I would like to program my thermostat to keep the house cold in the day when nobody is home–but I forgot that that somebody *is *home. I have two Peruvian Guinea pigs.
In what temperatures will the girls be most comfortable? I think that they’re topical–are temps in the 60’s too cold for them? How can I provide heat without having to heat the whole house? I was thinking a small lamp next to the cage, or maybe an infrared bulb, but I don’t want to cook them either.
The high 60s to very low 70s is a good temp for guinea pigs. If you’re planning to keep the house in the low 60s, a small space heater set well away from the cage is probably all you need.
A lamp might work too, but some of them do get really warm, like reptile lamps, so be careful what you get.
Ours have never had problems with the house in the upper 60s, and my gut feeling is you could go to the low 60s safely especially if they have shelter (pigloo or whatever). I asked this question on a guinea pig email list and will let you know what I hear from them.
We have a couple of guinea pigs that live in outdoor hutches - and manage fine through British winters (although it hasn’t dropped below -10C here in the last few years at least.
I cover the open mesh front of the hutch in very wet or windy conditions and I give them shredded paper in the bedroom section when the weather is particularly cold.
Got a couple of opinions, both suggesting mid-to-upper 50s, as long as it’d draft-free and the pigs have a warm place to hide out (pigloo or other hidey-hole, possibly with some extra hay to act as insulation).