The heavy snowfall (9″) didn’t dissuade my Guinea pigs at all. The 1/4″ mesh acted like a roof in and of itself. I have been feeding fodder fairly consistently, and any of the Guinea pigs that had mange are starting to grow back their hair. Not seeing any ringworm either. I put a lid on to protect them from any of the elements. But, I think that the automatic watering system needs to be redesigned, and I have resigned to filling up the water bottle again.