[cjshrader]

With summer here, my house is really starting to warm up. However, the roommates are loath to turn on the air conditioning quite yet, but I don't want my rats to be uncomfortable. So I have two questions:

First, how hot would my house need to be before I should force the air conditioner to be turned on? At what temperature do rats begin to experience problems due to heat?

Second, any suggestions on how to keep my rats cool? I've stolen the idea that someone mentioned to put a frozen bottle of water in there during the day, and the rats do enjoy licking the condensation off of that. I also just built a rat bean bag that they will hopefully lay on and not eat. I see them laying on the cage bars every once in a while and it just makes them look dead. Are there any other things I could try?

 

[Forensic]

Maybe one of those freezer packs, wrapped up so it's ratty comfy? Freeze it over night, put it in in the morning?

Maybe two? Trade it out when you get home? I... I dunno.

I hate heat, so if I'm uncomfy, the ratties and me are demanding air conditioning.

 

[cjshrader]

Well, I'm fine with the heat, if it weren't for the rats. Our bills get pretty outrageous if we turn it on too early.

Something I forgot to mention, I've always heard that you should keep rats away from drafty areas. Does that mean fans are a problem?

 

[Poppyseed]

Fans don't really do anything to cool animals. The only reason it cools humans is that we sweat. Other than that they just blow hot air.

 

[DonnaK]

The book I have says -

"Because rats are nocturnal, they haven't evolved to endure heat. A rat's cage should be kept indoors where temperatures can be controlled. For healthy rats, temperatures about 90 deg F are uncomfortable, above 100 deg F can cause distress, and above 104 can be fatal."

Skip a bit of waffle and it goes on to say -

"During hot weather, if you do not have air-conditioning, you'll need to take special precautions to keep your rats cool. Keep a thermometer near their cage to measure the temperature. Draw the drapes and close the windows during the day; only open them at night. Put the cage on the floor in the coolest room of the house - or maybe even put it in the bathtub, and run a fan in the room to circulate the air.

Freeze water in a plastic bottle, close the lid tight, and put it in the cage, or use a jar filled with ice cubes. You can also offer your rats treats of frozen fruits and vegetables to help them cool off. If it gets really hot and one of your rats seems miserable, dunk him in cool water up to his neck."

That's taken from Rats - Complete Care Made Easy.

Good luck with the dunking in cold water thing! :lol:

 

[Night]

From what I've found, 80-85 degrees is when the rats start getting uncomfortable, and that's if there's no humidity. Along with the freezing water bottles, you can get a marble tile from Home Depot for pretty cheap ($5 or less) and put that in the freezer for about an hour, then put it in the cage. Fans are great to have during summer.

I have an attic bedroom, which likes to turn into a sauna during the warmer months. During that time, I have the a/c on full blast, my ceiling fan going at it's fastest, and also a box fan leaning against the wall where the a/c vent is, to really move the cool air around. The rats don't mind at all. Though, I really despise the fact that, during the summer, my room sounds like a cyclone at all times with all the fans.

 

[cjshrader]

Around 80-85 is when we turn on the air conditioning, so it looks like I don't have to wake up to some dead rats due to heat exhaustion. I thought they wouldn't like what we would get at now (Around 75), but I'll take the advice DonnaK mentioned and close the windows and blinds during the day and open them at night, so that should help.

I'll also continue to put cold things in their cage when they are active during the hot portions of the day, so it looks like things will be just fine.

Thanks everyone!

 

[cjshrader]

Fans don't really do anything to cool animals. The only reason it cools humans is that we sweat. Other than that they just blow hot air.

Yes, but would fans be harmful to the rats in any way? The fan is more for me than for them.

 

[DonnaK]

I would think the only time a fan would be harmful would be if it was already cool in the room and it was making the draft worse for them. I'm just guessing, though... We have our fans on all the time, but I do turn them off at night in the living room (where our rats are) when it's cooler, so they don't get a draft.

 

[Nazarath]

From Donnak's book about frozen veggies and fruits, I got a this cool idea. You get a mini bowl and put some banana, peas, carrots, whatever. Add some water and let is freeze then give it to the rats. My boys LOVED their Banana ice treat .