Snugglesafe cool pod vs cool pad, which is better?

[Dilly's Piggies]

Has anyone used either or both of these products to keep piggies cool, do they work and is one better than the other? I can't decide which to buy. The pod looks like a hard plastic casing with liquid inside, and the pad looks like a fabric gel pad or something.

I'm looking for something big and flat like these that I can preferably cool in the fridge or freeze and then put in a pillowcase or under fleece in my piggies cage so they can lay on it when it's hot. These are the best things I've found so far, unless anyone else has other suggestions?

I know it says you don't need to freeze either of these products, but could I cool them in the fridge/freezer anyway? I haven't found anything saying you can't, but I want to make sure.

Currently I'm using ceramic tiles and frozen water bottles, but my piggies won't use them. They love and use their heat pad in winter though when it's underneath fleece, so I think they'd use these better if I cooled/froze them and put them under fleece in the cage.

Any suggestions welcome, my poor seniors struggle in this hot weather!

 

[Zorro1]

I used something like this

I put it in the freezer, and it was nice and cool to put in my piggy's enclosure, but as it de frosted the pillow case that I put it in got wet and he didn't want to lay on it.
If you want to keep your piggy cool, the simplest and best way is to keep it in an air conditioned room. In which case you can control the temp. Speaking from experience, I know it can be very inconvenient to find the space inside for a piggy cage, but it's the best way to keep your piggy/s cool in the Summer and warm in the Winter.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I don’t have experience of them but wanted to pick up on something youve said - you said that your piggies won’t use your frozen bottles etc. That can actually be a good thing as it means they are not feeling hot enough to need to sit by them. The main focus is to keep the room as cool as possible and there are some good methods to do that (without needing air conditioning units).
When we had the heatwave last year, I did put normal ice packs in a pillow case and then put them underneath the fleece (to be doubly sure the couldn’t get to them) just in front of one of the entrances to their bendy log bridges. That worked well in keeping the area near the hide cool - i could feel the cool when hovering my hand around the hide and near the ice packs but the piggies never actually sat on the ice packs.

By the looks of the snugglesafe cool pods, they draw body heat automatically rather than acting like an ice pack/frozen bottle would, and that’s why they don’t go in the fridge. My guess is that if it was under fleece and it wouldn’t be in contact with direct body heat so wouldn’t work as intended to draw body heat. The concern with it not being under fleece would be chewing - it says chew resistant but from review pictures online, that doesn’t look to be entirely the case.

Hot Weather Management, Heat Strokes and Fly Strike

 

[AidaB]

We have an ice pod(pink and round disc) sold by scratch and newton, which can be frozen. I like it as it fits in the snuggle safe covers & seems to last well.
I also last year brought a cool pod(blue and rectangular) made by snuggle safe. This one can not be frozen.
As Pigs and Buns says its designed to be sat on and draw heat away from the body, with out having to put it in the freezer. I liked the idea for the days when I have a long work day and can’t check any frozen bottles etc, and swap them over. However it doesn’t work as well under a layer of fleece, and as yet I don’t think our guinea pigs ever sat on it, to discover that it would help them cool down! I always covered it in a single fleece layer & haven’t used it yet this year.
I wouldn’t recomend buying it for guinea pigs.

Frozen bottles and the ice pod work well for us, along with placing our hooman ice blocks on the outside of the guinea pigs home, to help create a cool enviroment.
Our boys have ignored all cooling measures so far this year and last, which I take as a good sign.

I hope some of this helps you.

 

[PigglePuggle]

We just use frozen bottles of water in socks, but during the very hot weather a couple of weeks ago I didnt have enough bottles so popped a shallow rectangular tupperware box of frozen food under the fleece. This was far more popular that the bottles lol!
So you might just try shallow rectangular freezer boxes full of frozen water under the fleece, if you dont want piggies sitting on your dinner lol- as long as they are the clip-lock kind that dont leak

 

[breakawayfromme]

I don't have those ones for my piggies but I do have the scratch and newton ice pod
Its round disc you put in the freezer, I cannot reccomeend them enough really
The piggies never really use them thankfully but the peace of mind is worth it

I do have the gel pads type ones for my cats and they do work but Id be worried piggies might chew them

 

[Wheekallweek]

We also have the Scratch and Newton ice pods. I tried one of the cool gel mats for my bunny but she'd chewed it within a couple of minutes so I personally wouldn't use one of those.

 

[rp1993]

I use the scratch and Newton ice pod as well, we have two and find they stay cold for 12 hours which is great! I bought a cooling mat thing and they chewed through it and released the gel substance so I would avoid anything like that!