Keeping outdoor pets warm in winter

Let me write this up before winter is up. One day I checked the outdoor temperature and was alarmed that it fell to around 45F. The critters are like living in the fridge, and not a lot above freezing (32F). If you add in the wind chill factor, it's freezing.

Our critters' home is converted from something else. I taped some of the windows and used cardboard to block the others. The cage door is the problem. It's pretty irregular, not square nor completely vertical. There's also the stupid water bottle that needed to hang on the outside. I used sheets of bubble wrapping to cover it, supported by thin PVC pipes, and held tight against the door by rubber bands and strings. Air trapped in the bubbles should be great heat insulators. The tiny hole is sealed by clear tape so I can see the digital temperature reading inside - it was a spare central heating control panel. It was designed so that kids can easily put it on and off quickly. And for very cold nights, clips can be used to make sure everything is air tight.

Ideally, I need a heater to bring the temperature back to above 60F or higher. A simple light bulb with a shield will be enough, but I wouldn't want to disrupt the nightlife of the critters. An infrared bulb for pets may be good, but I still think that it may be too bright. The cheap ones may just be colored dark red.

I think the fake stones for reptiles are perfect. The critters can't attack it. It will not be too hot to touch on the surface. It will just like another warm or hot body. It will be easy to clean. But I thought of a cheaper solution - soldering irons.

When your soldering isn't in use, it can be used as a heater. Better still I had an old broken iron, the soldering tip of which cannot be replaced. Just happened that I have a mounting bracket for thin PVC pipes. I mount the handle of the soldering iron on so that the tip don't touch anything but air. I surround the iron with wood to shield it from critters.


I was right that the soldering iron should have something like an auto cutoff to prevent overheat, but not a fuse. I can just leave the iron on overnight. I also have plenty of unused timers for Christmas lights.

The critters wasn't afraid to stay near it. They feel at ease.

Being a small heater, there's no point hanging high up in the cage. It have to be near the floor and near the critters. So I should have use acrylic for the shield. The openings should be much small and finer so no litters, pieces of dry food can get in to "burn". Also if the soldering tip ever touches the shield, acrylic will just melt instead of turning brown like wood.