Advice needed on ideal setup for outdoor Guinea Pigs- I am a newbie!

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kayemerton

kayemerton

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Hi all

I am looking at keeping 2 Guinea Pigs after many many years of not having any and I am a novice compared to all the different ways there seems to be for keeping Guinea PIgs! I am one of these people that wants to do it the right way so I am not rushing into it until I have done my research and worked out the housing. I am 32 and a Primary teacher just to introduce myself and I now have a 19 month old as well as 2 border collies!
We do not have space in the house but we do have a largeish garden with a shed and an outhouse which currently houses junk! So there is definately possibiity for them being housed in the outhouse and a good excuse to sort it out in there. However my main question is for those of you that keep hutches, firstly what bedding do you use and do you have heating in the winter or are these snugle pads and the fact they are under cover enough? I am totally intrigued by these fleeces and all the snuggle sacs and toys you can get too! As you can imagine I am totally confused. I am visiting a lady tomorrow who shows guineas so she will be giving me advice too but would love to hear from others.
Many thanks! :)
 
Perhaps you want to think about rehoming piggies from a reputable rescue?
In this case, it might be advisable to contact them first and speak to them about setups and cage sizes before you go and buy stuff.

Here is a list of rescues around Britain:http://www.guineapigrehome.org.uk/gp/centres.asp

PS: All my piggies are rescues!
 
Hi

My piggies (all 6 of them) live here :) A 6 x 6 garden shed which has been insulated with loft insulation and then boarded. They have savings and hay and I would hope a very happy time :) They come out into an 8 foot run which is seperated into 3 to avoid any fisticuffs malletheadFour of our piggies came from Becklen a rescue on the forum, I would thoroughly recomed these lovely ladies, they sure know their piggin facts :)

Good luck and please keep us posted.
 
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Oh yes I would definately consider rescue without question. Our dogs were rescue, all the cats I had in the past were rescue and even my horse came from Redwings Horse Sanctuary! It's more a case of picking people's brains on here as there is so much information out there I was just wondering what the setup of people's caviary's were on here. Thanks for the suggestion anyway :-)
 
What a lovely set up-so do you also have lights and heating in the winter or not? Thank you, people are very friendly on here I am slowly getting addicted! lol
 
kayemerton said:
What a lovely set up-so do you also have lights and heating in the winter or not? Thank you, people are very friendly on here I am slowly getting addicted! lol
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We have electricity in the shed and have a portable radiator for when it is really cold. We have not used this as yet as our piggies have only been with us for 8 weeks. When we first thought about becoming piggie owners we were just going to put them in a hutch 6) We then joined the fourm to gain a bit of knowledge and went from hutch to insulated 6 x 6 shed. The shed was cheaper than a large hutch.
I love it on here, so many people with a fountain of knowledge :)
 
That is really interesting-we do have electricity in the outhouse which is a brick building and have been thinking of getting it insulated properly anyway as wanted to use it as a utility area although where my other half will keep all his tools and junk i don't know! Its the heating I was concerned about, mainly the safety of it and also the cost of running it. Do people have them on timers? I have read the oil powered ones are safer but somewhere i also read they are expensive?!
I think your setup is ace, did you get someone to build the hutches then?
 
Hello and welcome to the forum :)
I have 3 piggies who live in a large 6ft x 2ft hutch outside. During the winter, their hutch was situated underneath a wooden shelter that was made by my husbands friend. They also had insulation round their hutch, a rain / wind cover and a thick fleece blanket that we used to cover the front of the hutch at night to keep the chill out.
As well as this, they have 2 domes stuffed with hay, mountains of hay in their bedroom, fleece cosies and snugglesafe heat pads and they have been fine xx
 
kayemerton said:
That is really interesting-we do have electricity in the outhouse which is a brick building and have been thinking of getting it insulated properly anyway as wanted to use it as a utility area although where my other half will keep all his tools and junk i don't know! Its the heating I was concerned about, mainly the safety of it and also the cost of running it. Do people have them on timers? I have read the oil powered ones are safer but somewhere i also read they are expensive?!
I think your setup is ace, did you get someone to build the hutches then?
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I havent had chance to notice an increase on the electric bill as we have only used it a couple of times. The radiator is oil filled and we have it on a temp control.
I am very lucky my husband did all the handy work :) I've added a few more pictures for you:)
 
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Thank you everyone so far and the lovely welcome. yes David I did read your thread actually very interesting and will follow your progress! I have read quite a few of the threads on housing but sometimes too much information is just as bad as not enough in the sense that it overwhelms your brain! But I shall slowly make notes on ideas and suggestions so thank you again :-)
 
This Little Piggie said:
I havent had chance to notice an increase on the electric bill as we have only used it a couple of times. The radiator is oil filled and we have it on a temp control.
I am very lucky my husband did all the handy work :) I've added a few more pictures for you:)
Click to expand...

Wow what a great hubby! Will you hire him out for a trip to Essex?! lol
 
I've just had an electrician install a 3ft tubular heater into my guinea pig shed. Contrary to what I've read about them, it does belt out heat and can be hot to the touch so will be great for them in winter. It's got its own thermostat so temp can be controlled.
 
kayemerton said:
That is really interesting-we do have electricity in the outhouse which is a brick building and have been thinking of getting it insulated properly anyway as wanted to use it as a utility area although where my other half will keep all his tools and junk i don't know! Its the heating I was concerned about, mainly the safety of it and also the cost of running it. Do people have them on timers? I have read the oil powered ones are safer but somewhere i also read they are expensive?!
I think your setup is ace, did you get someone to build the hutches then?
Click to expand...

I have an oil filled radiator, used on a thermostat, they are very cost effective. No great expense at all, and very safe. :)

Claire W said:
Hello and welcome to the forum :)
I have 3 piggies who live in a large 6ft x 2ft hutch outside. During the winter, their hutch was situated underneath a wooden shelter that was made by my husbands friend. They also had insulation round their hutch, a rain / wind cover and a thick fleece blanket that we used to cover the front of the hutch at night to keep the chill out.
As well as this, they have 2 domes stuffed with hay, mountains of hay in their bedroom, fleece cosies and snugglesafe heat pads and they have been fine xx
Click to expand...


Are they able to breathe in there Claire? :(|):(|)
No chance of your bunch catching a cold. x
 
nutmeg said:
I have an oil filled radiator, used on a thermostat, they are very cost effective. No great expense at all, and very safe. :)




Are they able to breathe in there Claire? :(|):(|)
No chance of your bunch catching a cold. x
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Ha ha I have just ordered them some more beds so they can have one each :)) After all, they do need a variety. I'm sure it is warmer in their hutch than in my house :{ xx
 
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