Sunshine Chinchillas

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Are You Prepared for Hurricane Season?

Hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 1. Depending on where you live your home and animals could be impacted from a hurricane or damaging weather. It is always best to have a plan set up, just in case. 

✔️A/C: it’s a no brainer to know that your chinchilla needs to be kept cool. But what happens when the power goes out? I highly recommend buying some sort of generator. They make small ones that can run a simple AC unit, up to total home units that cost several thousand dollars. As much as it seems plausible to freeze water bottles, this is not a practical solution when living in Florida. Power sometimes can take up to a week or more to be restored and cooling tiles, frozen water bottles etc. will not do the job to keep your animal cool. The only option is air-conditioning.  We here at Sunshine Chinchillas have a generator specifically kept for running the AC unit for our animals. If a generator is absolutely not an option, it may be better for you to have a back up plan for someone to care for your chins in the event you do lose power.
✔️Water: make sure to have enough for your animals and yourself. It’s recommended to keep at least a gallon per person a day, and a half gallon for animals.  For our chins, we buy water in the 5 gallon jugs and keep 3 to 4 handy. The benefit is that we can also drink this water if it becomes necessary.  Another option is to fill your bathtub with water, and this can be used for flushing the toilet and using for pet safe water for them to drink; remember to always boil tap water before giving it to your chin(s)! Start saving those milk jugs, liter soda bottles and juice bottles.. those are great things to wash out and use for water storage instead of fighting the line at the grocery store looking for bottled water.
✔️Food: make sure to have enough for your animals and yourself. It’s recommended to keep at least a weeks worth of food and fresh hay or hay cubes. We usually stock up our food and hay at least a few days prior to the storm arriving. This way, if worse comes to worse, you have plenty of food for your pets until the power comes back on and stores start to open back up. You can also keep treats on hand as well; plain Cheerios, plain shredded wheats, and rosehips are what we usually have stocked up.
✔️Medical Supplies: its always a good idea to keep some supplies on hand in case of emergencies. Although the need for keeping medicines such as Baytril on hand might not be necessary, there are some things you can stockpile as a precaution. We always keep antibacterial ointment on hand, saline solution, wash clothes, oral syringes and raisins. Just in case your pet was to injure themselves, become dehydrated, or have low blood sugar. Raisins should only be used in worst case scenarios as chins will gladly eat one too many. A raisin can give a blood sugar boost to an animal that has stopped eating or is lethargic. 
✔️Travel cage or carrier: in times of emergency, it is always best to have a cage or carrier setup in preparation for travel. Whether you are evacuating or you need to bring your pets to another location where there is power, it’s best to have something ready to go. You may want to consider having a carrier that is prepared with bedding, hay, food and water. Depending on how long you are away, bringing enough of these supplies is a must. 

✔️Evacuation plans: if a disaster strikes, do you know where you will go? It may be judicious to consider places to ride out a storm or head to while waiting for power to come back on. Pet-friendly evacuation shelters, friends or family’s homes, hotels, or supplies if you are staying in your home are options to think about. Once a location is found, the next plan of action is when you will leave and how you will get there. Planning out a route, stockpiling supplies, and creating a game plan are some of the best ways to be prepped for sudden emergencies. 

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