Wooden hideys for warmth - advice?

Sally Newbie

Sally Newbie

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Hi
My guinea pigs live in the shed. In their sleeping area in their hutch they currently have an upturned cardboard box each, lots of hay and snuggle pads as the temperature is around 10 degrees now in the shed and lower sometimes. Tonight I have also put some folded fleece blanket on their boxes. The problem is the boxes do tend to collapse and are a bit unsteady so I would like to get something else. I am thinking of wooden hideys which would be warmer. They need 2 holes for exit and entrance as they do bicker and one can be dominant but sometimes they do like to sleep in the same one when they are in a more affectionate phase! Anyway, What do you think about these in the links below? Any advice on the best? I also have some Snuggle Tunnels which won't fit in the boxes and I'm not quite sure how to fit these in the mix!

Hidey 1:
Resch No23 Guinea Pig House Natural solid wood made of spruce / with two large entrances and Rounded Corners 31x19x21cm (LxHxW): Amazon.co.uk: Pet Supplies. I could stuff this with hay? Is this big enough for 2?

Hidey 2:
petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/wooden-playsticks-large. I could fit the snuggle tunnel in? And cover with fleece blanket?

All advice welcome please to improve warmth.
 
I’m curious about warmth as well but no clue. I would do two of each whatever you get.
 
Wooden hides are great, particularly in a shed becasue they won't get damp.
What I would do is get a cheap fleece blanket (ikea are good for this) and cut out a piece that covers the top and sides, and then cut the side pieces into strips.
Guinea pigs seem to like running through strips of fleece, and this will cover the doors and make the inside a bit cosier.
You can attatch polystyreme tiles to the OUTSIDE of their sleeping area on the hutch, and then further coverer these with a layer of bubble wrap (I use a staple gun to hold this in place). This automatically insulates the sleeping area, and removes the chance of draughts. Then line the entire sleeping area with pieces of corrugated cardboard.This give tripple insulation on all walls, and helps keep everything cosy, even if they aren't inside a hidey.
 
Thank you @Swissgreys. Thue hutch has been covered in insulator board all over the outside and has a Scratch and Newton Hutch Snuggler on as well. The fleece blanket I cut is from Ikea, only a few quid and that's a good idea about the strips of fleece over the entrances. Which wooden hidey do you think is best, the wood stick one as I can put the fleece on that? And is the corrugated cardboard on the inside - how do you fix it to the walls or do you just jam it in?
 
No idea about the outdoors aspect but our best wooden hideys are the Hop-Inn brand, they sell them on Amazon but also have their own website! 2 doors, fit 2 friendly pigs, very sturdy and dont stain with pee or get damp easily... for Tallulah skinny pig I put in a big fleecy pee pad wider than the house and curl up the edges to make it draft proof and like a little u-shaped bed in there for her :)
 
I use the bendy log huts (like the one in the pic below) as hides as they can be spread open to fit a heat pad underneath. if you have a solid wooden hide then if you are going to use a heat pad you need to make sure the dimensions allow for a heat pad to fit underneath it - I had two which didn’t fit a heat pad in and they just ended up being ignored by the piggies in winter.
I then put a fleece blanket over the hut and allow it to drape part way over the two exits so it helps hold the warmth in.
 

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@Piggies&buns , I've got the large wooden tunnels today , put couple of layers of fleece and then cut the fleece layers over the entrance and exit into strips. The strips go down to the floor - is that too long? My only worry is that that they kind of almost full up the sleeping area with 2 of them. But I think they are big enough in one pig got cornered by the other, they are wide enough for a pig to push past?
 
I don’t think the strips going to the floor is too long.
It sounds like the same as mine - taking up most of the space etc. They only retreat to them when they want to snuggle up anyway so I don’t worry about the amount of space they take up.
if you’ve got them spread wide so they can get past each other then that is great. I only have mine a snugglesafe width apart as i never find mine even attempting to go in the same one. They seem to know it’s a one pig hidey and just go to the other if one is occupied.
 
Thanks for this @Piggies&buns. Yes, both are spread a snugglesafe width so I think one could get out if the other one was bullying. They just have to be in the sleeping area next to each other and no exit. I think at the weekend I might try and saw about 1 1/2 inches off the length and then they would be able to escape out of the back if needed. they will have to manage for a couple of nights without that option.
 
do you mean the bendy lot huts as per my picture? If so, you’ll jusr have to check where the metal rod goes through before you start cutting - you don’t want to cut beyond it and then it all fall apart
 
Yes I will. Unbelievably, this morning Puff had somehow climbed up on the 2 of them and couldn't get down - obv after eating the hay I had put on top of the fleeces last night for warmth......
 
Sally Newbie said:
Yes I will. Unbelievably, this morning Puff had somehow climbed up on the 2 of them and couldn't get down - obv after eating the hay I had put on top of the fleeces last night for warmth......
Click to expand...

Mine love jumping up on top of their log hideys and sitting on the fleece, and climbing up onto the hidey but going under the fleece and hiding underneath it. I couldn’t find popcorn one morning and after having searched inside all the hideys I saw the fleece twitch and realised he was between the roof and the fleece!
 
Not sure if I’m too late, but I use resch houses (indoors) and they are amazing! I have the No. 11 XL corner house which is big enough for both and they can also use the top. I also had the mansion at one point, which was amazing! Really good make and super solid (also good for gnawing on...the pigs that is, not me 😂)
 
I looked at the resch houses but they were just too big sadly for the sleeping area of my hutch. They did look fab!
 
@Piggies&buns , do you put the fleece tunnel on the snuggle safe pad and then spread the log tunnel over the top of the two items? It's getting cold and I'm struggling to think what more I can do?
 
Sally Newbie said:
@Piggies&buns , do you put the fleece tunnel on the snuggle safe pad and then spread the log tunnel over the top of the two items? It's getting cold and I'm struggling to think what more I can do?
Click to expand...

I put a snugglesafe under the fleece tunnel, and then throw hay over all of it.
the wood tunnel is in a separate place in the hutch with a fleece blanket over the top of it and a snugglesafe underneath.

you absolutely could put a snugglesafe down, put the fleece tunnel on top, then put hay over the top of the fleece tunnel and then put a wooden tunnel over that With a fleece blanket over the top. That would create a well insulated area and would help the snugglesafe stay hotter for longer.

Cardboard box stuffed with hay and fleece over would also work.
are you two sharing a hidey (mine won’t and being boys I need to make sure they have multiple options)

what temperature is it getting to in there?
 
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