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Big freeze ... turns to snow! PHOTO ADDED post 17

susie bun

Wise Old Thumper
Spenser's water was frozen by 8pm tonight, as was his evening veg.:shock: He likes to eat all his favourite bits first, then go back to the rest later, but I have had to bin it.:( I might need to rethink feeding times, although in the real winter it may not get above freezing all day. Will he be OK with just hay and his late night treat of a few pellets or should I try giving him more veg? :? I think he's cold because he is in his bedroom and normally he just goes there to poo.
 
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Spenser's water was frozen by 8pm tonight, as was his evening veg.:shock: He likes to eat all his favourite bits first, then go back to the rest later, but I have had to bin it.:( I might need to rethink feeding times, although in the real winter it may not get above freezing all day. Will he be OK with just hay and his late night treat of a few pellets or should I try giving him more veg? :? I think he's cold because he is in his bedroom and normally he just goes there to poo.

Have you got any bubble wrap you could put around the bottle? or maybe put his veg inside his bedding so it dosent freeze but he can sstill forage for it? i hate this time of year! poor spencer. xxx
 
If he has a water bowl then changing it often is probably the best bet (although you could heat a couple of bricks to put underneath it which will help for a while)

Does he use a bottle at all? If so then a thermal sock over the bottle (toe cut out for the spout to go through) would be good fixed up in the bedroom.

My boys have their 'fresh' foods more in the middle of the day now, and actually seem to prefer eating their hay now it's cold.
 
you can wrap things around the water bottle to insulate it and stop the water freezing.
I would give him more pellets as a substitute for the frozen greens.
Do you have a snugglesafe ?

Could his hutch come inside or in a shed maybe? Otherwise try to insulate the hutch and protect it from draughts.

hope others have more suggestions.
sue:wave:
 
I usually give mine veg in the morn and pellets in the evening so he should be fine. Do you have a heat pad to put under his water bowl. I have done that with Max just in case but luckily as he has a cover it doesn't seem to freeze up at the mo.
 
He won't drink from a bottle and doesn't have a snugglesafe yet. I've lifted some more veg at the fridge to come to room temp, and will try him with it shortly. I will certainly put more hay upstairs. I could move his blankie upstairs, and put an old fleece of mine downstairs? Or towels, but he is not used to them and might not like them or try to eat them. Wish I'd thought to do this during the day when I could have monitored his reaction easier.
 
Well he's moved downstairs on to his fleece blanket. I've tried to stuff more hay into the hutch, both upstairs and down. Will try him with the replacement veg. shortly. He seems very bright - probably wonders what on earth I'm doing blundering about in the dark and offering treats to his ear instead of his mouth. :lol:
 
Well he's moved downstairs on to his fleece blanket. I've tried to stuff more hay into the hutch, both upstairs and down. Will try him with the replacement veg. shortly. He seems very bright - probably wonders what on earth I'm doing blundering about in the dark and offering treats to his ear instead of his mouth. :lol:

Lol, bless you Susie. He's probably enjoying all the late night attention! :lol:

I wonder if maybe its worth giving him a water bottle as well? He might be less picky if he's thirsty and his bowl is frozen? :)
 
Spenser is now tucked up for the night. He was very pleased with his late night treats. :oops::) I just hope he has a drink before the water freezes again.
 
Snow has finally come to deepest, darkest Ayrshire. Spenser seems OK, but I managed to break his pellet dish while fumbling about with the hutch cover this morning. I am kicking myself for being so badly prepared - I've spent hundreds of pounds on Spenser, but have only this week ordered his snugglesafe and a proper hutch cover. At least he has his fleece blankie and a top quality hutch so if he goes upstairs he should be quite cosy.
 
don't berate yourself! i think this cold snap has come earlier than anyone hoped (or rather dreaded!).

when my pigs are outside winter approaches, i have an old duvet, a piece of carpet and lots of bubble wrap insulating the hutch with the cover over the top.
 
Don't feel bad Susie,

You're doing everything you can - plus I think snow on the roof should help insulate it anyway, so nature is doing you a favour! :)

You'll have to keep a really close eye on him free ranging though now I guess - he's perfectly camouflaged for winter :lol::lol:
 
Yes, I hope he soesn't binky out the pen. It appears that Spenser likes the snow. He has binkied for this first time in weeks, and also tried to dig! :D

PB270379.jpg
 
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Sounds like he's having a lovely time & not at all phased by the cold weather. Re. the water bowl thing - I'm going to put a brick in the oven tonight and then place Bouncers bowl on top of it inside his hutch. I'll let you know if it makes a difference. Also - I feed around 5pm now because I think in the wild they would go underground when it's dark anyway and therefore have finished eating. So long as he's got plenty of hay to munch & snuggly on I wouldn't worry about feeding him late :)
 
Sounds like he's having a lovely time & not at all phased by the cold weather. Re. the water bowl thing - I'm going to put a brick in the oven tonight and then place Bouncers bowl on top of it inside his hutch. I'll let you know if it makes a difference. Also - I feed around 5pm now because I think in the wild they would go underground when it's dark anyway and therefore have finished eating. So long as he's got plenty of hay to munch & snuggly on I wouldn't worry about feeding him late :)

Thanks! I might sleep a bit better tonight. :oops::roll:
 
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