summer heat - 2007/07/10 14:15It's my first summer with a hedgie (got Rambo Sept. 23 last year). And the heat wave is here. P-k was moderately active last evening, had her up for awhile then put her back. As the heat and humidity increased and she continued to STAY UNDER HER FLEECE. She just won't go into an igloo or tube. I really worried that she would get too warm, that she would get heat stroke or a type of body shutting down as they do with hiberation in the cold so I turned on the air conditioner.
somebody advise me - how warm is too warm? Will my air conditioner make it too cold? Had that on for a couple of hours last night and then turned it off about 2am and opened the doors to let natural breeze in.
She is eating, not as much but that's okay... she is coming out to run on the wheel, I don't notice any real change in activity. I'm changing her water bowl a couple times a day and giving her favorite treat of watermelon that she does come out for so I know she is okay.
she's fine, just a nervous mommy here. It was crazy with the cool nights and turning on the heating pad, now it's too warm... do I need to be so concerned or will she be okay despite the heat?
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HamorHollow
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Re:summer heat - 2007/07/10 18:23Keep it under 90, preferabally under 85. And change out the fleese for something cooler like cotton.
-KKelly Sosik-Hamor Hamor Hollow Hedgehogs - a New Hampshire breeder, serving Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and any where else hedgehogs are legal. | Do you want to buy a baby Hedgehog? Please fill out out questionnaire. | Hedgehog World - A Community for African Pygmy Hedgehog Owners and Breeders
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kumquat37
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Re:summer heat - 2007/07/10 21:12My apartment isn't air conditioned, and the usual temperature in my room in the summer is 80* (at night)-85* (during the day)... sometimes slightly higher. Kumquat doesn't seem to mind, rather, he's much more active than when it's cooler.
One thing I do in the summer though is to trade out his fleece hedgie bag with a very thin-material shirt I don't wear anymore. He burrows in it just the same as with his bag. It's black fabric, so he still feels safe inside it, but it's not nearly as warm as the fleece. Maybe try that, or making a bag out of a lighter fabric as a summer alternative.
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clutterbuster
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Re:summer heat - 2007/07/11 15:00a couple of christmases ago my sister gave me some no-nap flat linen tea towels and dish cloths with no nap or threads. My other hedgies loved them, P-k just bunched up the towel when I replaced the fleece. She just won't use either igloo or any cozy. She doesn't like pvc pipe either, I think it's adversion to plastic but then she'll lay atop her plastic tray under the fleece. Good thing I didn't toss that awful cardboard tube that came with her, I put that back in and she crawled in there... we'll use that during this hot spell but it does not clean well and starts to stink after awhile.
I also put a water bottle back in her cage - just in case she wants to drink from that rather than the bowl.
I saw in a Dr Foster & Smith catalog these little fans for ferret cages, does anyone use them for their hedgies?
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SupaFly
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Re:summer heat - 2007/07/12 02:05Piper has been doing the same thing! I haven't noticed a significant rise in the weather, but she just WON'T sleep in her igloo/shirt. She's just stays under the fleece in her play cage. - Meg * * * ~Piper's momma~ :.:Amalthea, you were my little girl and I will always love you. You taught me so much about love and patience and you will always be with me:.:
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nannyogg
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Re:summer heat - 2007/07/14 14:48If they get too hot, they will come out. In my early years of owning hedgehogs, my hoggies and I spent a few summers in rural Mississippi with no air conditioning. I kept a lot of fans going so that the air circulated and their building was in the shade, but it still got up into the low 90s in there sometimes. I never had one estivate on me, but I did notice that some of them didn't eat as much on the really hot days and there were fewer litters conceived during about July to mid September when it was hottest. Since I moved back into the realm of civilized central heat and air, I keep it at around 80 in their room in the summer and the babies flourish and no one goes off their feed, so I do think they prefer it that way.
Tig
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clutterbuster
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Re:summer heat - 2007/07/14 15:42thank you, that is very reassuring. I had asked in an earlier post, has anyone ever used those ferret cage fans that I've seen in Dr. Foster and Smith catalog?
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HamorHollow
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Re:summer heat - 2007/07/14 17:02clutterbuster wrote: thank you, that is very reassuring. I had asked in an earlier post, has anyone ever used those ferret cage fans that I've seen in Dr. Foster and Smith catalog?
Which one? Link?
-KKelly Sosik-Hamor Hamor Hollow Hedgehogs - a New Hampshire breeder, serving Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and any where else hedgehogs are legal. | Do you want to buy a baby Hedgehog? Please fill out out questionnaire. | Hedgehog World - A Community for African Pygmy Hedgehog Owners and Breeders
typed in cage fan and it took me to there and I've copied and pasted the address
what I find is the big disaadvantage to the site it their shipping structure. When I bought L'avian at $6.99 I paid $9.99 to ship, I think it's based on the first $40 you spend. So, this $12.99 fan will cost you $23.00 unless you order a few other things.
Maybe I should order it so I can also try that other hedgie food they carry, the name escapes me but it was on a recent post. Does anyone have any experience with these fans before I order a couple?
Post edited by: CThogs, at: 2007/07/15 06:53
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