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We Got Our 2 Lovely Guinea Pigs Yesterday, Newspaper Advice Please!

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Tiamolly123 said:
Aww all those piggies outside. When you draw your curtains so you're snugly & the piggys are all alone & they think I'm hungry, I'm cold, my friend keeps beating me up & my Hooman has deserted me. Aww
Are you one of the hooman's that are going to shut them in their all through the winter.
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I'm one of those humans who does my research and will provide these 2 lovely guinea pigs with a spacious, but snuggly home with many hide away tunnels, lots of hay, a secure cover and give them plenty of love.
 
DebCoysh said:
I'm one of those humans who does my research and will provide these 2 lovely guinea pigs with a spacious, but snuggly home with many hide away tunnels, lots of hay, a secure cover and give them plenty of love.
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I will see how things go in the colder months and look at my choices for the best one.
 
DebCoysh said:
I'm one of those humans who does my research and will provide these 2 lovely guinea pigs with a spacious, but snuggly home with many hide away tunnels, lots of hay, a secure cover and give them plenty of love.
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I regret to inform you that you're wrong, you're no longer a human but a piggy slave! :D :))

It's hard to know about winter, I personally have mine inside but you can always look at a shed or unused garage nearer the time. Idk if you're UK or not but if you are, with the weather warming up you'll have plenty of time to decide :)
 
Cavy Kung-Fu said:
I regret to inform you that you're wrong, you're no longer a human but a piggy slave! :D :))

It's hard to know about winter, I personally have mine inside but you can always look at a shed or unused garage nearer the time. Idk if you're UK or not but if you are, with the weather warming up you'll have plenty of time to decide :)
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Thank you for your kind advice. I'm in the UK, in the South West. I have a garage not used for a car, but it hasn't any windows. The hutch they have outside has 17.5 square feet of living space. I could invest in a smaller hutch for winter nights, but as it the garage doesn't have windows, I didn't know if moving them from their large day hutch to the other garage hutch each night would be stressful for them with the change each day?
 
DebCoysh said:
Thank you for your kind advice. I'm in the UK, in the South West. I have a garage not used for a car, but it hasn't any windows. The hutch they have outside has 17.5 square feet of living space. I could invest in a smaller hutch for winter nights, but as it the garage doesn't have windows, I didn't know if moving them from their large day hutch to the other garage hutch each night would be stressful for them with the change each day?
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In the winter they could have a place in the garage ? I think they would get stressed if it was every day but if only for the cold months it would be fine :) gumtree have some lovely sheds for sale you could use one of them and spruce it up for the piggies x
 
ChloeCee98 said:
In the winter they could a place in the garage ? I think they would get stressed if it was every day but if only for the cold months it would be fine :) gumtree have some lovely sheds for sale you could use one of them and spruce it up for the piggies x
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They could stay in the garage all day & night during the winter months when I'm not at work as I can leave the door open, but they'd have less living area. I was also looking into a gazebo with sides in the garden, in addition to their cover that goes with the hutch for the winter months to shield them from the elements. Just haven't found a good size yet. This is their hutch at the moment (the hutch is closed off to the run by a sliding door):

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ChloeCee98 said:
http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/guinea-pig-den-thermal-hutch-cover

You could get something like this I think there is a thread that says what temp is to cold for out door pigs. You can always get heat pads or hang blankets on and in their hutches to make them warm :) I think as long as they're well fed and cared for they're fine x
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Thank you so much for your advice. I was worried about the heat pads as some Amazon reviews said they were dangerous, have you had good experiences with them? I have plenty of spare fleeces and blankets and the cover arrives in a few weeks. I will keep thinking though of the best scenario, really grateful for your help x
 
I think a lot of people use them. It's just trial and error probably, I wouldn't put them directly underneath I'd cover them with a fleece and lie it underneath something. Piggies may be dopey but they're quite intelligent when they want to be lol. Last night after MoMo had a bath she plonked her bum under the radiator to dry herself a bit more lol x
 
ChloeCee98 said:
I think a lot of people use them. It's just trial and error probably, I wouldn't put them directly underneath I'd cover them with a fleece and lie it underneath something. Piggies may be dopey but they're quite intelligent when they want to be lol. Last night after MoMo had a bath she plonked her bum under the radiator to dry herself a bit more lol x
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That made me laugh! Toasty! I'm looking forward to showing them their run soon, I think I might need to create some steps on the ramp to help them learn how to get up and down!
 
DebCoysh said:
Thank you for your kind advice. I'm in the UK, in the South West. I have a garage not used for a car, but it hasn't any windows. The hutch they have outside has 17.5 square feet of living space. I could invest in a smaller hutch for winter nights, but as it the garage doesn't have windows, I didn't know if moving them from their large day hutch to the other garage hutch each night would be stressful for them with the change each day?
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I'm in the south east, so probably similar weather wise! I wouldn't recommend a smaller one than the one you have. It is a bit of a tricky one!

Might be a bit stressful to move them to start with but I'd imagine they'd get used to it as we put them into runs etc with no problem? An unused garage is a handy thing to have, I'm sure you'll figure something out before we're back in winter! :)

Man I love that shed! I want :love:
 
Cavy Kung-Fu said:
I'm in the south east, so probably similar weather wise! I wouldn't recommend a smaller one than the one you have. It is a bit of a tricky one!

Might be a bit stressful to move them to start with but I'd imagine they'd get used to it as we put them into runs etc with no problem? An unused garage is a handy thing to have, I'm sure you'll figure something out before we're back in winter! :)

Man I love that shed! I want :love:
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I spoke to the pet shop today and the manager there is so knowledgable with great advice and time to talk! I'm thinking I'll buy a hutch and thermal cover for winter time to put in the garage during the coldest months, but like you adviced, just for an evening and put the girls back in their balmoral hutch with cover in the daytime, also that way, early evening cuddles won't be as much as a change in temperature, my OH rarely puts the heating on anyway in our house so that will help too! X
 
Thank you everyone for all your advice. Shadow & Snuggles are settling in well, we're getting them out for cuddles at least 4-5 times a week. I have been trying to teach them to use the ramp into their outdoor run which only one can get up. I actually got stuck in the other day as opening the lock bolt from the inside was tricky! I have an indoor cage that is sitting proudly in the lounge, ready for evening times after cuddles so the children can watch them, without stressing the guineas out too much and where they can live during the colder winter months, just need to rethink where the Christmas tree will go, but these two are a much nicer sight! Xx

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