Keeping my Guinea Pig warm in their hutch.

[Piggie Life]

At the moment my Guinea Pigs are outside in a hutch and in the Winter Months they will come into a C&C Cage I'm going to build for them. At the moment I give them plenty of Straw to keep them warm at night and a pet-safe microwave heatpad to give them extra warmth. Is there anything else I can give them to keep them warm.

Thanks,

 

[Connie]

Do you mean hay? As straw is not safe for piggies as it can cause bad eye pokes, due to them being so close to the ground.

Fleece coseys are good as they hold warmth well.

 

[Piggie Life]

Do you mean hay? As straw is not safe for piggies as it can cause bad eye pokes, due to them being so close to the ground.

Fleece coseys are good as they hold warmth well.

I do mean straw. The straw I buy is quite soft and has all the 'pokey' bits removed. It's also a better insulator I hear.

 

[Bobby&Frankie]

I pack it with paper as they'll generally cuddle together to keep warm.
I'm going to be getting a couple of those teddy bears which have the heat pouches in.
The boys also have one of these each and they're a nice size and they seem very impressed with them (only got the piggies today)
Cushy cave igloo

 

[Connie]

Personally, I avoid the spikey batches of hay at my local store and wouldnt personally risk it with straw. Chop straw I believe some people use, as this is especially soft but is a specific type.

Are your piggies also provided with unlimited hay, as this is essential to their diet as they cant actually eat the straw in the same way as hay.

 

[bsjlmb]

my hutch is under cover in my 'catservatory' (built to keep my cats safe from nasty neighbours! i have insulated the outside of the hutch with insulation boards. i put several layers of quilts, blankets etc over them at night. they have hay and snuggle sacks and their hutches are lined with vetbed. should be warm enough hopefully

 

[Piggie Life]

my hutch is under cover in my 'catservatory' (built to keep my cats safe from nasty neighbours! i have insulated the outside of the hutch with insulation boards. i put several layers of quilts, blankets etc over them at night. they have hay and snuggle sacks and their hutches are lined with vetbed. should be warm enough hopefully

Thanks for the idea's. I've already decided to use Vetbed instead of what I use now (wood shavings) as it looks easy to clean and it looks like it will keep them warm. I will put some thick, warm blankets over their hutch covered by a waterproof cover. Thanks for the ideas!

 

[Piggie Life]

Personally, I avoid the spikey batches of hay at my local store and wouldnt personally risk it with straw. Chop straw I believe some people use, as this is especially soft but is a specific type.

Are your piggies also provided with unlimited hay, as this is essential to their diet as they cant actually eat the straw in the same way as hay.

Yes, I do provide them with Alfalfa Hay as they are still young. Although I'm having some trouble as I don't think they are eating their hay even though I provide them with an unlimited amount.

 

[twiams]

Have you seen the snuggle safe heat pads ? you can microwave them and leave them in the hutch like a piggy water bottle (:

 

[Piggie Life]

Have you seen the snuggle safe heat pads ? you can microwave them and leave them in the hutch like a piggy water bottle (:

Yeah I've already got one I give it to them every night and they love it!

 

[Poppy'sMum]

Years ago when my first piggies were outside I would use Supreme soft chop straw bedding (Used to be called Russell) which is fine, top that with lots of soft meadow hay which they will snuggle into & eat. If they are not eating the Alfalfa hay I would change it to meadow hay as it's better they eat some sort of hay than nothing. Normal farm straw isn't suitable for piggies. Give them alfalfa hay as a supplement if you want, I never used to give it to my piggies, just unlimited pellets & high vit C veggies when they were young

 

[Piggie Life]

Years ago when my first piggies were outside I would use Supreme soft chop straw bedding (Used to be called Russell) which is fine, top that with lots of soft meadow hay which they will snuggle into & eat. If they are not eating the Alfalfa hay I would change it to meadow hay as it's better they eat some sort of hay than nothing. Normal farm straw isn't suitable for piggies. Give them alfalfa hay as a supplement if you want, I never used to give it to my piggies, just unlimited pellets & high vit C veggies when they were young

Thanks for the great response. I always make sure the straw I use is soft and I topped it with meadow hay tonight from your recommendation. They are also starting to eat their alfalfa hay which is really pleasing for me and I'm pretty sure they are getting enough vitamin C from the fruit & veg they eat and I supply them with unlimited pellets but they seem to only nibble on that so I might change to Cavy Cuisine by Oxbow as that has good reviews all-over really.

 

[fatgirl105]

I am lucky enough to be married to a builder so my piggies have top of the range insulation all a round the outside of their hutches and insulation padded blanket as the front cover. In their sleep quarters they have a wooden house with hay and a large fleece blanket folded in four and draped over the wooden house. When I put my hand into the sleep area you can feel the warmth in there it's fab and the piggies are all snuggly.