advice please!!

[walrus_2001]

hi guys!!
this is my first post, and i'm completely new to the world of cavies. I have never had a pet of any sort really. Anyways I'm on the way to getting my parents to give in and let me get some guinea pigs (yes i'm 20 but still live at home...). Anyway one of the conditions is that they live outside. I know a lot of people on this site are completely against outdoor living, but just listen to the details first. The area where I would keep them IS outside but not entirely. I live in the bottom storey of our house. Outside the door to my room is an area which is under the complete cover of the top storey. There is one side which is completely open to the outside. There would definitely be no chance of rain getting in, and very little breeze, if any (the breeze doesn't normally come from that direction). Also it stays reasonably cool there because it is insulated by the rest of the house, even on really hot days. Basically I'm worried about other smaller animals out there. I've never seen any spiders other than daddy long legs out there, which are completely harmless. Do you think these will be a problem? Also we used to get the occasional neighbours cat coming through, and though I haven't seen any there for years, its best to be safe. If I built a closed in C&C cage would they be alright?? They would get plenty of attention out there as they'd only be metres from my bedroom, so that is not an issue. Iwould be bringing them inside for a period of time probably daily too.
I would appreciate the thoughts of more experienced owners.
Thanks heaps
John

[mrs_eads80]

Maybe your outside C&C cage will work. But I still think it is better to keep them indoors. GP's can be very sensitive to heat. I have no ac, and when it starts to get in the 80's I can see a difference in there behavoir, even just 80 degrees. They are a lot less active, and seem not to be as happy. I give my gp's frozen water bottles to lay aginst. Or I put a cuple of bricks in the frezzer, and then put them in their cage. I had a friend who had a GP a couple of years ago, and she put him outside becuase his cage needed to be cleanned, he was only outside for about 2 hours and died from the heat. Granted she lives in Florida, USA and it gets pertty hot there.
But like I said I am not an expert, this is just from my experiance.

[walrus_2001]

i'm hoping heat won't be a problem. i don't think it ever really gets above 25 celsius out there, and I do have the option of putting a fan out there if its really extreme heat

[cavylover]

For my outdoor cage i made shade everywhere casue direct sun light sucks.To keep them even more cool i used frozen water bottles everywhere so they can layon plus a panel just for bricks so they can lay onthe bricks NOT DRAG THEM ACROSS IT :P.