Hello friends!
I just wanted to post a picture of my current cage set up and see if there is anything I can do to it to enrich my piggies more
I have attached images but I will explain it a bit too. Two piggies (a neutered nearly 3 year old Boar named Beemo and a nearly 5 month old Sow named Poppy. We are unsure of Beemo's date of birth as he is a recuse, however we treat the day he came to us as his Birthday so he will be 3 years old on March 23rd which is also the 1 year anniversary of having him. Poppy will be 5 months old on February 1st. For anyone wondering - Yes, Beemo was alone for a few months when I first got him. This is due to him being very unwell and not neutered when I first got him so my priority was very much getting him well enough to be neutered and even be around another pig. In April I am expecting to get a 2nd baby sow so the cage will be adjusted for that.) in a 2x4 C&C cage made from the 14 inch grids. They have two hides however I have drapped a covering on either side of the cage and placed comfy liners on top of the houses as they both (mainly Poppy) like to sit on top of the houses so I wanted to make it as comfy as possible for them. These liners (both on top of the house and inside the house) are changed daily as sadly they are not the most absorbable, however I have ordered new pee pads which should arrive on Wednesday. They do also like to sit/sleep in the empty spaces under the shade and the brown blanket also blocks out the light from the sun.
On Wednesday I am adding a loft to their hide and moving their kitchen area there. They are also getting new fleece hides (sleep sacks, fleece forests, tunnels, cuddle cups and hideys.)
MISSING FROM THE PICTURE - These pictures where taken right after cleaning the cage so the litter box has yet to be put in. They previously had a 2x1 litter box however it took up a lot of space as it was a plastic storage box that I cut into a litter box. This snapped this morning and I removed it as I did not want to risk them getting cut, even though it would be unlikely. Their new litter box (which will be a lot smaller) will be arriving in around an hour and will be placed under the hay bag so they have two forms of access to hay.
They have 6 toys in their cage however they both keep chewing on the Coroplast and Poppy is chewing barns - this has only started recently and they seem to stop when I give them attention so I am inclined to believe that it is just to get my attention as my computer desk is right next to them. Any advice around this would be very much appreciated too
They also have 2 water bottles as well as 2 bowls for veggies and 2 bowls for pellets so that they don't fight over anything. The bowls are always taken out after they have eaten. They are fed 3 times a day - Morning veggies, afternoon pellets and evening veggies and constant access to fresh hay which is topped up twice a day in the hay bag and replaced every morning in the litter box. It used to be 2 feeds however I split the veggies in half as I noticed they would get a bit hungry towards night time.
They also have a weekly health check every Wednesday which involves stuff like grooming, checking their teeth/eyes, trimming nails, checking their sacks, boar cleaning for Beemo if needed (so far in the past year he has only had this once at the vets) and their weight which is all documented and filed.
This post was originally meant to be how I can improve their cage, however now I would also like advice on how I can improve my care for them.
These are my first ever Guinea Pigs and the first time I have ever actually interacted with pigs before. This past year with Beemo has been a challenge, at first I thought that maybe I took on too much responsibility as he was very sickly and I had 0 experience and knowledge and Guinea Pigs. Taking Beemo in was very much a spur of the moment situation - he was from an incredibly neglectful situation and I had went into Pets at Home to look for toys for my cousins new puppy. When walking past the adoption centre he was in a very small enclosed glass enclosure on his own and my heart broke. I fell in love with him and within 20 minutes I was taking him home. This is not a jab at Pets at Home - I will not comment on how they treat animals as I do not know everything that goes behind the scene but the people who work at my local branch are always lovely and they were very caring for Beemo (Previously known as Dino ). I spent a long time researching how to help him, took him to the vet my cousin worked at weekly, he's been through 2 surgeries and at one point I thought maybe I should rehome him to someone who was a better guinea pig owner. But I stuck through and now he's incredibly happy and healthy and has my whole heart and more.
Thanks!
Rin
I just wanted to post a picture of my current cage set up and see if there is anything I can do to it to enrich my piggies more
I have attached images but I will explain it a bit too. Two piggies (a neutered nearly 3 year old Boar named Beemo and a nearly 5 month old Sow named Poppy. We are unsure of Beemo's date of birth as he is a recuse, however we treat the day he came to us as his Birthday so he will be 3 years old on March 23rd which is also the 1 year anniversary of having him. Poppy will be 5 months old on February 1st. For anyone wondering - Yes, Beemo was alone for a few months when I first got him. This is due to him being very unwell and not neutered when I first got him so my priority was very much getting him well enough to be neutered and even be around another pig. In April I am expecting to get a 2nd baby sow so the cage will be adjusted for that.) in a 2x4 C&C cage made from the 14 inch grids. They have two hides however I have drapped a covering on either side of the cage and placed comfy liners on top of the houses as they both (mainly Poppy) like to sit on top of the houses so I wanted to make it as comfy as possible for them. These liners (both on top of the house and inside the house) are changed daily as sadly they are not the most absorbable, however I have ordered new pee pads which should arrive on Wednesday. They do also like to sit/sleep in the empty spaces under the shade and the brown blanket also blocks out the light from the sun. On Wednesday I am adding a loft to their hide and moving their kitchen area there. They are also getting new fleece hides (sleep sacks, fleece forests, tunnels, cuddle cups and hideys.)
MISSING FROM THE PICTURE - These pictures where taken right after cleaning the cage so the litter box has yet to be put in. They previously had a 2x1 litter box however it took up a lot of space as it was a plastic storage box that I cut into a litter box. This snapped this morning and I removed it as I did not want to risk them getting cut, even though it would be unlikely. Their new litter box (which will be a lot smaller) will be arriving in around an hour and will be placed under the hay bag so they have two forms of access to hay.
They have 6 toys in their cage however they both keep chewing on the Coroplast and Poppy is chewing barns - this has only started recently and they seem to stop when I give them attention so I am inclined to believe that it is just to get my attention as my computer desk is right next to them. Any advice around this would be very much appreciated too
They also have 2 water bottles as well as 2 bowls for veggies and 2 bowls for pellets so that they don't fight over anything. The bowls are always taken out after they have eaten. They are fed 3 times a day - Morning veggies, afternoon pellets and evening veggies and constant access to fresh hay which is topped up twice a day in the hay bag and replaced every morning in the litter box. It used to be 2 feeds however I split the veggies in half as I noticed they would get a bit hungry towards night time.
They also have a weekly health check every Wednesday which involves stuff like grooming, checking their teeth/eyes, trimming nails, checking their sacks, boar cleaning for Beemo if needed (so far in the past year he has only had this once at the vets) and their weight which is all documented and filed.
This post was originally meant to be how I can improve their cage, however now I would also like advice on how I can improve my care for them.
These are my first ever Guinea Pigs and the first time I have ever actually interacted with pigs before. This past year with Beemo has been a challenge, at first I thought that maybe I took on too much responsibility as he was very sickly and I had 0 experience and knowledge and Guinea Pigs. Taking Beemo in was very much a spur of the moment situation - he was from an incredibly neglectful situation and I had went into Pets at Home to look for toys for my cousins new puppy. When walking past the adoption centre he was in a very small enclosed glass enclosure on his own and my heart broke. I fell in love with him and within 20 minutes I was taking him home. This is not a jab at Pets at Home - I will not comment on how they treat animals as I do not know everything that goes behind the scene but the people who work at my local branch are always lovely and they were very caring for Beemo (Previously known as Dino
). I spent a long time researching how to help him, took him to the vet my cousin worked at weekly, he's been through 2 surgeries and at one point I thought maybe I should rehome him to someone who was a better guinea pig owner. But I stuck through and now he's incredibly happy and healthy and has my whole heart and more. Thanks!
Rin
