Facing First Winter As A Guinea Pig Slave

[Emmfor]

Hiya, I've not been around for a bit. Cocoa and Hermione are now well settled and have enjoyed a summer of fun in their run. Sadly it has become very apparent I am in fact allergic to something guinea pig related! I'm absolutely gutted but I can no longer handle them at all, if I do I literally have days of rashes, streaming eyes and feeling absolutely awful. I cannot even clean them out. I have to stand at a distance when the children are cleaning out the hutch. I can feed them, so that's keeping me and them happy with a small level of interaction. The children are enjoying caring for them and have taken on the responsibility very well. So I am now faced with a winter with guinea pigs that cannot come in the house, we have no shed or garage either. They have a hutch hugger and a bottle hugger. They have two igloos (we needed two as they sometimes don't want to be together).

So I need some tips and advice for winter. Is there anything I can do, anything I can add to their hutch or any other bedding I should be providing them in the winter months. They currently have wood shavings and hay (lots of it), I basically copied the environment they were born into. They were born in April of this year to outdoor parents, their first month or two were quite cold months and they were outside all the time then they came to us and the weather improved.

 

[RoyalDuke]

Putting tarpaulin over the top and back of the hutch can keep out any winter rain! Just hold it on tight with bricks or something so it doesn't blow away.

I put clear plastic over most of the wire on the doors when I had mine outside, stops the wind and rain from blowing in.

 

[gizzy]

With an outdoor cage you may get problems with slugs,
A good way to provent them from getting into the cage is to wrap a grease bandage (or cotton with greese on it )
arownd each leg of the cage, this will stop the slugs reaching the cage

 

[madguinealady]

you can buy heat pads specifically for animals that you heat up in the microwave that they can snuggle into too. Some people put a duvet over the hutch then a cover to retain the heat

 

[Emmfor]

Urgh, slugs are already a problem, the other night there were loads around the hutch! They are so gross. I found a previous thread on here and it suggested the silver insulation stuff on a role, which I'm going to get and place it under the hugger and around the back and sides of the hutch, they also suggested some clear Perspex (with a gap for air) and fleece over the front of the hutch at night (I've got some old fleece throws so I'm thinking of cutting them down to size). I'm also going to stock up on hay and ensure they are getting more of that through the winter months, I always give them a fair bit but I figure they will be using it to bed down in as well as eat. I may invest in one of the pads for the really cold months, they will hopefully huddle together.

Quick questions, they have two plastic igloos in their bedding area at the moment, should I leave them in there over the winter or should I use the large wooden shelter that we have, which would be warmer?

 

[lawz]

ide be inclined to leave the pigloo in as its solid so might retain their body heat more