Keeping GPs in the garage

[Swan&Honey]

I am thinking of moving my hutch with 2 female GPs into my garage as it’s getting colder (they already have insulation, covers, snuggle pads etc) but just worried as there’s no natural light in there. I can put the light on during the day but will they suffer with no day light? Also do you keep blankets over the hutch during the day if cold? I’ve been taking half off so some light coming into the hutch and then keeping the clear waterproof cover down.

 

[weepweeps]

Hello and welcome to the forum. I have two boars that are housed in my garage. They have lots of hay and 2 snuggle safes throughout the winter. They also have a 10 tog duvet draped over the hutch at night. My hutch faces the small pvc door. So they get daylight. Are there no windows in your garage at all? I think they do need natural light.

 

[Black piggies]

We have a good quality lamp to recreate natural sunlight (designed for Seasonal Affective Disorder). It's really good I think. I'm not sure if it can fully replace daylight.

 

[Piggies&buns]

This is something which gets discussed quite a bit at this time of year when preparing to move piggies for winter. They will need some natural light.

You will to ensure the hutch is ventilating adequately so if it is warm enough then you can remove all covers during the day. My boys are in my shed and they tend to only have their covers at night. During the depths of winter, it may be that their clear front cover stays down to stop any potential cold air transfer, but I will still try to remove it at the warmest part of the day so the hutch can ventilate properly

 

[h.h.lovecraft]

This is something which gets discussed quite a bit at this time of year when preparing to move piggies for winter. They will need some natural light.

You will to ensure the hutch is ventilating adequately so if it is warm enough then you can remove all covers during the day. My boys are in my shed and they tend to only have their covers at night. During the depths of winter, it may be that their clear front cover stays down to stop any potential cold air transfer, but I will still try to remove it at the warmest part of the day so the hutch can ventilate properly

What are the health effects if they don't get natural sunlight if you don't mind me asking? I tried to look into it a bit myself before I got my piggies, but I couldn't find anything that confirmed it was actually detrimental to their health at the time. My pigs get a decent amount of natural light through a glass door while they are in their indoor run for a few hours, but I want to make sure they aren't getting too little because they get none in their cage. I understand that wild guinea pigs in nature got lots of natural light, but obviously the piggies we have as pets now are different and need different things.

 

[LMPigs]

Here is an article you might find interesting: https://www.bunnymeadow.co.uk/blog/2019/2/27/vitamin-d-deficiency-in-indoor-rabbits-and-guinea-pigs
A lot of the studies on which it is based - see footnotes - are about Rabbits and I think the truth is that the science for GPs is probably unclear, as they are not very well researched animals. However, what does seem to be clear is that Guinea Pigs need sunlight in order to get vitamin D.

I think (based on my subjective opinion only, to be clear!) its probably the case that most creatures that are used to living in daylight might suffer some mental health impacts of being without daylight at all for six months, which seems to be the impact if you put them inside now, as I would assume that it won't reliably get this warm again until late March. As mentioned above perhaps a SAD lamp and good exercise and other stimulation could help to mitigate this to some extent.

Have you tried putting thermometer in your hutch to see how warm it is overnight and during the day? Having this information might help to weigh up the costs and benefits of moving them in the garage, including whether you could realistically wait another month?

I know this is a very tricky one. We had originally planned to keep our guinea pigs outside in a hutch throughout the winter. In practice, it got too cold and we ended up with them in the house in somewhat temporary accommodation from November to March. After that, we got a shed (with a window) specially for them and put the hutch inside it, which is a better solution for us. Of course, it depends on your available space and resources.

 

[h.h.lovecraft]

Here is an article you might find interesting: https://www.bunnymeadow.co.uk/blog/2019/2/27/vitamin-d-deficiency-in-indoor-rabbits-and-guinea-pigs
A lot of the studies on which it is based - see footnotes - are about Rabbits and I think the truth is that the science for GPs is probably unclear, as they are not very well researched animals. However, what does seem to be clear is that Guinea Pigs need sunlight in order to get vitamin D.

I think (based on my subjective opinion only, to be clear!) its probably the case that most creatures that are used to living in daylight might suffer some mental health impacts of being without daylight at all for six months, which seems to be the impact if you put them inside now, as I would assume that it won't reliably get this warm again until late March. As mentioned above perhaps a SAD lamp and good exercise and other stimulation could help to mitigate this to some extent.

Have you tried putting thermometer in your hutch to see how warm it is overnight and during the day? Having this information might help to weigh up the costs and benefits of moving them in the garage, including whether you could realistically wait another month?

I know this is a very tricky one. We had originally planned to keep our guinea pigs outside in a hutch throughout the winter. In practice, it got too cold and we ended up with them in the house in somewhat temporary accommodation from November to March. After that, we got a shed (with a window) specially for them and put the hutch inside it, which is a better solution for us. Of course, it depends on your available space and resources.

I think the trickiest thing about this (and maybe something many people don't realize) is that you can't just set them up in front of a glass door or window like the article says, they need pure sunlight unblocked by glass for vitamin D. That's not easy to accomplish when you have indoor pigs. UVB bulbs aren't that expensive so it sounds like that may be the best option during the colder, rainy months. I think I will get one even if it turns out it's not critical to their health in the long run. It at least can't hurt. It's sad there is so little research on this subject, it would be a valuable piece of information to know.