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Will My Piggies Die?! -3 Degrees

ChubbyCarrots

New Born Pup
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182711AE-1D39-4626-8FED-BABBC71D966B.jpeg I have two 1 and 1/2 year old male guinea pigs, my garage is currently being redone so we can’t bring them in and my parents don’t want them in the house!

It is -3 degrees outside and the snow is up to my knees, the hutch is on top of a run so I’m not worried about the snow hitting them but I’m worried about the cold!

Please help! What do I do please?
 
I wouldn’t be happy with them out in this weather, especially as the hutch is so very exposed. Could you not ask bring them in to a downstairs bathroom / utility room or similar? Just until the weather stops being so cold?
 
It'd be best if you can persuade your parents to allow you to bring them indoors. With the wind chill it's more like -13 out tonight! It is possible they may become poorly or pass away in such freezing temperatures.
If they really won't, fill up the hutch with mounds of hay to keep them warm, cover the hutch with either an old duvet or some bubble wrap, and then a tarp on top (leave a gap for ventilation though!) Wrap water bottles in bubble wrap and a sock over the top to hold it in place. If you can get hold of a snugglesafe heat pad then they can really help! They go in the microwave and stay warm for up to 10 hours!
 
If you can't bring them into a house have you got a garage, greenhouse or shed you can bring them into to get them out of the biting wind? I have outside piggies but I have brought mine in now. If that is not an option for you, you need to make sure they have MOUNTAINS of dry hay to snuggle up into. Also you need to have thermal covers on the hutch. My hutch has Hutch Snuggles with Bye Bye Fly Screen™ and Hutch Hugger™ too obviously appropriate to the size of the hutch and a blanket over the front to keep out the worst of the cold/frost. While they were outside (-3 to -4 is about as cold as they can handle) they had various snugglies to keep them warm, snuggle sacks from Ziggy's Piggies and hooded beds from Rosewood Two-Way Hooded Bed for Small Animals on Sale | Free UK Delivery as well as snugglesafes from Cosy Pod- Pet Warmer 1 each preferably. I also got a couple of snuggle tunnels from Ziggys piggies too. If you can put them in a garage, greenhouse or shed you still need to put all the warm stuff in as well.
 
It'd be best if you can persuade your parents to allow you to bring them indoors. With the wind chill it's more like -13 out tonight! It is possible they may become poorly or pass away in such freezing temperatures.
If they really won't, fill up the hutch with mounds of hay to keep them warm, cover the hutch with either an old duvet or some bubble wrap, and then a tarp on top (leave a gap for ventilation though!) Wrap water bottles in bubble wrap and a sock over the top to hold it in place. If you can get hold of a snugglesafe heat pad then they can really help! They go in the microwave and stay warm for up to 10 hours!


We put 2 socks on their water bottles and have an insolated heat cover is that okay please?
 
You are right to be worried.
Their hutch is completely out in the open - you need to get it under some shelter and up against a solid wall asap.
Currently it will be very cold and drafty and making it difficult fro them to stay warm.
Like others have suggested it needs to be covered with multiple layers of blankets or duvets for insulation, and then a water and windproof layer on top.
Inside the hutch you need to make several small, warmer areas.
Use corrugated cardboard boxes, line them with newspaper, and stuff them with straw on the bottom and fill then with hay. Cut a small entrance into each box, and position them in the hutch in the most sheltered corners.
Snuggle safe heat pads are the best idea, but if you don't have any on hand then a thick sock filled with rice and heated in the microwave will offer additional warmth for a short time (less than an hour), but might help to get things cosy more quickly.
And feed them lots and lots - unlimited pellets, unlimited hay, and small amounts of room temperature fresh food 2 - 3 times a day.
 
Make sure you stuff the hutch with as much hay as you possibly can and block off the hole that the ramp goes into with a piece of cardboard or wood. This will help stop any draft from getting into the hutch. As @Swissgreys has said, they need unlimited food at the moment as they will be using loads of energy just trying to keep warm.
 
I have an insulated hutch cover, blocked off run, 2 pillows, socks covering the bottle and hay, my sister was the last to feed them but she doesn’t care about them so I don’t know how much she put, I can’t move the hutch because of the snow.

Thanks for all of your responses and do you think they will pass away please, (please be honest).
 
I have an insulated hutch cover, blocked off run, 2 pillows, socks covering the bottle and hay, my sister was the last to feed them but she doesn’t care about them so I don’t know how much she put, I can’t move the hutch because of the snow.

Thanks for all of your responses and do you think they will pass away please, (please be honest).

It really is impossible to say as we have no way of knowing what condition the hutch is in, how good the insulation is, what the weather conditions are like where you are etc.
Hopefully they will be ok, and maybe tomorrow you can consider moving the hutch to a better position and adding some additional insulation.
 
View attachment 81922 I have two 1 and 1/2 year old male guinea pigs, my garage is currently being redone so we can’t bring them in and my parents don’t want them in the house!

It is -3 degrees outside and the snow is up to my knees, the hutch is on top of a run so I’m not worried about the snow hitting them but I’m worried about the cold!

Please help! What do I do please?

Guinea pigs are not hardy. They need to be treated like tender plants.
Please make sure that any flaps and ramps are closed. Cold drafts can and have killed, and doubt will do so tonight. :(

Please tell this your parents and bring your guinea pigs into the house during any bad cold spell!
Cold Weather Care For Guinea Pigs
 
Thanks so much for your concern everyone. At around 11:00 the snow was really coming down and is very deep now, I left the snow on top for insulation.

Good news, they survived the night. My mum was also really concerned and was looking at forums too. My dad suggested we move them to the garage, we have never put our cars in the garage and we just got our shelves installed so they will be spending a night there.

Their water bottles didn’t fully freeze but had huge ice lumps, I put them in boiling water and made sure they could drink from them.

We got one of my old pillow cases and stuffed it with hay and covered the floor in hay. Later on I plan on buying a snuggle pad too, a lot of people suggested it for me.

Thanks so much to you and everyone who answered me!

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4B339179-5006-4B38-92BD-B296E4568BC8.jpeg

A84CCE13-39C1-4CC9-84A3-AF5C659F7A12.jpeg
 
Guinea pigs are not hardy. They need to be treated like tender plants.
Please make sure that any flaps and ramps are closed. Cold drafts can and have killed, and doubt will do so tonight. :(


Please tell this your parents and bring your guinea pigs into the house during any bad cold spell!
Cold Weather Care For Guinea Pigs


We’re moving them to the heated garage, we just got our shelves installed so it shouldn’t be a problem from here.
 
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