Hammy's #CavyCare Twitter Tips

Jul 26, 2010

How to Keep Your Guinea Pigs Cool In the Summer

Summer time is a lot of fun for humans and guinea pigs. Pool-time and vacations can keep you away from home for hours at a time.

During the hot days of summer, make sure you take precautious to help keep your guinea pig c-o-o-l and comfortable.

Guinea pig heat stroke can come on quickly if temperatures are too high. In fact, guinea pig pets are sensitive creatures whose comfortable living temperatures are 67° to 77° F (19.4° to 25° C). Guinea pigs cannot live for long in higher temperatures, especially without adequate food and water (especially water).

Buy a thermometer to place near your guinea pig cage. If the temperature is above 78° F (25.5° C) you should turn on the AC or use one of these cooling suggestions

Whether your guinea pigs live outdoor or indoor (even with air conditioning), use the following advice when you need to help your guinea pig stay cool:

If your guinea pigs live outdoors, be sure to keep your piggies in a shaded area or think about taking them inside. Click here for more advice on how to keep outdoor guinea pigs cool in high heat.
Make sure that they have access to cool water. You can buy special water bottles with covers to help keep them cool, or you can put ice cubes in their water bottles. Change the bottles at least twice a day to ensure that the drinking water doesnt overheat (especially important for outdoor guinea pigs.)
DO NOT use fans near your guinea pig cage. Breezes can cause health problems. Breezes can cause your guinea pig to catch a cold – which can have dire consequences.
Put some of their favorite fresh fruits and vegetables (cucumber works great!) or small amounts of juice in ice cube trays and place them in the freezer. You can give these yummy treats to your pet on hot days for a cool, refreshing snack.

HappyCavy uses a lot of different ways to keep guinea pigs cool in the summer months. Besides having a small air conditioning unit installed in their room, we also use camping ice packs and rocks bought from a hardware store. These items are frozen and wrapped in towels or placed on a metal grid suspended from the top of the cage (see the photo at the top of this post). Wrapping the ice pack in a towel acts as a skin in case the frozen cube is too cold – it also helps to prevent water leakage and a messy, wet cage. The Happy Cavy guinea pigs love to hang out near these cooling packs in the muggy summer months.

Ice packs and rocks in the freezer - getting ready for a hot day

Hammy Resting By an Ice Pack Towel

Guinea pigs need at least one cup of vegetables per day (some fruit is OK, too. See my post about guinea pig safe foods.) Since guinea pigs do not sweat – and because veggies and fruit contain lots of water — making sure they get enough fresh produce will help the cavies regulate their body temperature.
Cover your windows in the morning and during the hottest part of the day. Preventing the hot sunlight from getting into the room can help keep the room cool.
Consider getting an air conditioner. Make sure to check the air conditioner regularly so it doesn’t get too cold. Set up the air conditioner so it will not blow cool air directly in the cage – guinea pigs do not sweat and blowing cool air in the cage will just aggravate your cavy and could cause them to get sick.

Share your own suggestions on how you keep your guinea pigs cool in the summer time in the comment box below!

Other Posts You Might Like to Read

DIY Guinea Pig Snack: Frozen Veggie Cubes
(07/15/2011)
Bitsy’s UTI – A Guinea Pig Health Story
(05/30/2011)
Bitsy Takes Baytril
(04/24/2011)
How to Apply Revolution to Your Guinea Pig
(04/21/2011)
Do You Know How Much Your Guinea Pig Weighs?
(04/10/2011)

rowan haines

Hi there
In the summer months when the temp. is high, I check my guineas after the hottest part of the day and if they are uncomfortable, I use a sponge and sponge them down with cool water. They love it, especially my long haired Abysinnian who seems to suffer most when its hot.
Wizardgirl

Hi
i notice that you have short haired guinea pigs and i was woundering how they dont fight i have a long haired guinea pig and a short haired and the short haired eats the long haired hair can anybuddy tell me why if you can e-mail me at Wizardgirl@catlover.com
http://twitter.com/happycavy Hammy

Hi Kara,
Guinea pigs can easily become overheated, so that’s a very good question.
Along with a cool snack from time to time, the humans keep a small air conditioning unit in our room.

We also get ice packs (the kind used for coolers and camping) wrapped in towels. This way we can sit our bums on it and keep them cool without getting wet. You can read about our other cooling ideas on our post: How to Keep Your Guinea Pigs Cool In the Summer

I suggest you use the icepack/towel idea instead of wiping them down. If they don’t dry off completely they can catch an upper respiratory infection, even if it’s warm in the room.

Also, we don’t suggest using juice in their water, unless it’s just a little bit. But this won’t cool them down anyway, and too much juice can cause bowel upset or other problems.

Hope this helps, my friend! ~ Hammy
http://twitter.com/happycavy Hammy

So sorry to hear about your piggy loss

With those high of temps, there isn’t any better solution than keeping your guinea pigs indoors in an air conditioned space. Guinea pigs simply cannot survive for long in extreme temperatures.

Two possible solutions:

- Can you air condition the garage? This of course still leaves your pig outside during the day in hot temps, though. Not an ideal situation.

- Can you have your guinea pig stay in your basement? The temps there should be cooler, as long as it isn’t damp.

Avoid using fans and wrapping your cavy in cold, wet (or even damp) cloths. Doing so may cause respiratory infections and a lot of other serious issues that can lead to death.

I encourage you to ask your mom to do some research about what appropriate temperatures are for guinea pigs. I hope that maybe this can help you start a dialogue with your mom about what is important for your guinea pigs to get through the summer.

Let me know if you need any advice or I can help in any way, OK? By confronting your mom with the urgency of this situation, you are doing a good thing.

Much love, Hammy