Can I Bring My Piggies Outside Now?

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ash231421

Junior Guinea Pig
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a few weeks ago i went to the pet shop to buy a hutch and yesterday i set it up. the lady told me to wait until april so i waited 2 weeks. i live in the UK where the weather can turn from sunny to rainy in a matter of minutes and today seems like a good day to bring them out because its quite sunny for the whole day. however the temperature today is 13 degrees and i read somewhere that they needed it to be 18 degrees? is it a good idea to bring my piggies out today? the lady also told me about acclimatising them by putting them in the hutch during the day and taking them inside when its night time. she said if i do this i could keep them outside for the whole year and she sounded like she knew what she was talking about. however i forgot to ask how long i needed to do this for, can someone suggest me a good amount of time?
 
ash231421 said:
a few weeks ago i went to the pet shop to buy a hutch and yesterday i set it up. the lady told me to wait until april so i waited 2 weeks. i live in the UK where the weather can turn from sunny to rainy in a matter of minutes and today seems like a good day to bring them out because its quite sunny for the whole day. however the temperature today is 13 degrees and i read somewhere that they needed it to be 18 degrees? is it a good idea to bring my piggies out today? the lady also told me about acclimatising them by putting them in the hutch during the day and taking them inside when its night time. she said if i do this i could keep them outside for the whole year and she sounded like she knew what she was talking about. however i forgot to ask how long i needed to do this for, can someone suggest me a good amount of time?
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Hi! Please treat indoors guinea pigs like you would tender plants and wait until May until night frosts and the worst of the huge daily temperature swings have passed which are so characteristic for spring and autumn and which can cause respiratory and urinary tract infections. Accustom to your guinea pigs gradually to the outdoors; the same as you would with tender plants. We may have short warm spells, but they can be very deceptive. ;)
Cold Weather Care For Guinea Pigs
Hot Weather Management And Heat Strokes
Feeding Grass And Preparing Your Piggies For Lawn Time
 
We had a gloriously sunny and mild day here yesterday but, come the evening, the wind got up and was quite chilly again.

I definately wouldn't out them out until at least May.
 
I live in a place that is also very unstable for the weather. Here, we have days of sunshine that can go to a beautiful 70 degrees [21 C] and change in a matter of hours to around 35 f [2 c] (and it's APRIL! :-)). Snow again in am and then beautiful sun for a matter of minutes. We came from Fl this past year so I am also acclimating to these temps.

We have a sun room in front (3 season) and will let them run around if it seems warm enough and they enjoy it. Only for about an hour or so. Everyone else already gave some perfect advice with taking outside but if you have a room that has a lot of windows around, it can also give them some different scenery until the sun decides to stay during the day a bit longer outside and temps are more stable.

We are looking forward to some beautiful days outdoors with our babies as well! Not just for our guinea pigs but also our little chihuahuas. One is 2 lbs [.17 stone] and hasn't been able to go out since November; even with tons of layers of sweaters, jackets and blankies.
 
I got my piggies last year on the 1st April and put them out for a few hours on a warm day. Come May I put them out in the hutch with LOADS of hay to keep them warm as they weren't used to being outside. They have been outside eversince. It is very important to acclimatise them properly. I wouldn't have got new piggies in October and shoved them straight outside. I waited until early Spring so that they could get used to us inside and the noises and the laptimes and then put them outside when the weather was a bit warmer.
 
ive taken my guinea pigs out of the shed,and placed the hutches against the fence.they all have thermal covers on,.lots of hay. throughout the hutch.my shed does not have electricity,so temps were not too varied !
 
eileen said:
ive taken my guinea pigs out of the shed,and placed the hutches against the fence.they all have thermal covers on,.lots of hay. throughout the hutch.my shed does not have electricity,so temps were not too varied !
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My hutch is against the fence too @eileen with both the insulated cover and the thermal hutch hugger and an old blanket to keep out the worst of the cold of a night. Oh and lots of hay too.
 
Betsy said:
I got my piggies last year on the 1st April and put them out for a few hours on a warm day. Come May I put them out in the hutch with LOADS of hay to keep them warm as they weren't used to being outside. They have been outside eversince. It is very important to acclimatise them properly. I wouldn't have got new piggies in October and shoved them straight outside. I waited until early Spring so that they could get used to us inside and the noises and the laptimes and then put them outside when the weather was a bit warmer.
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how long would i need to acclimatise them for?
 
I got mine as already mentioned on 1st April 2 years ago and they went outside permanently about 4-6 weeks later.
 
I took ours out for a couple of hours today but I think it was too cold as they didn’t seem interested in grass and just hid in their tunnel
 
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