Winter Warmth (indoors)

[npanne]

Hi everybody - first post, so please excuse me if I break any forum etiquette :-)

We have three female guinea pigs that we got from a local rescue in the spring, and up until this week they've been in an outdoor hutch at night and a lawn run during the day, but as the weather turns my wife figured that it'd be good to bring to bring them indoors (partly because she didn't like the thought of them in the cold, and partly because she thought that the kids would have more chance to continue their daily interaction with them if they are indoors).

Anyway - we bought a large cage (5x3), but the only place indoors where we can possibly put it is in the conservatory which, even though it has a radiator, still gets quite chilly on really cold nights.

I've been trawling the interweb, and most heat solutions seem revolve around either heat lamps or microwaveable pads, but I've just found a low voltage pet heat pad that apparently gives off a low heat - now what I'm wondering is if I put it UNDER the cage, would it (a) give off enough heat to keep them warms, and (b) pose any other concerns? It would only cover about 1/3rd of the cage, so I presume if it were TOO hot then they would simply move to a cooler part?

Any advice gratefully received.

Neil

 

[gizzy]

Hi Neil, l can only coment om the micrwaveable pads
l have vet grade , and they are realy not up to the job unless you are using it in a small cage for a pooly pig

l would say no to any in cage form of heating that involves electrity unless it had a hi qualety incage thermostat ,as without that , you have unregulated heat that !could! run to hot , also with the wee in the cage ot could turn into a steem room

Tough from what you are discribing , l think you would be better with an oil filed radiator placed in the room ,
personaly l think that is all you would need.

also when you bring them in , do it gradualy as pigs do not like sudder tempriture changes

 

[Veggies Galore]

I agree with Gizzy. The microwave pads are better than nothing . As Gizzy has said , I wouldn't put electric pads in the cage. I would look at getting an oil filled radiator too.

What sort of cage do you have by the way?

Will the cage be going on a table ?

Where are you based ? We have members all over the world and it is useful to know whether you are in the UK/ US or elsewhere. Would you be happy to add your location to your profile ?

 

[npanne]

Hi both - thanks for your replies.

To answer your questions - in no particular order ()...

I'm in England - West Sussex to be precise - sorry, took me a while to workout where to update that!
Yes, the cage will be going on a table - partly because it's warmer, and partly because we can use the space underneath to store things
The cage I have is one of these:

Except I made a solid floor for the platform, and made a new ramp up to it that was less steep and didn't have any gaps.

The things I saw (I don't know if I should link to them here - let me know) are apparently designed to run constantly, and give off only a low level of heat - about body temperature. Some of the reviews mentioned Guinea pigs, but I'd never seen anything mention something similar before. I wouldn't want to put it IN the cage, as I'd be worried about them chewing the wire more than anything, but I wondered about underneath - just to gently warm a section of the floor.

My concern with a radiator for the room is really around cost - the conservatory loses so much heat (glass ceiling and three walls) that the existing radiator barely makes a difference - if an electric oil filled one was trying to heat the whole room, it'd be "calling" at least half the time, and that works out at about £1.60 per night (compared to 2p for a 15W heat pad) in the depths of winter.

Maybe I'm over-thinking this - I'm sure plenty of people leave their guinea's outside, or in a garage or similar, and it can't be colder than that - I just want them to be as comfortable as possible.

 

[gizzy]

Perhaps if you did a test run to see how moist the atmosphea gets

damp enviromant lays rise to all sorts of problems (mould,funous spors that can lead to respertory problems )

 

[Veggies Galore]

Hi both - thanks for your replies.

To answer your questions - in no particular order ()...

I'm in England - West Sussex to be precise - sorry, took me a while to workout where to update that!
Yes, the cage will be going on a table - partly because it's warmer, and partly because we can use the space underneath to store things
The cage I have is one of these:

Except I made a solid floor for the platform, and made a new ramp up to it that was less steep and didn't have any gaps.

The things I saw (I don't know if I should link to them here - let me know) are apparently designed to run constantly, and give off only a low level of heat - about body temperature. Some of the reviews mentioned Guinea pigs, but I'd never seen anything mention something similar before. I wouldn't want to put it IN the cage, as I'd be worried about them chewing the wire more than anything, but I wondered about underneath - just to gently warm a section of the floor.

My concern with a radiator for the room is really around cost - the conservatory loses so much heat (glass ceiling and three walls) that the existing radiator barely makes a difference - if an electric oil filled one was trying to heat the whole room, it'd be "calling" at least half the time, and that works out at about £1.60 per night (compared to 2p for a 15W heat pad) in the depths of winter.

Maybe I'm over-thinking this - I'm sure plenty of people leave their guinea's outside, or in a garage or similar, and it can't be colder than that - I just want them to be as comfortable as possible.

I was in a similar situation with the shed mine are in. I found putting an oil filled radiator under the hutch (table in your case) acted like under floor heating . I have a thermostat in the hutch to make sure they don't overheat