Splits in Winter

[betty]

I was just wondering whether anyone had any thoughts on winter/cold weather splits?

I am currently splitting 2 pairs together and they are sitting in their bald halves each with very little to do and it is also quite cold here.

They have a heat pad at night and hay and shavings for a bed of course, but the bedding itself is quite shallow and they have no house or tunnels etc.

Am I actually being a bit mean - or do you think the ends justify the means? Do you think having been cold they are more likely to appreciate a friend when they get one?

They seem in good spirits when they are awake and swapped over, but when I see them trying to sleep, I just wonder...

[t1gg3er]

With all the splits we've done we've given them a good amount of toilet paper to build their nests - they've all been happy enough to sleep in each others nests without re-building them. Our tank lids are open mesh so we've also covered the tank with a fleece blanket at night when the heating goes off.

Maybe giving them toilet paper to nest with isn't how it's supposed to be done but it doesn't seem to have caused any problems - 4 out of the 5 splits we've tried have worked.

[betty]

Ah yes, I hadn't thought of fleece over the top, I was just heating mine from beneath, but yes, mine are mesh covered too. It's just sitting here with such a large amount of glass on view to shavings ratio.

Perhaps I will double check for draughts at night, and then a fleece might have a better effect on that.

And hopefully by the weekend I will have had 4 out of 4 successful splits - but whether they are colder than usual, I suppose we might never know? But then if being colder than usual is a key factor in accepting a friend then perhaps splits in winter aren't so bad after all?

[betty]

For some reason this went into the Breeding Section - not sure how that happened? Is there any way to move it? Hmm?