Cautionary Tale

[Nell]

Today we haven't had the heating on for the first time in a while (we usually have it on for a bit in the evening and during the day to make sure the sugs are warm enough). I came home at 4ish, took out the family to say hello, and Sinbat (daddy) was very cold, close to full torpor (though he wasn't unconscious).

I warmed him up by putting him in my top, and microwaving a heatpad. I then made up some gliderade, using papaya juice instead of water, and microwaving it for 10 seconds to make it warm. He came back to full alertness pretty quickly, and was ravenous.

I then went to check all our other sugs, and they were all in similar states -I've never been so scared in my life!! Sid was so weak he let me hold him fully to help warm him up  thankfully they've all warmed up well (we have 3 heatpads, and I was keeping their pouches under my shirt) but I was terrified!

We've fed them early, adding oatmeal to their food, as well as some leadbeaters we had frozen for emergencies, and they're all up about and alert, eating well.

I feel so stupid for not having kept the heating on  thankfully they're all ok, but it could have been awful!

[Emma9383]

pleased it ended well. I'd be terrified if I found mine like that x

[Marie]

Wow!  That is scary!  Our heating is on now and fortunately it didn't take you long to bring him round, and yes, after they 'awake' they are RAVENOUS!  Glad it all ended well.

[Nell]

I was terrified! Do you guys keep your heating on all day, or do you have special heaters for your suggie rooms? As I think I'd now feel more comfortable ensuring there was a constant heat source for them, but heating is expensive!

[helen88uk]

You just reminded me i'd left the window open in their room from earlier! Had it shut the past few days cos it's obv getting colder now but they are due a clean that has been put off sue to pouch swapping and it was starting to smell a little bit funky up there. The heating has been on for the past hour tho so the room wasn't too bad.

I've just been upto check on my 3. Girls crabbed as soon as I looked inside so alls well there! 
Because Stitch is alone he has quite alot of extra fleecey strips in his pouch and he was fine when I went upstairs.

And nell your right, heating is so expensive! I come downstairs in the morning and my dad is sat in the living room with a bob cap and scarf on lol, trying to save money! We only have the heating on for about an hour or two each night when were all at home, and it warms up the suggie room nicely for when they wake up x

[Amalthea]

Wow!! So glad this ended so well! xx

[lou]

Lucky, I bet you were terrified hun.

We have a heater specifically for the animal rooms as well as our own heating, but the animal heater is on a timer so we know they have heat when the main house cools.

[Usha77]

So glad they are okay!  How scary.  *hugs*  My apartment didn't turn the heat on for weeks after it started getting cold, so my parents bought me a space heater for my birthday.  Worked great and was very inexpensive and didn't cost much to run.  It even has a thermostat so I would set it to a comfortable level and it would come on when the room got lower than that.  I honestly didn't care about myself, because I could bundle up and be fine, but until I got the heater, I added a LOT of fleece blankets to their pouches and hoped and prayed their body heat would keep each other warm. 

[munshkin]

Hi,
That must been so scary
As we don't have a spare room i have had our summerhouse fully insulated by a builder this year, the roof, floor and windows are all now fully insulated. i have a "pig" lamp and also a heater specifically for greenhouses in it. the heat lamp is on permanently now (they don't seem to see the red light) and the other heater is a thematically controlled backup. i keep the shed at 18c.
We have a hard frost last night and this morning the summer house is still at 18c. i have calculated it will cost me an extra £250 per year to heat which i don't think is too bad as its so cold up here in the winter.
 If we were to have a power cut i can still bring them all into the living room to keep warm as we have a large room with an open fire.
 i really like using the heat lamp as i can always see the red glow through the window and know they are cosy .


At what temperature does torpor start to set in?

[Marie]

Torpor doesn't have a specific temperature.  It all depends on the body weight, whether the suggie has eaten and how much, how well the body heat is conserved by surroundings/other gliders etc.  Of course, low temps do play a huge part but some bigger gliders can withstand lower temps due to fat stores.  Gliders have a fast metabolism so when it's cold they need more food to 'stoke the fire'.   The big problem with torpor is the blood sugars dropping dramatically low and that is when the body goes icy cold - there is no energy for warmth, and that is why they are ravenous when they awake.  I tend to give mine warm oatmeal and apple sauce/honey when they wake up.