Winter prep

Rufus&Edward

Rufus&Edward

Junior Guinea Pig
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Lancashire, UK
I know, I know, it's currently the middle of summer and is lovely and warm. But I want to make sure I've got things ready for my piggies for when it starts to get colder.

I have two guinea pigs who share a wooden hutch and live outside. In previous years we have brought their hutch into the house from late autumn through to spring, but unfortunately this is no longer an option due to lack of space indoors. Just to say straight off- in extremely cold temperatures we would still bring them inside the house.

So I'm looking for advice on how best to keep my piggies warm during winter if they are outside. We have an outside garage, enclosed car port down the side of the house and a wooden summer house at the end of the garden- all of which they could be moved into (though all are unheated). I will also be investing in a hutch cover.

Their bedroom space is enclosed (ie, no mesh windows) and within that space they also have a large-ish wooden house that I stuff with hay so it's double-layered from outside. They get on well, so should hopefully huddle together if they need to. I also have a snuggle safe heat pad which I have used during the night during winter months- I usually put it under their bed space, or on the roof of it.

Has anyone got an ideas of other things I can do to help keep them warm? I was reading another thread which suggested a duvet on top of the hutch, which I can also try.

TIA
 
Moving their hutch into a sheltered area/shed etc is a great thing to do - my own shed has quite a considerable temperature increase from outside so that alone helps. As soon a you reduced wind, damp etc, then it helps greatly.
Otherwise, it seems as if you’ve got everything else covered including the plan to still be able to being them indoors when necessary.
Do ensure you have a thermometer in there

My two live in a hutch in an unheated shed. The hutch is filled with hay along with several hides. I put hay on top of their hides and then put an piece of fleece over the hay and hide at night to help hold even more warmth inside the hide - I can only get away with this because they are in the shed and they aren't exposed to damp air in there as they would be completely outside - I dont bed them on any fleece over winter. I have four snugglesafes between my two boys which get spread around the hutch - they have the option of being in a hide with a heatpad and or without.
Over the hutch I have a thermal hutch cover, i then put two blankets over that, and then the waterproof outer hutch cover (this obviously isn’t needed for it’s waterproof purposes given the hutch is in the shed but it’s another lay and the plastic front helps hold heat inside further. I then throw a duvet over all of it when needed. Everything gets increased as needed and built up as the temperature drops.
 
Last edited:
Piggies&buns said:
Moving their hutch into a sheltered area/shed etc is a great thing to do - my own shed has quite a considerable temperature increase from outside so that alone helps. As soon a you reduced wind, damp etc, then it helps greatly.
Otherwise, it seems as if you’ve got everything else covered including the plan to still be able to being them indoors when necessary.
Do ensure you have a thermometer in there

My two live in a hutch in an unheated shed. The hutch is filled with hay along with several hides. I put hay on top of their hides and then put an piece of fleece over the hay and hide at night to help hold even more warmth inside the hide - I can only get away with this because they are in the shed and they aren't exposed to damp air in there as they would be completely outside - I dont bed them on any fleece over winter. I have four snugglesafes between my two boys which get spread around the hutch - they have the option of being in a hide with a heatpad and or without.
Over the hutch I have a thermal hutch cover, i then put two blankets over that, and then the waterproof outer hutch cover (this obviously isn’t needed for it’s waterproof purposes given the hutch is in the shed but it’s another lay and the plastic front helps hold heat inside further. I then throw a duvet over all of it when needed. Everything gets increased as needed and built up as the temperature drops.
Click to expand...
That's fantastic, thanks for all the tips! Your piggies sound like they're lovely and snug in the chilly months.
 
The measures work very well and have only failed once but to be fair it was -8/9 outside and I wasn’t expecting anything to work once it got that cold! They moved inside for the rest of that winter.
 
I have outdoor rabbits and I would suggest stocking up on snuggle safes.
One probably won't be enough in the middle of Winter.
I make sure there are always at least 2 in the hutch overnight so the rabbits have a choice of places to sleep.
I tend to replace them around 11am before I go to bed to see them through the coldest part of the night, and it is handy having spares.
 
Swissgreys said:
I have outdoor rabbits and I would suggest stocking up on snuggle safes.
One probably won't be enough in the middle of Winter.
I make sure there are always at least 2 in the hutch overnight so the rabbits have a choice of places to sleep.
I tend to replace them around 11am before I go to bed to see them through the coldest part of the night, and it is handy having spares.
Click to expand...
Good idea, I'll get a couple more I think.
 
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