Guinea pigs onboard

[HanaE]

Hi,

I will be getting my first NB in the spring. I have 2 indoor guinea pigs who I love dearly. I have been planning to bring them with me. They are both pretty good at quickly getting used to new things but was wondering how doable and safe it will be for them? My biggest concern is keeping them cool in hot weather and warm in cold weather, especially when im at work. I will be joining a nursing agency, so will be gone for around 14 hours a day 3 times a week and worried about maintaining temperatures when im not there. 

 

I'm just curious to hear some feedback and experiences from people who have/had guinea pigs or other small rodents on boars.

 

Thanks 😊 

[LadyG]

If you are on shorepower it should be easy, a fan to create a draught in summer, and a bar heater for winter.

A modern narrowboat should be foam insulated which will prevent overheating, I keep curtains closed and the curtains  are lined with an  extra lining of  insulating fabric. I often have some windows and curtains open an inch to create a draught in a heatwave .

My roof, and indeed the cabin sides are a light colour to reflect heat. I would think they would be fine in winter, use less bedding in summer and have plenty of ventilation in their living quarters.

Edited August 11, 2023 by LadyG

[Pie Eater]

Have a look at the Boat Time vlog. They have a guinea pig or a rabbit.

[HanaE]

Thank you, sounds very positive. May I ask do you have guinea pigs or rabbits?

 

Unfortunately I will be cc'ing for the first few years so I won't be connected to shore power but hope the boat will already have solar panels, if not will plan to get them as soon as possible. How safe/practical is it to keep a fan going for the day on battery power with solar panels? 

 

Also, I hear the boating community is very helpful. Would it be cheeky to ask a neighbour to pop in during the day to swap over covered ice bottles?

 

Also, how do you find the space to fit in a decent sized hutch? It's just me so planning on a 45ft, maximum 50ft. 

 

Also, what do you do in regards to registering with a vetinary practice if always on the move?

 

Thanks 😊 

1 minute ago, Pie Eater said:

Have a look at the Boat Time vlog. They have a guinea pig or a rabbit.

Thays great, will have a look thank you 😊 

[LadyG]

I have a cat, plus lots of animal care in the past.

I still have a local registered vet practice as he was a rescue,  but I will just use a local vet or PetsatHome if necessary. 

For most things like banking I use a relatives address.

i have not changed my registered GP, but you can use a local one by walking in, as one would do on holiday.  This works as long as you don't have any long term issues.

I don't start any conversation with "I live on a boat" lol. 

Edited August 11, 2023 by LadyG

[blackrose]

55 minutes ago, LadyG said:

If you are on shorepower it should be easy, a fan to create a draught in summer, and a bar heater for winter.

 

 

DON'T use a bar heater on a boat unattended they are a fire risk. Use an electric oil filled radiator. Much safer.

[Rob-M]

39 minutes ago, HanaE said:

Thank you, sounds very positive. May I ask do you have guinea pigs or rabbits?

 

Unfortunately I will be cc'ing for the first few years so I won't be connected to shore power but hope the boat will already have solar panels, if not will plan to get them as soon as possible. How safe/practical is it to keep a fan going for the day on battery power with solar panels? 

 

Also, I hear the boating community is very helpful. Would it be cheeky to ask a neighbour to pop in during the day to swap over covered ice bottles?

 

Also, how do you find the space to fit in a decent sized hutch? It's just me so planning on a 45ft, maximum 50ft. 

 

Also, what do you do in regards to registering with a vetinary practice if always on the move?

 

Thanks 😊 

Thays great, will have a look thank you 😊 

If you are out for 14hrs of the day you may struggle with battery charging, especially in the late autumn, winter and early spring when solar doesn't deliver much.  Running your engine or a generator for charging is only permitted between 8am and 8pm.

[HanaE]

12 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

If you are out for 14hrs of the day you may struggle with battery charging, especially in the late autumn, winter and early spring when solar doesn't deliver much.  Running your engine or a generator for charging is only permitted between 8am and 8pm.

It's not every day, just 3 times a week, but in the height of summer I plan to have around 6 weeks off work with the odd shift here and there. 

 

How long roughly will the battery last once powered to full and with only a low volt fridge/freezer and low volt heater? 

[Quattrodave]

12 minutes ago, HanaE said:

How long roughly will the battery last once powered to full and with only a low volt fridge/freezer and low volt heater? 

 

Massive subject there and one you will need to get to grips with pretty quickly.  Please read and digest the 'Battery Primer' sticky post that will help you get an understanding of living with batteries...

 

Sorry really too many variables to answer your question directly. Ideally you'd need a power audit and need to know what, how many and battery condition, how much solar & your recharge routine...

Edited August 11, 2023 by Quattrodave

[HanaE]

22 minutes ago, Quattrodave said:

 

Massive subject there and one you will need to get to grips with pretty quickly.  Please read and digest the 'Battery Primer' sticky post that will help you get an understanding of living with batteries...

 

Sorry really too many variables to answer your question directly. Ideally you'd need a power audit and need to know what, how many and battery condition, how much solar & your recharge routine...

That's perfect advice, will have a look thank you.

 

That's why im starting early to get a full understanding now.

[Alan de Enfield]

45 minutes ago, HanaE said:

It's not every day, just 3 times a week, but in the height of summer I plan to have around 6 weeks off work with the odd shift here and there. 

 

If you are going to be working a few days per week, and are CCing how will you get from the boat to 'work' ?

As a CCer you are not allowed to stay the same locality for more than 14 days (or less if signposted - eg 24 hours, 2 days etc) Will you be working at a different hospital every week ?

 

Before commiting to a boat life, you need to ensure that you can comply with the movement requirements, you cannot just 'claim' a bit of canal bank and stay there as long as you want (although some do try - particularly in the South).

[Tony Brooks]

1 hour ago, HanaE said:

How long roughly will the battery last once powered to full and with only a low volt fridge/freezer and low volt heater? 

 

The low volt heater bit worries me. A low voltage heater with no other information is likely to consume a lot of amps, and it is amps that the battery "stores", not really volts. As a guide, do not use battery sourced electricity to do any form of heating unless the boat was properly designed to cope with that. Not only will doing so latten the batteries quickly, but it also will take longer to recharge them. For live-a-boards who are CCing it is fully recharging that is the major problem.

 

Similarly, the fridge and freezer, it is the amps they consume that is important to you, not the voltage. A 12V compressor fridge will require between 30 and 50 amp hours (Ah) per day. Consider a freezer to be similar. The pair would require up to 100Ah per day (give or take) and to supply that you would need two x 110Ah batteries that are fully recharged each day.

[HanaE]

7 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

If you are going to be working a few days per week, and are CCing how will you get from the boat to 'work' ?

As a CCer you are not allowed to stay the same locality for more than 14 days (or less if signposted - eg 24 hours, 2 days etc) Will you be working at a different hospital every week ?

 

Before commiting to a boat life, you need to ensure that you can comply with the movement requirements, you cannot just 'claim' a bit of canal bank and stay there as long as you want (although some do try - particularly in the South).

I will be joining a nursing agency and NHS professional bank so I can pick and choose where/when I want to work. 

 

So I will need to plan ahead and tell the agency what area i will be in for that period. And be smart on where I will moor for the 2 weeks and ensure its either close enough to public transport, clear direction for taxi or walking distance. If its difficult to get to then I won't book any shifts at certain sites. So every shift will be a different ward or hospital yes.

 

I will be earning more as agency, so it's possible I won't need to work as many hours as I do now. I already travel and hour for work so commuting is not new for me. 

 

unfortunately, i dont have any other qorking experience, just nursing. But it can be incredibly flexible and can go anywhere with it 😊.

 

 

[LadyG]

I wonder if you could get a mooring preferably with power in the winter, I realise this will add costs, but you are going to find organising the boat around your life soon becomes organising your life around the boat.

Coming home after a long shift to a muddy dark towpath, finding a cold boat and low batteries, an hour to get the stove sorted, and so to bed ....

Spending your days off trying to find a nice mooring (daylight hours only) where you can safely leave the boat, presumably park the car, charge up the batteries, empty the cassette, fill up with water, arrange delivery of coal and logs. You will probably find a suitable area and shuffle the boat around those facilities moving every fourteen days. I am retired, I manage, just, in winter, but I think only the dedicated boater has the motivation to enjoy this lifestyle in the winter.

Sorry to be the bearer of doom and gloom, but  you will cope if you have a bucket of resilience and a few £K in hand for fixes.

PS I don't run my fridge full time. I use a LED reading lamp, there are other adjustments, laundry, showering, etc. You will soon become familiar with the Parkhouse brand 😄

 

 

 

Edited August 11, 2023 by LadyG

[Tacet]

For keeping warm, the usual way is to have a solid fuel stove and keep it lit day and night throughout the winter.  If you burn coal, the fire should stay in for a whole shift.

 

There are diesel drip- fed stoves too, which will do much the same but the pressurised diesel central heating systems (Webasto, Mikuni, Eberspacher) are not so well suited to continuous running.

 

Electric and gas heating has its problems and is unsuited to the arrangements you intend.

[Rob-M]

Could you do more shifts during the winter months and take a short-term winter mooring in a marina with shore power, then have more time off in the summer and go boating...?

[LadyG]

31 minutes ago, Tacet said:

For keeping warm, the usual way is to have a solid fuel stove and keep it lit day and night throughout the winter.  If you burn coal, the fire should stay in for a whole shift.

 

There are diesel drip- fed stoves too, which will do much the same but the pressurised diesel central heating systems (Webasto, Mikuni, Eberspacher) are not so well suited to continuous running.

 

Electric and gas heating has its problems and is unsuited to the arrangements you intend.

I keep my stove running 24/7 five months of the year, maybe just overnight when it's not really cold, but I have the Webasto as well which kicks in if the stove goes out or when I need a boost in spring or autumn.

It also provides hot water in about thirty minutes.

If you can find a boat which has these things, plus solar, and it all looks tidy, it will be worth investigating, trying to get a boatyard to do these installs can be hit and miss, and expensive. If the boat has been on shore power permanently, expect to have to replace the batteries when off grid, this is because there has been no need to look after the batteries properly and they don't suffer fools gladly!

It's probably best to stay with shore power, for a few winter months, in which case you won't need to buy new domestic batteries.

The domestic batteries supply electricity for lighting, running water, and both shower pumps (water in, waste out), the diesel heater also uses power from the domestic batteries, so you see the need for putting energy into them, one way or the other.

Edited August 11, 2023 by LadyG

[HanaE]

31 minutes ago, LadyG said:

I wonder if you could get a mooring in the winter, I realise this will add costs, but you are going to find organising the boat around your life soon becomes organising your life around the boat.

Coming home after a long shift to a muddy dark towpath, finding a cold boat and low batteries, an hour to get the stove sorted, and so to bed ....

Spending your days off trying to find a nice mooring (daylight hours only) where you can safely leave the boat, presumably park the car, charge up the batteries, empty the cassette, fill up with water, arrange delivery of coal and logs. You will probably find a suitable area and shuffle the boat around those facilities moving every fourteen days. I am retired, I manage, just, in winter, but I think only the dedicated boater has the motivation to enjoy this lifestyle in the winter.

Sorry to be the bearer of doom and gloom, but  you will cope if you have a bucket of resilience and a few £K in hand for fixes.

PS I don't run my fridge full time. I use a LED reading lamp, there are other adjustments, laundry, showering, etc. You will soon become familiar with the Parkhouse brand 😄

 

 

 

That was my origional plan. To have a residential winter mooring for the exact reasons you specified. I want to stay around the Oxford and Reading area during winter. I did look at some marinas but the prices where so expensive! About 50% of the boat purchase will be from a loan. Its possible I wasnt searching properly 😅. 

 

Yes I gave myself 2 years to prepare financially, so I will also have a comfortable pot of savings

12 minutes ago, LadyG said:

I keep my stove running 24/7 five months of the year, maybe just overnight when it's not really cold, but I have the Webasto as well which kicks in if the stove goes out or when I need a boost in spring or autumn.

It also provides hot water in about thirty minutes.

If you can find a boat which has these things, plus solar, and it all looks tidy, it will be worth investigating, trying to get a boatyard to do these installs can be hit and miss, and expensive. If the boat has been on shore power permanently, expect to have to replace the batteries, this is because there has been no need to look after the batteries properly and they don't suffer fools gladly!

The webasto is central heating system for the boat? Is it worth having?

24 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

Could you do more shifts during the winter months and take a short-term winter mooring in a marina with shore power, then have more time off in the summer and go boating...?

Yes that was my origional plan, but the area I wanted to huddle down in during winter (Reading/Oxford) was really expensive. Its possible I wasnt looking properly! I will also have a loan to pay for 50% of the boat

[ditchcrawler]

3 hours ago, HanaE said:

Hi,

I will be getting my first NB in the spring. I have 2 indoor guinea pigs who I love dearly. I have been planning to bring them with me. They are both pretty good at quickly getting used to new things but was wondering how doable and safe it will be for them? My biggest concern is keeping them cool in hot weather and warm in cold weather, especially when im at work. I will be joining a nursing agency, so will be gone for around 14 hours a day 3 times a week and worried about maintaining temperatures when im not there. 

 

I'm just curious to hear some feedback and experiences from people who have/had guinea pigs or other small rodents on boars.

 

Thanks 😊 

When I was a kid, like lots of kids I had a guinea pig and it lived outside in a hatch 12 months a year, sun, rain and snow. it lived to a good old age as well. You didnt have things like that in the house in those days

[Tony Brooks]

2 minutes ago, HanaE said:

That was my origional plan. To have a residential winter mooring for the exact reasons you specified. I want to stay around the Oxford and Reading area during winter. I did look at some marinas but the prices where so expensive! About 50% of the boat purchase will be from a loan. Its possible I wasnt searching properly 😅. 

 

Yes I gave myself 2 years to prepare financially, so I will also have a comfortable pot of savings

 

Be wary about trying to live on the Thames in winter. The Thames floods badly and, unlike the towpath side of canals, the banks are owned by the riparian landowners, so they tend to charge for mooring or not allow any. The charge is likely to be by the day. Any non-charging potential moorings are likely to be full of long term CCers who have no intention of moving.

 

The lock cuts at the Reading end of the K&A are safe to moor in flood risk wise, but the Kennet river properly can also get  a bit hairy in winter. Look at Froudes Bridge marina and Southcote Moorings on the K&A plus those in Newbury.  Thames marinas are likely to be expensive. There are a lot of weird moorings in Oxford that have conditions attached to them and they tend to change hands for a lot of money. That leaves less space for genuine CCers.

 

Look and https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/enjoy-the-waterways/boating/moorings/waterside-mooring

 but in many cases they claim that they are not for living aboard. The Thames is a different navigation authority, so has different rules and a different license.

[LadyG]

OK, well you are looking for a good second hand boat, something from 45 foot upwards.

If you find something on Apollo Duck  the forumites will point out the pros and the cons.

There is one near you, it's called Buggalugs or some such!

It has no diesel heating, seems a bit pricey, but I presume that is par for the course, location and the narrowboat market is heated.

It's been tarted up a bit for sale, and I am sure something more suitable will come along, but you can gather a bit of local information and have a look for other boats for sale.

It's £55k, I'm not suggesting you buy it, I'm suggesting you view! 

 

22 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

When I was a kid, like lots of kids I had a guinea pig and it lived outside in a hatch 12 months a year, sun, rain and snow. it lived to a good old age as well. You didnt have things like that in the house in those days

The hutch could be under a cratch in winter, but they need shade in summer, not so easy. Maybe someone else will take them over if OP can't cope. Living in such a small space, might not work well.

Edited August 11, 2023 by LadyG

[HanaE]

35 minutes ago, Tacet said:

For keeping warm, the usual way is to have a solid fuel stove and keep it lit day and night throughout the winter.  If you burn coal, the fire should stay in for a whole shift.

 

There are diesel drip- fed stoves too, which will do much the same but the pressurised diesel central heating systems (Webasto, Mikuni, Eberspacher) are not so well suited to continuous running.

 

Electric and gas heating has its problems and is unsuited to the arrangements you intend.

Is that safe though? To have a fire going for so long unattended?

42 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

When I was a kid, like lots of kids I had a guinea pig and it lived outside in a hatch 12 months a year, sun, rain and snow. it lived to a good old age as well. You didnt have things like that in the house in those days

That's exactly what my mum says 😂 

[LadyG]

23 minutes ago, HanaE said:

Is that safe though? To have a fire going for so long unattended?

If you are talking about the solid fuel stove, I would say it is more likely to go out than it is to set the boat on fire.

I always make sure mine is clear of ashes, before I leave it, and the fire is stable.

The first night I stayed on board my stove pretty much took hold and got very hot, too hot.

I don't think it had ever been used, so all clean, and it probably was a windy night!

One reason being that the door did not seat tight so too much air got in.

I would prefer a well known and recommended brand.

I think both vents were also open, and I probably did all the wrong things, too much fuel for a start.

Anyway, I have a new lock on the door, so it is tight.

I also have a secondary wire which would prevent it swinging open if the boat crashed in to something when travelling though I prefer not to have it lit when moving.

I also have an angle iron rim round the hearth so any embers which might fall out when stoking the fire are retained .

A smoke alarm and a CO alarm, two of each.

CO in bedroom and saloon, Fire alarm above cooker and near stove.

I am not sure about the Refleks/Bubble, but I believe they need very little attention to run 24/7

Edited August 11, 2023 by LadyG

[MtB]

2 hours ago, HanaE said:

That's why im starting early to get a full understanding now.

 

That's a tall order. 

 

I've been boating for 45 years and still don't truly, fully, understand batteries. 

 

 

[HanaE]

I have lots to look forward to then 😅