Moving my piggies 😭

[JuliaGuineaPiggy]

Hey everyone. I unfortunately have to move my 7 piggies from my bedroom into the garage landlady came over and said we have two weeks to get them gone… I’d never sell them as they are my babies so the garage is the only option are there any ways you can advise to keep them warm? I’m changing bedding to thick paper bedding so they can snuggle into that, (I’ve tried bedding them on hay but their feet are sensitive and started to get red and swell) buying heat pads (both in the photos) and going to line their wooden houses with towels and cloth. Obviously stop all of the possible drafts that’ll come into the garage and there’s no car in there. I’m worried sick they won’t survive as they’ve grown up inside any help or ideas will be appreciated by us all thank you x

 

[Piggies&buns]

Do you know what temperature it gets to inside the garage? That will make a big difference as to how much insulating etc you are going to need

Are they going to be in hutches or cages?
If they live in cages and it is cold in the garage, then you are going to need to put on a lot more covers etc as cages won’t stay warm. If they are to live in the garage long term, would be worth investing in good quality hutches.

For outdoor/shed piggies, thermal hutch covers, old carpet, tarp etc are all needed to stop cold air exchange and draughts.

As long as the paper bedding is put in very deep. The thing with outdoor piggies is using hay to completely fill the hutch helps insulate and fill the hutch so you will want to replicate that with a lot of paper bedding. Wet bedding needing to be removed daily.
Does all hay give them sore feet? I get my meadow hay from Haybox and it is very soft and makes lovely bedding

You mention towels. If it gets cold in the garage, then I would not use any fabric bedding, particularly not towels. If the piggies pee on them, then they wont dry and then piggies will be sitting on wet fabric.

My two boys live in my shed and I have a thermal hutch cover, then two blankets, then a normal hutch cover and then a duvet thrown over all of it. Inside is then stuffed with hay and i put in four snugglesafe heatpads - two in the bedroom end and the other two spread throughout the hutch. They are put underneath the hay as it helps keep them warmer for longer.
Id recommend you get spare covers for the snugglesafes. I had some made and they are thicker than the ones which come with them which helps them stay warmer for longer (they say they last 10 hours but depending on how insulated the hutch is, how cold it is etc, it’s more like 6-8 hours)

 

[weepweeps]

Hello. I’m sorry you are having to move your piggies to the garage. I have two that live in my garage. I have a thick duvet that I pull over the front of their hutch at night and also two heat pads in their bedrooms. They have boxes stuffed with hay as their bedrooms.

 

[Betsy]

Mine live in the garage as my OH won't have them living in the house. They live in a Chartwell Hutch which has a thermal cover on and a waterproof cover too (they used to live outside before we moved) and I also have an old duvet that I cover the front with at night. I have fleecy snuggle sacks for them which I change out every day. There is loads of hay in the hutch which I get from my local farm shop or the local Alpaca Farm at £6 for a farm bale (I keep this in a haybale bag in the garage to keep down the mess). There is also a remote sensor for the thermometer out in the garage too so that I can monitor the temperature in there. I also invested in a garden vac to suck up all the hay that falls out of the hutch and is just generally around when you have guinea pigs as it saves hours endlessly sweeping up the hay! The guinea pigs soon got used to the noise of it (at first they would run away from it but now they don't even worry about it).

 

[JuliaGuineaPiggy]

Do you know what temperature it gets to inside the garage? That will make a big difference as to how much insulating etc you are going to need

Are they going to be in hutches or cages?
If they live in cages and it is cold in the garage, then you are going to need to put on a lot more covers etc as cages won’t stay warm. If they are to live in the garage long term, would be worth investing in good quality hutches.

For outdoor/shed piggies, thermal hutch covers, old carpet, tarp etc are all needed to stop cold air exchange and draughts.

As long as the paper bedding is put in very deep. The thing with outdoor piggies is using hay to completely fill the hutch helps insulate and fill the hutch so you will want to replicate that with a lot of paper bedding. Wet bedding needing to be removed daily.
Does all hay give them sore feet? I get my meadow hay from Haybox and it is very soft and makes lovely bedding

You mention towels. If it gets cold in the garage, then I would not use any fabric bedding, particularly not towels. If the piggies pee on them, then they wont dry and then piggies will be sitting on wet fabric.

My two boys live in my shed and I have a thermal hutch cover, then two blankets, then a normal hutch cover and then a duvet thrown over all of it. Inside is then stuffed with hay and i put in four snugglesafe heatpads - two in the bedroom end and the other two spread throughout the hutch. They are put underneath the hay as it helps keep them warmer for longer.
Id recommend you get spare covers for the snugglesafes. I had some made and they are thicker than the ones which come with them which helps them stay warmer for longer (they say they last 10 hours but depending on how insulated the hutch is, how cold it is etc, it’s more like 6-8 hours)

Hey, thank you for your reply. Unfortunately they will be in cages i feel really awful about having to do this. I will get some thick duvets to pull over the cages. I have 4 huge cages and 7 piggies. The bedding came today and for the amount I ordered there’s actually surprisingly very little of it compared to what I thought there was. So I think hay is what I’ll have to be using. The heat pads have also come. Would you recommend a heater of some sort on overnight or not really? Thank you again x

 

[JuliaGuineaPiggy]

Hello. I’m sorry you are having to move your piggies to the garage. I have two that live in my garage. I have a thick duvet that I pull over the front of their hutch at night and also two heat pads in their bedrooms. They have boxes stuffed with hay as their bedrooms.

I really really hate the idea. I’m so used to them being in my bedroom with me I’m going to probably spend most of my time in there with them. A duvet is something I definitely will be investing in. I’ve heard too many horror stories about piggies in the cold x

 

[Black piggies]

Hey, thank you for your reply. Unfortunately they will be in cages i feel really awful about having to do this. I will get some thick duvets to pull over the cages. I have 4 huge cages and 7 piggies. The bedding came today and for the amount I ordered there’s actually surprisingly very little of it compared to what I thought there was. So I think hay is what I’ll have to be using. The heat pads have also come. Would you recommend a heater of some sort on overnight or not really? Thank you again x

I agree with above, getting a thermometer would be really helpful to check how cold it gets. That could help you decide about a heater. I have a thermometer next to my cage and they're inside

 

[Piggies&buns]

Hey, thank you for your reply. Unfortunately they will be in cages i feel really awful about having to do this. I will get some thick duvets to pull over the cages. I have 4 huge cages and 7 piggies. The bedding came today and for the amount I ordered there’s actually surprisingly very little of it compared to what I thought there was. So I think hay is what I’ll have to be using. The heat pads have also come. Would you recommend a heater of some sort on overnight or not really? Thank you again x

a heater may be a good idea - it depends what temperature it is going to be in there
snuggling into hay and using a lot of hay to help fill air space really helps. pop heatpads into their hides or cardboard boxes and then stuff them with hay

 

[Swissgreys]

Hey, thank you for your reply. Unfortunately they will be in cages i feel really awful about having to do this. I will get some thick duvets to pull over the cages. I have 4 huge cages and 7 piggies. The bedding came today and for the amount I ordered there’s actually surprisingly very little of it compared to what I thought there was. So I think hay is what I’ll have to be using. The heat pads have also come. Would you recommend a heater of some sort on overnight or not really? Thank you again x

As they will be in cages, a heater in the garage would be a good idea.
It is going to be very difficult to keep open cages warm, even with a duvet over the top, so maintaining a good temperature in the garage is important.

What cages do you have?
Is there any way you can add a solid roof and walls made out of wood? This will really help with insulation and reduce drafts.
Even thick cardboard around 3 sides and across the roof would help.
If you can post a picture of your cages we can probably offer more specific suggestions.

 

[aleeza]

i can somewhat relate to what your going through as i had to move my guinea pigs outside after the 1st 6 months of having them, and they had never lived outside before. i did it slowly, first doing an hour a day for a week, then 2 hrs, etc, but even if i would have done it faster, they would have been fine. i definitely felt guilty but my guinea pigs dont seem to mind at all and are happy with all the space they can have now. it's been a year, and so far, i havent seen any health issues related to weather. Please dont beat urself up too much! u sound like an amazingly dedicated and caring owner, and its great that your doing so much research in advance

the main 2 things my guinea pigs love in the winter (but i do live in LA so its a lot warmer here) are the hay loft and the guinea dad fleece liner. i dont know if u guys can get guinea dad in the UK but the liners come with a soft fleecey pocket that is large enough for both pigs to snuggle in and be completely covered.
they absolutely love the hay loft for burrowing (and of course eating!) but it does get dirty extremely fast and uses up a lot more hay than necessary
good luck!