Can I Bring My Outdoor Guinea Pigs Inside Permanently?

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Lea1999

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Hiya, I have two Guinea pigs who have lived outside since we got them last December. I do worry that they are going to be too cold this winter but more than that, we live in a flat and and their hutch is on the balcony where there isn't tons of space. I worry that they aren't getting the attention they deserve out there!
My question is can I bring them inside permanently? How do I best go about this? When I got them, the woman at the shop said that bringing outdoor Guinea pigs inside can cause them health problems.
Thanks in advance!
 
I don't know that it can cause health problems. Many of us have ours in indoors permanently.
 
I had pigs outdoors for quite a few years and moved them all indoors when one had a serious URI. I didn't really think about the transition and just moved them.

But you might want to let them adjust to the temperature if you have the heating on quite high by lowering it for a while and slowly increasing it.
 
I've never heard of health problems being caused by bringing guinea pigs inside.

Unless you have an extremely well insulated and waterproof shed they should really be indoors for the winter. That way you'll get to spend more time with them too :)
 
I've just remembered...I got Rusty in January last year and she was living outdoors when I got her. I had her indoors straight away...I think she was grateful to be in the warm!
 
When I moved my piggies from outdoor to in, it was December 2013 and I never really thought about it to be honest. I just think they appreciated being in the nice warm house which is where they stayed.

It's when you move them from outdoors to in and then outdoors again (huge temperature fluctuations) that causes problems.
 
I have just movd my 2 inside. Only had them about 5 weeks which they have been outside but I Was The same about it getting cold and they have been fine. It's lovely having them inside I get tinder them more and spend more time with them x
 
Perhaps she meant if you moved them inside for cuddles then put them out again. Having them indoors sounds great. Much easier to give them attention.

What kind of indoor set up are you planning for them?
 
Thank you everyone! I'm so excited to bring them in now. One of the main reasons I wanted to in the first place is because where their hutch takes up about 75% of the balcony there wasn't much room around it and I felt like they weren't getting as much attention as id like.
One more question then, our flat is not huge and space is at a premium. Their indoor cage or whatever will likely not be as big as their outdoor one, will that be alright given that I'll obviously let them out for a wander?
To be fair I say their hutch is huge but they only used one level of it as they kept chewing the ramp off even tho I put plenty of other stuff for them to chew haha.
 
My indoor cage isn't as big as I would like but I also give them time to run around on the floor with their toys. How big a cage can you manage indoors?
 
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