General What is the temperature range for Guinea Pigs?

[ibeabluedevil]

As it is becoming colder outside, of course we will be using the heat more often. As of yet, the weather has been pretty good here and only gets cold at night, but still not cold enough yet for the heat to kick on. We have a gas/electric heating unit that we just got installed earlier this year (before we had just electric), it is supposed to cut back on electricity usage and help with the utility bill, so my dad says. Anyways, in the basement we used to have a wood stove, but a couple of years ago, before I got my piggies, my dad switched to a propane stove since it burned cleaner and we wouldn't have to worry about cutting wood and hauling it around. The basement gets pretty cold during the late fall/winter season and my dad has yet to reconnect the gas stove in the basement, he said he is soon, but we'll see. He said if he hooks it up he doesn't want me to run it all the time and waste his gas on my pigs, though he spends nearly half his time in the basement and it will benefit him as well, but he doesn't want it running 24/7. After running the heart for only 2-3 hours down there it gets warm enough that you can turn it off and it will remain warm for the rest of the night, which is what I'm mainly concerned with is keeping it warm overnight cause it gets pretty cold down there at night. My question is, what is the coldest temperature that pigs can withstand? If he doesn't get it connected in time before it gets too cold I will have to figure something out to keep them warm. Is there a heating pad you can buy for Guinea pigs or some other method to use to keep them warm? If I have to, I will go buy them a small electric space heater to put near their area to keep them warm, I just don't want them to freeze or get sick, right now they are fine because it's not cold down there yet, but it soon will be and I don't think my dad will have the heat working down there in time.

 

[bpatters]

I would worry about a heating pad unless I could be positive they couldn't get to it to chew it. But guinea pigs do better with cooler temperatures than with warmer ones. My house routinely goes down to 65-67 degrees at night, and mine are fine. You can always drape some fleece over the corner of cage, and that will hold the warmth in. I wouldn't want it go any lower than 65 for any length of time without providing the pigs with some sort of shelter. If they're sheltered, it could go down to 55 or so without any problem.

 

[ibeabluedevil]

Ok, thank you so much for the info. I have a thermometer down there to monitor the temp and it hasn't gotten lower than 70 yet, but it will get colder as the weather changes. I have some fleece that I will use to drape over the cage for them if it gets colder.

 

[4TimeMama]

I let our house go down to 68 or so at night, because it's still getting much warmer during the day here. My piggies are find, I use fleece bedding and they all like to sleep in a piggy pile anyway. I just wanted to say if you do choose to get a space heater, you should opt for a sealed oil-filled radiator type of heater. They are far safer than the type with coils or fans, and provide plenty of warmth, and don't cost much to obtain or run. We use one in the winter in our bedroom because we don't have a return air vent in here, so it gets very cold at night and our electric radiator works perfectly.

 

[AddysPiggies]

Maybe a heat lamp? As long as it's not to close to the cage where they can chew it

 

[bpatters]

I wouldn't recommend a heat lamp. Those things can explode, and it's hard to regulate the temperature with them.