Winter Accomodation, advice needed

[PennyAndArchie]

Hello there,

I'm looking for advice on housing my two guinea pigs during winter. During the warmer months they live outdoors in their hutch and attached run, though they spent about an hour a day indoors having play and cuddle time. For the winter I plan to move to an indoor cage which is the size of a Ferplast 120.

A friend of my mother's tells her that bringing outdoor pigs in for the winter is inappropriate, and that it is best to leave them outdoors with a cover on the hutch and plenty of bedding - she even recommends that I don't move them to the garage/shed. I think that this would be too cold for my little babies! What's more, this advice comes from somebody who bred her sow AND left the boar in at birth resulting in back-to-back pregnancies!

My indoor cage (which I have already bought, by-the-by) is, as I say, the size of a Ferplast 120. I keep my pigs on a mix of woodshavings with "carefresh" bedding (supposed to be dust-free, super absorbent and reduce odour) and hay on top. So they'd have a large, cosy home, right?

Anyway, these are my first piggies. So I want to check. Is my indoor cage suitable to keep my pigs in over the winter?

 

[piggyfan]

Well I think we both know she is not one to listen to for advice by how she treats her piggies. Mine live indoors permanently all year round. It is very old fashioned to say guinea pigs should live outside. There is nothing wrong with having yours indoors for the winter. I would not put them in a garage though as any fumes from cars can be dangerous.

 

[PennyAndArchie]

Yes, that's what I told my mother - I really don't think that she's a guinea pig owner I want to trust the advice of.

When I said "garage" - it's really a shed. The car doesn't go in there, and never has. There's a door from the garden so it's really just a kind of shed. But I'm much happier to keep them indoors anyway! Thanks so much for your reply

 

[piggyfan]

You are welcome. Once you have your little ones inside you may decide you want to keep them inside all year. You get to see them more and they become tamer as they are used to you. It is hard to walk past their cage without wanting to cuddle them.