, just bear in mind that the albinos and red-eyed are more sun sensitive)

They can take advantage of some long lardy grazing days, but the heat can make them grumpy, just like people. Wink

If your animals are set up for summer, make sure your friends and family pets are too.

OP posts:
Wellwellwell3holesintheground · 26/07/2014 08:44

We gave GP3 a haircut. She was pathetically grateful! Was relatively easy and she is so much happier.

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 26/07/2014 14:39

FeministStar

if you leave them plenty of pellets and hay (maybe put some hay in loo roll tubes to keep them busy and give them some new boxes to explore?)
some veg that they can scoff on the morning that you go, then maybe some that will last longer on a separate plate (whole carrots, whole sweetcorn, kale, pepper) will keep ok.

WRT water - mine are blighter who don't drink, but I still give fresh daily.
Could you put ice cubes in one bottle? You can get those cylinder ice-cube bags to go into human water bottles. Then it will defrost and be a bit more chilled while they drink the other one/

Maybe leave a chat station radio on (mine like LBC Grin ) plenty of fresh bedding.

If it's going to be hot/stuffy can you put a fan on a timer? (You won't want to leave windows open)

Prepare for extreme judginess when you get back.

OP posts:
Morethanalittlebitconfused · 26/07/2014 17:04

Give them an extra bowl of food and extra water and then feed and water as soon as you get in

We've done it with our bunnies before and they managed!

Shockers · 26/07/2014 17:10

My rats are really lethargic. Pete will only drink out of my hand today for some reason. I've checked the water thing and it's not blocked or anything. I squirted him with it but he hardly seemed to notice. I'm checking them regularly.

FeministStar · 26/07/2014 19:31

70is - thank you, they are great treats. We'll give that a go.

FeministStar · 26/07/2014 19:31

Errm, tips not treats - can you tell I was thinking of treats for the GPs :)

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 26/07/2014 20:32

treats for the GPs - see they are brainwashing you Grin
Buuuuyyyyy parsley in their best Derren Brown voice.

My lardy lot were out earlier today (I emptied and scrubbed their Pighouse) while it dried.
They were all lounging in a new grass patch (in their respective runs) the grass was nice after the thunder/rain yesterday.
No movement or activity (except the jaws) just mmmmmmm

OP posts:
FeministStar · 26/07/2014 20:39

We don't have a run for ours, they have free use of the garden, they are wonderful since they can mow the whole lawn in two days :)
I reckon I'll buy them some parsley......

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