Cold Weather Care For Guinea Pigs

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Tabybim said:
Hi I have 4 piggies one of which is a skinny pig and I always drive myself crazy when the weather starts to turn. I keep all my pigs inthe house and all have their own wooden beds they can go into ,with fleecy blankets and extra hay but I still worry about my skinny, Godfrey he's 10 months old now and has a special heat pad I warm up in the microwave for him every 6 to 8 hours , including waking during the night to reheat it . Does any one know of any other good heat pads that stay warm for longer or any special bedding that will keep in the heat? Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
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I think snuggle safe is the only one sadly.
 
Tabybim said:
Hi I have 4 piggies one of which is a skinny pig and I always drive myself crazy when the weather starts to turn. I keep all my pigs inthe house and all have their own wooden beds they can go into ,with fleecy blankets and extra hay but I still worry about my skinny, Godfrey he's 10 months old now and has a special heat pad I warm up in the microwave for him every 6 to 8 hours , including waking during the night to reheat it . Does any one know of any other good heat pads that stay warm for longer or any special bedding that will keep in the heat? Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
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We have a petnap chew proof heat mat which plugs into the mains. It is metal with a metal covered chew proof cable & you slip a fleece cover on it.
 
Tabybim said:
Hi I have 4 piggies one of which is a skinny pig and I always drive myself crazy when the weather starts to turn. I keep all my pigs inthe house and all have their own wooden beds they can go into ,with fleecy blankets and extra hay but I still worry about my skinny, Godfrey he's 10 months old now and has a special heat pad I warm up in the microwave for him every 6 to 8 hours , including waking during the night to reheat it . Does any one know of any other good heat pads that stay warm for longer or any special bedding that will keep in the heat? Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
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I find that my elderly piggies with a circulation that is no longer working so well stay snug and warm all night if I place the wrapped-up heat pad underneath a cosy they can sleep in and keep warm themselves with their own body heat as the night goes on.

Please be aware that skinnies do NOT need to be kept at 25 C or more as is widely touted around at the moment; a normal constant room temperature between 17-20 C is best for them. While they cannot cope well with sudden changes and low temperatures, they have got a very active metabolism that keeps them warm.
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/skinny-pigs-and-clothes.122798/

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@helen105281
 
Thank you for all your replies and suggestions,good to know that skinnies don't actually need to be kept at 25 c as that seems almost impossible! Luckily the room I keep all the pigs in stays pretty warm , so not too many temperature fluctuations.
 
You may find these threads help
Tabybim said:
Thank you for all your replies and suggestions,good to know that skinnies don't actually need to be kept at 25 c as that seems almost impossible! Luckily the room I keep all the pigs in stays pretty warm , so not too many temperature fluctuations.
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Your skinnies will be perfectly OK then! Also make sure that any piggy can move off a heat pad and still have a snug place if it gets too warm for them. I have found that an upturned small dog fabric bed makes an excellent winter nights den. I slip the snugglesafe in a fleece bag so the piggies can move on and off it as much as wanted while still able to stay under cover. It is always a favourite! ;)
 
My eight ladies are outside the living room on the covered patio, in four hutches. I make sure they have plenty of snuggles, hay, etc and Snugglesafe pads as soon as the night temperature drops.As well as the silver insulation sheets, grey foam carpet underlay and hutch covers I also cover the front of the hutches with fleecy blankets at night, even now, in August, when it's supposed to be summer - huh! Anyway, last winter I felt so sorry for them during the day, huddled away from the wind and not getting to see what was going on or getting much daylight or fresh air so I devised a 'window' system for the wire fronts of the hutches. I bought some clear rigid perspex, which is easy to cut with a craft knife and cut pieces which cover most of the wire area but leave a space for air where the water bottle is fixed. These are attached to the wooden frame with cable clips which have the advantage that they swivel easily so the 'window' is easy to put on and taken off. There are probably other kinds of clips you could get but cable clips are cheap - i bought the big ones so that they reach well IMG_3638.webp IMG_3638.webp across the edges of the perspex. Does that make sense? I hope so. In winter I leave the 'windows' in place at night as well, giving an extra layer of insulation. Here's a picture of Rapunzel and Helen's hutch with the perspex fitted. You can see the gap for air/ water.
 
Since I have a skinny guinea pig in with my haired guinea pigs, I bought two heat lamps for them using 50 watt bulbs, no higher than 75 and they just love them. I put their plastic houses under, keeping the bulbs away from them, and their house, that way it heats up their house, and keeps them warm. I have never had any issues with this, and only use it during Fall and Winter. In this photo their houses are not under, but i do have their houses under the heat lamps now because i don't want the light directly on them.

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I hav fund the snugglesafe pads excellent.i put two in bedroom area and place a wooden igloo over top with lots of hay.the cavies seem to love it.
 
My two are 6mth old. They live outside under the carport away from rain and majority of the wind. I have a duvet I throw over the hutch on an evening. Salt has been off colour recently and vets say he has a slight crackle when he breathes.so currently both pigs are indoors. My house is like the tropics.
It isn't readable for them to stay inside long-term tho. So my options are the garage but I think that will be too dark,or the conservatory attached to the garage-it has no heating and gets cold but is draught free and dry. Do you think this would be enough for winter if I move their wood hutch into the conservatory?
 
my pigs live outside only because its not my house (otherwise they'd be house piggies) but during the cold times they've come in.
at the moment he's in the garage with the tumble dyer which creates some heat he's been in there since September-October?
ive wanted to try out the snugglesafe but always worry about a fire risk since he has a hay igloo i'm always afraid that will set alight ...
 
I've lost salt.vet thinks its because he was too frail from being harassed by pepper that the turn in temp just finished him.
 
Ashers said:
my pigs live outside only because its not my house (otherwise they'd be house piggies) but during the cold times they've come in.
at the moment he's in the garage with the tumble dyer which creates some heat he's been in there since September-October?
ive wanted to try out the snugglesafe but always worry about a fire risk since he has a hay igloo i'm always afraid that will set alight ...
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I have seen reviews about them melting ....
But never causing fire.
 
Worried .... Just seen it will be 2 degrees overnight on Thursday help!

I have insulation, lots of hay and they are in a garage ... Is this enough !
 
nutmeg said:
Not sure if this will work. If it does, this is a part copy of the about Winter Care that I used to put in all my adoption packs. I can't take all the credit for this as I think it was a rescue on here that gave me permission to use some of their stuff (Honeybunnies maybe?) But it is a good way to start thinking about cold weather care, it was just 8 degrees here last night, and hopefully lots of you can add your own tips to it. :) xx

COLD AND WINTER MONTHS FOR PIGGIES
Imagine you are living in a bedsit, you have everything that you need – food, water and a comfy bed in the corner. The windows are open and in the lovely late summer, a gentle breeze blows through the windows and keeps you cool and comfortable. It’s quite a pleasant place to be but then the autumn arrives and it starts to get cooler, wetter and windier. You can’t get up to shut the windows, you have no extra bedding and life begins to feel a bit miserable. The damp air feels horrible and you spend much of your time on your own. Then winter arrives, it’s getting really, really cold now and still you have no extra bedding or heat source, no extra food. Much of the day is in darkness and you’re lonely. The windows let in howling gales and it’s absolutely freezing, you’re so cold, you simply can’t get warm and wherever you go to cuddle up just feels cold and damp. The draughts are coming in from all directions now, it’s dark and miserable and you’re feeling poorly. Your life is bleak, your future looks bleak too. If only you could shut those windows, if only you had more bedding, if only you could stop those icy draughts coming in, if only someone cared enough about you to do something, soon, very soon, before you become really poorly or worse.
SO HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF THAT WAS YOUR LIFE? ....WELL LET’S HOPE IT’S NOT YOUR GUINEA PIGS’.
In an ideal world all guinea pigs would be looked after in the comfort of an indoor home, but realistically the many spend their lives outside, possibly in a shed/outbuilding/garage (without a car.) As responsible pet owner, everything must be done to provide adequate comfort throughout the cold and winter months.
Guinea pigs find it difficult to cope with draughts and damp and every effort should be made to put their home into a sheltered enclosed area. By doing this you will be making your life easier too, you won’t want to be cleaning the hutch out, if you are battling with the elements and getting soaked through. Move it nearer to your house. Use your common sense and think about how the weather/air will affect your pets. They are your responsibility and completely dependent on you. You must take action to ensure they are warm, clean and dry. If they are in a flimsy plywood hutch that seemed ok in the summer, this will be totally inadequate now. These must be taken indoors as your guinea pigs will not survive outside in one of these. Consider investing in a better and more suitable, substantial hutch.
Here in the North West, we have a damp and cold climate, temperatures can often be sub zero. Nothing could be worse for guinea pigs. Hutches should be weatherproof. However, for those of you that simply have no other choice there are some tips for you to consider when thinking about ‘Winter Care’. Be creative, think guinea pig! Beg/borrow off anyone you can, you don’t have to spend a fortune, but you DO have to look after your piggies. Duvets/blankets are great draped over the hutch at night. A blanket permanently over half of the hutch, covering the bedroom area opening door helps keep draughts out. Think about ‘making a bed’ in the hutch bedroom for your piggies – an upside down box with fleece or hay in, that they can sleep under, in the bedroom area and all covered with hay. Just think how you can tuck them up snugly to keep them warm and comfy. So that when you are warm in your bed, they will be warm in their beds too.
Keeping your piggies dry is also important. Whether you use wood shavings, fleece, hay, newspapers or a combination of some/all of these, they must be regularly changed. Damp is bad for piggies, damp 'and' cold is dreadful.

Heck, it worked. I surprise myself sometimes. :{ xx
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Hasn't really got cold here yet, but when it does its COLD. There inside piggies I will keep this in consideration
 
I brought a snuggle safe heat pad for the winter and so far it's been working a treat. My guinea pigs love to sleep on it and it stays warm all night:lol:. if it does go under 3 degrees Celsius i bring them in over night but so far its been very mild. my only problem is when i fill there hutch up with hay to keep them warm they just sit on top of it.
 
Mother Hubbard said:
Bumping as it's rather chilly tonight.
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In West Surrey it will be 0 degrees from next Wednesday to Friday!

They are in a garage next to the house, with insulation, a heat reflective tinfoily tipe blanket, two heat pads and lots of bedding. Will this be enough?
 
that's a great document, it really expresses how much it will mean to your pigs to accommodate them properly in the colder (and warmer) months!:agr:
 
nutmeg said:
That's a really good point too. Just because pigs are indoors, they can still get cold especially in open cages, c & c's, it can go chilly when the heating goes off overnight. xx
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WHat are c&c
 
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