how many of you have outdoor guinea pigs?

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keepingmesane

at the moment our Fifi and Dora are in an indoor cage being kept on our dining table (they were a bit unexpected as we had been considering getting two girlies for my daughters birthday in oct and then got told of a rabbit and two guineas needing a home so we went for it)
now ive rehomed diego the rabbit into a 4ft double hutch for the moment as we will be building a big outdoor aviary/shed type area for him, but also wanted to seperate almost in half to give the guineas a huge home and run space... but everything i read tells me i should keep them indoors.
I was always told they were kept outdoors like rabbits, but i dont want to put them out there if thats mean to them.

given that i have 4 young children, i wanted to give all our animals as natural a life as possible and the ability to excersize as much as they want safely away from the children. i was going to make it a walk in run so we can go in and sit with Fifi and Dora, a bit more secure for introducing the children to them.

so, do you think that would be ok? how many people here keep their guinea pigs outdoors?
 
thats the part i will miss most, their little chatter x)
I'm trying to work out what will be best for them as to whether they are indoors and have slightly less excersize and freedom than if they lived out, but then they will get more attention (possibly unwanted attention if my littlest daughter has anything to do with it cause she wants to live in their home with them rolleyes )

its hard making all these decisions :)) but then maybe I'm being too much of a softy ")
 
I do keep my guineas outside, as long as they are protected from the elements it's fine and obviously sudden changes of temperature can be fatal so we go outside for cuddles rather than bring them in the house. Ours have their hutches in homemade shed/aviary buildings which are 6' high so we have chairs in there and i don't have to stoop or scrabble on my knees when cleaning. There are many people who opt to keep them inside and of course there are pros and cons on both sides.
Obviously they just need to be in a sheltered area and kept warm and dry and out of direct sunlight.
Even though ours are up the garden we still spend a great deal of time with them regardless of the weather. They've even got a night light when i've taught my real children to sleep in the dark.
 
Mine are all outside....well they live freerange in a 10'x8' shed it has been seperated in 2 sections so jakie can't do any humpy bumpy with the girls but can still see and have a natter,there are hutches on each side, but are always open so they are free to come and go as they please.I find I spend more time in the shed and it's always quality time too....in winter it's heated and lights and in the summer they are usually out the grass anyway...but if it's like this summer WET...I do have a fan in there incase it gets warm...also OH made a wire door so that I can leave the main doors open for fresh air and to stop any naughties getting in.....I really don't think there's a wrong or right way ...in or out...it really is down to personal choice to suit your own situation xx
 
There's no reason why your piggies couldn't have the best of both worlds.
On fine days they could go outside in a run with a warm shelter area and then be brought in in the evenings.

Of course you don't want to be bringing them in and out of the house from warm to cold but even in winter there are dry days and as long as they have a warm sheltered hutch to pop into they should be grand.

Although in the depths of winter or esp. around Oct to Feb I find it gets so wet and miserable I don't put the pigs outside at all.

No reason why they can't enjoy their summers outside during the day though. At this time of year as long as you don't have the heating blasting in the house in the evenings they'll be fine never had any problems here as long as the temp. changes aren't extreme but at this time of year a few hours outside during the day will do them good the fresh air and sunshine is good for them.
 
Mine are outdoors and they are only inside with they are in the hospital cage and they are sick.
I have them under cover in the not used carport and I give them more hay to snuggle in in winter time.
 
I would love to have all mine inside but I just haven't got the room. I keep Nemo the oldest inside all the time now in a Nero 3 cage on a stand but the other 4 live in hutches in the shed with plenty of hay in winter and maybe a snugglesafe if it gets really cold. We open the shed door every day in summer at 7am unless its raining hard, so that the piggies can get loads of fresh air but whilst staying in the shade of the shed.:) I have an old playhouse that my daughter has finished with for them to get exercise on the grass on nice days - although they have to take turns having both males and females.:(|)
 
My pigs live in a hutch in our small stone outhouse. They have the door open wide all day in the summer to get fresh air and in the winter they have the door half way open with lots of hay to snuggle up in to. I do sometimes bring them indoors for cuddle time and a run around if its raining but I never do this when we have the central heating on. They have an indoor run for wet days and an outdoor run for dry days. I would love to have them indoors but we simply do not have the space and OH gets the sniffles when he's around them for long periods of time. I think that they can live quite happily outdoors if you provide them with protection and give them lots of attention.
 
Mine are outdoors. They have a large wooden playhouse/shed to live in at night and a very large run they are transfered to during the day. The trouble I have is with my two dogs, one is fine with them but the other would harrass and try to eat them if they were inside !
 
Mine are in a cage in a shed. It is well weather protected and they have blankets over the cage for extra warmth when it is really cold.
 
Ours are new guinea pigs so at the moment, they're in a two storey lazybones hutch just outside our french doors, up against a fence so sheltered from sun/wind. We're having a lot of work done on our house in the next few weeks but my intention is that in the winter, they can go either into our garage (our car isn't in there), or we've got an outside building which I'm assuming used to be the old outside loo. There's no window so if they go in there, they'll have to have the door propped open in the winter time. I'm new to all this so I hope this is OK for them.

What does an indoor run look like? Can you buy them? Does it have a floor? Once our kitchen/dining room are finished, we may bring them in for the winter - only thing I worry about is if they smell!;) I do try to clean them every other day at least.
 
I class my heated shed as indoors. I have insulated it too its as warm as the house during the winter months. I do bring a group at a time into the house swap them over weekly. By keeping the shed as warm as the house there is no temperture change to upset them. My house is kept at 16/18c during the winter sometimes cooler if the oh leaves the thermosat alone I hate hot houses.
 
My boys are living in an outside hutch for the summer. They are totally outside, not in a shed, so they have a hutch cover for wet weather, and one of those heatpads if it's a chilly night. This is the first year they have been out, and they have been perfectly happy. They also have a large run for dry days.

In about September/October they will move back into their inside cage, which is kept in the utility room. I don't really like keeping them inside so much because of the smell and mess, but I do like their little squeaks every time I open the fridge :))
 
I do at the moment, but this Autumn they will be moved into a shed. The hutches are kept in a nice secluded spot that's very shady. I know the pigs love being outside, particularly my more tame ones, but I'm excited about getting them into the shed. Am hopefully going to be able to take more rescues when I have the space too.
 
Pumpkinpiggie said:
I class my heated shed as indoors. I have insulated it too its as warm as the house during the winter months. I do bring a group at a time into the house swap them over weekly. By keeping the shed as warm as the house there is no temperture change to upset them. My house is kept at 16/18c during the winter sometimes cooler if the oh leaves the thermosat alone I hate hot houses.
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This, to me, is the only appropriate "outdoor" housing for piggies if you intend on bringing them in for cuddles. I'd hate to leave mine outside (even if in an unheated outbuilding) in the winter because there's no way I could spend nearly as much time with them.
 
Mine live in our kitchen and go out in their runs on dry, not too hot days (our house stays cooler then outside in the summer) I personally perfer it as they can then be part of the family ;)

For the person who asked about indoor runs (sorry can't remember who it was :red ) P@H have them - both the wire, connect together type and the pop up type with a wipeable floor - saw the later in there the other day for £25 - have also seen the same one on e-bay :)
 
Mine are all outside, in a shed & have fared well thru' the winters, they are far worse on hot sunny days. :)
 
daftscotslass said:
This, to me, is the only appropriate "outdoor" housing for piggies if you intend on bringing them in for cuddles. I'd hate to leave mine outside (even if in an unheated outbuilding) in the winter because there's no way I could spend nearly as much time with them.
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This for me is the only way I could do it my cc cage is big enough for four piggies. I have two groups of four. All through the colder months my pigs take it in turns to be in the house with the rest of the family. My children love the piggies as much as me but kids hate going out in the cold to the shed. Its a all win situation in this house none of the piggies get forgotton and they get endless cuddles on those long boring winter nights. None are put at risk of temperture change.
 
Mine are all in the shed at the moment for the summer. As soon as temp drops below 10 degrees I bring them in. I was going to try them all winter in the shed but I know I will worry so I will bring them in and put them upstairs in my spare room which is sorted out now...well almost but nothing that won't take half a day to sort out.

If I don't bring them in for winter then we will never see them, we will never know if they are unwell. At the mo I am always in the shed I spend 5 minutes every hour just watching them for the hell of it! :D

I think for my own peace of mind I will have them in for the winter. I'd miss them too much otherwise! :)
 
This is the first year we've has piggies & they are outside in a double hutch with a hutchcover over it.my intention was to remove the cover in hot weather but so far that hasn't happend.They get loads of cuddles as everytime we set foot outside they start wheeking. They are on fleeces at the moment with hay racks & cardboard loo paper tubes with extra hay & grass in them. Not sure what we'll be doing during the winter months but we have a huge garage (full length of the house) or if thats unsuitable we could possibly bring the hutch inside as our kitchen is a decent size (when its not full of junk) I don't find my two smell very much but I do shake the poo off the fleeces twice a day & if the newspaper underneath is wet that gets replaced aswel.
 
lizzie_71 said:
My boys are living in an outside hutch for the summer. They are totally outside, not in a shed, so they have a hutch cover for wet weather, and one of those heatpads if it's a chilly night. This is the first year they have been out, and they have been perfectly happy. They also have a large run for dry days.
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Hi! Just wondered what kind of hutch cover you use and heat pads. I'm starting to worry about ours being outside, even though it would be difficult to have them in the house at the moment! We're about to knock our kitchen into our dining room so I don't think it would be a great environment for them.

Ta!
 
MIne are inside at the moment because i dont have a hutch for them outside...
I was going to have them as outdoor piggies all year but i love hearing them chatter so have decided to keep them indoors in the winter and outdoors in the summer...
Maybe once i have a good outdoor set up for them they will go out all year but not right now...

I had a guinea pig who lived outside free range in a shed all year and lived till 6 years old with no problems at all (she did have company!)... She had lots of hidey holes (usually an upturned cardboard box stuffed to the rafters with hay) and we lined the shed floor with newspaper (it was a solid wood tongue and groove floor not the plywood so draughts could get in)... we also made a wire door to fix on the inside door frame in the summer so the door could be left open and nothing could get in...
 
my piggys now are indoors in the spare room, and i wouldnt have it any other way.

When i had them when i lived with my parents, we have the hutches outside in the summer, and covered them with tarpaulin at night, butin the winter we had them inside shed all winter, and kept their hutches covered with lots of dust sheets which we used to cover them fully at night.
 
My 2 piggies live indoors and thats how its gonna stay. They live in our living room and have lots of cuddles. They run around my front room for 1 hour each morning and 2 hours each night. When the weather's good, they also have 2 hours in the garden too! Think I'd miss them to much now to have them outside:)
 
My piggies are in hutches just outside the back door, where I can talk to them all the time I am in the kitchen. It is very very sheltered, but each night we tuck them up under fleeces and a camouflage waterproof. They have houses inside the bedroom bit for extra snuggly comfort. In the winter, I am going to bring them inside we have a big spare room off the kitchen, so they will be with me always. x
 
the piggy 8

I have two indoors as fudge doesnt like outside she looses weight and gets depressed, she has now a male companion (he has had the op) and i have 6 females in the shed. They live outside all year round and free range in the shed I put tarparlin and carboard around the shed and the things you heat up in the micro, tons of hay and fleece blankets. They arent happy if you bring them into the house as i bathed one on a warm day and she ate nothing till she was put back in the shed with her companions.

it just depends on your circumstances i think theres no right and wrong way to have them if my pigs are happy I'm happy.

karen 8:)
 
Hey i left my guinea pigs outside there fine outside really!
they should be outside in there natural environment not in a house there not humans! you should really consider putting them outside in the fresh air they would love it mine did and let them run around in a run they will love that! Charlotte xx:)
 
Charlotte_Moore_126 said:
they should be outside in there natural environment not in a house there not humans!
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There is 2000 years between domestication of wild guineas and our pets so they don't fair well in winter when outside all year round.

Pet guineas don't have a natural environment, they are totally different to their peru cousins. One thing about leaving them out all year round is that they can't come in for a cuddle. The change in temps really upset them. :(
 
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