keep a guinea pig warm

18 Ways To Keep a Guinea Pig Warm

We in the northern hemisphere are waving goodbye to summer and although it is fairly warm over here in the UK at the moment, the nights are starting to draw in and you can feel a change in the temperature.

At times like these, guinea pigs start to feel the cold as well sand are not quite as happy in the cold.

So what can we do to keep them warm and in their optimum temperature?

Here are some ways we can keep a guinea pig warm during these months ahead.

  1. Bring the guinea pig inside. Pretty obvious right? But not everyone does it. If you are cold outside then they will be too. They will be much happier in the temperature you are happier in.
  2. Purchase a snuggle safe disk which looks like a Frisbee and can be heated in a microwave in a few minutes and then gives heat to a guinea pig for up to 8 hours.
  3. Put a small blanket in their cage. I have also used old t shirts and other clothing to make caves for them. Anything like this can help keep them warm and snug.
  4. Put lots of shredded paper in the cage which they can crawl under and hold their body heat in. Held in a box of some kind that they can crawl into would be best.
  5. Get a shoe box and cut a hole large enough for the guinea pig to crawl through and put bedding inside. The enclosed space inside will help to conserve their own body heat.
  6. Purchase a pigloo which can do a similar job.
  7. Put a blanket over the cage during the night and then take half of it off during the day time.
  8. Purchase a cozie or a cuddle cup. They’re a big hit with guinea pigs as they love to snuggle up inside them.
  9. Move the cage away from windows and any drafts. These can make the guinea pig very uncomfortable.
  10. Make sure they have another guinea pig to snuggle up to. They are naturally very good at keeping each other warm. If you only have one guinea pig, consider getting another to keep it company. If you have two consider getting three, and so on. The more of them there are, the more they can snuggle up to each other and keep warm.
  11. keep a guinea pig warmHave a rice sock. This is an alternative to the heat pad which is basically taking an old sock and filling it with rice. Put it in the microwave for one minute. The rice will warm making it very comfortable for the guinea pig to snuggle up to.
  12. Hot water bottles offer a terrific source of heat during the night. Just put hot water on it, put a cover on it and ensure the lid is tightly shut. Test it out before hand to ensure that it isn’t too hot and maybe add some extra layers of blanket to protect the guinea pig. Make sure that it is covered all the way round it to ensure that the guinea pig doesn’t chew it.
  13. Block any drafts from doors and windows with blankets.
  14. Create a cozy by taking a small box and lining it with fleece that are held by binder clips. Your guinea pig will love hopping into it to keep warm
  15. Create tunnels for them to hide in. These can be purchased or made and guinea pigs love to run in tunnels and will even stay in them and sleep.
  16. If your cage is against a wall then put a blanket between the wall and the cage. The wall is keeping in the heat but will be naturally quite cold if they are right close to it. The extra layer of insulation will help conserve heat.
  17. Consider having a heater in the room to give the piggies warmth. Do keep in mind safety and that it doesn’t get too hot though. Make sure they are also kept well away from it as well.
  18. Guinea pig sleeping bags can be purchased. These are fabulous inventions that can give the guinea pig warmth. They can also made like this below in the video

Keeping a guinea pig warm will ensure that they are happy and contented. You will notice the difference in their behaviour if you keep them in the temperature that they are happiest to be in which is 18-22 celcius/65-75 farenheit.

Hope you found this helpful.

There are probably some i’ve missed off.

Do you have any other useful tips that you could share? Drop them in the comments if you do 🙂

 

13 thoughts on “18 Ways To Keep a Guinea Pig Warm

  1. It’s extremely cold in the US to (18 degrees Fahrenheit) and both my guinea pigs are sick. So to keep them warm I made them a box lined with fleece. I wish I could put them together but as they’re both sick that might not be the wisest choice. So thanks for the ideas.

  2. Hi , I have 2 male Guinea pigs its there first winter they are outside in there hutches but the hutches are in a brick shed its still very cold out there i would like to know any ideas of what i can do to help them keep warm I cant bring them indoors 1 they don’t get on with each other and 2 we don’t have the room for 2 hutches . All they do is sleep and eat they bury themselves in the straw so they must be cold well i am so they must be also , and as i said its there first winter so i guess it will be harder for them any tips please

    1. I hope your piggies made it through the winter ok. Try to put as much insulation such as clothes and blankets in and around their living area for them. If you have hideys for them, put an extra fleece blanket under each. These have to be changed and laundered every few days or once a week, too. Newspaper, I’ve used an extra small doggie bed, lined it w newspaper, then put an old t shirt in it. Whatever works for u. Practice makes perfect.

  3. Thankyou so much for this website as it has helped my Guinea Pigs and now they are toasty and warm. But what do I do in the summer to keep them cool?

  4. I have an air conditioner on and my Guinea pig is away from it but I still feel like he might be cold but without it it’s way to hit any suggestions?

  5. Thank you! i was quite worried about my “old man” teddy he chews on Everything! while my other two are happy with wadded up washcloths he needed to be special…i took a plastic box flipped it upsidedown (so the top was facing down ) and put a heated rice sock between the box and airholes of the pigaloo and since he’s pretty strong (even tho he’s super tiny (a disize stunted him) he still shoved it off so i put a rock on it. If anyone wants to see pictures email [email protected]

  6. Great suggestions! I have been looking at pigloos, cuddle cups etc…but don’t they get wet and dirty very quickly? Do you have to clean and dry them every day? My pigs don’t have a usual toilet area so whatever we use to line their home gets soaked. At the moment I just replace sawdust every day.

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