Outdoor piggies in from cold

[Fred&George]

Hello, some advice please? My piggies live outside in a good size hutch, I visit every day and give them extra hay and food, and they have a thermo cover on the hutch but in this frost I'm worried about them. I'm thinking of purchasing an indoor cage for the winter but we really don't have a lot of space. I'm considering the small conservatory we have which is the play room but in sunshine it gets warm and in cold weather it's as cold as outside. However, I work from home so I'm in during the day to make sure the room is ambient with the house, it's just the night. I'm thinking that w cold conservatory is going to be better than outside though? I could cover half with a blanket leaving enough open for air and still give plenty of wood shavings and hay? I've brought them in for a run for the first time today because although they love grass, it's just too frosty!

 

[Wiebke]

Hello, some advice please? My piggies live outside in a good size hutch, I visit every day and give them extra hay and food, and they have a thermo cover on the hutch but in this frost I'm worried about them. I'm thinking of purchasing an indoor cage for the winter but we really don't have a lot of space. I'm considering the small conservatory we have which is the play room but in sunshine it gets warm and in cold weather it's as cold as outside. However, I work from home so I'm in during the day to make sure the room is ambient with the house, it's just the night. I'm thinking that w cold conservatory is going to be better than outside though? I could cover half with a blanket leaving enough open for air and still give plenty of wood shavings and hay? I've brought them in for a run for the first time today because although they love grass, it's just too frosty!

Hi!

You will need to treat an unheated conservatory like a large car, but if you could make use of it during the day with a run and an area where they can warm up and sleep (like a hay filled but not stuffed solid large cardboard box with a couple of door openings, then that would be better.
Would you have space at night in the house proper with a small cage? You could attach it to the run during the day so your piggies have plenty of space then to exercise.
What guinea pigs need are however comparatively stable temperatures that don't swing widely because they regulate their body temperature via the blood flow in their ears.

Please also be aware that a conservatory can very quickly turn into a death trap on a sunny spring day when it is just nicely warm outside. It needs close monitoring.

Cold Weather Care For Guinea Pigs

 

[Fred&George]

Thank you for your response. Yes, it does get hot in there which is why we don't keep them in there all of the time. Perhaps at night I could just move the hutch from the conservatory into the living room and pop it back once it's warmed up in the morning. Are you saying a box positioned inside the run is better than me purchasing an indoor hutch? Here is a pic of where they are right now x

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you for your response. Yes, it does get hot in there which is why we don't keep them in there all of the time. Perhaps at night I could just move the hutch from the conservatory into the living room and pop it back once it's warmed up inView attachment 98722 the morning. Are you saying a box positioned inside the run is better than me purchasing an indoor hutch? Here is a pic of where they are right now x

If you can purchase an indoors hutch that you can connect to a run during the day but move on cold nights, that would be better.

You can leave the hutch overnight in the conservatory but will require the usual tips (insulation, microwaveable snuggle safes, see out cold weather link in my first post) as an outdoors hutchs. The advantage of having your piggies in the conservatory in winter is that they are out of wind and any precipitation and it is much easier for you to interact with them.

 

[Pigwhisperer]

An alternative is to add a Snugglesafe pad to their outside hutch - that's what I've started doing. You can get these on Amazon. I saw them recommended by other people on this forum. They are big hard plastic discs that come with a fleece cover, you put the plastic in the microwave for a few minutes, then put it in the cover & pop in the hutch. Like a hot water bottle except it can't burst. And they don't nibble it because it's covered in fleece.

 

[Fred&George]

Thank you everyone