Guinea Pigs - Fleece Nests for cold nights

[LaFlotte]

Hi All,
This is our first winter with Guinea Pigs and I am wondering if they need something warmer now it's getting colder. We are in the SE so it's not too bad yet but feels chillier tonight.

Our guineas will live outside but will come in overnight when it becomes properly cold.

I have seen these fleece lined "igloos" or like little pockets that they can snuggle into and am wondering about buying them for their hutch to keep them warmer at night. I am not sure though if they snuggle together (which would obviously be better as they keep each other warm) or not and therefore whether I should get one pouch for two guineas or two that are for single guineas! I don't want one left out in the cold!

Any ideas?

At the moment they have a little hut type thing and lots of hay. Plus the hutch has a water/wind proof cover.

Any help is appreciated!

[bigbuttons]

I just used lots of hay. The piggies peed all over anything made of cloth!

[fortifiedwithtea]

What bigbuttons said.

I cover the front of the hutch to keep drafts out. Piggies are prone to respiratory infections.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Hi LaFlotte -I saw the guinea fleece pockets online. They had a bendy 'wire' in the hem to keep them open. I was tempted then thought "Ooh, I've got fleece and a waterproof felt stuff from the DC bedding when they were toddlers. I could make little pouches" . Or rather, measure them and get my mum to sew them.

But TBH, they are a faff. The hay is near impossible to shift, I bought a BuddyBrush from Lakeland which has got rubber bristles (and is excellant) but even then you are picking bits out of your washing machine.

Last year I gave my hogs hot water bottles in fleece covers and a Snugglepad with a fleece cover. Again, the covers whiff very quickly.


I'm going to give mine SnugglePad and Pet Hotties (they are microwave rather than water.I did worry about the hot water and checked them thouroughly. I wouldn't re-use them for a second year). These will go under newspaper to protect them then tons of hay. Hay does really insulate pigs.

I give them a fleece in their 'houses' if they want time out, it gets pooh/pee but theres newpaper under it, and no hay but they drag their food in to the houses.

A duvet is good under your cover. I put carpet round the back of their haybox (where they can't eat it) and rubber car mats under their newspaper.

I've got two boars so they sleep in the same hay box but never in the same corner. Sows will snuggle up.

I'm opting for everything disposable/compostable this year

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

BTW I'm in Essex- the boys have started to get their winter coats already

[guineapiglet]

Hi -This is really a tough time for little guineas, it was really cold here last night, but really warm during the day, and they are not good at handling extremes like this - ours were out in a big shed, lined with old carpets and duvets, and their hutches were always stuffed with hay and igloos for them to snuggle in - if it was sunny, would put them out for a few hours mid day - it is still warm enough to do this, but once the dark nights start and temperatures stay low, this is the time to either bring them in for the duration, or think of more insulation outside - but dont mix the two up, as their internal temperature regulation wont be able to cope from a centrally heated house to an ice cold run. If they are still outside make sure they are not getting the brunt of the weather, if some kind of shelter is available for the hutch to go in or under, this is a protective layer that will help. Do cover up the cages at night so the night temperatures dont fluctuate too much. The more hay the better!!!

[sleepingbunnies]

70 thanks for the tip! Just ordered a snugglepad from Amazon!

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Hi sleeping IIRC I paid £14 last year (which was a huge saving on Pets Shops which were £22+).

Tonight I put my little boys heater on in their house (it's a tubular heater fixed on the wall, designed for greenhouses and spare rooms. Just enough to take the chill off but not enough on it's own for winter).

When they go from the house to the Pighouse I make sure they don't get too warm indoors and that their Pighouse has the early morning chill off before they go out.
I saw two little noses poking out of their deep hay bed (fresh today- soft barley straw round the edge and back, then meadow hay then some herbagey hay.
So sweet!

[sleepingbunnies]

I'm about to go outside and give them more hay...
I hate the cold and am getting paranoid this year that they are going to be too cold...

They've got a lovely new hutch this winter tho! :-)

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

It's amazing how these little creatures take over.

Previously, only my newborn babies would make me wake up at 6.30am.
But now in winter I'm tottering down the garden in my dressing gown to sort their house out before they go out for the day. Or at the moment ,they are still outside, I'm taking them a salad/veg plate and giving them a 'hello' chat, a check, fluff up their hay.Then get my DC to school and myself to work.

And at night I'm doing a Fox Check. The little varmits run round the garages at the bottom of my garden. I throw pears at my fence (really good loud thud) and run a wooden pole along the fence to scare them off.
That and yelling. The neighbours thinks I'm barmy

[sleepingbunnies]

It's cold out there tonight!!

Just stuffed their sleeping bit full of this gorgeous soft hay we bought from a local farm last week...

Couldn't resist chopping them a bit of cucumber and broccoli... Well since I was going outside anyway would have been rude not to don't you think?!

[BonkeyMollocks]

Mine have a blanket on and they are inside !

[sleepingbunnies]

Hi Bonkey!

I said to DP tonight that it will be time to bring then in soon... I keep getting outbid on indoor cages on eBay :(

[BonkeyMollocks]

Sleeping Do you have FB?

I got mine of a local page for £10, practically brand new. Bargain!

[sleepingbunnies]

Yes!! What's the page?

[BonkeyMollocks]

You should have some local selling pages, pop your area and 'buy/sell' in the search and see what pops up. There is more than likely a pets sell page too .:)

[sleepingbunnies]

Ah will have a look. Just bid on one that finishes on Saturday. If it comes to it I will just lug their hutch into my kitchen. Thank god we have the room to do that now!

[LaFlotte]

Hi All,

Thanks so much for your replies and sorry to take so long to come back. Getting the time on the computer is hard and I am rubbish on my phone!!

So I wil follow all of these lovely suggestions. Thanks for the ideas!

I had one other quesion re the snugglepads. Is there anything like this that is Guinea Pig safe that doesn't require a microwave? We just moved and had to leave our microwave behind as it was built in. Not replaced it and not missing it but want the guineas to be as warm as possible.

Does it sound a good idea to start now giving them more hay and using the windproof cover, then a little later give them hot water bottles (if that's an option) and cover the hutch and then when it's really cold bring them in say 8pm to 8am if necessary?

Finally - and sorry for all the questions - when DD gets home from school is it best to bring them in for cuddles then, at 4pm rather than later so it's not too cold when we put them back out?

I don't want to sound mean but I do want to keep them outside as much as possible as we don't have much space inside.

Thanks everyone. Amazing how attached you get to the little furries!!

[sleepingbunnies]

We have cuddles with ours at anytime of the day... I have been known to go ad get them at 9 at night just or a cuddle although yes extremes of temp isn't great...

We are using our windproof cover now - getting bloody cold at night!