# Heat Warning!!!



## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Today it was very nearly 85 degrees outside. Amelia (who has an almost black coat started drooling and stopped moving and Fuzzy Rat pretty much just hung out in the shade. Despite being misted and there being a breeze our rats were very clearly suffering from heat stress already.
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Please remember rat's can't tolerate temperatures over 85 degrees F. and direct sunshine makes things worse.
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First your rats will drool, then they will pancake and refuse to move, then they will die. THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE LAW OF NATURE INDOORS OR OUTDOORS!


Summer's coming
PREPARE FOR THE HEAT!​


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## RosesRufflesandRats (Apr 25, 2013)

Thanks for the reminder! Much appreciated!


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

I was thinking about this today as the outside temperatures rose to 96 this afternoon!

Now is the time to start keeping bottles of frozen water, tiles, washcloths, etc in the freezer and at the ready for these hot days. If it's possible to keep blinds/drapes closed during the heat of the day while you may be away, it does help with temperatures!

Also, keep in mind that in warmer temperatures, our rats do not need as much food as their metabolisms slow down. Cut back portions accordingly to avoid summer weight gains!


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## moonkissed (Dec 26, 2011)

My AC is broken, & it cant be fixed yet. Yesterday it was 94 degrees in my apartment!

I have been so worried. I took their pee rock, washed/scrubbed it clean and then put it in the freezer & back in their cage & they swarmed it sleeping on it. I moved them into my bedroom which is the coolest room as well. 

They are not drooling so that is good. Thurs I am moving & they will be in a nice AC car with me for the drive. But still have to get through tomorrow. 

Is it safe to have a fan blowing directly on them? I didn't think about the frozen washcloth I will do that too.


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## Jenzie (Dec 26, 2012)

The fan on them is safe but I believe it won't do much unless they are wet. I always keep a few Tupperware containers filled with water in my freezer in case the AC breaks/for using overnight. I prefer that to frozen water bottles because they can easily snuggle up and sleep onto of it, but both work great.


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

Anything that you can make wet and freeze will work towards keeping them cool. You can keep a fan on them and a dish of water for them to wet themselves and hopefully get some evaporation cooling action going on.


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## Phantom (Apr 4, 2012)

I live in Florida so temperatures can easily reach 100 during noon time (this is all year long, lol). The best time to go outside is usually really early in the morning or before the sun sets. Molly makes the most of it out of my three I think. She loves to swim, shower, and bath in any sort of water.


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## Reikiru (Apr 9, 2013)

Wow, that's really scary, makes me glad i live in Scotland. Most I have to worry about here in regards to temperature is if it gets too cold.


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## ratclaws (Nov 11, 2012)

I am partly glad and not glad I live in the middle of the UK in regards to this issue. Glad because it barely even gets above 20 all year round (more like 14 c!) which is great for the rats, but not glad as we barely have a summer and it leaves you feeling down most of the time.


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## Hephaestion (Jan 27, 2013)

Irish pet rats will NEVER have this problem! Oh my, do I envy those of you with a few sun filled months ahead. If lucky, a week at around 68 to 70 will be the highlight here!


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## Jenzie (Dec 26, 2012)

Hephaestion said:


> Irish pet rats will NEVER have this problem! Oh my, do I envy those of you with a few sun filled months ahead. If lucky, a week at around 68 to 70 will be the highlight here!


Sadly summers here aren't as sunny as you might think... Spring and summer is about a 40/60 split sunshine (but unbearable heat!) and rain/thunderstorms (with unbearable humidity AND heat!). As strange as it sounds it's often a lot sunnier here in the winter :/


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## 3 ratties (Apr 6, 2013)

i leave my air conditioning on while i'm at work. I just got the electricity bill for last month and it wasnt bad at all, considering we had our AC pretty much constantly running. it was about 30 bucks more then when we barely use it. So 30 bucks is definetly worth keeping my ratties comfortable


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## ratclaws (Nov 11, 2012)

Jenzie said:


> Sadly summers here aren't as sunny as you might think... Spring and summer is about a 40/60 split sunshine (but unbearable heat!) and rain/thunderstorms (with unbearable humidity AND heat!). As strange as it sounds it's often a lot sunnier here in the winter :/
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


If you lived in the UK you wouldn't be complaining trust me, some years we get zero proper sunshine. It's almost June and we're having to put the heating on at my house in the evening...


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## ladybugnpeach (Apr 3, 2013)

My ratties are lucky today. It is 89 here today in PA and we just bought an air conditioner yesterday at Walmart. There was no way I was going to have my girls go another day in this heat. They are both snuggled together now enjoying the coolness.


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## Phantom (Apr 4, 2012)

3 ratties said:


> i leave my air conditioning on while i'm at work. I just got the electricity bill for last month and it wasnt bad at all, considering we had our AC pretty much constantly running. it was about 30 bucks more then when we barely use it. So 30 bucks is definetly worth keeping my ratties comfortable


Air conditioning where I live is a must all year round (except maybe a few days in the winter). Usually what I do for my rats incase there's a hurricane or power outage is I put a few tiles down in their cage. This gives them the option of hot and cool. They also get to go frozen pea fishing on hot weather occasions, and they get baths. =P


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## RosesRufflesandRats (Apr 25, 2013)

It _was _warm here, but somehow it turned back to winter!


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## Jenzie (Dec 26, 2012)

ratclaws said:


> If you lived in the UK you wouldn't be complaining trust me, some years we get zero proper sunshine. It's almost June and we're having to put the heating on at my house in the evening...


Oh definitely, I could never live in the UK due to the cloudy weather (though I'd love to visit someday). The US midwest just has exceedingly bad weather in a different way... Months of below zero (fahrenheit) weather, a week of sunny 65-70 degree weather, then months of 95+ weather. I just loathe the rain, especially in combination with the heat!


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## PandaBruja (Feb 10, 2013)

Last summer, the hit with my rats was a bowl full of ice with watermelon on top! They would eat the cold watermelon, lounge around the bowl and lick the ice.


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## j_kalman (Apr 14, 2013)

We have an a/c for them, though my daughter hates it... she's an odd kid... LOL. It doesn't often get over 85 in the house here, but all good advice for taking care of our babies during the summer.


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## Gannyaan (Dec 7, 2012)

To keep my rats cool, I put lots of frozen stuff in their cage (ice cube trays, etc!) And I filled up my sink with water on the cold side, and dunked them in, scooping up water and putting it on them... My one girl liked the cold water... Then, after the water, let a fan circulate. This will cool them off. A fan alone won't do, since rats don't sweat, fans just feel like blasts of hot air to them. We feel cool because we sweat and the water evaporates and carries away heat... Anyways, frozen ceramic tiles, frozen water bottles, and cold baths will work temporarily, but try to fix ur AC soon..... I just installed mine today...


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

It's a shame we lost the black rat from the fancy in general... they are much more tolerant of hot weather. But as the fancy pretty much evolved in the UK I'm beginning to see where that wasn't the first priority.

Here in much of the US, Norway rats and summer time make for a dangerous mix. And I almost found out the hard way... we went to a 4th of July picnic to entertain the handicapped kids with Fuzzy Rat. It was about 100 degrees outside and we didn't know better. She started drooling after only a few minutes in the sunshine and the heat. She managed to get through about an hour of meet and greet, still drooling and drinking a lot and then she suddenly went flat as a pancake and wouldn't move from the spot. We got her home and into the AC as fast as we could and she was back up in time for the fireworks that night. She was very young and healthy at the time.

But we figured it out on our own... From then on we watched for signs of drooling and came up with a legitimate max temperature of 85 degrees F. Moreover we just found out that Amelia with mostly black fur is much more susceptible to sunshine than Fuzzy Rat with white fur. And by the way we were spraying the rats with water the whole time we were out and Amelia still overheated but didn't go squishy.

That's why I post this thread every year.... No one at the pet shop told us about the heat and I'm sure that there are lots of people that are going to find out when it's too late.

Keep posting your best ideas of keeping your rats cool.


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## Dinoclor (Mar 2, 2013)

The highest it ever gets in the summer usually is 86 degrees. If it gets way too hot, what should I do? Put a fan next to the cage? Shut the rats in the aquarium I put them in when I clean the cage and put the aquarium in the fridge?


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## Gannyaan (Dec 7, 2012)

Roses , I'm in Michigan right now.. Last week it was sweltering... This weekend i think it's going to snow! Strange weather... The ratties like the cold tho...


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## Rattytherat (Feb 11, 2013)

In summer in Australia it gets quite hot, I found that my rat loves frozen peas and corn with ice cubes 


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

Gannyaan said:


> Roses , I'm in Michigan right now.. Last week it was sweltering... This weekend i think it's going to snow! Strange weather... The ratties like the cold tho...
> 
> 
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Reminds me of the weather when I lived in Colorado.

Rats do much better in the cold than the heat, in my experience!


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## RatzRUs (Feb 5, 2012)

Just out my AC in today after Peanut began ripping at his foot and laying on his side. Much better after we turned it on and cooled the room down. I also put in ice cubes in the cage which they absoutly loved!


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## Rattytherat (Feb 11, 2013)

Also if you get a ceramic pot or something and put ice cubes in it, it will cool it down And you will find that the rats will lay on it cause it's nice and cool


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## Rattytherat (Feb 11, 2013)

So if its a cup put it In upside down, or even a ice brick, like the ones you would put in a lunch box.. If you wrap it in a towel that's also nice and Cool for them


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

Thank you for the reminder. I have witnessed first hand a rat suffering from overheating and it is scary. I was doing a photoshoot outside with my 4 girls - they were in a travel cage in the shade and it was fairly breezy, but by the time I got to the last girl after only about 10 mins of being outside, she was obviously struggling with the heat. I didn't notice at first as the drool is kind of hard to see through a camera viewfinder, but as soon as she started laying down flat like a pancake I rushed her inside and they all went in a bathtub with some cool water and frozen peas. She was fine within about 30 minutes, but this is just a reminder of how fast it can come on, even though you don't think it's that hot. 

She went from this...










To this...











in a matter of minutes. You can see the drool on her chin and the pancaking flat as Rat Daddy mentioned. Keep your rats cool!


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## Mitsy (Apr 8, 2013)

I don't know if this is already here but can you make a "magic bag" to put in the freezer that is rat safe? And if so what can you put in it?


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## littleames (Apr 29, 2013)

Phantom said:


> I live in Florida so temperatures can easily reach 100 during noon time (this is all year long, lol). The best time to go outside is usually really early in the morning or before the sun sets. Molly makes the most of it out of my three I think. She loves to swim, shower, and bath in any sort of water.


My sister lives in Florida and I went to visit last summer. I was miserable! Their house had horrible air conditioning lol! I was in heaven when we went to Salt Springs with that ICE cold water!

I'm in SC so it's pretty miserable here too. 71% humidity today and I have my air blasting!


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## franjf (Dec 13, 2012)

I like to make my rats a frozen smoothie, fruit and veg. Put it in the freezer for a few hours and they will love it! Obviously don't give them huge portions as you will be left with a nice pooey mess! Also frozen pea fishing is a great idea!


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## Ratfinx (Feb 19, 2013)

It's 24 degrees here in the uk should I worry about my boys? What can I do to keep them cool? I have doors and windows open but anything else? 


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## ratclaws (Nov 11, 2012)

Don't worry about it Ratfinx, I have my girl Ellie out in the garden right now! As long as they're in shade and have water they'll be okay. 24 is nothing compared to what they get overseas!


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## Ratfinx (Feb 19, 2013)

Yeah suppose that's true ratclaws thank you  


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