cold weather forecast

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summerleaze

summerleaze

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The forecasters are predicting a cold snap again next week - make sure you're piggies are warm.

Here is a weather link, it is quite accurate and shows you the predicted temperatures for your area. Just click on the arrows

http://www.xcweather.co.uk/
 
Yes I heard this too. Anyone with guineas outside, please please make sure they are warm enough or better still-bring them inside :)
 
Oh it's so depressing, it's been lovely and mild here and I thought things were looking up! Mine are all tucked up in the shed or in my house but I just can't wait for Spring!

Sophie
x
 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/ukweather/


Here is another link where you can just pop in your postcode and it will give you minimum night time temperatures.


If there is anyway your pigs can be taken inside please give it some thought now.

For those of you who can't, my website has lots of winter care tips to keep your piggies warm.
 
lavenderjade said:
Yes I heard this too. Anyone with guineas outside, please please make sure they are warm enough or better still-bring them inside :)
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try telling my aflie that he sits in his little house when the sun is out but when its cold he sits at frount of the cage

my max has speet most of his life under a pile of hay even in the summer that boy is allways warm

but all the others do allways go in houses and bedrooms when cold and cuddle togther

all my 11 live outside in hutchs and there allways warm when i bring them inside for cuddles there go have hitch huggers on thier cages and cuties and plactice stuff aswell and allways ezxtra hay in winter
 
Ours are outside in a concrete outhouse. The door is wedged closed with bricks to keep the wind out but air circulating and I do have a snugglesafe heatpad for them. I'll just put extra hay in. Hopefully they'll be OK. It's too hot in here to bring them in, I think.

K.
 
I've phoned up my local radio station this morning and asked them to remind people to be extra careful and extra vigilant if they have animals living in hutches outside.

Hopefully they'll put the message out several times throughout the day.
 
It actually just snowed here which was a shock:o
Luckily my piggies were indoors
 
We have a heavy dose of snow just started whilst I was cleaning out our shed hutches. Doesn't look like it's going to stop any time soon. Conversely though, the temperature in the shed has gone up now to 6 degrees C. Methinks we shall keep the shed heating on overnight again just in case!
 
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boureki said:
We have a heavy dose of snow just started whilst I was cleaning out our shed hutches. Doesn't look like it's going to stop any time soon. Conversely though, the temperature in the shed has gone up now to 6 degrees C. Methinks we shall keep the heating on overnight again just in case!
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just started a thread on that! I'm in kent too, so its started here! its quite heavy now and the flakes are huge!

luckily my lot are inside but please do remember to keep your piggies warm.
 
Oops, pressed the thank you button by mistake! I should have added that I was talking about the shed heating, not ours :)

Most our pigs are inside, but we have four temp residents in a heated shed outside with a ton of duvets and survival blankets to help them keep warm. As an extra treat for them I'm going to put in a bit of warm Critical Care when I close them down tonight for them to warm their little tummies, and give them some extra calories!
 
I'm so glad my 3 are indoors piggies.
Its gale force winds and blizzards outside!
 
I'm in south Cumbria - the wind is freezing cold but no snow ....yet!

I've just thoroughly cleaned out our outdoor guineas who live in a brick built shed next to the house. When they were taken out of the hutches, I noticed they were lovely & cosy - as warm as toast. The rabbits are roaming the garden & are sat out on the lawn despite their lovely warm hutch being open for them to jump into!
 
I saw some snow falling outside today and when i went out to get some hay for my piggies at the pet store, it was bitter cold. My pigs are indoor pigs anyway.
 
Oh my, I've just woken up and the snow here is just ridiculous. I'm extremely worried about my girls - they're outside in a hutch (which is currently topped with several inches of snow). They have a Scratch & Newton hutch snuggle and hugger, and have been out all winter...but I don't know if it's too cold for them.

I don't know if I should bring them indoors or not. If they do come in, it'll be in a rather unsuitably sized box, and in MUCH warmer conditions than they're in at the moment, and I won't be able to keep them indoors for more than a couple of days. :( But obviously, it's better for them to be cramped and warm then freezing to death...What should I do?!
 
Flower_Girl said:
Oh my, I've just woken up and the snow here is just ridiculous. I'm extremely worried about my girls - they're outside in a hutch (which is currently topped with several inches of snow). They have a Scratch & Newton hutch snuggle and hugger, and have been out all winter...but I don't know if it's too cold for them.

I don't know if I should bring them indoors or not. If they do come in, it'll be in a rather unsuitably sized box, and in MUCH warmer conditions than they're in at the moment, and I won't be able to keep them indoors for more than a couple of days. :( But obviously, it's better for them to be cramped and warm then freezing to death...What should I do?!
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Could you just bring the hutch indoors have you got a shed or unused garage at all. Or just put your hutch in the house if you can find space. Its so cold outside and it would be nicer for you too.
 
My girls are at the minute snuggled up in the outhouse. I brought them in to the house this morning for a run around and they were toasty warm. Just been out to check on them and they are snuggled up to each other nice and cosy. I have only left the door slightly ajar today x
 
The one thing to bear in mind with bringing pigs in for EXTREME cold and then putting them back out again soon after is that they can get quite ill with the sudden fluctuations of temperature. If they are brought in a lovely warm house for a short amount of time then put back outside, they already start to shed some of their winter coats and struggle to adjust to the sudden drop of temperature.

As Pumpkinpiggie suggested, do you have a shed or garage you can get them in? Then you can get them out the gales and weather and even if it's not heated it's better than being just outside, you can drape over the cheap foil survival blankets (about £1.50 from camping shops) at the back of the hutch and for the top and front a 13tog duvet and a blanket which should keep the worst off.
 
I don't have a shed or garage anything, and there is no way my mother would allow the hutch to come indoors, but I've bought them in in a plastic box with clean bedding.

Inside the hutch didn't feel too cold, so the hutch protectors must be doing something right (they have a plastic sheet which keeps out the wind at any rate), but I felt better bringing them in. It's not ideal, and maybe it wasn't the best thing to do, but they seem happy enough for the moment and I couldn't bare to leave them out there. :/ I'm keeping them in my room (which is quite cool), and I'll keep the heating off. If I keep them in until the snow has gone at least, it shouldn't be too much of a shock going back to the hutch, and I'll try and get some blankets for extra insulation when they do, so thanks for that suggestion. Do you think they'll be all right if I do all that? I'm worried about making them ill, but I felt guilty keeping them out there under all that snow. :(
 
If there is no other option, is there any way the hutch can be moved to be in as sheltered a place as possible, ie under a roof overhang, or as close to the house or outbuilding as it can be, or turn it so it's as sheltered as it can be etc? If there really is no option but to keep them outside, I would recommend the use of Snugglesafe heat pads you can get them here: www.sphsupplies.co.uk I'm sure you can get them from a local pet shop too. You pop them in the microwave for a couple of minutes and them under the piggy bedding and it acts like a safe hot water bottle.

It's lovely that you brought them inside, but if you can possibly get them in a cage rather than a plastic box as it won't have any ventilation for damaging urine fumes or humidity etc? Perhaps you can find a 2nd hand one?
 
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The hutch is right next to the back door, with the house wall behind it and the garden wall on one side, which is probably the most sheltered place for it, though it's still piled with snow.

Thank you very much for those links, but I doubt I'll get anything by post until next week - it's so bad here, the postal services aren't running properly. :( If our pet shop is open tomorrow I'll brave a trip and see if they've got anything to help keep them warm. If I can't manage a heat pad, would a blanket or something inside the hutch help, or is it best to just put extra layers on top of or around the hutch? Should I wait for the snow to melt, or should I put them back out as soon as possible to stop them getting too adjusted? (Oh, and we don't have a microwave! Is there any other way to heat the pads? Could the introduction of a heat pad be too much warmth after the cold spell? Like I said, I've got the heating off in my room and it's quite cool.)

I agree that the plastic box is not ideal. I've had quite a few "emergency" situations over the past few years when they've needed to come indoors, so I wouldn't mind investing in a proper cage, but it wouldn't be a very big one. Would it be acceptable to just buy a not very large cage for emergency situations like this? I'm hoping they won't need to spend more than a day or two indoors at a time. I'm afraid it wouldn't be anywhere near big enough for permanent residence - we just don't have the space or money for anything substantial.

Sorry for all the questions!
 
If I can't manage a heat pad, would a blanket or something inside the hutch help, or is it best to just put extra layers on top of or around the hutch?
I'm sorry, I've not used a hutch hugger before - are they waterproof? If so, it may be worth putting a cheap duvet underneath it, but make sure they can still breathe! Perhaps someone else can help with that, as I would also be a bit concerned about damp within the hutch underneath it all (you can't win!)

Should I wait for the snow to melt, or should I put them back out as soon as possible to stop them getting too adjusted?

Tricky as you never know if it will heat up or dip even lower! It's hard to say with this type of weather (sorry not helpful)

(Oh, and we don't have a microwave! Is there any other way to heat the pads? Could the introduction of a heat pad be too much warmth after the cold spell? Like I said, I've got the heating off in my room and it's quite cool.)

Not sure about the pads as I haven't used them, can anyone else advise on this? I would think that the pad just heats up a little warm patch under the guineas rather than heating up the space around them too much, it wouldn't be like a heated room for example.

I agree that the plastic box is not ideal. I've had quite a few "emergency" situations over the past few years when they've needed to come indoors, so I wouldn't mind investing in a proper cage, but it wouldn't be a very big one. Would it be acceptable to just buy a not very large cage for emergency situations like this? I'm hoping they won't need to spend more than a day or two indoors at a time. I'm afraid it wouldn't be anywhere near big enough for permanent residence - we just don't have the space or money for anything substantial.

I would definately recommend an emergency indoor cage, if nothing else, for any illnesses that you will need to bring them indoors with. You can can get some reasonably priced ones from www.zooplus.co.uk if it's used for an emergency situation and they have the opportunity to spend a large chunk of time in a run or pen indoors, then I wouldn't get any smaller than a 1M one, but obviously ideally the bare minimum size for two pigs is a 4x2ft (1.2M)

Overall, sorry, that's not a very helpful post!
 
summerleaze said:
http://www.amazinghealth.co.uk/scottie-all-nighter-heat-pad.htm
the scottie all night heater is exactly the same thing as the snugglesafe. They are on special offer 2 for £25 here, I have used the site and they are reliable.
Just one including postage is about £18
Wouldn't be without mine.
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I wish I'd known about these last month - I bought 2 snugglesafes (separately, so had to pay postage twice) and they were just under £25 each, incl postage. However, my little semi feral cat has benefitted so much, so I don't begrudge her.
 
No, you are being very helpful, thank you!

The hutch hugger is waterproof, yes. The only worry is that the front cover doesn't close straight down, but bulges out because of the odd placement of the side straps, and snow has been settling on the inside, but I can't see how that can be fixed unless I just...get something else to strap it down with or something! I also have the "snuggle" that goes underneath it, which is supposed to insulate the hutch (and keep it cool in summer), but I'm less convinced about how well that has been doing its job.

Both of those products are here:

http://www.scratchandnewtonshop.co.uk/product_info.php?product_id=4001
http://www.scratchandnewtonshop.co.uk/product_info.php?product_id=4002

I certainly think they should keep the damp out though. A duvet in between the two might be a good idea. I'll see if we've got any old ones I can use.

I'll see what the pet shop has...I'm not optimistic on the cage front - as far as I can remember, they might sell small cages but I don't remember seeing anything that would be big enough. I'll certainly look into buying one online when the post is back to normal, or maybe I can get one on freecycle or somewhere. I think the best thing at the moment if I can't get a cage tomorrow would be getting them back outside and keep the hutch as warm as possible.


Oh, and any more info on the head pads would be very helpful - especially if anyone knows of any way they can be heated without a microwave.
 
I'm sure someone will be able to advise on heatpads soon :)

When you button your hutch hugger up all nice and cosy, if you can, try and make sure there is some kind of ventilation if possible as the damp may occur within the hutch and hutch hugger which as I understand it, can cause respiratory and fungal skin conditions. Although reading my post back, I'm not sure how you can get ventilation in a waterproof cover!

As for a cage, is there a rescue close to you? If so, it's possible they may let you have a cage for a donation as when animals are surrendered they often hand over the cages too, so it's possible they may have a surplus - it's worth asking, anyway! :)

Best of luck!
 
Its not snowing here no more but it is still quite thick on the ground. Especially the paths and grass areas. I should be going out, I need to get some cake ingredients. I was planning to make my dad a birthday cake, as it's his birthday on Thursday. But the snow is stopping me. I half want it too melt and half don't want it to melt because it's pretty*sigh*
 
summerleaze said:
http://www.amazinghealth.co.uk/scottie-all-nighter-heat-pad.htm

the scottie all night heater is exactly the same thing as the snugglesafe. They are on special offer 2 for £25 here, I have used the site and they are reliable.

Just one including postage is about £18

Wouldn't be without mine.
Click to expand...

Louise, do you buy the human one for the pigs as per that link, as there is a link on the bottom of the page for the Snugglesafes? And do you put the cover over it and then pop it under the hay/Megazorb?
 
The scottie all nighter is the one I bought, it comes with a cover too. I have the snugglesafe here too and they are both the same. Hard purple plastic with a velcro cover on. :)

Yes 5 mins in the microwave and I pop it in their bedding areas.
 
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