Is it better to keep your guinea pigs indoors or outdoors? This is the first and most important decision you will have to make.
We recommend that you keep your guinea pigs inside if the temperature in your region drops below 16°C (60°F), but we understand that sometimes this is not an option. If you are unable to keep them inside, we can make a few modifications to ensure that everything runs smoothly.
Keeping our guinea pigs warm during the winter is essential, but how warm should they be is a question that no one considers. So let’s start with a clear understanding of what we’re talking about.
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What temperature do guinea pigs need to be kept at?
In order to maintain optimal health, the ideal temperature for guinea pigs is between 16°C (60°F) and 24°C (75°F). If you live in an area where the winters are particularly harsh, you may need to consider using a heat source or some other alternative method to keep them warm in their enclosure during the winter.
if the temperature drops below 16°C (60°F), your guinea pig may suffer from a variety of diseases and may even die in some extreme cases if the temperature drops below 16°C. As a result, it is essential to maintain an ideal temperature range in their enclosure.
Reading material that is recommended:
Is it possible for Guinea Pigs to live outside?
Maintaining the Warmth of Guinea Pigs During the Winter
What is the best way to keep guinea pigs warm inside?
It can be difficult to keep your guinea pigs warm inside, especially if you live in an area where temperatures can fall below freezing point.
Consequently, I’ve gathered some of the best tips I’ve learned over the years to share with you all so that you can properly care for your guinea pigs during the colder months.
Avoid opening and closing doors on a regular basis.
Opening and closing doors and windows on a regular basis can result in cold air entering your home, which can cause the temperature inside your home to drop quickly.
Try to keep the use of doors and windows to a bare minimum so that the temperature inside remains consistent. The health of your guinea pig is jeopardized by a high degree of temperature fluctuation.
It is also a wise decision to make, particularly in times of power outrage, when maintaining a stable environment can be difficult.
Ensure that there are no drafts or ventilation.
If you live in a house with drafts in the doors and windows that can allow cold air to pass through, you should consider using a towel or an under door draft stopper to prevent air circulation from occurring.
These drafts can cause your room to become extremely hot very quickly, so having something to keep them out is extremely important. Consider closing off all of the drafts in the room, particularly in the area where you will be keeping your guinea pigs.
Keeping the house warm
If you live in an area where the temperature drops dramatically during the winter, you should consider installing a heat source in your home.
It can be either an electric heater or a wood stove, or it can be something else entirely. When the temperature drops below 10°C, having a source of heat in your home becomes increasingly important, especially during the winter months.
It can assist you in keeping your home warm as well as maintaining a consistent temperature for your guinea pigs.
Take into consideration relocating your guinea pig.
The best place for your guinea pigs to be is in the center of your home, especially during the winter months.
The exterior walls of your home can radiate cold into your home, and the drafts created by doors and windows are one of the most significant factors in keeping your home cooler.
It is a wise decision to relocate them to a central hall or room where the walls will not radiate cold and where the drafts will not cause the room to become cold.
Additionally, if at all possible, include a heating lamp in the room to ensure that it remains warm and comfortable.
What kind of bedding do you use to keep guinea pigs warm inside?
The bedding in the enclosure is a critical component that can make or break the entire experience. Having high-quality bedding that can absorb pee while also keeping the cage dry is essential during the colder months, as wet bedding can easily make your guinea pig ill and cause him to become dehydrated.
If you have a C&C or Midwest cage, you might want to consider using good quality fleece liners or paper bedding for the bottom layer. You can add some hay or shredded paper bedding on top of it to make a 2-3 inch deep layer of bedding for the guinea pigs to burrow into if necessary.
Hay and paper bedding are excellent at absorbing and retaining body heat, which is essential on those chilly winter days when the weather turns cold. Guinea pigs enjoy burrowing, so providing them with some bedding materials in which they can burrow and protect themselves from the cold is essential for their well-being.
If you are using wood shavings or cedar or pine bedding, avoid using them together. Although they are not the best insulation, they have been linked to the development of some respiratory diseases in your guinea pigs.
Reading material that is recommended:
The best bedding for your guinea pigs
How to provide the best bedding for your guinea pigs.
Consider giving them a heating pad as a gesture of goodwill.
You might want to think about putting some heating pads in the cage. Heating pads are typically preheated in a microwave before being placed in the cage to provide warmth.
Because it can keep the temperature stable for up to 8 hours, it is an excellent source of heat for your guinea pigs. Guinea pigs enjoy snuggling up against people on cold days, and they are completely safe for them to do so.
Provide them with a plethora of hiding spots.
Providing our guinea pigs with small hiding places in their cages is an excellent way to keep them warm on cold days. Guinea pigs enjoy curling up in hiding places because it helps to keep their body heat in check, which is important for survival.
You can either purchase a plastic hiding space for your guinea pig or a fleece snuggle bed that they can climb into to keep them warm and protected from the elements.
Providing daily supplies of fresh hay, vegetables, and water
Guinea pigs require significantly more calories during the colder months in order to maintain their body temperature. It is essential to provide them with hay and fresh vegetables on a daily basis.
You must also make certain that the water is changed on a daily basis. However, avoid serving warm water because your guinea pig may refuse to drink it and as a result, it may become dehydrated.
Additionally, if the mercury level drops below the freezing point, a cover should be used to keep the water bottle from freezing.
What is the best way to keep guinea pigs warm outside?
Even on the best of days, keeping your guinea pigs outside can be a difficult task, let alone on snowy winter days. So, today, I’d like to share an important checklist with you that you should follow if you plan to keep your guinea pigs outside during the winter months.
Purchase a hutch that is well-insulated.
Your guinea pigs should be housed in a sturdy hutch if you plan to keep them outside throughout the year.
It is essential to have a hutch that is well-insulated and durable enough to withstand the harsh winters. If the air is allowed to pass through and the hutch provides a damp and cold living environment, your guinea pigs may become ill more easily than usual. So keep these considerations in mind when purchasing a guinea pig cage for your pets.
Top-Rated Guinea Pig Supplies: Our Top Picks! Recommended Guinea Pig Supplies: Our Top Picks!
Before you read on, here are some supplies for your guinea pigs that have been hand-picked by our experts and that you should add to your wishlist right away:
Consider relocating the hutch to a shed or garage to save space.
If you live in an area where the temperature drops to dangerously low levels during the winter, you may want to consider storing your hutch in a shed or garage.
Despite the fact that the shed will not create an environment similar to that of an indoor space, it will protect them from rain and snow, which can cause temperatures to drop dangerously low.
If you don’t have the option of building a shed, consider moving the hutch to a corner of your house where it will be somewhat protected from strong winds and rain. Although it is not the ideal situation, it is a positive step in the direction of comforting them.
Including an additional layer of insulation
It is critical to provide your guinea pigs with a waterproof cover to protect them from the elements and keep them dry.
The temperature of your guinea pigs may drop as a result of the hutch becoming wet from the inside if it becomes wet from the outside, so adding a cover to keep the rain out is essential.
You can purchase HUTCH HUGGER in conjunction with HUTCH SNUGGLES, which are designed specifically to protect the hutch from the elements.
It is possible to cover the hutch from the front with an old blanket overnight, allowing the heat to remain in and the cold air to remain out.
Additionally, you can cover the hutch from all sides with either Foil bubble wrap (this is the silver color bubble wrap) or Polystyrene sheets to protect it from damage.
In addition to providing an additional layer of insulation, this will help to keep the hutch warm on those particularly chilly days. Check that the roof is properly insulated, as heat rises and escapes from the ceiling more readily. As a result, having a well-insulated roof is essential.
Increasing the height of the hutch
Raising the height of the hutch will aid in keeping the heat trapped inside and will help to prevent dampness from developing. By incorporating some legs into the hutch, you can elevate it above the ground.
If the bottom of the wood remains wet for an extended period of time, damp will rise through it. In this way, raising the hut can aid in the separation of the hut from the ground and will also allow for better air circulation, which will help to prevent damp.
It is also possible for body heat to be lost through the ground because of cold radiating in, so raising the hutch will also address this issue.
Is there any bedding to keep guinea pigs warm outside in the winter?
It is critical to provide guinea pigs with high-quality bedding in order to keep them warm. If you intend to keep your guinea pigs outside, you must ensure that the litter remains dry and that the animals’ body heat is maintained.
Adding at least 2-3 inches of bedding to the hutch will help to absorb the urine that your guinea pigs produce as well as aid in the retention of their internal body heat.
A good quality paper bedding and plenty of hay will be ideal for keeping your guinea pig warm during the winter months.
Reading material that is recommended:
Best Outdoor hutches for your guinea pigs
It’s critical to keep the hutch dry at all times.
Keep the hutch dry and free of moisture at all times, as this will aid in the retention of heat within the building.
It will help to keep the guinea pigs warm and protected throughout the winter if you keep the hutch dry by covering it with an overhang and changing the bedding on a regular basis.
Check on the water and food on a daily basis.
Good quality hay and fresh vegetables should be provided to your guinea pigs at least once a day, especially during the cold winter months.
Guinea pigs require significantly more food in the winter than they do in the summer, owing to the fact that their bodies burn more calories in cold weather.
It is important to provide high-quality Timothy hay and fresh vegetables on a daily basis to ensure that they receive the nutrients they require and remain healthy.
Bottles of water should be covered to avoid freezing.
It is essential to keep the water bottle of your guinea pig covered in order to prevent the water from freezing. As the mercury level falls, it is possible that the water bottle tip will become frozen, preventing the flow of water.
If the weather is freezing outside, it is imperative that you check the tip by tapping it every few hours. There are many people who consider adding a bowl, but doing so is dangerous because if the bowl tips over and soaks the entire bedding, your guinea pig will become extremely cold very quickly, if not immediately.
You may also be interested in: How To Keep A Guinea Pig Water Bottle From Freezing?
Consider putting some heating pads in the room.
Adding some heating pads to your bed can provide a great deal of comfort on those chilly nights. Consider heating a few pads and putting them inside the hutch so that your guinea pigs can snuggle up and sleep through the night fairly easily.
Providing your guinea pigs with a heat source during such cold weather is a great way to keep them warm.
Provide a place to go for a run or to exercise.
Even in cold weather, guinea pigs require physical activity. If you don’t want to bring them in, you can build a well-insulated run outside where they can get some exercise for a few hours every day instead.
Pigs who do not get enough exercise can develop a variety of health problems. Exercise also assists them in keeping their bodies warm, which is particularly beneficial during the chilly winter months.
You may also be interested in: How Much Exercise Do Guinea Pigs Need Per Day?
Predator protection is essential.
Because there is a scarcity of food in the area during the winter months, foxes, coyotes, and other predators become more aggressive as a result of their increased hunger.
Make certain that your hutch is strong enough to withstand an attack by a predator. During this time period, it is also critical to take additional precautions to ensure the safety of the hutch.
Add a thermometer to your list of must-haves.
Adding a smart thermometer to your guinea pig’s environment, which can send the temperature reading of the surrounding area directly to your phone, is an excellent way to keep tabs on your pet’s environment.
In the event that you are able to install such a thermometer, you will be able to monitor the temperature in the hutch and take specific measures if the temperature falls below the acceptable range.
If you are unable to obtain a smart thermometer, you should consider installing a standard thermometer and checking it on a regular basis to ensure that the temperature inside the hutch remains consistent.
What temperature is too cold for guinea pigs to be outside?
Anything below 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit) is too cold for guinea pigs to be outside. If you live in an area where the temperature regularly falls below that threshold, you should consider bringing your guinea pigs inside.
It can be dangerous for your guinea pig to be outside in such cold weather without a proper enclosure to keep them warm. If you intend to keep your guinea pigs outside, make certain that you have made all of the necessary preparations for them beforehand.
Conclusion
Guinea pigs are extremely sensitive to changes in weather and temperature, so we must provide them with the proper care to ensure that they live a long and healthy life. Providing your guinea pigs with a suitable enclosure that contains all of the necessary supplies, as well as practicing some of the basic care techniques we discussed earlier, could help them get through those cold winter days relatively comfortably.
What You Should Know About Keeping Guinea Pigs Outside During the Summer and Winter
A quick tip: Provide your guinea pig with a companion (or several) so that they can cuddle together and keep their body heat in. This is also a fantastic way for them to keep warm during the colder months of the year.
Personally, we were very pleased with the product.
There are many different tunnels, beds, and pillows available at the CuteCritterShop store. For your little best friend, the Reversible Fleece Tunnel for Guinea Pig is a super comfy and cushiony tunnel that he can either run through or sleep in.
Keeping them occupied in and out of this Custom Double Door Cube Hammock with Hidden Inner Seams for Guinea Pig will keep them entertained. LapaSzyte allows you to design your own one-of-a-kind set of accessories for your furry friends.
The PiggyStudioCanada store carries a large selection of custom hand made beds, tunnels, Cuddle Cups, and Snuggle Sacks, as well as other accessories. Guinea pigs are infatuated with the Guinea Pig Fleece Tunnel, and they fall in love with it almost immediately. This product is highly recommended for your piggies.
It is one of a variety of healthy cookies that they offer, including Guinea Pig Probiotic Cookies Treats. It’s a good idea to experiment with different flavors to see what your pigs prefer. Natural Food and Treats for Small Animals are available at TheNaturalCavy stores; visit their website to see what else they have.
Sources: American Journal of Physiology, The Physiological Society, Springerlink, Sciencedirect, Journal of general physiology.
