Can I use fleece in an outdoor cage set up?

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Leigh P

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My two boar piggies are currently outside in a normal wood-built cage (bedroom and living area separate). At the moment I am using deep hay on top of newspaper in the bedroom, and Megazorb on top of newspaper in the living area.

My question is.... I have seen lots of lovely fleece cosies and am quite interested in making some, but can I actually use them in the hutch along with the bedding that I am currently using, or do I have to replace the bedding with the fleece?

I normally bring the hutch in when the weather gets really cold, but as I have a very small house I am going to try to keep them outside for a bit longer this year.

Thanks
Leigh, Pip and Eddie
 
Have just ordered a microwavable heat pad and fleece cover from zooplus. Hope this will keep them a bit warmer for the time being
 
I have always been dubious about using fleece for outside. I would much rather use hay and straw during the really cold months (I do with my buns) as they can snuggle and burrow into it and it helps keep dead air around their bodies, which is important as they don't have fur like buns do
 
I provide them with fleece cosy beds and tunnels. My four free range in a shed and they have a lazybones wooden house filled with hay but also I have been giving them a full fleece just outside the wooden house as when they were in a hutch last year, they loved getting right in the fleece and snuggling up like they were in bed.

I wouldn't use it as actual bedding though.
 
My 4 guineas live in a shed- they have a double hutch and a free range area.

I use fleece in the hutch and free range area, they have fleece beds to snuggle up in.

in the winter I fill boxes with hay so they can snuggle up and keep warm.

they have been fine so far and my oldest it 6.5 years!
 
I have just put some fleece in the 'bedroom' of our hutch. I had been putting extra hay in so they could try and get cosy but it was just completly flat every morning so wasn't sure how cosy it was.

I have now put newspaper and towels at the bottom, with a fleece blanket folded up on top but with the edges rolled over quite high so they can sit in it without being in a draught. I have also added a couple of cosies but I think they just sit on them instead of going in.

The rest of the hutch still have wood shavings so the fleece is very messy but giving it a go

Andrea
 
i have a 8x6 shed my guineas are free range they have hide y houses and other stuff i have a large flease on the floor how to keep then warm in winter do i need heating in there if so what type i have 8 girls on the floor space and 3 males above
 
yogibear said:
i have a 8x6 shed my guineas are free range they have hide y houses and other stuff i have a large flease on the floor how to keep then warm in winter do i need heating in there if so what type i have 8 girls on the floor space and 3 males above
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I'd buy some snugglepads that you microwave for 5 minutes and stay warm for around 10 hours. I use one heat pad per pair of piggies and the herd of six girls have three in their pen. Piggies body temperature is the same as ours so they need to be warm in the colder months.
Mine are indoors but if I feel a bit chilly, know they could be too so pop the pads in during the day when we don't have the heating on for so long.
A good indicator is to check their feet and ears for warmth.
Think some people use oil filled radiators for heat sources to keep their piggies toasty and may be an idea to buy a thermometer to check room temperatures.

http://www.guineapigcages.com/location.htm
 
thanks have just bought a tubular heater with thermostat so it will keep them nice and warm day and night .
 
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