Housing In and Outdoors

[HollyJP]

I’m leaving for university and my family will be looking after my piggies. I just want to check about transitions with being housed indoors and outside in a hutch.
They have lived indoors so far for about a year, and my parents will be keeping them in hutches outside (they will get plenty of interaction). I want to check if this transition is okay, as well as any precautions to take with temperature and ventilation.
I’m also hoping to house them indoors again in about a year or so when I can live outside of uni dorms. Is this okay for them?

 

[Piggies&buns]

piggies don’t cope well with sudden temperature fluctuations so Ideally they are moved outside in spring so they have time to slowly acclimate to temperatures coming downwards in autumn rather than a sudden temperature change from being inside to then being put out in autumn. However, given you have no choice, it’s important that you pick a warm day to make the move and take all necessary precautions for outdoor piggies - ideally the hutch being in a shed or at least a sheltered location, lots of hay and boxes to snuggle into, snugglesafe heat pads (used day and night if it is very cold, but definitely during the night), thermal and waterproof hutch covers. A thermometer in the hutch so the temperature they are exposed to can be monitored plus a plan to bring them back inside if it is a bad winter and their temperatures can’t be maintained (and if they come back indoors during the winter due to it being too cold, they won’t be able to be put back outside again as the temperature fluctuations are too great). Under 15 degrees means piggies can get chilled. It is possible to keep them outside, but it takes a lot of work to keep them warm enough