How to line hutch

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pompomminnie

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We recently got two guinea pigs. We have a large hutch and run for them. In the bed area we line with paper, thick layer of shavings and then filled with hay. All fine.
In the open area I initially also lined with paper and sawdust but oh my god the mess! they practically ended up with all the sawdust tipped down the ramp and in the run!
So my question is how would you line that area of the hutch? Just paper and change daily? The hutch has lino also so very easy to clean.
Thanks.
 
Welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of guinea pigs. I'm afraid I have no advice as my spoilt boys have an indoor palace but someone Knowledgeable will be along soon.
We would love to know more about your piggies.
 
Thank for your reply. This is their hutch and run, meant to include picture first time
The boys are about 18 weeks, we got them from a local rescue centre.. they'd originally been purchased from pets at home and the family turned out to be allergic so they were given to the rescue. They're shy but coming around!1000040675.webp
 
Welcome to the forum

As outdoor piggies they need hay everywhere in the hutch for warmth. You can push the hay and shavings to one side if you’re opening the ramp but I would still recommend it is used. It’s still too cold for them while temperatures are below 15 degrees.
(Personally, it is one of the reasons I don’t like hutch-ramp-run combos like this - there can be several aspects which are trickier to manage).

Can I ask, are they used to eating fresh grass and have you tested the grass to ensure it’s warm enough for them to be out?

You need to be very careful with grass time at the start of every year/after time off of grass during autumn/winter - too much (particularly rich spring) grass too soon and on unprepared tummies can cause bloat so you need to build their access to it up very slowly.
I start mine (also live outdoor but in a shed) by handpicking grass from around February and feeding it to them in their shed. It hasnt been warm enough under foot for them to be out on the grass yet, but once it is, they go out for 10 minutes a day for the first week, and then adding in another 10-15 mins a week and building time up slowly over weeks to months, so that by mid summer they are able to be out all day.

To test if it’s warm enough for them to be on the grass, the outdoor temperature needs to be above 15 degrees and you need to be able to stand on the grass with bare feet without feeling cold or damp. If you can’t, then they can’t be on it yet.

I would also add that the pink igloo may be a risk for several reasons - the main one being that as a one exit hide, we do not recommend their use particularly for teenage boys. All hides should have two exits so that neither pig can trap the other inside it and risk causing a fight.
We also dont recommend the use of plastic hides outside due to the risk of condensation/damp in winter and the heat they trap in summer. Wooden (two exit) are much better for outdoor dwelling piggies

Feeding Grass And Preparing Your Piggies For Lawn Time
 
Thanks for your reply. Yes they're used to the grass, having apparently always been outside.
They have a selection of hideaways including a wooden one and a large edible type one, tubes and log ones. Trust me when I say that go everywhere together anyway. They've always been together and do not like being apart.
 
pompomminnie said:
Thanks for your reply. Yes they're used to the grass, having apparently always been outside.
They have a selection of hideaways including a wooden one and a large edible type one, tubes and log ones. Trust me when I say that go everywhere together anyway. They've always been together and do not like being apart.
Click to expand...

If you are in anyway uncertain as to their previous grass intake then do make sure to cut back (as I say it’s the cold which is an issue at the moment as well and why most of us won’t have put (even outdoor dwelling) piggies on the grass yet), and start all over again. Bloat can kill so always best to err in the side of caution with fresh spring grass.

We make sure to warn new owners about the risks of single exit hides and the specifics of boar requirements (ie not the cleaning the whole cage in one go etc) particularly as yours have just hit their teens - that is the most critical time for their bond surviving and ensuring that you have done all you can to minimise the risk.
(One of my own pairs had always been together, were joined at the hip very happily until they were 18 weeks old and suddenly out of the blue a huge fight broke out that destroyed their bond. They’ve had to live side by side for the last two years now).
 
Thanks.
Blimey, when I was a kid the guinea pigs were out all year round just bombing around doing what they liked. Loved to grand old ages!
 
Care advice and knowledge has moved on quite a lot. Our care guides are the up to date information and you may well find a lot is very different.

They don’t go on the grass between October and April/May - risk of cold, UTIs from being on damp grass etc, kept above 15 degrees. Things like the snugglesafe heat pads are a fantastic investment in ensuring they are kept warm in winter.
 
Thanks. We've got one of the heat pads and they have that at night time. They're so cosy in the hay as it is but gives them some extra warmth!
 
Piggies&buns said:
To test if it’s warm enough for them to be on the grass, the outdoor temperature needs to be above 15 degrees and you need to be able to stand on the grass with bare feet without feeling cold or damp. If you can’t, then they can’t be on it yet.
Click to expand...
Not that I've ever had guineas actually living outdoors (just on the grass on warm days), but @pompomminnie please consider that in the middle of the day at this time of year you might be able to stand on the grass with bare feet w/o feeling cold or damp but late afternoon/early evening not. (I know, I was gardening with bare feet yesterday.) In a different context, I figured a particular guinea of mine would leave an area that wasn't good for her underfoot, but my vet said the guinea wouldn't make the connection. So probably the same with chilly, damp grass.

And yes, knowledge has moved on A LOT since 70's/80's when i was a child and had guineas. I joined this forum not so long ago and I've learnt a lot in addition to what I learnt over 20 years keeping guineas as an adult.

Welcome to the forum! @pompomminnie
 
Thanks. They take themselves off upstairs whenever they feel like it. They're certainly not shut on the grassed area! They can do what they want. In the morning they come down for a bit and seem to like eating grass for a bit, then they go upstairs and sleep for a while or run around the top section and come down again multiple times during the day.

I'm getting the distinct feeling that people didn't like guinea pigs outside but they are perfectly happy.
 
Fair enough.

What my vet meant was that the guineas might do what they want w/o realising that that in fact was not healthy for them.

I've never had guineas outside as an adult because I've always lived in rental accommodation, some of that w/o any access to a garden and where I did have access, I couldn't trust that somebody else with access to the garden wouldn't do something inordinately stupid and dangerous to my guineas, like let them out, feed them with something bad for them. In my childhood the climate wasn't appropriate. I do know people IRL with guineas outside and that works fine. In fact one family of friends, their outside guineas were almost never at the vet's and lived to a grand old age whereas mine were indoors and regularly at the vet's with this and that.
 
Hello and welcome to the forum. Your piggies are gorgeous. 🥰

I’ve had outside piggies before but now I have the space indoors they have moved in lol.

When I had a hutch/run combo I glued two pieces of wood to stop them falling down the ramp and this also stopped some of the hay and sawdust falling down too.

He’s a pic to show what I mean. Ignore the fleece liners they went on that when they moved into the garage. (you can’t use fleece in the garden as it wicks moisture from the air and gets damp).

IMG_9042.webp
 
On the forum there are members who keep piggies inside and outside - my own live in my shed. It’s certainly not that we don’t like it - it is just that the advice about keeping them safe and warm has changed a lot, and now we know they shouldn’t be on wet grass, need to be treated like tender plants etc

I find it much harder keeping them safe outside in summer than in winter. Dealing with the heat in a hutch and shed, warm breezes heating up runs etc is where a major challenge lies.
 
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