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Originally formed in 2005 as UK Rabbits and Cavies, we expanded to cover all pets in 2007 and renamed ourselves Tamed Nature. If you are looking for advice or just want to talk about your pets then our forum is the place for you.
SUMMER ARTICLEWhether you have a mouse or a horse, the important thing to consider with our ever changing weather is to be PREPARED and PREVENT heatstroke.
Heatstroke can kill the biggest of all our critters, so the best thing to do is to prevent it before it sets in.
Obviously the first two things that spring to mind when preventing heatstroke is to keep COOL and keep HYDRATED. These are in fact the two main and most important factors to keep on top of to prevent heatstroke.
There are many ways that we can keep our critters cool, and there are also important things to consider with different critters, for instance, you can put a fan on in a room for some critters and their perspiration will be cooled down by the fan so it will cool them down and reduce perspiration and then reduce loss of fluids, however some critters (such as chinchillas) do not have the ability to sweat, so a fan would be pretty useless to them, unless the air was effectively being cooled by the fan.
Remember though with a fan that all small critters smaller than a dog can get respiratory infections, eye problems and other medical problems as a direct result of sitting in a draught.
Ice packs in the critter enclosure for them to lay next to and therefore cool them down, these can be made simply by filling and freezing an old pop bottle (with water) in fact they also make great toys, please be aware that when placing with RODENTS specifically, they WILL want to chew on them and eventually there will be holes, and once the ice melts - water 
You can also get a marble style tile or slab to put in with the critters for them to lie on, marble is a naturally cool stone and because it is not porous it cannot store heat.
You can also spray those critters who do not mind it lightly with a misting of fresh cool tap water. (from a spray bottle, not by throwing water over them!  )
For a dog, they can be thrown in a bath to cool off, or better still hosed down outside to cool off, same goes for a cat if the cat is tolerant of water, otherwise you'll have to treat a cat like a small animal.
Now, the other obvious thing is to ensure at all times that they have fresh and cool drinking water to keep them hydrated and cool at all times, keep checking the moving parts within a water bottle to ensure that they don't seize up, it IS possible for a bottle to just stop working because it wants to (probably invented by the male of the species then?)
If the worst comes to the worst and you find one of your critters has heatstroke, then you must act fast. The smaller the critter the quicker they can die from heatstroke. If you have a pet that requires heat from a mat or a bulb then the best way of controlling the temperature is with a thermostat. If you've got tanks near windows then draw the curtains / close the blinds. Check water levels as often as possible. SYMPTOMS FOR HEATSTROKE
Signs of heat stroke include panting, salivation, ear reddening, weakness, refusal to move, delirium, convulsions and, eventually, death.
Often once you notice the signs of a heatstricken animal it can be too late, and almost always emergency veterinary assistance would be required so the key words are PREVENT IT, DON'T JUST WAIT TO TRY AND CURE IT
Picture of the month
Every month on the forum we run a picture competition based on a theme.The winning picture for June is this lovely Emperor Scorpion which won the theme "scary"
Rent An Aquarium is a fish tank rental company based in The Lake Distict who lease and maintain visually therapeutic show aquariums for industrial, commercial, retail and residential establishments in the South Cumbria and North Lancashire Area.  Animart auctions is an auction site which is dedicated to catering for animals and at the same time helping those animals in need. Animart donates 90% of the listing fees to charity.
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