Chinchilla Community Forums
Chinchillas => Q & A => Topic started by: z168 on July 09, 2010, 09:20:45 AM
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The dicsussion has always been how high a temp they can handle and the concensus seems to be 78'F
My question is, whats the lowest they can take?
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My house is 68-72 all the time. My chins seem to be happy. I have herd you can have them in 60s ok. I wouldn't go lower than 65 myself.. That's just me. I would be too worried.
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My house is 68-72 all the time. My chins seem to be happy. I have herd you can have them in 60s ok. I wouldn't go lower than 65 myself.. That's just me. I would be too worried.
so 50°F is out of the question huh?
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50° ??? your profile says you live in SoCal... Why would you need to ask about 50°F?
to answer your question though A chinchillas native environment is a cool, dry region, they do not tolerate heat or humidity well and become extremely stressed by temperatures higher than 80°F. An ideal temperature for your chinchilla is 60°F to 70°F.
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We try to keep our room between 65-70. Our chins all seem happy with that temperature.
Brandy ;)
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hi
quite honestly i never heard as high as 78, so you might want to make sure it never gets that high.. but as always i could be wrong...
for the low, i hear some people say 65 and some people say 55.. but i can say this.. my house in the winter is some times only around 60 and they are all fine.
i wouldn't, personally, go lower tho.
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I agree with Jmdebb. Its just not a good idea to have them in that cold of weather. I live in upstate NY and it gets COLD here. I just make sure the house is auto set to never drop below a certain point and forget about it. I also keep a number on file with the power and gas company that if they go down they call me ASAP. Im not gonna come home to some chin pops.
Justin
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Our chinchilla building was built with our crazy hot southern summers in mind. It has 12 foot ceilings. This is great in the summer as the building stays between 68-70. However, it makes heating in the winter harder. Our building stays in the lower 50's. We have a ton of babies born on shavings during winter and the chinchillas have no problems. Remember they have thinker fur than most other animals so they handle cool temperatures fine.
Now drafts are another problem. If the cage is near an exterior door or open window and they have cold air blowing on the cage you will see some respiratory problems. If the chinchillas are on wire and don't sit directly in the shavings then I wouldn't suggest letting it get that cold.
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The dicsussion has always been how high a temp they can handle and the concensus seems to be 78'F
My question is, whats the lowest they can take?
78 Degreese Fahrenheit? Only if you want dead chinchillas, in my opinion. I wouldn't dare let my chins' rooms get above 72, if at all possible. One time one room got to 74 (air conditioner went out) and most became lethargic. We went out and bought window units as back ups that same day. You have to keep in mind also, not all thermometers are accurate and the air/heat unit allows most temperatures to fluctuate a few degrees above and/or below what they are set. 78 F is just to close to heat stroke for me ... what if your air fails and you have it at 78 ... that doesn't give you much time to get it fixed ... it can get to 80+ in a matter of minutes. As a general rule, we keep ours at 68 year round.
Now for your question: "What's the lowest they can take?" I've been told (by some of the old timers) that the chins can withstand being 45 to 50, but only for a short period of time, and this is only if your cages have solid floors rather than wire floors or if they do have wire floors you have a huts for them. But ... I prefer my little ones to remain comfortable as possible, so it's 68 year round for us. :::grins::
::wave:: Jo Ann
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jo ann, i'm coming to your house in the winter so i can be warm....
and jamie, its good do know that