Hi All, I'm expecting my first litter this fall. Assuming she ever comes into season of course she's 2 weeks past when I expected her to come in.
So what is the ideal tempature for the whelping room, and in the whelping box?
Thanks for the help.

I keep my box right around 80* sometimes a little warmer during the winter since the cold air always finds a way in. Hope your girl comes into heat for you soon.
-E.

The books say about 80 degrees BUT I did that the first litter I ever whelped and the mother squashed three babies at two different times.

What happens is the puppies can't regulate their temperature so they cuddle together to get warm and spread out when they are hot.

When the room is too warm the puppies spread out in the whelping box. This makes it tough for the mother to negotiate between them and laying down to nurse is almost impossible without laying on one of them.

I do not use a a heat lamp and I don't increase the heat. Our house is around 70 degrees and I just make sure it stays that way 24 hours a day for the first couple weeks.

My rule of thumb is that I want it warm but still cool enough to encourage the puppies to clump. If they start to spread out it's too warm and I need to cool it down. If they pile on each other all the time it's probably a bit too cool and I need to increase the heat a bit.

Hope that helps.

Hooray!!!!!! A sound answer and I agree completely.

My puppy room is kept at 72 degrees max. My whelping box is 4' x 5' and I keep a Lectro heating pad in one corner (the heating pad is only used for the 1st week and then I take it away). The bigger box size gives mom a chance to not lay on the heating pad so she is more comfortable. I like the puppies to snuggle together either with themselves or with mom.

Hope this helps.