Cold weather and single pigs

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As the days are getting shorter the days are ultimately getting colder too. We have two male guineas who are on their own due to the loss of their bunny friends. Their friends have always kept them warm in the winter so we have never struggled to keep them warm. Now as the days are colder they do seem to be struggling a bit to keep very warm. One of them more than the other as our long haired guinea Tufty has been without his friend for almost a year and had to cope with most of the cold winter days on his own anyway so he copes quiet well. Our other guinea Scruffy only lost his friend a few months ago and is struggling to cope with her loss and ultimately he does get quite cold. I've put some more hay in for him as bedding which seems to be doing the trick although I do worry about him getting cold. Are there any other ways we can keep them warm? We tried putting in animal beds for him but he just ends up chewing them up :D any ideas for a chilly piggy?
 
Have you tried bonding the piggies? so they could keep eachother warm? i'd leave the beds in for them so they have the option to get in them. Vetbed may help to keep them warm, its a fleece type bedding. You could put heat pads in too maybe? x
 
We tried putting them together but they didn't get on. I suppose they have been used to bunnies for so long that they just don't trust guineas any more :( I've seen vet bed before but I think they may be too big for our hutches. Our hutches are only small and the vet beds I've seen are enormous! Can you chop them up? I wish we could take them to bed with us but would probably end up squashing them hehe :D
 
have you tried heatpads? they are by snugglesafe. Pets at home sell them,you pop them in the microwve for a few minutes and they stay hot for about 10 hours :)
 
yes you can buy vetbed really small or get a big piece and cut it up, pets at home do it but its cheaper on ebay, theres also profleece which is a cheaper version of vetbed and it comes in different sizes x
 
Might try a combination of the two :D get a microwave heat pad and a vet bed to go over the top hehe that should keep them nice and warm in the typically cold and wet british weather haha! probably keep them too warm now haha! thanks for all your help from us and from Tufty and Scruffy :smitten:
 
If the hutches are outside could you move them into a shed or garage(unused) out of the elements of the horrid british weather :) or better still bring them into the house for the winter months. It would make cuddle time and cleaning out time much more pleasant for you and them ;)
 
They're in a shed already and the only place we could bring them into the house is in the conservatory. Its so unpredictable at the moment that if the sun shines down on it for a while then it does get really hot in there. We had them in there before while we were redecorating the animal shed and it got too warm for them lol. you just can't win :D
 
Id leave them in the shed if i were you and then when it turns into propper winter when theres no sun bring them into the conservatory x
 
Do you have electric powered into the shed at all? If you do you could make a heat lamp or I could ask my Husband to make you one :)
I had a single boar years ago that lived in an unheated shed during the winter and he lived to a ripe old age :) If you would like them in the house now would be the time to do it :) if your like me and not yet put the heating on yet :) but I had my shed heated for me during the really cold months ;)
 
You could get some little cat beds you know the ones like igloos and they are all fur lined etc I think p@h have a small range of these for piggies for Christmas and they are dead cute. Heat pads are a good idea maybe a teddy to snuggle up too a fleece blanket for him to snuggle into or on my piggies go under theres and sit on top of it.
 
My shed is unheated at the mo but I am quite lucky. The sun is always on the shed in the morning and is quite warm in there as the day goes on it gets warmer. :) But I do think for the overcast days I need some kind of warmth for them.
 
Thanks so much to all of you for the great advise. We have since bought some heat pads for them so we'll see how we get on. We do have electricity in the shed so it may be worth thinking about a heat lamp but i'm worried about the potential fire hazard :( i don't want anything to happen to them :( tufty was a bit afraid of the heat pad at first and he stayed away from it but he started to rub against it purring so i think he will get used to it lol. we'll keep an eye on them tonight and will probably have a think about the heat lamp. we've also invested in some fur lined beds as well which they seem to like although they have started to chew those lol
 
My heat lamp was made by my husband who is a qualified elecrical engineer ;) so it is more than safe and not a fire hazard it was properly tested before being put into use ;) would not offer something that is perfectly safe to use in my shed or anybodys elses :)
 
I've just bought heatpad for my two boys....sadly they are outside(no choice I'm afraid) as well as the vetbed would you buy an igloo bed as well? I fill the bed area with hay but its huge...so should I bury an igloo in hay or will the heatpad and hay be enough? Sorry but this is my first winter! 98) Lesley ps I'm working on a hutch cover too!
 
Id say get the little bed aswel, if theres space it wont do them any harm, you may be best getting two though because if they're anything like mine one will be left out in the cold!
 
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