Indoor To Outdoor Piggies

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kerry

kerry

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I have owned pairs of guinea pigs for around 7 years, starting from childhood with supervision from my mum. My guinea pigs have always lived outside and we have never ever had any problems with them being cold or damp.

They are in a sheltered area of the garden which is draft free and shetlered from driving rain. They have a draft free cage which is wooden with a felt roof. On top of the felt is a fleece blanket and then on top of that is a reflective emergency service tinfoil blanket. This is all covered by a waterproof plastic cover that covers all sides and the top and front.

Inside the guinea pigs have newspaper, sawdust and straw with a fleece cuddle sack.

Now ive never had a problem with them freezing or becoming ill. However this weekend I am adopting two 18 month old guinea pigs that have always lived indoors. They will eventually join my two existing guinea pigs in their outdoor hutch and run when I have them successfully bonded. I have no room to keep them inside and the lady that I am adopting them from cannot keep them any longer. The weather is mild at the moment and the guinea pigs are fluffy.

If I fill the temporary hutch with newspaper, sawdust and straw and fleece, they should be okay, do you think? I will also be putting a hot water bottle under the newspaper layer to prevent them from chewing it. They are not skinny, they have enough body weight on them to survive outside and I just want them to be comfortable.

As I said before, each of my 6 guinea pigs have always lived outside with no problems, do you think these two will be okay?

Any tips to make the transition easier for them
 
This is not answering your question but I just wanted to let you know that straw is not a suitable bedding for guinea pigs. It is too rough and they are likely to try to eat it.
 
piggyfan said:
This is not answering your question but I just wanted to let you know that straw is not a suitable bedding for guinea pigs. It is too rough and they are likely to try to eat it.
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Even the soft, dust free straw from pets at home?
What do you bed yours on?
 
I use vetbed. I really like it as it is hypoallergenic and does not cause allergies.
 
I'm open to using other things but my pigs snuggle down and make little nests in the straw and they wouldnt be able to do that on fleece
 
But you can buy them beds to snuggle in. I use vet bed and put a fleece in as two of mine like to go under it.
 
piggyfan said:
But you can buy them beds to snuggle in. I use vet bed and put a fleece in as two of mine like to go under it.
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I brought them a little sack thing specifically designed for guinea pigs and they just weed all over it. Ill have a play around in the summer to see if fleece would be okay for them
piggyfan said:
But you can buy them beds to snuggle in. I use vet bed and put a fleece in as two of mine like to go under it.
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In the summer I will switch to fleece and vetbed because when its warm at night it wont matter if they cant burrow down.

I did purchase two sleep sack things specifically designed for guinea pigs and they just peed all over them and then ignored them. Silly things.

Ive never had a problem with straw and they know the difference between it and hay because I've never seen them eat straw but thank you very much for your suggestions and ill try fleece when it gets warmer :)
 
Haha funny piggies! Mine did that to cosies too so I got a bed instead.
 
kerry said:
Even the soft, dust free straw from pets at home?
What do you bed yours on?
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I have litter trays in my c&c cages that have in newspaper then finacard then meadow hay. They could get poked in the eye with straw as it isnt as soft. Timothy hay is coarser too so people put that in hay racks to avoid haypokes but mine will only eat two different kinds of meadow hay.They have hideys that i put a towel then an extra bit of fleece in.They sleep mostly in the litter trays and popcorn like crazy when i refill them.Their cage is mainly fleece. I also have snuggle sacks that they dont use
 
Just a suggestion: mine are on fleece but have Medi-bed in their litter trays and their loft. It's a very very fine cut of straw that is soft to the touch. Originally designed for horses, it's becoming a lot more popular in the small animal world due to the fact that it isn't rough or sharp. Mine did eat it to begin with, but were very quickly put off by the non toxic aftertaste it left. Although I have never seen them burrow into it, I imagine that covered with a layer of longer meadow hay they'd have great fun creating a nest, without the risk of the straw being too shart.
 
kerry said:
Even the soft, dust free straw from pets at home?
What do you bed yours on?
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PIggies need hay ,hay and more hay,all piggy owners should really make sure that they have constant access to it.I am sure yours will be ok outside and they are lucky to have such a thoughtful owner,but please hay and more hay .
 
I use Aubiose (an organic horse bedding made from hemp) on top of newspaper. They have hay racks but they do love burrowing in it, so I make them little hides from cardboard boxes with entrances cut in them, and stuff these with hay, then they have the choice of those or fleecy beds. Incidentally, mine live ouside - in hutches in a shed, and they also have hutch covers for cold nights - and if its chilly I give them Snugglesafes, which are nice and chew-proof, so I don't have that worry.
 
They have a constant supply of hay, in two hay managers and I stuff empty toilet rolls with hay to make it more exciting for them. Ive never heard of anyone having hay for them to sleep on.
 
kerry said:
They have a constant supply of hay, in two hay managers and I stuff empty toilet rolls with hay to make it more exciting for them. Ive never heard of anyone having hay for them to sleep on.
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Really? I always thought it was traditional practice to give hay as bedding, mine just get heaps of hay on top of whatever substrate I'm using.

The main hazard from straw is eye damage as it's tougher and sharper than hay but otherwise it'd be okay, it doesn't matter if they eat it.

I'm also guessing you mean woodshavings not sawdust. There are substrates that are better than woodshavings but sawdust is totally inappropriate because it is just dust and so can cause all kinds of health problems.

As for moving the pigs outside I wouldn't want to do it yet if they're used to being indoors with central heating. I'd want to slowly acclimatise them to outdoor life by putting them somewhere indoors but unheated and aiming for them to go out in May when the nights get a bit warmer.

Hot water bottles aren't the best heat source because they cool rapidly so are cold by the coldest part of the night. The other problem would be if they did get through to it and chew it then they'd be wet which doesn't help with the cold.

This thread may be useful with regards to keeping them warm although it sounds like your hutch is well covered - http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/cold-weather-care-for-guinea-pigs.54309/
 
Okay everyone, thank you for uour advice. I have put an empty box inside the bed area of the hutch and lined it with a blanket, I then padded it out with hay, not straw and then I created a little nest hole in the hay and put a big old bobble hat (no bobble) inside it packed with hay.

My only concern with the blanket and hat is if they decide to eat it? Everyone has suggested vetbed and blankets and fleece, ever had any problems with them eating it? Thats why ive only ever used 'natural' bedding for them..
 
Mine just snuggle into the fleece, not once tried to eat it, or if they have they decided quickly that it wasn't worth it and didn't do any damage. But then mine are indoor pigs and seem fairly used to the fabric lifestyle. They don't even bother with the carpet when they go on the floor.
 
Mine have never chewed any of their fleece stuff.Is the hat wool?would be a bit concerned about them getting feet trapped in the wool and it won't wick.The fleece draws wee away so they are still on dry material.Is your hutch lined so you can wipe it down?The wood will last longer .
 
madguinealady said:
Mine have never chewed any of their fleece stuff.Is the hat wool?would be a bit concerned about them getting feet trapped in the wool and it won't wick.The fleece draws wee away so they are still on dry material.Is your hutch lined so you can wipe it down?The wood will last longer .
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Its very finely knitted so it should not be a problem but I will be keeping a close eye on them. The lady I am rehoming them from said they are around 18 months old so they should hopefully be quite robust things. Bit nervous about them settling in because all of the pairs ive ever had have been under 1 year or babies
 
I have adopted older piggies and they can settle in fine. One of my piggies chews vetbed but it does not matter as it is designed for animals.
 
My first two were between 12 months and twovyears and they were fine
 
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