Enrichment and cage essentials

[cinnamonandfudge]

Can anyone point me to a list of everything that should be included in a piggy cage please? Essentials and enrichment items that you’d all recommend. I’m just wanting to make sure that my pigs aren’t bored and are staying happy

 

[Wiebke]

Can anyone point me to a list of everything that should be included in a piggy cage please? Essentials and enrichment items that you’d all recommend. I’m just wanting to make sure that my pigs aren’t bored and are staying happy

Hi

Please don't overload the cage with furniture and mostly ignored pet shop toys. Ideally you have one more hut with two exits or a log tunnel instead than you have piggies - ideally the same model for all piggies. Two exits are important since part of group establishing dominance in any new territory is chucking the under-piggy out of any property that a higher ranked piggy desires. The extra hut or tunnel means that there is always something for the underpiggy, especially when the huts are either spaced well apart or the tunnels are lined up like backyard garages in the middle of the cage - the top piggy cannot physically control them all at once.
For the same reason, two water bottles at different ends of a cage and hay access that cannot be blocked by one piggy. Ideally you have an area for soft meadow hay to burrow and sleep in and a different area if you want to feed harder, spikier timothy hay which comes with a greater risk of injuries, so it is not ideal for romping. Romping hay is one of the most important enrichments.

However, the best toys and interactive activities are not expensive at all and will give you lots of shared fun. Pet shop toys are all too often ignored and a waste of money. Try the cheap stuff first once your piggies have got their bearings. Enrichment is also a lot more than just providing toys and can happen on lots of different levels. It is a great way for you to enter the fascinating world of guinea pigs rather than reducing your piggies to petting pets.

It is always better to just start with the basics and then build up to what works with your piggies than discovering that you have spent a lot of money on stuff that is not used by your piggies.

You may find these links here very helpful:
Getting Guinea Pigs? Items You'll Need To Buy?
Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs

New Guinea Pigs: How to Best Manage Arrival and Settling In


Our very practical and helpful information collections (which you may want to bookmark) - the links above are part of it:
Are Guinea Pigs For Me? - Wannabe Owners' Helpful Information
Getting Started - Essential Information for New Owners

 

[cinnamonandfudge]

Hi

Please don't overload the cage with furniture and mostly ignored pet shop toys. Ideally you have one more hut with two exits or a log tunnel instead than you have piggies - ideally the same. Two exits are important since part of group establishing dominance in any new territory is chucking the under-piggy out of any property that a higher ranked piggy desires. The extra hut or tunnel means that there is always something for the underpiggy, especially when the huts are spaced well apart or the tunnels are lined up like backyard garages in the middle of the cage - the leader cannot physically control them all.
For the same reason, two water bottles at different ends of a cage and hay access that cannot be blocked by one piggy. Ideally you have an area for soft meadow hay to burrow and sleep in and a different area if you want to feed harder, spikier timothy hay which comes with a greater risk of injuries, so it is not ideal for romping. Romping hay is one of the most important enrichments.

However, the best toys and interactive activities are not expensive at all and will give you lots of shared fun. Pet shop toys are all too often ignored and a waste of money. Try the cheap stuff first once your piggies have got their bearings. Enrichment is also a lot more than just providing toys and can happen on lots of different levels. It is a great way for you to enter the fascinating world of guinea pigs rather than reducing your piggies to petting pets.
It is always better to just start with the basics and then build up to what works with your piggies than discovering that you have spent a lot of money on stuff that is not used by your piggies.

You may find these links here very helpful:
Getting Guinea Pigs? Items You'll Need To Buy?
Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs

New Guinea Pigs: How to Best Manage Arrival and Settling In


Our very practical and helpful information collections (which you may want to bookmark) - the links above are part of it:
Are Guinea Pigs For Me? - Wannabe Owners' Helpful Information
Getting Started - Essential Information for New Owners

Thank you so much for all the help, I really appreciate your time

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you so much for all the help, I really appreciate your time

Thank you.

For instance, if you have a Formula1 racer, building a little racing course with obstacles like a tunnel or even a little hurdle (the top of which comes off and should not be more than 2 inches/5 cm above ground) around the perimeter is going to give both sides lots of fun. If you have a climber, then creating more fun for the 'high life' on the roofs is the way to go. Some just love to nibble and destroy carrot houses. Some love to solve puzzles so a cardboard maze in the cage with some little treats in different corners is a great challenges for them - or working out how to get into veg wrapped in some brown paper. Some prefer to lurk, so a handkerchief tent city that you can switch around by pegging cheap hankies to some strings across the cage in different locations...

Just allow yourself the freedom to discover how your piggies tick and then design the ultimate cage layout around that.

Piggies are very much individualists. Discover yours when they come out of themselves and let them be your inspiration. It's much more fun for everybody this way.

Offering different hays and sprinkle feed veg and pellets around the case to encourage natural foraging behaviours is both cheaper as well as more satisfying for your piggies. Making them work for their and using pellets and veg time for enrichment and training time is something to look forward to for both sides. The more time and challenge you put into your piggies, the more you'll get out, ultimately. Brace for the ones who just prefer to do their own stuff or who'll take months to lure out of their shell but that is also part of life with piggies.