# Heat Question



## haleylove (Jan 19, 2011)

I know that it's important to keep a hedgehog's cage the same temperature and to keep it between 73-78, but what do you do in the summer when it gets REALLY warm? Like upwards of 85-90? I assume a lot of you have air conditioners or central air, but those who don't, what do you do?


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## 11swedishfish (Feb 1, 2011)

a bowl of icecubes, or one of those frozen freezery things. (??? i can't talk... I mean like an ice pack type thing. but wrap it up in a cloth)

Those are really more emergency solutions... I'm not sure what to say for a long-term cooling solution...


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## Judi (Jul 9, 2009)

The best thing for a short-term solution would be a bowl of ice cubes sitting in front of a fan that was aimed to blow at a wall near the cage, not directly at the cage.

Do people really not have AC in places where it gets so hot in the summer? I can't imagine it...but then again, we sometimes have more than 100 days of 100 degree temps here in the summer.


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## haleylove (Jan 19, 2011)

I live in Michigan, and my house is like 10 minutes from the beach. So if I'm actually uncomfortable I go to the beach. And so do my dogs. But that is obviously not a solution for a hedgehog.


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## susanaproenca (Aug 14, 2010)

haleylove said:


> I live in Michigan, and my house is like 10 minutes from the beach. So if I'm actually uncomfortable I go to the beach. And so do my dogs. But that is obviously not a solution for a hedgehog.


Thank you. You just made me green with envy. :evil:

:lol:


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

susanaproenca said:


> haleylove said:
> 
> 
> > I live in Michigan, and my house is like 10 minutes from the beach. So if I'm actually uncomfortable I go to the beach. And so do my dogs. But that is obviously not a solution for a hedgehog.
> ...


I spit out my coffee at this and the 'do people really not have AC?'
Please.
I wouldn't recognize an AC unit if it fell off a snowbank and hit me in the head.
100 degree weather? Can't imagine it but I know I would loooooooove it.


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## Judi (Jul 9, 2009)

MissC said:


> I spit out my coffee at this and the 'do people really not have AC?'
> Please.
> I wouldn't recognize an AC unit if it fell off a snowbank and hit me in the head.
> 100 degree weather? Can't imagine it but I know I would loooooooove it.


It's not as great as it sounds...my AC was out one summer for the entire summer, and my landlord wouldn't fix it. I didn't have hedgehogs then but my fish tank didn't do well with the heat. My kids didn't either...they wore nothing but underwear and still had heat rashes. When I cooked, it was so hot that I was dripping sweat and then the kitchen floor was slick and slippery. We got to the point where we slept all day with fans blowing on us, then got up after dark when it was cool.

Some places there's heat but no humidity and that's supposed to be pretty pleasant. That's not here though  That summer I bought a dehumidifier for the apartment and had to empty six gallons from it every day.

All I meant about AC was, here where it gets so hot, AC isn't a luxury, it's a necessity.


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

Judi said:


> MissC said:
> 
> 
> > All I meant about AC was, here where it gets so hot, AC isn't a luxury, it's a necessity.


A great effort...really...but you're talking to someone who has been looking at two feet of snow since October and has experienced record lows for much of that time.

My sweat glands are clogged with snow. Probably from too much shoveling.

My outside thermometer would break it if hit 80 degrees. Wait...I just checked: it doesn't go past 70...no point.

We use dehumidifiers, too but we call them 'space heaters' and 'fireplaces'.

We use AC, too, but only in Winter and we call it 'a broken window from too much cold'.

I could go on but I have to go plug in my truck. :roll:


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## haleylove (Jan 19, 2011)

susanaproenca said:


> haleylove said:
> 
> 
> > I live in Michigan, and my house is like 10 minutes from the beach. So if I'm actually uncomfortable I go to the beach. And so do my dogs. But that is obviously not a solution for a hedgehog.
> ...


 :lol: It is rather nice. But I grew up with it so I don't know any different.

MissC, I know what you mean about the snow as well, though. Not quite 2 feet, but yano.

But anyone without an AC that has a hedgie?? Anyone???


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## cylaura (Jan 13, 2011)

Judi said:


> It's not as great as it sounds...my AC was out one summer for the entire summer, and my landlord wouldn't fix it. I didn't have hedgehogs then but my fish tank didn't do well with the heat. My kids didn't either...they wore nothing but underwear and still had heat rashes. When I cooked, it was so hot that I was dripping sweat and then the kitchen floor was slick and slippery. We got to the point where we slept all day with fans blowing on us, then got up after dark when it was cool.


I totally know THAT situation. Here where I live in NC, the summers can be brutally hot: 90+ degree days for much of July and August. In the house I used to live in before this apartment (a crappy college rental) our A/C was constantly on the fritz. There was one day when my roommates and I were all sitting in our underwear on the couch, dripping sweat, with the windows open and fans blowing, unable to eat the chinese food we had just gone out to get because the very act of eating made you hotter. I'm sure we made a lovely sight. 

Anywho, to hedgehogs: I got Liam in October, so he hasn't had to go through an NC summer yet. However, the A/C in my apartment now works pretty well. I'm going to see how it goes once the real heat hits, but I think that the "ice cubes + fan" solution could be good. I also have one of those muscle-soothing packs that you can either warm up in the microwave or cool in the freezer, so maybe let him have access to one of those wrapped up in a cloth.  I'm definitely open to more suggestions though!


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

cylaura said:


> I totally know THAT situation. Here where I live in NC, the summers can be brutally hot: 90+ degree days for much of July and August. In the house I used to live in before this apartment (a crappy college rental) our A/C was constantly on the fritz. There was one day when my roommates and I were all sitting in our underwear on the couch, dripping sweat, with the windows open and fans blowing, unable to eat the chinese food we had just gone out to get because the very act of eating made you hotter. I'm sure we made a lovely sight.


Can I come visit tomorrow? I will bring my own underwear.

Pleeeeeeeaseeee....


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## cylaura (Jan 13, 2011)

MissC said:


> cylaura said:
> 
> 
> > I totally know THAT situation. Here where I live in NC, the summers can be brutally hot: 90+ degree days for much of July and August. In the house I used to live in before this apartment (a crappy college rental) our A/C was constantly on the fritz. There was one day when my roommates and I were all sitting in our underwear on the couch, dripping sweat, with the windows open and fans blowing, unable to eat the chinese food we had just gone out to get because the very act of eating made you hotter. I'm sure we made a lovely sight.
> ...


 :lol: :lol: :lol:

Absolutely! You can even wear my hedgie gardening gloves and help me water my vegetable plants!  (My living room is fast becoming a jungle...)


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## MissC (Nov 15, 2010)

and you have the best colors! The green...the orange...I may stay for a bit...just til Summer...in three months. :roll:


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## haleylove (Jan 19, 2011)

MissC said:


> Can I come visit tomorrow? I will bring my own underwear.
> 
> Pleeeeeeeaseeee....


I would hope that you would bring your own underwear! :lol:


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

Our central A/C quit a few years ago and needs replacing as it is at the age where it's not worth fixing. We still haven't decided if we want to replace it. The hedgie room has a room A/C but only because it is on the second floor and it gets really hot up there. If the hedgies were on the main level, I wouldn't worry about a/c for them. Although it gets hot, as long as they are out of direct sun and have plenty of ventilation, they would be fine.


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## pooka dotted (Jan 5, 2011)

Well.. although I live in canada... I still live in a desert. YEAP A DESERT. Complete with coyotes and frickin' tumble weeds. AND rattle snakes. So I get to have the best of both worlds YAYYYYYYYY .... NOT!! :evil: I get umpteen feet of snow that unlike the coast (where i'm from) SEEMS TO STICK AROUND. It stays around then suddenly "Oh i'm gonna get your hopes up by melting a bit.... THEN IM GONNA SNOW MORE" and then in the summer... it gets brutal... like 35-40 degree weather. I'm glad I live in a basement suite.


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