guineapigs - if and when you do bring them in for the winter?

[SlartyBartFast]

i thought i read here end of november - or when it is minus degrees.
mine will go in shed so am worried they will feel neglected so am putting off.

what do others do?

bump

Mine is in with a rabbit and is outside in the hutch all year round. About 4 yrs old now. Just put in extra hay and cover over the front at night.

thanks tortoise

where are all the gp lovers today?

Mine are staying out too. I just give them extra bedding.

Ours stay out too - they have an insulated cover for the hutch and extra bedding. No room in our shed!

nope my gps stay outside all year round ,i just put lots of straw in a cover them up whith a big old blanket and a waterproof sheet and they will be ok ,oh i put an old sock over the water bottle ,it ment to stop it freezing up

I got panicked when reading the earlier thread on this because I've got 17 and there's no way DH will wear having all of them in all winter so I had a bit of a read on the interwebnet. Consensus seems to be that it's not cold that's the killer but damp so am now reasonably happy that as long as stuffed full of hay and maybe a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel if really cold for each hutch to avoid GP BBQ s/be ok.

Mine live in the shed all year round due to the damp rancid weather we have here in the UK it makes it nicer for me to clean them out too. I normally run a heater in the shed 24/7 during the coldest months but its blinking expensive so this year will just stick to useing heat lamps(light bulbs in a tin) if I feel my oldest piggy aged 5 needs to come in the house she will come in with her cage mate.
If I only had two piggies they would live in the house during the winter months. I own eight and we do not have the room for them all in the house.

Mine are in a shed and last year (only 8 of 'em then)rigged up an infra-red lamp. Used to go into shed and they'd be lamp bathing, stretched out sunnig themselves. Pina coladas all round, v funny, all they needed were sunglasses and a tropical island "murial" on the back of the hutch

aah, infra red lamp sounds ideal

I'm dreading mine being out all winter I have 2 indoors which tbh are quite spoilt and pampered but we also have 4 outside. We have covered them with a blanket and I'll be getting a water-proof sheet.

Is it normal for them to squash all the straw down?? I put loads in hoping they'd burrow in it and it's all flat now and they're lying on top of it!

The hay in my piggies hutch is all squashed down too and they have eaten their bed.

If you can't bring them in why not put a piggie hot water bottle in? They are brilliant - they keep warm for about 10 hours and all you have to do is put them in the microwave for around 7 minutes. We have indoor pigs and they have one of these each at night as we can't afford to leave the heating on at night.

www.amazon.co.uk/Snugglesafe-Microwaveable-Heatpad-Cozy-Cover/dp/B000NRYYOS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=gar den&qid=1257254061&sr=8-2

Also, a hutch cover like this really looks like it would help to keep them warm.

www.petcovers.co.uk/

I just went out to put a cover on them as it is raining heavily and they were squeaking. I don't know if that was to say hello or if they were cold.