Keep your Guinea Pigs warm in cold weather!

Our head nurse and dedicated Guinea Pig owner Nicola Blaney tells us how she keeps hers snuggly and warm in the winter.

When I decided to get Guinea Pigs my main concern was, “would I be able to keep them warm and snuggly through the Winter”.

When I purchased a hutch I made sure it was an insulated one, which was off the floor, then I customised it by adding these extras; I covered the sides, roof and bottom with ThermaWrap Insulation foil, purchased from a tool shop. There is also a piece that comes across the front of the hutch at night and gets rolled to the side in the day. The

hutch is then covered with a large piece of tarpaulin (for those rainy days) and sandwiched in the layers is a quilt for extra insulation.

Guinea Pigs love to hide away and snuggle so one half of their hutch is a big straw bed while the other side is shavings and where their food is. They each have a snuggle tube they can hide in but you often find them sharing the same one.

And then to be absolutely sure I was keeping them warm at night I purchased an outdoor weather station, which I have in the hutch. I have found that by doing all of this the temperature of the hutch never drops below 12 degrees, even on those frosty nights and I have very happy pigs in the morning.

Nicolas guinea pigs enjoying a tasty snack