Cold nights

Olivia_ewings

Olivia_ewings

New Born Pup
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Hello I am worried about my piggies as it is suppose to get down to 5 degrees tonight and I don’t know if I should bring them inside or let them adapt I have put a blanket over their hutch and extra hay so what should I do
 
Hi,
Thank you for asking. From my research guinea pigs should not be kept in temperatures under 15 degrees. Anything below ten to fifteen degrees they can get very chilled, so please take your piggies inside for the night.
 
If they normally live indoors but you move them outside for the summer, then it is too cold for them to be out overnight just yet. Nearly there though! You need to wait until the nights are 15 degrees before they can stay outside
 
Guinea pigs who are to be kept outdoors year round need a lot of protection from both heat and cold.
Any temperature below 15 degrees is too cold for them, and anything above 25 is too hot. They are most comfortable when kept between 18 and 22 degrees. They will require lots of hay, thermal and waterproof hutch covers and ideally moving into a sheltered area (shed or garage is preferable) to protect them from the elements in winter (damp and cold is very bad for them) Including providing a heat source of some sort (either a safe source within the hutch or a safe heater within a shed or garage)
Hutches can become far too hot inside in summer and dangerous with even a small amount of outside warmth, hot breezes increase the temperature quite a lot. You will need a thermometer in the hutch for year round monitoring
Any heater you use for winter in the hutch needs to be incredibly safe and not one with wires as they will chew them. The safest thing to use is are snugglesafe heat pads. They are microwaveable pads which provide heat for 10 hours. You put them in the microwave to heat up, pop them into the fleece covers and then into the hutch, under the hay and hides and the piggies will sit on them to keep warm.

Cold Weather Care For Guinea Pigs
Hot Weather Management, Heat Strokes and Fly Strike
 
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