Outdoor piggies

[Ilovemypigs123]

I have 2 girl pigs and 2 boy pigs (separate hutches) who live outside in hutches, they’re hutches are inside a polytunnel to protect from the rain and help with the heat a bit, they also have a quilt over the top of the hutch and draped down the back and then a lot of straw and hay in the hides part of their hutch, getting thermal water bottle cover tomorrow for the bottles, will they be warm enough with this ?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Do you have thermometers in the hutches?

The hutches should ideally be properly insulated and have thermal hutch covers.
With plastic covers over the front.
They should also have snugglesafe heat pads (they really are essential for outdoor piggies).
Straw should be avoided due to it being quite sharp and not edible.

My piggies are in hutches in a shed. The shed itself is insulated. The hutches are covered with thermal covers/silver foil insulation on roof, sides and back. There are the plastic fronted hutch covers over the doors. There are two thick blankets on the hutch also.
They have snugglesafe heatpads in the hutches (along with lots of hay, and hay stuffed hides)

 

[Piggies&buns]

Cold Weather Care for Indoor and Outdoor Guinea Pigs

 

[Ilovemypigs123]

Do you have thermometers in the hutches?

The hutches should ideally be properly insulated and have thermal hutch covers.
With plastic covers over the front.
They should also have snugglesafe heat pads (they really are essential for outdoor piggies).
Straw should be avoided due to it being quite sharp and not edible.

My piggies are in hutches in a shed. The shed itself is insulated. The hutches are covered with thermal covers/silver foil insulation on roof, sides and back. There are the plastic fronted hutch covers over the doors. There are two thick blankets on the hutch also.
They have snugglesafe heatpads in the hutches (along with lots of hay, and hay stuffed hides)

No, I will get some tomorrow thank you for the idea! I didn’t know that about straw thank you for the advice on that I will take it out tomorrow and pile more hay instead , they have a big quilt on the top and draped down the back will that help with the heat? Is there anything else I can do to help?

 

[Piggies&buns]

No, I will get some tomorrow thank you for the idea! I didn’t know that about straw thank you for the advice on that I will take it out tomorrow and pile more hay instead , they have a big quilt on the top and draped down the back will that help with the heat? Is there anything else I can do to help?

So is there nothing covering the front?
If so then that needs to be rectified.

I would not think one quilt is enough. I wouldn’t just use a quilt without full insulation and mine are in a solidly built shed which is also insulated

You really need thermal hutch covers/ for the hutch to be insulated.
The front needs to be covered to keep warmth in and cold air out.

They must have snugglesafe heat pads heat pads - they are so important and provide a warm spot for them to sit.

 

[Ilovemypigs123]

So is there nothing covering the front?
If so then that needs to be rectified.

I would not think one quilt is enough. I wouldn’t just use a quilt without full insulation and mine are in a solidly built shed which is also insulated

You really need thermal hutch covers/ for the hutch to be insulated.
The front needs to be covered to keep the warmth in and cold air out.
They must have snugglesafe heat pads heat pads - they are so important and provide a warm spot for them to sit

I will get something for the from too and extra quilts, I’ll also under the snugglesafe

 

[Piggies&buns]

Staple silver foil insulation over the top, sides and back of the hutch. Have a piece which you can pull down the front. Or you could pull a tarpaulin down the front at night.
The front needs to be covered to keep the warmth in and cold air out. All hutch covers have a plastic front so it can be kept down at night but also during the day to keep cold out while still letting light in.

Get a snugglesafe for each piggy.

I have some in hides and some just under hay piles in my hutches so they can choose whether to be in a hide with a pad or without one if they are feeling warm enough.

 

[Pantalaimon]

The thermometers for reptiles are really good as they often have a probe on a long wire, so the screen can be outside the enclosure. (As long as the probe/cable are out of the reach of any little teeth!)

I have one of these, it has very long cables but does have two probes. It is a lot cheaper than the exo-terra thermometers that have a slightly shorter cable but only one probe.