squeakysmallpaws
Junior Guinea Pig
Hi,
So I've moved in with the boyfriend who is allergic to a list of animals (we know exactly which animals because he had the tests done - e.g. we know he's not allergic to hamsters but is allergic to Rabbits - it was that specific). He's allergic to the hay with the guinea pigs. They've had to go outside and I hate it but my boyfriend and I have been together almost 5 years and I'm 33 years old, I need to progress with my life. He has severe allergies, he's been told to be away from the animals or risk long term permanent lung damage. They can't be inside, end of story.
My basic choices were this:
- rehome all my animals (I don't want to do that)
- find another boyfriend who doesn't have all these allergies (kinda love the current one so I don't want to do that!)
- try, try, try - work hard and keep trying to make it work - put the animals outside, spend the money that I have, try and balance it all out for the remainder of their lives.
So we spent the best part of £600 this summer getting the shed ready. The hutch itself is already as insulated as it can possibly get, i.e flooring, insulated walls - with enough space for some form of ventilation. We used stuff you would use for a house.
Currently the insulation seems to have been worth the money - at 11pm last night the temperature in the shed was still 18.9 degrees - just 1 degree lower than it was in my actual house!
The shed has been fully fitted to make it completely safe, so the guinea pigs can come and go during the day from the hutch into a run type area, so they have plenty of space to run around. At night (around 10pm, I lock them into the hutch - so they will naturally huddle together for heat). It's become a routine now, I feed them at this time of night so they happily hop back in (if they weren't already in the shed) and the eat their veggies, fresh hay pellets etc.
The shed is wired with a wireless thermometer that tells me from inside the house how warm it is in the hutch.
But I'm still worried, when I'm getting up in a morning I'm still seeing temperatures such as 13.9 degrees. I feel so completely disheartened.
I've had hot water bottles underneath the hutch, heat pads inside the hutch and the temperature is still dropping that low - in SEPTEMBER! Where am I going to be come mid-January!
I know it's been chilly this week but what chance have I got making it through winter with them if I can't keep the shed at a comfortable over night 16 degrees during september?
I'm really worried about them. I don't want them to be cold. It makes me feel so awful.
I don't have electricity in the shed. And the shed is a fair way from the house. Also I have to partially cross the next door neighbors garden to get to mine.
Am currently using:
- heat pads
- cosies
- igloo's
- water bottles underneath the hutch
- hutch has a thermal cover
How else can I generate heat that doesn't require an electrical source?
I could potentially run an extension window from the room at the back, across the neighbours garden and into my shed so I can switch a halogen heater on - but that's incredibly dangerous - electricity outside, trip hazard for people and I could get in serious trouble.
A gas heater I've been told no because the animals will die from carbon monoxide poisoning and all the gas heaters say - don't use in a shed!
Electrical generators are noisy and soooooo expensive and use petrol which again is a hazard.
I don't know what else I can do, but I just think of them outside cold and wondering why I'm not helping them and coming to get them. And the worse in January I'm going to be dealing with temperatures slipping down to 1 degree.
I don't know what to do anymore, I really don't.
Any ideas?
So I've moved in with the boyfriend who is allergic to a list of animals (we know exactly which animals because he had the tests done - e.g. we know he's not allergic to hamsters but is allergic to Rabbits - it was that specific). He's allergic to the hay with the guinea pigs. They've had to go outside and I hate it but my boyfriend and I have been together almost 5 years and I'm 33 years old, I need to progress with my life. He has severe allergies, he's been told to be away from the animals or risk long term permanent lung damage. They can't be inside, end of story.
My basic choices were this:
- rehome all my animals (I don't want to do that)
- find another boyfriend who doesn't have all these allergies (kinda love the current one so I don't want to do that!)
- try, try, try - work hard and keep trying to make it work - put the animals outside, spend the money that I have, try and balance it all out for the remainder of their lives.
So we spent the best part of £600 this summer getting the shed ready. The hutch itself is already as insulated as it can possibly get, i.e flooring, insulated walls - with enough space for some form of ventilation. We used stuff you would use for a house.
Currently the insulation seems to have been worth the money - at 11pm last night the temperature in the shed was still 18.9 degrees - just 1 degree lower than it was in my actual house!
The shed has been fully fitted to make it completely safe, so the guinea pigs can come and go during the day from the hutch into a run type area, so they have plenty of space to run around. At night (around 10pm, I lock them into the hutch - so they will naturally huddle together for heat). It's become a routine now, I feed them at this time of night so they happily hop back in (if they weren't already in the shed) and the eat their veggies, fresh hay pellets etc.
The shed is wired with a wireless thermometer that tells me from inside the house how warm it is in the hutch.
But I'm still worried, when I'm getting up in a morning I'm still seeing temperatures such as 13.9 degrees. I feel so completely disheartened.
I've had hot water bottles underneath the hutch, heat pads inside the hutch and the temperature is still dropping that low - in SEPTEMBER! Where am I going to be come mid-January!
I know it's been chilly this week but what chance have I got making it through winter with them if I can't keep the shed at a comfortable over night 16 degrees during september?
I'm really worried about them. I don't want them to be cold. It makes me feel so awful.
I don't have electricity in the shed. And the shed is a fair way from the house. Also I have to partially cross the next door neighbors garden to get to mine.
Am currently using:
- heat pads
- cosies
- igloo's
- water bottles underneath the hutch
- hutch has a thermal cover
How else can I generate heat that doesn't require an electrical source?
I could potentially run an extension window from the room at the back, across the neighbours garden and into my shed so I can switch a halogen heater on - but that's incredibly dangerous - electricity outside, trip hazard for people and I could get in serious trouble.
A gas heater I've been told no because the animals will die from carbon monoxide poisoning and all the gas heaters say - don't use in a shed!
Electrical generators are noisy and soooooo expensive and use petrol which again is a hazard.
I don't know what else I can do, but I just think of them outside cold and wondering why I'm not helping them and coming to get them. And the worse in January I'm going to be dealing with temperatures slipping down to 1 degree.
I don't know what to do anymore, I really don't.
Any ideas?
