LunaOreoPigz
Junior Guinea Pig
I would like to move my guineguinea pigs outside as there's more space outside. But I fear it's currently too cold and would be a shock. when should I move them and how?
moving outside?
- Thread starter LunaOreoPigz
- Start date
Tangle
Junior Guinea Pig
Hmm - it would be easier to give you more specific advice if we knew whereabouts in the world you live! Would it be possible for you to add some location information to your profile? County/state/province would be most helpful, but even just a country would give us a much better of idea of the kind of climate you're dealing with 
That said, if you're concerned about it being too cold outside right now you're almost certainly correct - the general advice is that guinea pigs are comfortable in the kind of environment where the average human would be happy to go about in a T-shirt. If you're anywhere in the UK, then that's very unlikely to be true right now! On the plus side that means you've got plenty of time to look into the options and work out what the best option is.
Do you have any kind of outdoor hutch already or do you need to source one?
If you're sure they'll be moving out, I'd treat them like tender plants - I'd start putting them out around April/May on mild, dry days for a short period of time to start hardening them off and keep extending it, but I'd be planning carefully for when they'd start sleeping out. I'd probably not consider that until June at the earliest (I've always used the end of May bank holiday as a bench mark date to be safe from frosts and not planted up pots and baskets with summer bedding till after then - piggies are at least as delicate as a petunia!)
That said, if you're concerned about it being too cold outside right now you're almost certainly correct - the general advice is that guinea pigs are comfortable in the kind of environment where the average human would be happy to go about in a T-shirt. If you're anywhere in the UK, then that's very unlikely to be true right now! On the plus side that means you've got plenty of time to look into the options and work out what the best option is.
Do you have any kind of outdoor hutch already or do you need to source one?
If you're sure they'll be moving out, I'd treat them like tender plants - I'd start putting them out around April/May on mild, dry days for a short period of time to start hardening them off and keep extending it, but I'd be planning carefully for when they'd start sleeping out. I'd probably not consider that until June at the earliest (I've always used the end of May bank holiday as a bench mark date to be safe from frosts and not planted up pots and baskets with summer bedding till after then - piggies are at least as delicate as a petunia!)
They ideally need to be kept in a stable temperature of around 18-23 degrees, but they shouldn’t be exposed to any temperature less than 15 degrees. If it is colder than 15 where you are, then don’t move them outside. It’s sudden fluctuations in temperature that are particularly bad for them.
David Piggie Lover
Forum Donator 2022/23
On this forum are great advise for most things piggie related including indoor and outdoor world's.
All the best
All the best
LunaOreoPigz
Junior Guinea Pig
thank you very much. also I love in Eastbourne ,England so they should be alright going out in summer and coming back in during autumnHmm - it would be easier to give you more specific advice if we knew whereabouts in the world you live! Would it be possible for you to add some location information to your profile? County/state/province would be most helpful, but even just a country would give us a much better of idea of the kind of climate you're dealing with
That said, if you're concerned about it being too cold outside right now you're almost certainly correct - the general advice is that guinea pigs are comfortable in the kind of environment where the average human would be happy to go about in a T-shirt. If you're anywhere in the UK, then that's very unlikely to be true right now! On the plus side that means you've got plenty of time to look into the options and work out what the best option is.
Do you have any kind of outdoor hutch already or do you need to source one?
If you're sure they'll be moving out, I'd treat them like tender plants - I'd start putting them out around April/May on mild, dry days for a short period of time to start hardening them off and keep extending it, but I'd be planning carefully for when they'd start sleeping out. I'd probably not consider that until June at the earliest (I've always used the end of May bank holiday as a bench mark date to be safe from frosts and not planted up pots and baskets with summer bedding till after then - piggies are at least as delicate as a petunia!)
Yes, move them out once the night times get warmer, and then back in when it starts to get damp and colder.
Canary
Junior Guinea Pig
They ideally need to be kept in a stable temperature of around 18-23 degrees, but they shouldn’t be exposed to any temperature less than 15 degrees. If it is colder than 15 where you are, then don’t move them outside. It’s sudden fluctuations in temperature that are particularly bad for them.
I see the 'stable 18-23 degree temperature' in lots of Guinea Pig literature. I wonder if there is any scientific basis for that. I would guess that lots of pigs are kept in fluctuating temperatures much cooler than that. And central heating is a luxury of the last 100 years--certainly Guinea Pigs were kept in homes with cooler conditions prior to that.
Just wondering.
Yes there will be a basis for it.
I am sure piggies have been kept in fluctuating temperatures, outside in the cold without extra protections etc before now but it doesn’t mean that it was the right thing to do - back then it would have been the best of the information available at the time, along with feeding muesli type foods and being told they are ok to be kept alone. Knowledge and information has improved since then and all we can do is follow the most up to date advice to ensure their happy and long lives.