Temperatures have been crazy at a high of 34 degree celsius constantly. Without intending to send out mixed messages, (see my previous post about keeping chinchillas in Singapore) the fact still remains that in such a sweltering heat where I break out in pespiration the moment I step out of my cool air conditioned comfort at Pets Republic, prudence needs to be taken. At this point of time, it would be well to remember that chinchillas do not sweat and they have a very well insulated dense fur coat which traps their heat. Their body temperatures are approximately the same as humans at 37 degrees celsius. This means that if you are breaking out into sweat and dispersing your body heat through the process of evaporation, your pet is trapping this heat. Again, my favourite rule of thumb, if you feel uncomfortable and sweaty, your chinchilla is definitely feeling uncomfortable as well, the fatal difference is he/she does not feel sweaty because he/she has no sweat glands and if you let this trapped heat remain trapped for a prolonged period of time, that is when the internal organs get overheated.
Some prudent measures to take at this time to prevent such a situation from occurring if you do not have air conditioning in your environment:
1) If your chinchilla does not have a well ventilated environment (i.e. a fan that circulates the air around the room), it is probably time to seriously consider getting one.
2) You are probably out during most of the day when it is the hottest. Put a cooling plate or marble slab into the freezer the night before and put it out into the cage just before you leave the house. Please use the proper ones found at pet stores as uncut marble edges are very sharp and can cause serious harm to your chinchilla.
3) Put around 20 small cubes of ice into your chinchilla’s water bottle. By midday, when the temperatures are at the most dangerous, most of it would have melted to make the water in the bottle a nice cool drink to bring down your pet’s internal temperature. You can also consider wrapping a thick cloth around the bottle to keep the drink cool for a longer time
4) Avoid causing panic to your chinchilla during the day. When chinchillas get excited, or even worse, panic, they tend to start flying and bouncing of their cage grilles or walls. The fear also causes their blood to pump faster and the internal heat to increase. In case a case, heat stroke can set in rapidly before you even notice. This means, with the current soaring temperatures, avoid lettng your chinchilla out of its cage in the day, avoid moving its things around to clean it during the day and avoid making loud sounds. In other words, until this current hot month is over: make as few changes to your chinchilla’s living environment during the day as possible. If you absolutely must clean its cage during the day, then put the chinchilla into a small container which is well ventilated into a cool room out of direct sunlightwhere he/she cannot get over excited and over active. Also, put the cooling plate into the container.
5) You might also want to consider putting a thermometer on standby. Insert the metal tip into its anus and take its temperature if you suspect it might have started overheating. When doing so, do not let it struggle too much by holding the pet firmly and placing the chinchilla gently back into its cage with a house available for it to hide in.
Some signs of heat stroke include:
1) Body slumped onto the floor
2) Little energy to move
3) Red red ears for pink-earred breeds
4) Heavy and laboured breathing
5) Wet fur around the mouth area
6) No prior signs of sickness
If you realise that heat stroke has occurred,
1) Prepare a basin deep enough for the chinchilla to be submerged in
2) Run tap water into the baisin
3) You can add two to three, NOT MORE, small cubes of ice into the water during the initial stages, but this is optional, and depending on how far into the heat stroke he/she is. You don’t want her body to go into shock from the extremes of temperatures.
4) Put the chinchilla into the water while holding its head above water.
5) Gently scoop water and pour it over the chinchilla’s body. This process will probably have to go on for 15 to 20 minutes before its temperature is sufficiently reduced to non-critical levels. You can take its temperature to decide when it can be removed from the water
6) You can also syringe cold water into its mouth if it is willing to take. Do so slowly or he/she will choke since he/she probably has little energy to swallow
7) After that, dry the chinchilla out with a cloth (not a hair dryer) and place it in a draft free enclosed environment at room temperature of around 25 to 27 degree celsius. It will not have much energy to move during the initial few hours. Let it rest. You can check on it, but you should avoid moving or touching it as this might stress him/her even more. If it survives through the next 12 hours, chances are, it will pull through.
Hope this helps and please remember to be extra vigilant in checking on your chinchilla at least for this month of June and next!
