Anyone Else Feel Guilty ?

[MJG]

Does anyone else on here feel guilty when the pigs can't go outside? I don't know why I feel so guilty ! As they have down time on the carpet in the spare room . Also does anyone know the lowest temperature they can go outside in? For example some places I've read 10 degrees and some places it's 15 I know it's said If humans need a jacket the pigs shouldn't be outside but I just wanted clarification
Like today it's 13 degrees and I've put the boys out for about an hour , there's shelter with hay and there's a wind break up and it seems mild there's no wind so I'm just wondering people's opinion ?
Thank you guys !

 

[MJG]

Meet Goliath !

 

[*kate*]

Mine hate going out anyway so rarely do!

I've read 15 degrees is minimum BUT, on a dry day when it's sunny and they have plenty of shelter, I wouldn't say they would come to any harm

 

[Claire W]

I actually get really panicky about putting my piggies outside and they won't be going out now until at least late next Spring when the weather warms up considerably.

I've always believed that the best time to put them out is when the ground is warm and dry to bare feet.

I have indoor pigs.

Everyone is different though and I know people who still put them out in the auturm on warmer days especially those with outdoor pigs

 

[MJG]

Thank you for all your advice
Mine are also indoor pigs but they go out when the weather permits

 

[Tewdric]

Mine are outdoor pigs and they've been out for a graze and a scamper this afternoon.

I put enough hay filled shelters out in the run with them so that each pig can sit and munch on hay in shelter if they want to. They weren't out for very long, but they enjoyed themselves.

Obviously be careful with pigs who aren't used to being out.... but you know your pets and your local conditions and how it feels for you to be out as a human. I was pottering round picking sweet chestnuts in just a T-shirt and jeans this afternoon.

Hello Mum, you've taken my box away, does that mean we need to come in now?

 

[Freela]

I live in Canada, it's far too cold here for much of the year for pigs to be outside. I'm also really wary of putting them outside in the city, as although I know we do not spray our lawn with anything, some of their neighbours do and I worry about runoff contaminating our lawn (one of my cousins lost guinea pigs like this- she had bought a new house, waited about a month to put them out, but apparently the previous owners had put a slow-release formula of some sort on the lawn that was still present.) My parents have a cottage and the pigs love to be outdoors there. I wish it was something they could enjoy more often, but at the same time I know that they get out as much as possible in the great outdoors, they get daily floor time and treats when the weather isn't conducive to going outside, and that's pretty much the best I can do!

 

[TheCavySlave]

It's sunny but cold here *shiver* and we've extended the cage hugely, so they have plenty of exercise, but I'm not taking them out, my fingers feel like ice cubes even though the sun is shining

 

[JenniferG]

I feel guilty about my piggies not going outside...I live in a flat and they are in a cage in the living room. They can run around half of the room when I'm changing them though and they come out for cuddles too. They've got a wooden ledge in the cage that they like to jump up onto for a 2nd bowl of food. They seem very happy but I wish I had more room for them to run around all the time. I get nice green grass hay that comes from untreated meadows in Germany, so I don't think they're missing out there.

 

[3Tyger]

I know what you mean, i used to live in a 3rd floor flat and my indoor piggies hadn't been out before. Now I have moved and have a ground floor flat and garden and am having an enclosure built so they can go out in warmer weather (i still want them living indoors with me though). But yes, i felt guilty they had no access to outside. However, i think it is better for a guinea pig to be with a person who gives them a good diet, cleans them out regularly, and gives them good healthcare, loves them & looks after them properly. If you're doing all that then its very likely you have happy guinea pigs, and personally I think its far worse that there are too many guinea pigs that just get stuck outside forgotten about in gardens without proper care.