Can guinea pig free roam ?

[Threetinypigs]

I wanted to know if I could just let my guinea pigs roam around my room as a permenant ‘cage’. If so should I put anything on the floor ?

 

[piggieminder]

One of mine has some time everyday free roaming when we are here to keep an eye on him, none of my others are impressed by it and like to stay in their cages or just have a shortish floor time. We have wooden floor which is easy to wash so I don't worry too much about it but I do put a puppy pad with a fleece mat on top under the cupboard where Caspy likes to lie. You need to block off all electric cables and anything dangerous, I use spare C&C grids for this. Unless the piggies have a room of their own with a washable flooring and lots of hidies I wouldn't leave them out permanently, I think most would find the huge space daunting and scary.

 

[Guineapigfeet]

Mine free roam my dining room at weekends. You’d need to make sure there’s no wires etc for them to chew and they will most probably toilet wherever they are at the time of need. I find usually it’s under cover (under the dining table) and in corners

 

[Goth Mummy]

I have Boo, who is 6 years old on 2nd August who free roams around the ground floor of my house. His companion Sandy-Claws (1 year old on 10th August!) likes to stay near to his cage and rarely ventures out of the kitchen/playroom. I find it funny because Boo runs to the door when some knocks (he follows me) and visitors look down like "What....is that?!" Boo is allowed to do whatever he wants and is a very friendly and human orientated guinea pig, more like a small dog. The others are very young and I would not trust them to free range, they would just hide I think. Oh, and the ground floor is all either polished floor boards or slate tiles. No carpets! And I sweep up and damp mop several times a day.

 

[Bill & Ted]

Free roaming is lovely as long as you make the room safe.
Think about
Cable and wires
Children’s/adults feet and general excitable play
Other pets
Washable surfaces like flooring
house plants (poisoning)
Chewing furniture

If any of these are a potential problem then purchase a playpen and waterproof tablecloth or shower curtain for the base.

 

[artcasper]

When I first got mine i used to pop a fleece on the wooden floor and there were no barriers as such - they would NOT step off the fleece at all lol! It was like it was hot lava..... They now have a indoor pen so I know they are safe - we have a piano in the front room and i wouldn't fancy one of them getting stuck under that!

 

[anyar.dris]

My piggies are free roam in the living room, apart from night time (around 10pm to 8am) or whenever hubby and I go out for the day. We just close the gate of the C&C. They love it! They have a big space to play around. The downside to this is the floor is always messy (hay, hair, food, sometimes poo) but as long as they know the area they can lay down and rest (including poo and pee) then it's good. I put puppy pads under the coffee table just to make sure it catches the occasional poo and pee. I also blocked all the areas they are not allowed to go to, like under and back of the sofa, computer table, TV stand, etc.