UK Frost Warning!

I’m guessing 8 degrees is too cold to put my piggies out for grass time? It’s sunny but windy
 
my guinea pigs are in a very large c and c cage in my bedroom all year round... so they are always nice and toasty during the winter. We used to have 2 outside even during the winter but unfortunately 1 died in February, we think from the cold and she was very young and it was just when the snow was starting. Wouldn't dream of having them outside now :(
 
Wiebke said:
Winter is arriving in the UK with the first full frost nights. Please bring your guinea pigs inside if possible or make sure that they are well insulated and kept warm.
Cold Weather Care For Guinea Pigs
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I wish I could have my pigs inside I’ve no room and not allowed. I use a heater in the day my dad will put something on the shed door to help keep the heat in. And I use a ton of hay and snugesafes they also have each other’s body heat. It’s their first winter and my first winter with pigs! So kinda nervous!
 
Sophie Blane said:
I have some old duvet covers and pillow cases and a fleece I got for them, I may be able to make something with them my only issue is that they pee in them...
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Mine use their hay pans as their bathrooms so their fleece liners and fleece pee pads don't get soiled badly. I hand wash everything so I can see there is not much pee there. But, I still change their fleece liners and fleece pee pads regularly and soak in vinegar to kill germs. Fleece pee pads get changed every three days, and fleece liners get changed every week.
Their hay pan or bathroom needs changing every other day and while changing, I put puppy pee pads at the bottom to absorb pee and stack hay on top.
 
trioguineapig3 said:
I wish I could have my pigs inside I’ve no room and not allowed. I use a heater in the day my dad will put something on the shed door to help keep the heat in. And I use a ton of hay and snugesafes they also have each other’s body heat. It’s their first winter and my first winter with pigs! So kinda nervous!
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It’s my first winter with my two boys as well. They live in my shed. I have a thick blanket over the hutch, and then a thermal hutch cover over that. I also have a duvet which I can pull over all of it. It all gets opened up Around mid morning to ventilate, but I put just the thermal front clear cover back down around 3pm (but it depends the outside temperature, Any colder and ill do it earlier etc), then pull the blanket down under the thermal cover when I feed them around 4:30pm and then pull the duvet down over the front when I put their snuggle safes in around 9pm. Their beds are bendy wooden huts which are filled with hay, a small piece of fleece on the bottom for them to lay on and have a fleece blanket over the roof of their huts along with a snugglesafe in each one. The fleece blankets over the top do a great job of keeping it warm within the beds. This morning, it was 1 degree outside, 10 degrees within the shed itself and considerably warmer than that in their beds and they were very warm and cosy
 
Piggies&buns said:
It’s my first winter with my two boys as well. They live in my shed. I have a thick blanket over the hutch, and then a thermal hutch cover over that. I also have a duvet which I can pull over all of it. It all gets opened up Around mid morning to ventilate, but I put just the thermal front clear cover back down around 3pm (but it depends the outside temperature, Any colder and ill do it earlier etc), then pull the blanket down under the thermal cover when I feed them around 4:30pm and then pull the duvet down over the front when I put their snuggle safes in around 9pm. Their beds are bendy wooden huts which are filled with hay, a small piece of fleece on the bottom for them to lay on and have a fleece blanket over the roof of their huts along with a snugglesafe in each one. The fleece blankets over the top do a great job of keeping it warm within the beds. This morning, it was 1 degree outside, 10 degrees within the shed itself and considerably warmer than that in their beds and they were very warm and cosy
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I wad thinking of putting a old duvet on the hutch when it gets colder. they have the shed to run about in but since its been colder they mostly stay in the hutch
 
trioguineapig3 said:
I wad thinking of putting a old duvet on the hutch when it gets colder. they have the shed to run about in but since its been colder they mostly stay in the hutch
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Mine are the same - they have the shed to play in but have chosen to stay in the hutch now. They’ll come out of if I put treats down though!
 
Piggies&buns said:
Just heating snuggle safes now for my shed dwelling piggies, as well as bundling up more hay.


If you look in the housing and seasonal care section of this site, there is a lot of information on how to keep piggies outside safely.
My boys live in a hutch in my unheated shed. It may not be heated, but simply being out of the wind and rain makes a difference. All hideys, beds and the entire hutch get really stuffed with hay. Their beds are under bendy wooden log huts in the bedroom section of the hutch. The bedroom part has a piece of vetbed on the bottom (which retains their body heat when they lay on it) and then a lot of hay. I lay fleece blankets over the top of the bendy log huts and a little way down the entrances like curtains to hold the heat in. I then put a snugglesafe inside each at night time (I may use them during the day as necessary). The huts are big enough that they can both get in one bed if they want to snuggle together. I have a thick blanket over the hutch (that goes down all four sides) and then a thermal hutch cover that. I then have a double duvet which sits over the whole thing and gets pulled over most of the front of the hutch (leaving ventilation space) at night but I only pull the duvet down when outside temperatures are due to be less than 5 degrees. During the colder day times, I will lift the blanket up and only leave the clear cover of the thermal cover over the front of the hutch so help retain warmth but allow light in. I don’t leave the shed door open all the time but I just open it a touch for a short time at the warmest part of the day for some ventilation.
I am fairly lucky with my shed in that heat does tend to accumulate in it from even a little bit of sunshine shining in (which is great in winter (as I can monitor the temperatures and pull covers over the hutch to trap the warmth inside) but a nightmare in summer). I have a thermometer hanging on the outside of the shed and one inside the hutch and there is often a good difference between them simply because the hutch it out of the wind. I can physically feel it is warmer in the shed than outside, and then it is warmer inside the hutch than in the shed. I’ve just been out to check on my two and the outside temp is 3 degrees but they are at 10 degrees in their hutch, their skin feels nice and warm to the touch and their bedding around them is warm and they are active and not sat huddled up. Even though I am pretty confident that i can keep them warm enough and I still have a few other ideas on how to add more warmth and what to do for them when it gets really cold, I still have a spare cage so I bring them indoors if it gets too much (hubby isn’t pleased about that though!)
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You certainly have it covered! Bet they are nice & toasty
 
How warm does it have to be to put them outside for grass munching time? It’s 11 degrees today
 
Laura_Deakin said:
How warm does it have to be to put them outside for grass munching time? It’s 11 degrees today
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Hi!

If you have indoors piggies, then the grass has to be warm and dry for your bare feet for 5 minutes. Guinea pigs are much closer to the ground and very liable to urine and respiratory infections. Just a bit of sunshine and some warmer spring air can be extremely deceptive if your piggies can't escape the cold ground and a much cooler breeze. They are happiest in the same range of temperatures as we humans and should be treated like tender plants when it comes to the outdoors; they can die from both extremes of weather and don't do well with large swings of temperature as they regulate the body temperature differently having evolved in the thick undergrowth and tunnels in South American grasslands well away from the extremes of climate. ;)

However warm it is in the sunshine after a frosty night, down on the ground it isn't! You wouldn't plant out summer plants in these conditions, would you?

Feeding Grass And Preparing Your Piggies For Lawn Time
Cold Weather Care For Guinea Pigs
Hot weather management and heat strokes
Guinea Pig Facts - A Short Overview

All these guides are part of our new owners guide collection, which you may find very helpful as we are specifically addressing all the areas we get the most questions, concerns and potentially harmful misconceptions about. Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides

PS: Please start your own thread to ask your own questions.
 
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