Caring for our pets and other animals becomes even more crucial as the temperature drops and winter settles in. Cold weather can pose serious risks to animals, whether they live indoors or outdoors, and being proactive in their care can help ensure their health and safety through the harshest months. There are simple yet important steps every pet owner can take to keep their animals comfortable and safe during the winter season. In this post, we'll explore practical tips and essential guidelines for caring for your furry, feathered, or scaly friends when the chill sets in.
Pets
When it comes to our pets, we have more control over how we can keep them happy and healthy during the colder months of the year. A great place to start is their environment. Indoor pets like dogs and cats should have appropriate levels of bedding and warm places to get away from drafts. Outdoor pets like rabbits or birds in enclosures also need to be provided with extra bedding to burrow and for use as insulation. Any outdoor enclosures should ideally have sloped rooves to allow rainwater to drain, as well as face away from wind and rain.
When out and about, consider putting your dog in warm clothes for walks, as well as reflective leads and clothing for when the nights draw in. It’s also really important to wash off their paws after a walk, as rock salt and antifreeze are both poisonous to dogs. You should also thoroughly dry their feet to prevent sores. Be sure to keep animals with weaker joints steady on icy roads. Outdoor cats also tend to hunker down under cars for warmth, so give your car a quick check before setting off on any journey.
Festive reminder: Some plants that you may choose to decorate your home with are poisonous to your animals. Poinsettias, holly, ivy, mistletoe and lilies can be toxic, so keep them away from your pets.
Wildlife
As well as your own animal friends, it’s important to also give a thought for the wildlife around you during the colder seasons. The best way to help out during this time is in mindful gardening practices. In particular, choosing not to prune certain healthy herbaceous and hollow-stemmed plants, as well as fruit-bearing bushes, provides indispensable food and shelter for birds and local wildlife.
Choosing to leave fallen leaves and twigs provides food and shelter for insects and small animals, which in turn become food for larger insects. This contribution to the food chain is really important at the harshest time of the year. You can even do this on a balcony, leaving a small corner of leaves and dust for sheltering insects. If you have a pond in your garden, toxic gases can build up under the surface if it freezes over. Heat a saucepan and gently place it on the surface of the ice to melt a small hole. This will help expel those gases, allow a space to drink, and provide a place for animals to enter and exit the pond.
REMINDER: When lighting bonfires this winter, check for hibernating animals. If you find any, leave them be.
It's also a good idea to make sure there’s plenty of food and water around for birds and small animals. Some ways you can do this are:
Keep fat balls or coconut halves filled with suet outside for birds to eat
If you live in a flat with a balcony, you could even buy bird feeders that suction to windows or clamp onto balcony railings
Pop a shallow dish at ground level for ground-feeding birds and small wildlife
Provide a variety of food for different birds, like seeds for sparrows and finches, and fat for robins and tits.
Tips from our Ranger Team
Reptiles and Amhibians
Being ectotherms, our reptiles and amphibians rely on external sources of heat to keep warm. In the wild that would be the sun and over winter naturally they would find somewhere cozy to hide and hibernate through the winter months.
Our setups require heat lamps to keep the overall temp of the enclosures warm for our animals
Plus the hot end of the enclosure will have a spot for the animal to bask and absorb heat in order to digest it’s food
When we are traveling, rangers travel with a heat mat in the bag next to our reptiles and amphibians to keep them cozy. We also travel with a hot water bottle as a back up!
(This requires electricity, so when owning a reptile expect your bill to go up during winter)
Invertebrates
Some minibeasts require heat too - especially those that are not native to our country such as the ones we work with.
As with our reptiles and amphibians, our invertebrates may need a heat mat at home during the winter months if the room temp drops below 16C.
If it’s too cold they start to slow down a lot and stop feeding.
Heat mats must always be placed on the side of the enclosure and never the bottom! (This allows the animals to move away from the heat if needed)
Mammals
Mammals are a bit more resilient to colder weathers due to being warm-blooded. They are called endotherms and make their own body heat. Mammals usually have fur or hair too which helps to keep them warm. However, this doesn’t mean they are completely cold-resistant and still need to be cared for in winter.
Small animals such as rabbits and guinea pigs can be provided with pet safe heat pads that warm up in the microwave. These can be put under blankets or under straw bedding for a cozy sleeping spot.
For other animals such as gerbils/hamsters etc its not recommended to put anything inside the enclosure due to chewing hazards. Instead they should always be housed inside and if the room temperature drops very low perhaps a hot water bottle could be placed outside the enclosure.
For all mammals remember to provide lots of extra bedding, lots of snuggly hiding spots and if it is a species that should be housed in groups or pairs - make sure they are so they can snuggle together too.
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