All A Bit New To Us!

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Mummyfi2010

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I thought I would put up a wee post as I have became piggy owners for the first time on Friday (3 days ago) and I just wanted to say thanks-you fot all the invaluable advice that I have got from this forum both before we got cookie & crumbs and since they have come and I know that I'll be needing a lot of advice in the future too!

There is one thing that they do though that I am not too sure about and that's their hay rack! We have a C&C cage and the hay rack is a bent over square (hope that makes sense!) so as of yesterday they have started to climb in it, sit in it, burrow into it and of course poop in it! When we got them (from pets at home - maybe frowned upon but their are no rescues near us, the SSPCA didn't have any and I didn't think gumtree was a good idea! they had hay in the run and when they came home I put the hay that they came with in their cage as I thought it would be a bi tof a comfort to them wiith familiar smells etc. I had hoped to litter train (we have 2 litter trays and TBH honest its like training a child its a big helpoing of good luck!) them hence the hair rack but should I maybe just go with it and give them hay on the floor to burrow in?

I also wanted to ask we are on day 3 and one of them makes the cutest little weeking noises when she sees me and around food and will take some food from my hand. The other doesn't look the road we are on! Both my husband and daughter are getting quite upset that they are not exploring the 'loft' in their cage and don't want to be picked up but I think we are doing ok from everything else I have read? I've tried the tunnel thing but TBH they have agot abit wise to that so I have ordered 2 cosies today in the hope that that will help.

Sorry for going on, I just want to get it right!
 
Congratulations on Cookie and Crumbs :0 Great names - we had a Cookie :)

Glad you have found the forum useful so far :) Please ask any questions you may have, we are here to help and chat piggy.

We don't frown on people getting piggies from pets at home. Pigs are pigs wherever you get them from. Rescues are great but not everyone has a rescue near to them that they can adopt from. i would put the hay on the floor, piggies do like to burrow in it.
To be honest you have no chance of litter training piggies, they are little tubes on legs and go where they want. They do tend to poo while they eat and spend a LOT of time eating hay so you'll always have poo under the hay areas more than others. I personally dont like racks as piggies have been known to get stuck in them - it does depend on the design. Our piggies love mooching in the hay. You could put the hay on a plastic tray to try and keep it neater maybe if it becomes an issue?

It is really early days yet, hearing wheeking is good, the fact one is braver may help the other come out of their shell. With our first piggies after three days they still ran and hid so you are doing well. It may be worth offering food to your timid girl while she is in her hidey house and hopefully she make take it off you. Food is the best way to bribe, use food when you get round to lap times also. Start lap time for a short amount of time at first and build up. I think are are really doing well.

Piggies are prey animals and hate been picked up as it goes against all instincts so a cosy/tunnel is a good way to go as you can herd the into it.

be lovely to see some photos of them once they settle

Lee
 
Hi & welcome.
We put the hay in unused cat litter trays from the pound shop. We have several because they do get stained, there's always one of them laying in it. Ours are disgusting they poop & wee in their box then lay in it & eat the hay. We change the hay twice a day. I agree with sport_billy forget trying to train them. They do what they do, wherever they want to. Photos are good, if the hay thingy is shop bought can we see it, there are some which have killed piggies, we just want to make sure they won't get stuck in it.
 
Tiamolly123 said:
Hi & welcome.
We put the hay in unused cat litter trays from the pound shop. We have several because they do get stained, there's always one of them laying in it. Ours are disgusting they poop & wee in their box then lay in it & eat the hay. We change the hay twice a day. I agree with sport_billy forget trying to train them. They do what they do, wherever they want to. Photos are good, if the hay thingy is shop bought can we see it, there are some which have killed piggies, we just want to make sure they won't get stuck in it.
Click to expand...


Thanks - here are the pictures of the hay rack as best I can get with a crumbs sitting in the litter tray! thars a good tip about the cat litter trays!

image.webp

image.webp
 
sport_billy said:
Congratulations on Cookie and Crumbs :0 Great names - we had a Cookie :)

Glad you have found the forum useful so far :) Please ask any questions you may have, we are here to help and chat piggy.

We don't frown on people getting piggies from pets at home. Pigs are pigs wherever you get them from. Rescues are great but not everyone has a rescue near to them that they can adopt from. i would put the hay on the floor, piggies do like to burrow in it.
To be honest you have no chance of litter training piggies, they are little tubes on legs and go where they want. They do tend to poo while they eat and spend a LOT of time eating hay so you'll always have poo under the hay areas more than others. I personally dont like racks as piggies have been known to get stuck in them - it does depend on the design. Our piggies love mooching in the hay. You could put the hay on a plastic tray to try and keep it neater maybe if it becomes an issue?

It is really early days yet, hearing wheeking is good, the fact one is braver may help the other come out of their shell. With our first piggies after three days they still ran and hid so you are doing well. It may be worth offering food to your timid girl while she is in her hidey house and hopefully she make take it off you. Food is the best way to bribe, use food when you get round to lap times also. Start lap time for a short amount of time at first and build up. I think are are really doing well.

Piggies are prey animals and hate been picked up as it goes against all instincts so a cosy/tunnel is a good way to go as you can herd the into it.

be lovely to see some photos of them once they settle

Lee
Click to expand...
Thanks for the encouragement Lee!
Much appreciated! I'm going with the litter trays for the time being - we are getting some in there & I'm probably being ridiculously optimistic!
 
Mummyfi2010 said:
I thought I would put up a wee post as I have became piggy owners for the first time on Friday (3 days ago) and I just wanted to say thanks-you fot all the invaluable advice that I have got from this forum both before we got cookie & crumbs and since they have come and I know that I'll be needing a lot of advice in the future too!

There is one thing that they do though that I am not too sure about and that's their hay rack! We have a C&C cage and the hay rack is a bent over square (hope that makes sense!) so as of yesterday they have started to climb in it, sit in it, burrow into it and of course poop in it! When we got them (from pets at home - maybe frowned upon but their are no rescues near us, the SSPCA didn't have any and I didn't think gumtree was a good idea! they had hay in the run and when they came home I put the hay that they came with in their cage as I thought it would be a bi tof a comfort to them wiith familiar smells etc. I had hoped to litter train (we have 2 litter trays and TBH honest its like training a child its a big helpoing of good luck!) them hence the hair rack but should I maybe just go with it and give them hay on the floor to burrow in?

I also wanted to ask we are on day 3 and one of them makes the cutest little weeking noises when she sees me and around food and will take some food from my hand. The other doesn't look the road we are on! Both my husband and daughter are getting quite upset that they are not exploring the 'loft' in their cage and don't want to be picked up but I think we are doing ok from everything else I have read? I've tried the tunnel thing but TBH they have agot abit wise to that so I have ordered 2 cosies today in the hope that that will help.

Sorry for going on, I just want to get it right!
Click to expand...

Hi and welcome

You may find the guides in our new owners information collection when it comes to settling in, understanding and making friends with your piggies helpful. Please accept that shop piggies have not had much in the way of human interaction and that they have not long ago lost their whole social structure/support when they were shipped the various branches. Guinea pigs are prey animals and not born as animated cuddly toys; they have to yet get used to potentially hostile territory in which groping giants rule; that takes time and sometimes quite a few days to explore and become familiar with the whole territory, especially if it involves exposed, steep ramps (a concept which they are not familiar with).
Trust is a tender plant that grows only slowly and needs to some careful nurturing. Wait with handling until they don't run away when you come up to the cage and ideally take food from your hand. Push the tunnel with one end to cage rim and then try to lure/chivvy them in with a bit of a treat at the far end. Piggies are not stupid; it is always a bit of a trading with them as to their concerns and your wishes, but they can learn rituals once they know that there is something nice for them involved.

A hay rack can be dangerous for lively young piggies. If you are worried, I would recommend to opt for a hay corner instead. Litter training guinea pigs is not possible when generations grow up in pens that are scatty all over, there is no chance to learn good toilet habits. Guinea pigs are roaming group animals, so they have not evolved living in one place all the time and therefore do not need to be too savoury in their habits. Most will go as far as creating certain toilet corners - place your hay tray there, as piggies love to do their business while munching; you will also find that most guinea pigs don't have bladder control when they sleep. But because they need to eat a low of low grade food (i.e. hay), they make lots of poo all over the place. Daily poo patrol, if necessary, hay tray clean and regular cage cleans are unfortunately part and parcel of piggy life.
 
I think those are the ones that I had, they have a bar either side so they lock in place, Guinea pig trays are good & if your lucky you might get 2 in their together. Lol
 
Welcome to this friendly forum.lovely piggies.ive the same hay rack,but mine do not use it !the hay tray seems to be a bigger hit!i put a pile on the floor [hay] the jump in it ,rumble in it,just generally play in it ! two of my piggies are litter trained,but i had them from being 8 weeks old,placed a litter tray where they seemed to go most,so trained themselves.i agree it can be very hit and miss.enjoy your piggies,they grow up so fast.:)
 
Wiebke said:
Hi and welcome

You may find the guides in our new owners information collection when it comes to settling in, understanding and making friends with your piggies helpful. Please accept that shop piggies have not had much in the way of human interaction and that they have not long ago lost their whole social structure/support when they were shipped the various branches. Guinea pigs are prey animals and not born as animated cuddly toys; they have to yet get used to potentially hostile territory in which groping giants rule; that takes time and sometimes quite a few days to explore and become familiar with the whole territory, especially if it involves exposed, steep ramps (a concept which they are not familiar with).
Trust is a tender plant that grows only slowly and needs to some careful nurturing. Wait with handling until they don't run away when you come up to the cage and ideally take food from your hand. Push the tunnel with one end to cage rim and then try to lure/chivvy them in with a bit of a treat at the far end. Piggies are not stupid; it is always a bit of a trading with them as to their concerns and your wishes, but they can learn rituals once they know that there is something nice for them involved.

A hay rack can be dangerous for lively young piggies. If you are worried, I would recommend to opt for a hay corner instead. Litter training guinea pigs is not possible when generations grow up in pens that are scatty all over, there is no chance to learn good toilet habits. Guinea pigs are roaming group animals, so they have not evolved living in one place all the time and therefore do not need to be too savoury in their habits. Most will go as far as creating certain toilet corners - place your hay tray there, as piggies love to do their business while munching; you will also find that most guinea pigs don't have bladder control when they sleep. But because they need to eat a low of low grade food (i.e. hay), they make lots of poo all over the place. Daily poo patrol, if necessary, hay tray clean and regular cage cleans are unfortunately part and parcel of piggy life.
Click to expand...
 
I use a plastic bag holder from a well known Swedish store for my pigs' sweet green hay and have a tray underneath this and a tray full of meadow hay

image.webp
 
Wiebke said:
Hi and welcome

You may find the guides in our new owners information collection when it comes to settling in, understanding and making friends with your piggies helpful. Please accept that shop piggies have not had much in the way of human interaction and that they have not long ago lost their whole social structure/support when they were shipped the various branches. Guinea pigs are prey animals and not born as animated cuddly toys; they have to yet get used to potentially hostile territory in which groping giants rule; that takes time and sometimes quite a few days to explore and become familiar with the whole territory, especially if it involves exposed, steep ramps (a concept which they are not familiar with).
Trust is a tender plant that grows only slowly and needs to some careful nurturing. Wait with handling until they don't run away when you come up to the cage and ideally take food from your hand. Push the tunnel with one end to cage rim and then try to lure/chivvy them in with a bit of a treat at the far end. Piggies are not stupid; it is always a bit of a trading with them as to their concerns and your wishes, but they can learn rituals once they know that there is something nice for them involved.

A hay rack can be dangerous for lively young piggies. If you are worried, I would recommend to opt for a hay corner instead. Litter training guinea pigs is not possible when generations grow up in pens that are scatty all over, there is no chance to learn good toilet habits. Guinea pigs are roaming group animals, so they have not evolved living in one place all the time and therefore do not need to be too savoury in their habits. Most will go as far as creating certain toilet corners - place your hay tray there, as piggies love to do their business while munching; you will also find that most guinea pigs don't have bladder control when they sleep. But because they need to eat a low of low grade food (i.e. hay), they make lots of poo all over the place. Daily poo patrol, if necessary, hay tray clean and regular cage cleans are unfortunately part and parcel of piggy life.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I've been on twice daily poo patrol - even my 6 year old daughter dons her gloves!
eileen said:
Welcome to this friendly forum.lovely piggies.ive the same hay rack,but mine do not use it !the hay tray seems to be a bigger hit!i put a pile on the floor [hay] the jump in it ,rumble in it,just generally play in it ! two of my piggies are litter trained,but i had them from being 8 weeks old,placed a litter tray where they seemed to go most,so trained themselves.i agree it can be very hit and miss.enjoy your piggies,they grow up so fast.:)
Click to expand...

Thanks! that gives me some hope. I do notice that they have certain favourite areas and they seem to do most of it round the sides and where their food is
 
I am loving that yellow correx!

As far as the loft goes, please don't loose hope.
Before mine moved into their C&C they were living in a wooden outdoor hutch with a ramp.
They happily skipped up and down the ramp all day long, so I assumed the loft on the C&C would be a doddle - wrong - it took them ages to try it out!
I know of several people who have tried a ramp tunnel, but I do think that even without one they will get there in their own sweet time.
Now my lot fly up and down the ramp, and I am actually thinking of putting in a second loft.
 
Hello and a warm welcome to the forum to you, Cookie and Crumbs. Those piggies have landed on their feet with such a spacious c and c. Good luck with litter training. I've never managed it with mine!
 
Guineapigfeet said:
I use a plastic bag holder from a well known Swedish store for my pigs' sweet green hay and have a tray underneath this and a tray full of meadow hay

View attachment 52525
Click to expand...
good idea. And your water bottle that now makes sense, I'm away now to change mine over as I had the little metal wire things on the inside and it keeps falling down!
 
Swissgreys said:
I am loving that yellow correx!

As far as the loft goes, please don't loose hope.
Before mine moved into their C&C they were living in a wooden outdoor hutch with a ramp.
They happily skipped up and down the ramp all day long, so I assumed the loft on the C&C would be a doddle - wrong - it took them ages to try it out!
I know of several people who have tried a ramp tunnel, but I do think that even without one they will get there in their own sweet time.
Now my lot fly up and down the ramp, and I am actually thinking of putting in a second loft.
Click to expand...
Aw thanks! The yellow was my daughters choice!
VickiA said:
Hello and a warm welcome to the forum to you, Cookie and Crumbs. Those piggies have landed on their feet with such a spacious c and c. Good luck with litter training. I've never managed it with mine!
Click to expand...

thanks !
 
We also use cardboard boxes for the hay lined with newspaper
.....i just recycle when they have had their day.

Ours took a couple of weeks to venture up the ramp. We put trails of tasty treats to tempt them. They fly up and down it now.

I also love the yellow correx. Our daughter chose blue but yellow would have been my pick!
 
Awwwww :love: they are gorgeous. Glad you have had lots of nice helpful replies in this thread :)
 
I have been watching youtube videos. Really good. Esp. the taming ones.

Here is one that I saw last night. Very good imo;
 
flowerfairy said:
I have been watching youtube videos. Really good. Esp. the taming ones.

Here is one that I saw last night. Very good imo;
Click to expand...

Oh thanks! That is a really good video, thanks for sharing. We are doing all of that with them, although the hand feeding is quite hit & miss! One is certainly braver than the other and will come right up to my hand when I'm spot cleaning twice a day
 
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