Bringing single pig inside

[piggl]

I have a 5 year old boar (Winston) who lives on his own due to him having back pain caused by the humping of another pig.
He currently lives a couple ft away from my now other boar pairing, in the downstairs of a bluebell hutch.

I live in NE Scotland and today the highest the temperature will reach is 8 degrees (lowest 3).
I am scared I can not keep him safe in this cold weather. I provide him with a snuggle safe pad every night but he refuses to lie by them, perhaps because they are hard? I don’t know.

Will he survive being inside from the next few months on his own?
I would be able to give him some time with his friends probably every two days, as I wouldn’t want to stress the pairing with constant transporting.
I also have a run outside for him which he goes in daily, which is connected to the pairings run so If anything he could come inside overnight and then be out in the run with his friends during the day.

I’m just really worried about him being outside when it’s so cold, especially when he won’t take my help of snuggle heat pads.

Is this a sustainable option for the Winter?
My room will be quiet during the day but that doesn’t really matter if he’s outside with his friends during the day.

 

[piggl]

Actually I just remembered if I was to bring him in and out he would be going from a warm room to 10-0 degrees which really wouldn’t be great for him.

So it’s either I leave him outside with his hay, insulation and heat pads (that he doesn’t use) and gets to have time in the run daily (unless it’s 0<) next to his friends.

Or he comes inside to a warm room but only sees his friends every two days, and my room is really quite quiet during the day, unless I leave my bedroom door open and he will probably be able to hear the tv and my sister moving around downstairs.

 

[Piggies&buns]

If he isn’t using the pad it may well be because he doesn’t feel cold enough to need to do so.
You could try having multiple heatpads in the hay so that it helps warm the air around them a little more than just one pad would.

 

[piggl]

If he isn’t using the pad it may well be because he doesn’t feel cold enough to need to do so.
You could try having multiple heatpads in the hay so that it helps warm the air around them a little more than just one pad would.

His area is a bit smaller though. He has one mostly enclosed hide which I fill with hay, but he also has other hides and he seems to prefer those to the "main" one. The issue then is that they're too small to put the heatpad in, and I also dont want to deter him from sitting in them.

I did think about making one main area (large hide) filled with hay and no where else, but then if he continues to sleep in the other hides then it will just leave him cold

Its a real conundrum as you can see
So you think its best to leave him where he is, so he can have as much other pig interaction as he can?

 

[Piggies&buns]

His area is a bit smaller though. He has one mostly enclosed hide which I fill with hay, but he also has other hides and he seems to prefer those to the "main" one. The issue then is that they're too small to put the heatpad in, and I also dont want to deter him from sitting in them.

I did think about making one main area (large hide) filled with hay and no where else, but then if he continues to sleep in the other hides then it will just leave him cold

Its a real conundrum as you can see
So you think its best to leave him where he is, so he can have as much other pig interaction as he can?

I have hides I can’t put the heat pads in, so I just put them at the door. It helps warm the area around and means they can still be in a hide if they don’t want to be directly on the heat pad.

With dex and pops, I had four heat pads spread along the length of their hutch, two actually in the hides they fit in and the other two just outside the other two hides - they then had many options.

Wil and Hugo as single piggies currently have one heat pad each which goes under their hay piles and I am going to get another to put in their favourite hide each. I’ve not had to use heatpads or their cage covers yet though - not cold enough here yet.