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16 celcius/60 degrees for pigs during winter storm

4boipigs

4boipigs

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Where I am in the USA is getting weather that is unheard of for the region. (I am going to try converting farenheit to celsius!) It is -7 celsius outside, and expected to be like that for a few days. Inside we are heating to 20 degrees, but our older house is drafty and the carpeted floor on which the pigs' cage sits ranges from 15 to 17 degrees. I placed a thermometer in their cage so I can track this. I have put blankets over the end that is closest to the drafty area, and moved them to the center of the room. I have put towels on window sills to try to keep the drafts out. Unfortunately I don't have a table to put their cage on. The roads are covered in snow and travel is not advised. Additionally, the electric company is advising to keep electric usage as low as possible because there's a possibility of rolling blackouts (which I am very afraid of). Are my pigs going to be okay around this tempature? It won't be 'warm'/normal again until Friday this week.

The cage is a 2x4 c&c cage. They have fleece bedding and 4 hides.
 
16c is okay for them and the lower end of the range they can be in. Perhaps offer heat pads and they can use them if they want to be a bit warmer.
 
I've just bought another of those 'snuggle safe' heat pads that you microwave to warm them up. Even though mine are indoors and don't really need them (we've managed 10 years without!) they love one under a fleece tunnel. We've just had a week of minus temps here, dropping to -7 outside a couple of nights, but it's been 12 or 13 indoors and they've been fine. Neither pair snuggled in together so they can't have been that desperate!
zara digs deep.jpg
 
4boipigs said:
Where I am in the USA is getting weather that is unheard of for the region. (I am going to try converting farenheit to celsius!) It is -7 celsius outside, and expected to be like that for a few days. Inside we are heating to 20 degrees, but our older house is drafty and the carpeted floor on which the pigs' cage sits ranges from 15 to 17 degrees. I placed a thermometer in their cage so I can track this. I have put blankets over the end that is closest to the drafty area, and moved them to the center of the room. I have put towels on window sills to try to keep the drafts out. Unfortunately I don't have a table to put their cage on. The roads are covered in snow and travel is not advised. Additionally, the electric company is advising to keep electric usage as low as possible because there's a possibility of rolling blackouts (which I am very afraid of). Are my pigs going to be okay around this tempature? It won't be 'warm'/normal again until Friday this week.

The cage is a 2x4 c&c cage. They have fleece bedding and 4 hides.
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very not related but we are getting crazy unheard of cold weather too xD I wish your piggies the best! Try to keep alot of hay in the cage for them to bundle up in and really keep an eye on them. Gie them plenty of cozy hides
 
Now it is possible to not have power for hours/days. I got a pet carrier they can be placed in to conserve warmth if it gets to that but I am pretty scared for them...plus one has a UTI and another has a nasty eye ulcer.
 
The microwaveable heat pads are a good idea. If you lose power over a prolonged period, a well packed out pet carrier, covered on the outside with a fleece will help keep the piggies warm.
 
...and of course George will tell you he loves his hot water bottle. If you have a camping gas stove you can still heat the water even if the power has gone out and wrapping the bottle in a fleece blanket against the outside of the cage makes a warm wall they lean against. I never put it inside because I make it 'too' hot so it lasts, but also because it turns out both George and Flora have a taste for rubber. I was blaming him for nibbling rubber bristles off the new pet-hair brush but when I caught the culprit in action it was my newest tiny girl!
 
Things are back to normal where I live. Over the past few days, many people in my state had no power. The temp in my house got down to 42 F/5.5C. I had to leave because my dog got hypothermia. I covered the pig cages with as many blankets as I could and left. I also left them tons of hay, pellets, and put paper bedding in their hides (they usually have only fleece bedding). The temp in the cages still got down to around 5.5C if my conversion is right. They acted 'fine' and were crying for food. I was somewhere with power, but was able to come check on them. Unfortunately I wasn't able to bring them with me, but they survived well enough. This is very uncommon where I live so hopefully it never happens again.
 
4boipigs said:
Things are back to normal where I live. Over the past few days, many people in my state had no power. The temp in my house got down to 42 F/5.5C. I had to leave because my dog got hypothermia. I covered the pig cages with as many blankets as I could and left. I also left them tons of hay, pellets, and put paper bedding in their hides (they usually have only fleece bedding). The temp in the cages still got down to around 5.5C if my conversion is right. They acted 'fine' and were crying for food. I was somewhere with power, but was able to come check on them. Unfortunately I wasn't able to bring them with me, but they survived well enough. This is very uncommon where I live so hopefully it never happens again.
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I'm glad you and your piggies are ok. I’ve been watching the reports on the news about how bad things had got there
 
I was actually wondering the same thing about temps, in case we lost power.

Here guinea pigs are only adopted to indoor homes, but I know in the UK you guys sometimes keep them outdoors year round? So 60 indoors is probably not too cold in reality.

Glad you're back to normal!
 
I know a girl who keeps hers outdoors all the time - we feed and bed them if she's away. Her cage is well stuffed and wrapped and in a sheltered spot. I couldn't do it myself but I respect her wishes and as she pointed out if the water bowl doesn't freeze when it's -7 she doesn't worry, they're sheltered enough. They get very fat and hairy in winter! They also don't hide away in the 'bedroom' part, they sit out and look through the mesh. I still love mine indoors though.

It must have been some weather over there as it's been on the news here quite a lot!
 
Free Ranger said:
I know a girl who keeps hers outdoors all the time - we feed and bed them if she's away. Her cage is well stuffed and wrapped and in a sheltered spot. I couldn't do it myself but I respect her wishes and as she pointed out if the water bowl doesn't freeze when it's -7 she doesn't worry, they're sheltered enough. They get very fat and hairy in winter! They also don't hide away in the 'bedroom' part, they sit out and look through the mesh. I still love mine indoors though.

It must have been some weather over there as it's been on the news here quite a lot!
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Pretty much a terrible disaster. People were freezing to death in their own homes, and many people including myself have lost pets. Right now, power is back in most of the state, but now we have concerns for safe drinking water, or even having water at all. Texas doesn't see this kind of weather at all, and our power grid is basically an antiquated piece of junk. We had a similar issue 10 yrs ago that apparently didn't teach anyone anything.

I'm very glad my boys were able to survive the 20 hour power outage we had, and that they didn't die at the temperature it dropped to.
 
Glad you and your piggies are okay @4boipigs 👍

News all over here about what is happening in Texas. I feel so sorry for the people and animals there.
 
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