Hot! HOT!!

2604 Views 15 Replies 8 Participants Last post by Jack Garcia, Jun 24, 2010

moustress

Discussion Starter · May 25, 2010

We love to complain about the weather in Minnesota and it's because we get the most extreme range of temps and types of precip. First week of May we had frost warnings in my region; today we have 94F and tropical dewpoints (humidity index). The AC unit that was working OK yesterday was cycling off and on as the compressor couldn't get enough power. Turns out the cooling tubes and fins were quite dirty. I spent about an hour upstairs working the machine so it would cycle on for a minute or two at a time, and I moved cages to the floor as much as possible. It was 86F in the mousery, which is not good at all. My pregnant does were brought out and put right under the AC unit.

As soon as the sun was below the tree line we pulled the AC unit and did a proper cleaning, and ten minutes ago it was putting out cold air minute after minute after minute....here's hoping I don't lose any meeces's from the exposure to heat. I honestly don't know how long the temps was above 80F in there. Nate has promised to monitor the temp in the West Room, where the walk in closet with the mousery is several times a day so I don't have to trudge up and down stairs, because that hurts. I have very bad arthritis in my hips, and my knees have seen better days.

I'm hoping this episode will inform other mousie owners about the need to keep the mousies at a healthy temp in the summer.j Anything 80F or higher can have serious health consequences. I don't like to see the mousery above 76F.

My greatest concern was for Admantine, who is very, very pregnant. She and Adamant represent the state of tricolors in my mousery. This will be her last litter, as she is being retired from breeding after this.

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Jack Garcia

· #2 · May 25, 2010

Yikes! Hot weather = yuck, for mice. It was near 100F here today, but luckily I have 3 air-conditioning units.

Not sure how many people know this, but the reason heat affects mice so disastrously is because mice cannot sweat like people or pant like dogs, to cool off. A fan doesn't help mice because the way a fan works is to quickly cool and evaporate the sweat that comes off us. That's why mice need an ambient temperature of around 70F or lower to do their best. They can survive into the 70s for short periods of time but can't really take the heat for long periods or over and over.

I know a very prestigious show breeder who has won the best awards there are in the US, and whose mice were mostly wiped out a couple years ago because the air conditioner failed in 80 degree weather. It's really a tragedy whenever mice die due to heat.

The Boggit keeper

· #3 · May 25, 2010

Jack Garcia said:
Yikes! Hot weather = yuck, for mice. It was near 100F here today, but luckily I have 3 air-conditioning units.

Not sure how many people know this, but the reason heat affects mice so disastrously is because mice cannot sweat like people or pant like dogs, to cool off. A fan doesn't help mice because the way a fan works is to quickly cool and evaporate the sweat that comes off us. That's why mice need an ambient temperature of around 70F or lower to do their best. They can survive into the 70s for short periods of time but can't really take the heat for long periods or over and over.

I know a very prestigious show breeder who has won the best awards there are in the US, and whose mice were mostly wiped out a couple years ago because the air conditioner failed in 80 degree weather. It's really a tragedy whenever mice die due to heat.

I was aware that mice seemed to do better in the cold than the heat but I had never really understood the actual reason for this-I just assumed it was because they had "fur jackets" on.
Thankyou Jack for this invaluable information. We have had it very warm over here in the last few days and I have been concerned for my mice, they are kept in my lounge and even with the windows open the temp has still been 28.c/ 82.f. I have had the fan running for them but had noted in another thread that it was suggested to put a tile in the freezer and then put that in the cage for the mice, do you think this is a good way to provide them with a way to cool off and do you have any other suggestions? (we don't have an A/C as we don't usually need them in the Sunny old Forest of Dean :lol: ) Thanks.

The secret garden

· #4 · May 25, 2010

It has been roasting here in weston super mare and i had the shed open for even more ventilation but where the door was ajar and the sun came through and cooked the mice in its line of light, so i have lost a whole box of Cham does ( my only spares ) and half a litter of Chams. So shed door will be left shut, i have mesh over the windows and no perspix up so they get plenty of fresh air. Cucumbers which have been cut then frozen are helping keeping them cool.

Does anyone have any idea apart from A/c units?

The Boggit keeper

· #5 · May 25, 2010

Secret Garden, so sorry to hear of the loss of your mice

Jack Garcia

· #6 · May 25, 2010

You're very welcome!

The frozen tiles can work somewhat, and so can frozen fruit/veggies. But a lot of mice just don't mentally "get" what they're for so even though there's a cool tile/vegetable 4" away in their cage, they will sit in their house and roast to death. I have found that rats will sit and "spread out" on the cool tile much more readily than mice. I really don't know why this is.

Other than moving the cage closer to the ground (where it is cooler) and keeping cool tiles or food on hand, there's not much you can do. The summers are getting warmer and warmer all around the world, and that's unfortunate for our mice!

The Boggit keeper

· #7 · May 25, 2010

Funny you say that about the mice not seeming to "get" the cool tiles etc,last year when we had a hot spell I resorted to putting damp facecloths in the freezer and then putting them in with the mousies- they just seemed to spend most of the time skirting around the cage trying to avoid them :roll: I just thought it was because they were wet (the facecloths not the mousies,well, mabe the mousies as well :lol: ) Thanks for the ideas about frozen friut/vegs jack & secret garden.

moustress

Discussion Starter · #8 · May 25, 2010

Oh, ghodz, I'm so sorry, sg. I lost a doe and babies who were delivered when the AC was off last summer and the temps were in the 90's and I was so distraught I bawled and screamed for quite awhile. I guess I got lucky or maybe just having the fan circulating air in the mousery made the difference. In any case, the AC seems to be working fine today, though we will be monitoring the temps much more closely than before. The only other change I made was to move about a half dozen cages from high shelves to low ones, and I reoriented the big air cleaner so it sucks in cool air and blows it toward the ceiling.

Wight Isle Stud

· #9 · May 25, 2010

cold air sinks- put the cool bags/blocks on the top wire of the cages.

moustress

Discussion Starter · #10 · May 25, 2010

Just thought I'd cross post: I'm relieved to say that Adamantine delivered 11 pinkies since last night, and the AC is working fine up there. I'm so glad to see this issue being seriously addressed. Mousies are very small animals and have difficulty maintaining their homeostasis (internal conditions that allow life to continue) in the face of extreme temps or, for that matter, many other stresses.

I put my water blivet that usually lives on a shelf in the mousery in the fridge so they can get a cold drink tonight. that sounds so good that I'm going to go get myself a nice glass of chilled spring water for myself! We need to remember to keep ourselves hydrated too!

cat

· #11 · Jun 23, 2010

currently got a fan running in front room all windows open just to circulate some air where my mice are... therm is reading 27 degrees c so im hoping this will be enough for them... :?

windyhill

· #12 · Jun 23, 2010

Ive moved all my mice down to the basement until we can get a better a/c upstairs

ian

· #13 · Jun 23, 2010

Mine seem pretty good so far, Im lucky I have a brick building to keep them in and its is generally very cool. They really can go through a lot of water in this heat though, Ill be checking the levels in my water bottles several times a day.

Jack Garcia

· #14 · Jun 23, 2010

I have to do that, too. I re-fill the water twice a day here lately. It's 101°F/34°C today. Yuck!

It's always odd to me how even though they're air conditioned they can sense the weather outside!

moustress

Discussion Starter · #15 · Jun 24, 2010

Good to hear you folks taking your meeces comfort, and more importantly, their health, seriously. Temps of 80F and higher are very bad for mousies and can have serious consequences. Especially pregnant does.

Jack Garcia

· #16 · Jun 24, 2010

The older I get, it seems I keep moving to places with warmer summers. One of these days I'm going to move to the north pole. It seems that only then could I keep the mice in an unheated shed like it seems everybody else does. lol

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