Hello everyone

[BOC]

Hello everyone.

I am a Father (who is inexperienced with piggies) looking to help/advice on how create a quality environment for two adopted/rescued piggies for my daughters (7&9) who will be mentored by my wife (who grew up owning and caring for piggies).

Our current plan is to covert the ground floor of our existing playhouse into a home for these piggies before we look at adopting. I have searched "playhouse" and "Wendyhouse" on this site and in general on google. I am a fairly competent DIY'er with most aspects bar electrics but have a sparky neighbour who would help for beers. I will be looking after the construction and getting it ready and my wife will look after the setting up of the area.

My main concerns are temperature control in both summer and winter, I plan to insulate and line the internals, convert door to stable door and have meshed inner door and convert windows to open with mesh inner.

My questions to those in the know or who have done similar are below;

• What insulation should I use?
• Mesh size and thickness for ventilation? Fox and Cat proof
• What thickness sheet material should I use to clad the internal walls (nibble proof)?
• What is a good pet-safe waterproof sealant to protect against urine and moisture?
• Do I need to add ventilation fans to help in summer?
• What are recommended materials for construction of a accessible outdoor run that they will have access too from the Wendy house (most likely a mini decked area) wire mesh size and timber sizes?
• Is lino or oil cloth the preferred floor covering for easy cleaning?

Any other tips or considerations for me are most welcome. I would love to see photos if you have done something similar. I will add dimensions and some photos when I get a chance and have met the site requirements.

Look forward to learning lost and getting to a point where I have happy piggies, wife and daughters.

BOC

 

[weepweeps]

Hello and welcome to the forum. It’s brilliant that you are doing your research first.

I would ask do you have room in your home for your piggies? I say this for a few reasons:
1. I have had piggies years ago in a Wendy house and then a shed. They were my children’s but they soon lost interest in them. Out of sight out of mind. I knew this would happen and really got them for me anyway.
2. Sheds tend to get very hot in the summer and very cold in the winter. We have recently had a couple of members on here saying they will not get anymore piggies as it’s becoming increasingly hard to keep them at the correct temperature.
3. It’s no fun cleaning them out in winter. If they are inside it’s just easier for everyone.

Do you have a garage you could house them in? You’d have to be careful of car fumes though.

I’m glad your wife will be taking them on as realistically she will be doing more than your children.

Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. Also the advice and care for piggies is a lot different to when I had them about 15 years ago. So I’ll attach some beginners threads below for your wife to read.

Good luck. I can’t wait to see pictures of your new additions.

Are Guinea Pigs For Me? - Wannabe Owners' Helpful Information

Diet Guides

Children And Guinea Pigs Guide

 

[weepweeps]

And also start a vet fund as they are not cheap pets if things go wrong.

I hope I’m not coming across as being negative, just realistic.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Welcome to the forum

First, I would advise you to contact your chosen rescue before you do a single thing to your shed/playhouse.
This is because you need to know the work you plan will be approved by them - each rescue has their own requirements. You will also need their approval as to whether they allow outdoor homes at all. it would be awful for you to do all the work and then find out it doesn’t comply and they refuse your adoption application.
Some rescues will not adopt to outdoor homes at all, even if you have taken all precautions, and will state indoor homes only.

I do agree that you and your wife will need to be prepared that you are caring for them. Children do quickly lose interest.

I keep my boys in my shed. I do not have electricity in there.
I keep them warm in winter with lots of hay and snugglesafe heat pads. I have never had an issue with them being cold.
Summer is a nightmare though - it gets far too hot, far too quickly. You will need thermometers to monitor.
If it is above 25 degrees they then won’t be able to go in a run either.
You will need air conditioning or fans for summer and heaters for winter if you plan for them to stay in there year round.
And/or a plan to bring them out and into your house if the temperature becomes unmanageable. Mine come in the house pretty much every summer.
These will be my last piggies as living outdoors is becoming too difficult.

I have the floor lined with an old oilcloth table cloth but Lino would be fine (and then the absorbent bedding on top).
I don’t have a need for internal sealant against urine as the flooring. does the job

I have it insulated with silver foil insulation.

Mine have the shed surrounded by c&c grids so they cannot reach walls and hence no worry about them chewing the wood of the shed.
It also means there is something to attach water bottles to.

I would also, as a plan b, ensure there is a way to split your shed in half should the bond between the piggies fail. It’s hopefully something you would never need but a plan is always wise. My two boys fought and their bond broke so my shed is split in half side by side with c&c grids so they don’t share territory.

Yes you will need ventilation.
I have external stable and internal mesh stable style doors on my shed also.

I have no worry cleaning them out in winter as in the shed it is quite cosy but I do imagine your children would get fed up with it!

Storage. It’s always good to have a plan for where you are storing hay and bedding etc. I have a strong shelf in my shed.

Regarding an outdoor run - it works out cheaper to buy a run rather than make one.

I’ll add some pics of my shed when I get home

 

[Merab]

Welcome to the forum.
I’m not going to repeat all the excellent advice already given.
The fact that you are researching and planning carefully for piggies means they are going to have an excellent home.

We look forward to getting to know you and meeting your piggies in due course.

Have fun here too

 

[BOC]

Thank you all for the replies, sorry I am slow in responding as busy with work.

@weepweeps - No room in house unfortunately, Wendy house is slightly raised on a patio and not in direct sun bar evening mid summer. Temperature management is my biggest concern to mitigate before getting piggies. I work with alot of temperature monitoring etc. as part of my job in Pharma and hope to be able to implement a piggy safe solution. oh and wife is more excited to have them than the girls, she works part time so will be more involved than myself. Understand vet bills, we lost a rescued kitten (Smudge) to FIPS.

@Piggies&buns - Will double check for outdoor adoption. Wife most excited. Will follow all guidence given on temperatures and do my best to keep in the piggy friendly band. Emergency plan will be put in place for both extremes. What mesh did you used on ventilation panels? Noted re quarrelling piggies. Storage solutions sought and top floor playhouse will be available, I am well fed and don't fit up there too well though : ) . Wife understands she will do most work with them. Plan to have a movable run fro supervised grass time in season. Pics of your shed could give some inspiration : )

@Merab - thank you. Hopefully I can get it all sorted, Planning on measuring up and ordering first material on Sunday.

 

[BOC]

Hello everyone.

I am a Father (who is inexperienced with piggies) looking to help/advice on how to upgrade a wendyhouse into a piggie house. My plan is to covert the ground floor of our existing wendyhouse into a home for these piggies before we look at adopting. I have searched "playhouse" and "Wendyhouse" on this site and in general on google to gain an understanding on what is the correct approach.

I am a fairly competent DIY'er with most aspects bar electrics but have a sparky neighbour who would help for beers. I will be looking after the construction and getting it ready and my wife will look after the setting up of the area.

My main concerns are temperature control in both summer and winter, I plan to insulate and line the internals, convert door to stable door and have meshed inner door and convert windows to open with mesh inner.

A question I have is that I can see many people seem to have hutches in converted sheds/playhouses, why? Is it extra layer of protection/security for piggies ? A way to keep them warm or contained? I thought they could have free roam of the floor with appropriate sleeping quarters and cover. The shed floor is 2m x1m roughly.

My plan was to insulate the whole Wendy house with 25mm Kingspan and over clad with 9mm ply on walls and roof and thicker ply sheet on the floor. Use Aviary or welded mesh for security in any ventilation openings. Probably looking at about £300 to just do this. Upstairs will be for storage. I will also re-treat the exterior well in advance of piggies.

What height barrier contains piggies to keep them away from door opening?

I will either run power and use and oil rad or Infrared light in the cold months and install fan ventilation for the summer.

Look forward to learning lots and getting to a point where I have happy piggies, wife and daughters.

BOC

 

[Piggies&buns]

Yes The hutches are to add an extra layer of protection should a predator get in but also because it’s easier to keep a hutch warm than it is to keep a whole shed warm. It can also be because people may have multiple pairs who cannot interact with another pair.

You absolutely can do free roam of the floor but you need to be sure nothing can get into the shed.

The door barrier height - no less than 35cm (which is the height if a c&c grid which most piggies wouldn’t attempt to get out of, however, some have been known to climb a c&c grid when determined enough)

I did have hutches but due to fall outs it is no longer possible for me to do a hutch and I have to have c&c cages inside so they can still be side by side.
I personally don’t like them not being in the hutch and I do worry about them more but there is nothing I can do now they can’t live together!

Ps I’ve merged your threads together as they are in the same subject

I’ve added a couple of pictures of my shed (excuse the mess - clean up day is tomorrow!). The outer door is also stable style