any advise please

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earthmother

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Hi I have 6 lovely piggies ,5 girls and one boy .At the moment they live in my bedroom in a bought cage that has 3 levels so they are in 3 pairs .Can anyone suggest a way of giving them more space .They are all related but have not been together for about 2 years so I don't know if they would all be happy together .Our home is full so there is no space in any other rooms

I could make a run that they take turns in ,in my bedroom - so in the daytime they can be out of the cages but would like to get them out of these permanently.They are not easy to clean out


It is like this but 3 layers and they are all seperate
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LARGE-IND...A%2BFICS%2BUFI&otn=21&pmod=251240384506&ps=54

If I move my room round I could make a space about 5 feet long ,maybe a bit more and was wondering if I could make something myself

I can spend about £ 50

any ideas ,suggestions please
 
A c and c cage would be ideal. I had five guinea pigs in a 8 by 3 c and c cage all living together happily. That would be enough for your six to live as a herd. There is advice on how to bond piggies on the forum and even photos of other peoples c and c cages.
 
thanks piggyfan ,is that 8 feet by 3 feet ?

I will have a read about bonding and look at cages .

I would love them all to be together and have more room
 
ive got 5 girls in a 10ft x 2.5ft enclosure - but it did house 5 girls and a neutered boy until recently.

you are going to need something at least 8ft x 2ft or 7ft x 3ft in size for 6 pigs - however if you can give them more space than that then do so, they'll really appreciate it long term.

you are not going to get that size from shop bought cages though, so a either a C&C or two x 150 cages joined together would work - the C&C would probably be your best bet....
 
thanks Sodapops ,I'm going to have a big declutter and move around to see how much space I can make for them ,will use a playpen or something for now to give them some playtime
 
For the bonding, I would introduce your pigs in a neutral area (where none of them haven't been before) so there's no territorial issues, in a playpen and/or let them have a free run in a piggy-proofed room. Give them lots of hideys, toys and treats and supervise them while they play. They might mount and sniff each other for a bit -- don't worry, they're just stating dominance.
 
thanks Abbie ,I have space for a playpen so will gather some toys and treats and look out for one in charity shops .
 
We got 4 females and I gave them 2.5m by 0.8m space and build them 2 floors structure.Despite long rumps 1 year ago we have 1 limping female and now another.I suspect that angle between rump and floor too big for their normal usage.(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=No8j7BLFiwg)
So I decide to build another structure to lower angle and make their structure as flat as possible.Currently difference between floors is 25cm and rump length is 85cm (new cage). There is also my guineas not use it all day as they sleep under sofa(they free range). So from my experience I think cage from ebay link above not suitable for guineas because angle too big and may be good for someone else.
Best way to give them more space it to place your things under their cage and their cage place in one layer above.
 
hi kotov ,thanks for your reply ,I hope your piggies feet are better soon .

although our cage is similar we did not use the ramps so they are really 3 seperate cages one on top of the other with 2 piggies in each - like 3 seperate apartments .
 
When i bonded my group of 6 (now a group of 5) i opted for a bonding bath and then used our hallway (with a section caged off) as the bonding area. I did not use hidey houses or tunnels as fights can quickly escalate if one piggy is trapped, instead i put a great big pile of hay in the middle of the hallway and watched. It helps to have a towel and a dust pan available, if you can see things getting a little tense between two pigs put the dustpan in between the two for 10seconds or so. The towel comes in handy if a fight does break out and you need to separate quickly (by throwing the towel over one piggy - last thing you want to do is put your hands in to a cage of two fighting piggies.

As you are bonding a neutered male and a few girls, the best bit of advice i was given was to wait until the girls are in season as they are then more likely to accept a boar and allow him to 'do his thing'. The girls themselves will try to establish a 'top pig' status and so there can be a lot of bullying like behaviour, you need to closely monitor this and make sure no one is being stopped from eating/drinking/exhibiting normal behaviour.

It's not easy trying to bond a larger group, so the best thing you can do is set up your neutral territory as early in the day as possible and observe them throughout the day - i left mine in the bonding area for around 7hrs before i set up their new home - i made sure i gave myself a few hours of being able to observe them before leaving them throughout the night. Again try to leave out things like hidey houses for a few days - a trapped piggie is an anxious one.. in stead try covering the cage/enclosure with some towels or fleece - giving them a hiding space but without any possibility of any becoming trapped.

Another trick (and i still do this now) is to put fresh veg/grass on a huge plate - big enough for them to not be too close to one another but so they still have to be next to one another to eat. Alternatively for the few days after putting them together you could just scatter the veg around the cage/enclosure - that way no one is without veg and they'll enjoy looking for their food ;)

Good luck :)
 
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