The HEAT!

[amanda509]

okay, so its pushing 90 here everyday in central pa. and only dropping no lower than 70 at night. i have no air conditioning and im not allowed to move linus's cage downstairs where its cooler (says mom, no matter how hard i tried to convince her). his basking light has been off for a couple days and ive had a fan in my room trying to pull in the cool air (not pointed at him of course), but what else can i do? the poor guy is gaping like crazy, even in the denseness of his pothos...i know their metabolism slows when theyre too hot, so i havent been feeding him as much, afraid whatever he doesnt eat, will eat him. any ideas i could try?

 

[Trillian]

I'm struggling in the heat too! Tried the usual curtains closed, window open all day? Guessing AC isn't an option, unless you could get a small indoor floorstanding AC unit?

 

[Psychobunny]

My little guys have been panting too!
I just put them outside from 8am to 11am to get the "not yet so hot"
morning sun, keep them misted, then bring them in and turn a fan on them with no basking light, only the UVB on.

 

[Cainschams]

okay, so its pushing 90 here everyday in central pa. and only dropping no lower than 70 at night. i have no air conditioning and im not allowed to move linus's cage downstairs where its cooler (says mom, no matter how hard i tried to convince her). his basking light has been off for a couple days and ive had a fan in my room trying to pull in the cool air (not pointed at him of course), but what else can i do? the poor guy is gaping like crazy, even in the denseness of his pothos...i know their metabolism slows when theyre too hot, so i havent been feeding him as much, afraid whatever he doesnt eat, will eat him. any ideas i could try?

He is a jacksons, right? I have my two K. matschiei outside which are somewhat similar and mine are really freaking small. I have seen no issues with heat stress. Granted, I live up on the mountain and its always a few degrees cooler than in town and there is lots of shade. But, I think its better for them to take that heat being outside where there is a breeze and fresher air. The stagnant air inside is worse on them even if it is a little cooler. Ive had multiple montane species that I house outside in the warmer months around here (Hagerstown, MD area). They all were able to take warmer than usual temps as long as there was shade and plenty of cool mistings.

Here is what I would do. Take him outside where it is constantly shady if possible. Offer him a nice watering with the hose in the morning and one or two in the afternoon depending on how hot it is. If you are still in school or working see if someone can help you out with one or two of those waterings. Yes, the water will be cold but it will warm up if you use a misting setting on the water hose. (Whoever wants to bash me for this, bring it!). You do want it to be cool though because you are wanting to cool him down

If this is not possible a few other solutions come to mind. You can wet a towel with cold water, squeeze it out so its just damp and lay it over part of the cage. You may need to do this a few times throughout the day but if you cant do the latter this can keep the enclosure cooled down some. Another thing might be getting one of those big Gatoraid bottles or a 2 liter and freezing it then sticking it in the enclosure. If he feels its cooler in that area he may go near it. Id watch out for him wanting to rest on it though.

Its supposed to start cooling down a bit here come Thursday but as you know our summers can have some really hot spells.

Hope this helps.

 

[ataraxia]

i agree with jrod. indoor keeping to outdoor is different. i keep jax outside on the front porch in summer. the temps the other day in the shade under the porch reached 101*. Here in indiana it is very humid though and typically have a slight breeze.. When i turn on the misters which literally mist 3/4's of the porch from the ceiling. the temps drop about 3-5 degrees within a few minutes. i usually leave the misters on for 15 minutes and do this 3 times a day when it is hot. Once after the sun comes up, once dead middle of the day and once more around 6-7pm. They do see sun in the evening from about 4 till dark. i do witness gapng from time to time and usually add a misting session. I also have very dense plants in them. So they can evade direct light if need be. Duplicate this inside and it would end in a disaster.

 

[amanda509]

He is a jacksons, right? I have my two K. matschiei outside which are somewhat similar and mine are really freaking small. I have seen no issues with heat stress. Granted, I live up on the mountain and its always a few degrees cooler than in town and there is lots of shade. But, I think its better for them to take that heat being outside where there is a breeze and fresher air. The stagnant air inside is worse on them even if it is a little cooler. Ive had multiple montane species that I house outside in the warmer months around here (Hagerstown, MD area). They all were able to take warmer than usual temps as long as there was shade and plenty of cool mistings.

Here is what I would do. Take him outside where it is constantly shady if possible. Offer him a nice watering with the hose in the morning and one or two in the afternoon depending on how hot it is. If you are still in school or working see if someone can help you out with one or two of those waterings. Yes, the water will be cold but it will warm up if you use a misting setting on the water hose. (Whoever wants to bash me for this, bring it!). You do want it to be cool though because you are wanting to cool him down

If this is not possible a few other solutions come to mind. You can wet a towel with cold water, squeeze it out so its just damp and lay it over part of the cage. You may need to do this a few times throughout the day but if you cant do the latter this can keep the enclosure cooled down some. Another thing might be getting one of those big Gatoraid bottles or a 2 liter and freezing it then sticking it in the enclosure. If he feels its cooler in that area he may go near it. Id watch out for him wanting to rest on it though.

Its supposed to start cooling down a bit here come Thursday but as you know our summers can have some really hot spells.

Hope this helps.

i agree with jrod. indoor keeping to outdoor is different. i keep jax outside on the front porch in summer. the temps the other day in the shade under the porch reached 101*. Here in indiana it is very humid though and typically have a slight breeze.. When i turn on the misters which literally mist 3/4's of the porch from the ceiling. the temps drop about 3-5 degrees within a few minutes. i usually leave the misters on for 15 minutes and do this 3 times a day when it is hot. Once after the sun comes up, once dead middle of the day and once more around 6-7pm. They do see sun in the evening from about 4 till dark. i do witness gapng from time to time and usually add a misting session. I also have very dense plants in them. So they can evade direct light if need be. Duplicate this inside and it would end in a disaster.

id love to keep him outside, but im a little reluctant because i only have one cage and it is a paint to bring it in and out, id be afraid to leave him out all night long. and we have been getting bits and pieces of a small hurricane this past week, we actually had a small tornado form over the parking garage at the mall! and its been pouring, and hot, and humid...blah -.- maybe once the weather decides to stop pms'ing ill put him outside...but im also a little concerned, our rabbit population is down due to hawks :/