Shimmer and Saffron

I am so sorry to read this sad news.
I have loved seeing the pictures of beautiful Saffron.
Be gentle with yourself as you grieve.
Hugs 🤗
 
Heat stroke really is a totally silent killer and a great worry. I hate to say it, but without insulation and thorough protection from the sun, no shed is safe for guinea pigs anymore. I don't think a rescue will re-home these days to an outdoor shed easily. Perhaps it would be best to return Shimmer to the rescue. Being a girl, she will be easier to rehome. You have your rabbits and they are possibly better suited to life outdoors. Guinea pigs are rather fragile. Outdoor sheds without heating and shelter / shade plus insulation are not great homes for guinea pigs these days. The heat waves now are just too serious. I think alot of rescues will need to change their adoption criteria to be specific about how guinea pigs can be kept outdoors 😟 It must be heartbreaking but you have to think of what is best for Shimmer. It also gets very cold in winter. Thank you for sharing this terribly sad loss with us. It has certainly made me sit up and think about what to do during the heat waves. I will need to try to take time off during extreme or even just hot weather to be with my piggies. I have bought a cooling fan although a proper air conditioner would be better. Guinea pigs are expensive, as are all pets. Do you have a thermometer or smart thermometer to monitor the shed? Can you bring the piggies in during hot weather? These are all vitally important questions to deal with if keeping guinea pigs in a shed 😔
 
Some very good points there Truffolo.

I will be having electricity connected to the shed. It will be insulated and will have a heater in the winter and a fan in the summer.

The guinea pigs (Shimmer and new guinea pig once I have one) will come into my bedroom in the very hot and very cold weather. I am in the process of working out how to change my room so that they can have a 150 x 60cm cage. Not massive but better than being in a shed during the screamingly hot summers and cold winters.

I also have a north facing garden and it is lovely and shady even on blazing hot days. The rabbits are currently living there in a 7 x 5 foot run with a 5 foot chartwell hutch inside it.

There will be a run attached to the shed in time (saving up).

Shimmer and Saffron (rip) have been spending the hottest times of day in my bedroom since the heat stroke. So sad. Saffron was eating and stealing food from Shimmer and suddenly ust went downhill.
 
flowerfairy said:
Some very good points there Truffolo.

I will be having electricity connected to the shed. It will be insulated and will have a heater in the winter and a fan in the summer.

The guinea pigs (Shimmer and new guinea pig once I have one) will come into my bedroom in the very hot and very cold weather. I am in the process of working out how to change my room so that they can have a 150 x 60cm cage. Not massive but better than being in a shed during the screamingly hot summers and cold winters.

I also have a north facing garden and it is lovely and shady even on blazing hot days. The rabbits are currently living there in a 7 x 5 foot run with a 5 foot chartwell hutch inside it.

There will be a run attached to the shed in time (saving up).

Shimmer and Saffron (rip) have been spending the hottest times of day in my bedroom since the heat stroke. So sad. Saffron was eating and stealing food from Shimmer and suddenly ust went downhill.
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That's all sounding good. I'm glad you have these options, they sound very positive. I'm sorry you lost your piggy. Too sad 😔
 
Shimmer is now in the shed in her indoor cage.

The new guinea pig will be coming tomorrow and they will be bonded immediately as new girl is just a baby.

They will eventually have a cage set up in the shed with a lot more space and a smallish indoor cage in my bedroom for those times of extreme weather of any kind (oh my little Saffron rip).
 
It is such a wonderful shed. I will get mesh for the windows and the stable door. For the next few days she and baby sow will be in my bedroom. They will eventually have a 150 x 60cm cage in my room but for now it is a hamster cage for bonding them.

I am hoping to make the 150 x 60 cage out of wood and mesh. We will see.
 
flowerfairy said:
I joined in 2013 with 3 guinea pigs, Jacky, her daughter Pip and a neutered boar, Basil.

A few years later I got two lovely sows from a rescue, Mistletoe and Jingle. I later introduced a neutered boar, Cufflinks, 2 young sows, Rosie and Cherry blossom and 2 older sows, Tani and Primrose. A beautiful and fascinating herd. Introductions were done slowly over time.

I have moved house since then (downsized) and I am collecting a pair of second hand sows from an online advert quite local to me. They are just over a year old and their advert pics look really sweet!
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Bless you for doing rescues! All my rodents, the Chihuahua and Theo my new piggie are rescues :)
 
Bonding in full swing. As soon as I got home with baby sow I put her, inside her carrier in the bonding cage (using a slightly bigger old on its back). I left her to hear the sounds and get her bearings.

I then collected Shimmer and put hay from each of their carriers into the bonding cage and put them in. Silence.

Fast forward about an hour and there are a lot of rustlings in the hay (Shimmer I reckon) and then a lot of contented hay eating noises. I checked, definitely Shimmer!

Now there is a fair amount of movement but no vocalisation. Oh possibly some tooth chattering ...
 
Lots of munching as I have just given them grass. The lady who I got her from said that she loves grass which is great as I grow lots of it for them in the front garden.

Really going to concentrate on having them in my bedroom for most of the time. I hope it is workable.
 
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