My new outdoor guinea pig home!

KHBz said:
It looks wonderful!
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Thank you. I did spend quite a lot of time painting it. I had a vision of how I wanted it to be. And you just have to work at it, to achieve your vision. I bought a rabbit house from pets at home a few weeks ago to go INSIDE their hutch as an alternative bed section and painted that first to see how the colours looked
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I liked it so I painted the hutch the same colours. The paint means it's all wipe clean. So so much better than trying to wipe natural wood. One of my girls managed to get tomato seeds smeared all over their rabbit house walls! 🙄🙈😂😂
 
Betsy said:
Have you put an old bit of carpet on the ramp to help with grip? When I had a ramp in my hutch I had it outside the hutch in the run for a bit so my piggies could scent mark it and get used to walking on it. Then it went in the hutch on the ground floor so they could get used to it in the hutch before it went between the floors. My piggies went up and down it as soon as it was in position.
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Yay. Clever Milly. Just followed the grass trail up! DSC_0296.webp
 
That is a awesome hutch,lucky girls.if i need to replace my hutches ,i may get one of these ! i would like an 8 feet hutch to give more play area !
 
Did you ask for any extras when you ordered your hutch from Ryedale?

Also how is the ramp held in place? When I ordered a hutch from Ryedale for my rabbits (about 12 years old!) the ramp wasn’t very secure 😊😊
 
It has like a capital C shape on the bottom floor. The bottom of the ramp sits into that. At the top there's a horizontal bar that sits into a frame on the upper floor. In fact, it's flippin hard to take out!

Do you still have your ryedale hutch now?
 
Thanks. I don’t have the hutch anymore as I sold it after I didn’t have any rabbits.

My daughter and myself are now interested in getting two female guinea pigs. 😊😊
 
I’m hoping to get a new double hutch from Ryedale but I need to start saving!

We’ll also need to get a run and hutch cover. Also I’m not sure where they will go in the winter - outside, garage or in our house.
 
Mine are outdoors all the time. I fitted perspex windows to each door. To keep the weather out. And mine have snugglepads too
 
Snuggle pads are a good idea. How did you get the perspex to be the correct size? 😊😊
 
I think I missed this thread when Bill passed and I wasn’t on the forum very much. What gorgeous piggies you have and your painting skills are fantastic! You’ve got a great set up there
 
Charlotte3333 said:
Snuggle pads are a good idea. How did you get the perspex to be the correct size? 😊😊
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Just measured it and cut it. I bought a big sheet from B&Q. My husband helped. And drilled holes for the water bottle to go through. The perspex sits on the INSIDE of the mesh on the doors
 

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Bill & Ted said:
I think I missed this thread when Bill passed and I wasn’t on the forum very much. What gorgeous piggies you have and your painting skills are fantastic! You’ve got a great set up there
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Thanks x.

I wanted something really robust and weatherproof for them with space and something that was like a focal point outside too. It's painted inside and out so can be easily wipe cleaned. Over the years I've bought flat packed hutches and always had to insulate them or buy covers to keep the rain out, ended up having to adapt ramps and safeguard the ledge on the upper floor. Then a few years down the line the plywood floor would start to drop too. They were usually only a few inches from the floor on feet so cleaning out was a messy affair. This one is perfect, space wise and on a practical note too. I have absolutely no regrets. I have the floors as separate ones now due to having two pairs of piggies and that works fine too.
 
Piggylove82 said:
Thanks x.

I wanted something really robust and weatherproof for them with space and something that was like a focal point outside too. It's painted inside and out so can be easily wipe cleaned. Over the years I've bought flat packed hutches and always had to insulate them or buy covers to keep the rain out, ended up having to adapt ramps and safeguard the ledge on the upper floor. Then a few years down the line the plywood floor would start to drop too. They were usually only a few inches from the floor on feet so cleaning out was a messy affair. This one is perfect, space wise and on a practical note too. I have absolutely no regrets. I have the floors as separate ones now due to having two pairs of piggies and that works fine too.
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Yes, there are some really crappie cages on sale, relatively cheap but unless you keep them in a shed or garage they rot very quickly, your‘s is lovely!
 
Bill & Ted said:
Yes, there are some really crappie cages on sale, relatively cheap but unless you keep them in a shed or garage they rot very quickly, your‘s is lovely!
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Thank you! It all worked out really well. And the saying you get what you pay for is very true.

However having said that, I originally ordered a Chartwell hutch of the same size. The covers, one thermal and one waterproof, on top of the price of the hutch meant this Ryedale one was only about £40 more expensive (excluding delivery). So although people might think the Chartwell was cheaper, after adding the covers it didn't really make sense. Then there's also the factoring in of the building time of a flat pack hutch (and having to make adjustments so the pigs don't fall down the hole at the top) and having to settle for panels that don't quite go together or having to re drill holes to try and get a perfect end product. This hutch was ready built, so everything was done for me and customised to my requirements.

It also took 3 of us to move it into place, weighing over 100kg, so no need to move it indoors when that wind picks up! 😯
 
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