Could you help me process please…

Ruth1

Ruth1

Adult Guinea Pig
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If you have time/experience…

So I have a spare room - it’s become a dumping ground and I’m thinking I should give it to the piggies. It would at least double their space. I’ve thought of treating it like a big shed - Lino on the floor and sealed in some way. Then just their fleece liners thrown about and I would just sweep the floor… I thought I could put their pen in with their beloved tents, but take the end off. It makes sense to me in my head, but my heart would miss them from living with me. I think it would be nicer for them tho, and also perhaps easier to sweep and clean…?

Any thoughts welcomed ! Thanks xx
 
More room sounds lovely for them and easier for you to clean. I'm thankful every day I don't have carpet and can just sweep the hay off the floor.
You could put a chair in their room for you to sit and watch, read etc.
 
piggieminder said:
More room sounds lovely for them and easier for you to clean. I'm thankful every day I don't have carpet and can just sweep the hay off the floor.
You could put a chair in their room for you to sit and watch, read etc.
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Yeah - I know if they could speak and I asked them they would say - “More space please, and you can visit if you must! Just don’t come round without lettuce, dandelions or pea flakes!”
 
Things have changed very slightly for me now I have two pairs of boys, but when I had just Dexter and Popcorn, they free roamed between the hutch and the shed floor. The hutch was where their hay was and the shed floor had hides but I tried to keep hay off of that area (of course it didn’t work that way!).
Just sweeping the floor is so much easier!

What I really like about having a big, open space (aside from the fact the piggies have a big space!), is that you can just go and sit on the floor with them and they can wander about, do their piggy stuff but choose to come and be with you etc.
 
Piggies&buns said:
Things have changed very slightly for me now I have two pairs of boys, but when I had just Dexter and Popcorn, they free roamed between the hutch and the shed floor. The hutch was where their hay was and the shed floor had hides but I tried to keep hay off of that area (of course it didn’t work that way!).
Just sweeping the floor is so much easier!

What I really like about having a big, open space (aside from the fact the piggies have a big space!), is that you can just go and sit on the floor with them and they can wander about, do their piggy stuff but choose to come and be with you etc.
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I like the idea of that. They have started running up to me when they are running about the hall for cage cleaning. Of course I always have pea flakes, but I’ll take that. That’s a big plus actually - just sit on the floor with them. Thanks!
 
Ruth1 said:
I like the idea of that. They have started running up to me when they are running about the hall for cage cleaning. Of course I always have pea flakes, but I’ll take that. That’s a big plus actually - just sit on the floor with them. Thanks!
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You could also consider fitting a board across the bottom half of the doorway, so the room door can stay open and you could chat to them when you wander past.
 
I have a lino floor in my piggy half of the lounge. It makes it so much easier for me to clean the floor (including deep cleans) and to be very flexible with my layout. I have opaque half-high grids to separate the piggy area from the laminated human half. Amazingly, none of my piggies has ever jumped over although they will wiggle through if there is a gap and go on a little explore but it is not part of the Tribe territory.
What I would however want to point out is that as a flooring vinyl quite slippery and no a favourite with the piggies, so I use free carpet leftovers that would be otherwise thrown away for the shared roaming area to allow grip for full on running - my hub picks them up on a Friday evening from a carpet fitting shop. I replace the carpet bits every now and then whenever they are starting to become somewhat grotty from all the scent marking and hay dust.

If you have the space, have an area where you can sit and play with your piggies shuffling around or underneath you.
Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs
 
I absolutely love that I can sit in my piggies enclosures, having one hop onto your lap for a nap of their own free will is such a lovely experience. Mine have their own room and I make sure I set tike aside each day to sit with them, talk to them etc and I'll stick my head around the door most times I walk past, and even if I don't I'll say hello, they can hear you through the door 😅 mine like to pretend they can't though unless I rustle something that could be food!

I have choroplast bases for each section of their enclosures as there are 4 groups in the room, but lino probably would have been a better idea 😅
 
Thanks all! I can definitely make it work! Just need to find some Lino and fitting funds, clear the room and bring myself to let them go upstairs away from me 😢. They would love it tho and they wouldn’t be a million miles away.
 
You could consider c&c grids around too, if you wanted to use the space for storage of piggy things etc, protecting skirting boards from nibbles etc. With C&C you can be flexible with the shape so you could have hay, pellets, fleeces all stored in there with a comfy seat for you to sit and watch them play
 
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