Keeping Warm Winter weather approaching. I have a guinea pig living outside

[Tora Tora]

Hello

My guinea pig, Roro, is 1 years old. I rearranged an old shoe cabinet, which is in my balcony,, for her to live in. I am worried about winter time and keeping her warm.
I intend to keep her inside during the night when the temperatures tend to go quite low. Where I live, the lowest temperature during the day is usually around 5-10 degrees Celsius, so it's not a very harsh winter.
I can't keep her inside the whole time because my family won't allow it so it was either keeping her outside or giving her away (which I can't do).
I have some heavy winter blankets I will arrange for her size and I will make her warm beds and also read about making a rice socket and also using a bottle of warm water as well. Her place will be lined with fleece and she will have plenty of hay and food.

What else do I need to do to make this winter as comfortable for her as possible? I feel really bad for not being able to keep her inside anymore but at least during the nights she won't sleep outside.
It never snows here and I will make sure her new cage is shielded from the wind. My balcony has quite high walls so her level of the shoe cabinet is below the walls and I will of course cover it to keep it as warm as possible.

What else do I do? Please give me some advice.

Thank you!

 

[Guinepig]

You should never keep a guinea pig outside! They could get stolen or they could die from the cold air

 

[bpatters]

Well, she needs to be inside. That's quite cold for a guinea pig.

She also needs another guinea pig. They're herd animals, and were never intended to live alone. If you can't have her in the house, and you can't have another guinea pig, the kindest thing to do would be to find her a good home where she can live inside with other guinea pigs. I know you don't want to do that, but this is a small life you're responsible for, and she's not living in very good conditions. There's not much point in having a pet if it can't live inside with the family. Maybe you need to find this pig another place to live, and wait until you're on your own and can provide the right kind of care for a pet before getting another one.

 

[Tora Tora]

Well, she needs to be inside. That's quite cold for a guinea pig.

She also needs another guinea pig. They're herd animals, and were never intended to live alone. If you can't have her in the house, and you can't have another guinea pig, the kindest thing to do would be to find her a good home where she can live inside with other guinea pigs. I know you don't want to do that, but this is a small life you're responsible for, and she's not living in very good conditions. There's not much point in having a pet if it can't live inside with the family. Maybe you need to find this pig another place to live, and wait until you're on your own and can provide the right kind of care for a pet before getting another one.

Hi

She has been kept inside for the past year and believe me there's nothing more I'd like than to keep her inside, but I really really can't.
I live in Albania. People here are mostly ignorant about raising guinea pigs. They are considered mice here and no one would adopt her. Frankly, no one would take better care of her than me (not trying to be arrogant, but I've seen how they treat pets here and it's not great).
Another guinea pig is a big no-no with my family, although I've tried talking them into buying another one for a long time now but without success.
She's very happy. She's always pop corning, we spend a lot of time with her and I really really love her. She doesn't feel lonely, in my opinion. She wheeks at us, we play with her a lot and we talk to her and keep her with us a lot of the time. She's always running, chirping.

I've read about people keeping pigs outside in much colder weathers, even during frosty weather, which here doesn't happen.
I'm sorry for such a long reply, I just want the best for her. There are no C&C cages here, the best thing I've found on the store was a rabbit cage which wasn't even half the size required for a single guinea pig. She used to live in a tiny hamster cage until I got her and people often laugh at me when I explain why she needs a bigger cage.
We recently put wooden floors in all three rooms in the house so now my family is a lot more against keeping her inside due to her cage being inappropriate, due to them worrying over her ruining the floors with her pee.
We were thinking of reusing an old wooden table and turning it into a cage for her since it has quite a lot of depth and it's the right size for her but then that plan was canceled and now we're going with the shoe cabinet.

I really don't know what to do. Even inside the house the temperatures during winter are around 10-12 degrees and she did fine last winter. I did roll her up in heavy blankets and she seemed to be okay.
Isn't there any other option? I can do anything to keep her warm. Will try to find her also one of those heating pads. Maybe that will help? I just really can't keep her inside

 

[flumigle]

I'm sorry you're in such a tight spot. My only advice for the day time would be to use reptile heaters, but that might also be a fire hazard. Maybe if you could post a picture of the cage, people could help give ideas.

 

[Tora Tora]

I'm sorry you're in such a tight spot. My only advice for the day time would be to use reptile heaters, but that might also be a fire hazard. Maybe if you could post a picture of the cage, people could help give ideas.

Hello to keep her inside...Just finished her new cage with my cousin. We used two large plastic containers which will allow plenty of air flow and I made a two story cage and managed to get my piggy used to going up and down the ladder. She seems quite happy.
|Now she has one place for running and sleeping in her cozy warm cave I made today and the upper level for hay, food and litter box.

Thanks for the suggestion

Have a good day!

I finally convinced my family

 

[Tora Tora]

Well, she needs to be inside. That's quite cold for a guinea pig.

She also needs another guinea pig. They're herd animals, and were never intended to live alone. If you can't have her in the house, and you can't have another guinea pig, the kindest thing to do would be to find her a good home where she can live inside with other guinea pigs. I know you don't want to do that, but this is a small life you're responsible for, and she's not living in very good conditions. There's not much point in having a pet if it can't live inside with the family. Maybe you need to find this pig another place to live, and wait until you're on your own and can provide the right kind of care for a pet before getting another one.

Hello again

I'm keeping her inside. I managed to make a proper cage which will allow for her to stay inside all the time

Thank you for your answer and for being so helpful
Have a good day!

Tora

 

[pigger123]

That's great that you were able to get her in the house! She'll be much happier and safer there.

 

[bpatters]

Good for you! She'll be much happier. Now to work on another pig friend...

 

[labeadel]

So glad you were able to convince them!