So we are about to get a couple of young piggies. We have a lovely hutch in a sheltered spot outdoors. It has a snuggle thermal cover and waterproof cover. I've been told by our local pet shop owner that it's too late to put them straight into our outdoor hutch. He said they should go inside until next spring?
Advice please.
- Thread starter Deets
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Welcome to the forum.
I have indoor piggies so can’t help.
I’m tagging a moderator to move this post to a thread where it will be seen by more people.
There are plenty of members with outdoor piggies.
@VickiA @Lady Kelly
I have indoor piggies so can’t help.
I’m tagging a moderator to move this post to a thread where it will be seen by more people.
There are plenty of members with outdoor piggies.
@VickiA @Lady Kelly
- Joined
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It does take a while - there’s always someone to point you in the right direction.
Looking forward to getting to know you
Looking forward to getting to know you
Night time temperatures where I live are getting down to around 10 degrees which is heading towards being too cold for piggies particularly youngsters who are only used to being inside. Ideal temperatures for piggies is around 18 degrees. Keeping piggies fully outside (ie not in a shed), takes a lot of work. A thermal and waterproof hutch cover will not be enough to keep them warm throughout the winter.
My two piggies live in a hutch in a shed. It keeps the temperature about five degrees warmer than the outside temperature. It’s primary use is to keep wind and rain out but even with it being marginally warmer than directly outside it takes A LOT of effort to keep them warm in winter. Even in the shed a thermal cover isn’t enough to keep them warm. They have two blankets over the front, then the thermal cover and a duvet thrown over all of it. Inside the hutch they have loads of hay, hides and boxes filled with more hay and four microwaveable snugglesafes (between the two piggies) for them to rest on. These measures keep them at around 10-12 inside the hutch (ie the blankets etc trap the heat) when it is around 0 outside, so you can see that even these measures only provide about 5 degrees of extra warmth above the shed. So fully outside you’d need to do more.
My two piggies live in a hutch in a shed. It keeps the temperature about five degrees warmer than the outside temperature. It’s primary use is to keep wind and rain out but even with it being marginally warmer than directly outside it takes A LOT of effort to keep them warm in winter. Even in the shed a thermal cover isn’t enough to keep them warm. They have two blankets over the front, then the thermal cover and a duvet thrown over all of it. Inside the hutch they have loads of hay, hides and boxes filled with more hay and four microwaveable snugglesafes (between the two piggies) for them to rest on. These measures keep them at around 10-12 inside the hutch (ie the blankets etc trap the heat) when it is around 0 outside, so you can see that even these measures only provide about 5 degrees of extra warmth above the shed. So fully outside you’d need to do more.