Autumn (and winter) are approaching. How to keep Super Furry Animals cosy...

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

Indoor animals will be at house temperature

But what do you do to keep the outdoor critters in comfort? (Mainly rabbits and guinea-pigs. I don't know if any others stay out. )

My boars are already getting thicker coats .

So, idea-pooling here....

ByTheWay* - just don't click on Gumtree- Guinea-Pigs for sale.
Some lovely pigs but some really ones.
I think "Oh I could have them" but I know I really cannot.

nope- steering clear of there and the pets 4 homes breeder site - maybe in springtime we will go look at our original breeder - he is still breeding for shows and selling on the "imperfect" ones, though he still has our piggies MUM!! she stopped being bred from around 10 years ago and lives with 5 or 6 oldies (also in gentle neglect) in his shed... my type of breeder!

I've given the boars a Hottie Pet Pad each for the past couple of nights (slipped under a fleece layer)
They seem to like them, GP1 sleeps in the willow house, GP2 in the cardboard box (not sleeping together in the hay filled box at the moment)

Only problem is getting them in the microwave (the hotties not the guineas ) I have to make sure it's really central with the edges of the cover tucked under ,or else it sticks .

70isaLimitNotaTarget, what are your sleeping boxes made of and where did you get them? My 2 live indoors on fleece in a huge 2 story cage built by DH and kids. We have just moved house and they are now living in a utility room which is more like an unfinished extension. It is significantly cooler than the rest of the house so I want to give them lots of snuugly places without increasing my huge washing load!

Approximately - the boars have an assortment of hidey houses.(Spoilt pigs )

For the garden, they've got a wooden box that is IRL a wooden trunk from IKEA with 2 doors in it (approx 30'x12')
A willow hedgehog house from Lakeland Limited for dry weather.
A very clever box (I bought a helium cylinder) the top bit folds back, I made a door in the middle and both sides, so it's like 2 joined boxes- so they can run in the shallow bit,then the other bit and out again.

And their plastic pipe from Pets@Home, and a soft pet bed for GP2.

A big heavy box from Costco thats got 3 sides -it was a bathmat display box that was in their box pile.(this goes in their haybox that's in the Pighouse)

Banana boxes are good but have to have a cardboard base in.

But mine are in temporary housing in the garage so I'm giving them the Hotties and fleeces early. It's not cold but I worry because it's all concrete and a bigger open space.All their boxes except the wooden one have been lobbed into their run to hide in. (I send DD into the run to catch them )

They're not cuddling up together but they don't tend to anyway.
For insulation, hay is the best, I'm trying to cut down on the fleece washing too.
I give mine soft barley straw as a base, lots of sites don't recommend straw. I wouldn't give it to baby or nervous pigs.
Mine don't eat the straw and are lardy arsed boars. And the hay is really coarse at the moment..

Thanks 70, you have given me lots of ideas!

My little boys are back in their Pighouse today.
I think they enjoyed their 'holiday' in the garage but I couldn't clean their run for 6 days (That sounds really bad but they had daily fresh fleeces and loads of hay/straw).

They spent 15 minutes running from the haybox to their wooden box (fleece lined), chasing each other, Rumblestrutting from GP1 and various pee-markings.

I've got to muck out the garage tomorrow

I bought my little boars a plastic trug (Aldi £4. It's 42 litres, flexible plastic) I cut the handles off and a door.
2 thick, machine washable bathmats (their old winter fleeces were getting a bit scraggy).

They both purred like tribbles (Star Trek, Trouble with Tribbles) when they dived in

Still on my quest to provide the Perfect Bed for the boars-

The hay at the moment (tried 3 different brands depending where I'm shopping) is hard, dry, and flattens down too quickly.
I tried a straw back-side-and-base with hay in the middle (changing the whole bed every 2 days, they pee flipping gallons) but the hay was ending up under the straw so getting wasted (they don't eat straw)

Soooooooooo- new bedding tonight.
I've got some old soft pillows. Zip up waterproof (terry towel outside) pillow protectors and quilted cotton covers. So I gave them the pillow (in the waterproof then quilted) with their fleece on top. And their Hottie Pet Pads (which are soft) on top.
When it gets colder, I'll put a SnugglePad (which is hotter) in the pillowcover.
The top covers will need daily changes but the pillow will be fine.

They've got their trug full of hay, to keep it contained, they can totter in and eat the hay when they want.
They seemed quite happy tonight, I'll see if I get judgey looks tomorrow