A good guinea pig hutch is very important if your animal will be kept outdoors. Be certain you understand what you should search for prior to you buying hutches for guinea pigs. A guinea hutch is specifically designed for owners who appreciate keeping their animals outside through the summertime months or all year. If you are prepared to allow the guinea pigs to stay inside, you bought to buy an indoor cage.
Design
Due to guinea pig hutches being consistently exposed to elements, hutches are sturdier in their construction than a regular cage. The ideal hutches are constructed of solid, thick wood instead of flimsy plywood. It assists in making a hutch very sturdy, and provides great insulation from the rain and wind. Most importantly, thick walls keep out predators – predators like rats easily can gnaw through the thin plywood walls and attack the animals. A good quality hutch offers warmth and protection.
Floor
You bought to make sure that you select a hutch that has a solid floor. A few individuals advise the usage of hutches that have mesh floors, like you'd locate upon rabbit hutches, yet these could be extremely dangerous and easily can result in the guinea pig breaking his leg following getting the leg trapped. In order to make a sturdy floor more comfortable to walk upon, you bought to cover it with a couple of sheets of plain white and black newspaper, and a few layers of hay.
Roof
A quality hutch possesses a solid roof that slopes from the front to the back, to assist in channel water away and stopping it from sitting up the roof, leading it to rot. Additionally attempt to locate a hutch that has a huge overhang upon each side. To repeat, it assists in keeping rain away from the hutch walls, and from the animals. Guinea pigs do not appreciate getting wet, and it'll assist in providing protection. The roofought to be covered within two or three layers of roofing felt in order to make it waterproof. Roofing felt will be ideal for weather-proofing the hutch.
Hutch Doors and Front
The fronts of many hutches are separated with two sections. The first includes a huge door, usually around 2/3 of the width of a cage that possesses a mesh front. It permits sunlight and air into the hutch, and additionally permits the guinea pig to get a peek at your garden. The downside to it is that it'll make the pets easier to spot for predators. To aid in protecting against this, be certain the mesh is securely fixed, and keep a close eye on it for signs of destruction.
The second portion of a hutch front includes a solid panel, that's also occasionally hinged to offer a second door. The panel makes a shaded region inside your hutch, providing great shelter from rain and bright sunlight, and is additionally a fantastic place for the pigs to gain a bit of peace and quiet.