Floor time + Weighing

[Jemima]

Hello! Me again!

We have had our adopted piggies for a week. And I was about to get them out for floor time, but asI stopped up Pipsqueak in a cuddle sack, my gut told me that perhaps they would not be quite ready for this, having only been in their new home for 7 days... so I put him back - much to my son's disappointment! Also, he is slowly showing gorgeous signs of trusting me, and I don't want to set us all back. Papua is also coming out more and more when I am there. But he still prefers his hides.

So, how long should I wait to introduce floor time? I suppose I am just aware that I have them in a 4x2 with 2x2 loft, and I am acutely aware that this is the minimum space for a boar pair. They do seem really content and happy at the mo... From about 8pm they seem to start zooming around! Is there a better time of day to do floor time I wonder? Should I do it daily?

In the warmer spring months and summer, they can also use an XL run. Do I need to use fly strike treatment? I am really worried about fly strike! My bunny got fly strike when I was a little girl and had to be put down. She was 7.

Anyway, my next question is about weighing. I want to do what I can to minimise stress for them - is weighing weekly essential? I have read that when piggies lose weight, it is a red flag for impending sickness, so if this is vital for their health, I'll do it. I only have small digital scales, so I think I may need to invest in some scales that are bigger - what do you all use?

 

[LollyJJ]

I use a little cardboard box to sit them in when I put them on my digital kitchen scales- it's a flat one and works well as they know they will get something to munch while they're in there

 

[Jemima]

I use a little cardboard box to sit them in when I put them on my digital kitchen scales- it's a flat one and works well as they know they will get something to munch while they're in there

Thanks - that's a good idea! Would save me having to buy yet another thing - ha ha! Do you weigh them weekly?

 

[rp1993]

We weight our boys weekly and have done from the start, they get used to it and get a treat afterwards do they don’t mind to much!
we have always put them in a mixing bowl, which is now just their weighing bowl!
With floor time I think it’s just something you take their lead on, our boys are not very big fans, they go on the floor for cleaning out and then maybe once a week I will set up a pen for them and give them their tea, they have a 180X70 cage which they do plenty of running around in!

 

[tabelmabel]

I just use a casserole dish on my kitchen scales and it's a perfect fit


The pig shown was very ill when this was taken - my old man Benson was euthanased 2019.

But i still use that same weigh dish and scale set for all my piggies!

I have a baby just now (6weeks) and it's good for her as she cant get out of it. I'm actually weighing every couple of days just to check the weight is going on ok.

I have my pigs in the kitchen in an exposed c&c so she has boldened up very fast - the kinder way is to encourage them into a cozy but i must admit to just going in there with my pig catching hand and picking her out!

Which has been easy in the cage she has been in up to now but is about to get trickier as I'm about to transfer her to a more permanant 2 storey cage.

No floor time at mine - have dogs but they have a daily lap time instead

 

[Jemima]

I just use a casserole dish on my kitchen scales and it's a perfect fitView attachment 170662


The pig shown was very ill when this was taken - my old man Benson was euthanased 2019.

But i still use that same weigh dish and scale set for all my piggies!

I have a baby just now (6weeks) and it's good for her as she cant get out of it. I'm actually weighing every couple of days just to check the weight is going on ok.

I have my pigs in the kitchen in an exposed c&c so she has boldened up very fast - the kinder way is to encourage them into a cozy but i must admit to just going in there with my pig catching hand and picking her out!

Which has been easy in the cage she has been in up to now but is about to get trickier as I'm about to transfer her to a more permanant 2 storey cage.

No floor time at mine - have dogs but they have a daily lap time instead

What a beautiful piggie he was! Thanks for sharing and for the tips.

 

[tabelmabel]

What a beautiful piggie he was!

Thanks - he was a huge Rex pig in his hey day weighing 3lb but he had liver failure and was just a little skeleton in the end. He retained his gorgeous fuzzy coat though and a fighting spirit so the daily weigh and bum cleans went on for weeks. My very favourite pig - very nearly got to his 7th birthday but not quite.

How old are your new piggies?

 

[LollyJJ]

Thanks - that's a good idea! Would save me having to buy yet another thing - ha ha! Do you weigh them weekly?

Yes I do weigh them weekly, it's now Saturday mornings, try and do at the same time and around their feeding schedule so you know whether they have a full tum or not! Extreme close up.of Basil on the scales!

 

[LollyJJ]

I find floor time's a bit of a dead loss with my two. I clean their cage out weekly and put all the hideys out etc and even put them under the table to encourage them, but they never really come out and do anything! As soon as everything is back in the clean cage they come to life and explore, popcorn and zoom so I know they're happy and feel safe in their home. As @rp1993 says take the lead from them......

 

[Jemima]

I find floor time's a bit of a dead loss with my two. I clean their cage out weekly and put all the hideys out etc and even put them under the table to encourage them, but they never really come out and do anything! As soon as everything is back in the clean cage they come to life and explore, popcorn and zoom so I know they're happy and feel safe in their home. As @rp1993 says take the lead from them......

Yes - I think that's the key with it all - taking their lead. I also want to experiment with floor time not only once they are super settled, i.e., a good few weeks, but also when my children are at school, so it's not too loud! It would definitely stress Papua right now. I think weighing would too, though! I am going to wait until Monday to weigh I think - again, so it's a little more quiet.

 

[Merab]

Mine rarely do floor time.
I bought a carpet remnant and a bunny playpen so that I could open up their cage and let them wander in and out safely as they wanted.
They do not want!
Like others, I just use a mixing bowl to weigh them.
When mine were new and nervous I simply picked them up in the pouch and weighed them in their pouch.

 

[Wiebke]

Hello! Me again!

We have had our adopted piggies for a week. And I was about to get them out for floor time, but asI stopped up Pipsqueak in a cuddle sack, my gut told me that perhaps they would not be quite ready for this, having only been in their new home for 7 days... so I put him back - much to my son's disappointment! Also, he is slowly showing gorgeous signs of trusting me, and I don't want to set us all back. Papua is also coming out more and more when I am there. But he still prefers his hides.

So, how long should I wait to introduce floor time? I suppose I am just aware that I have them in a 4x2 with 2x2 loft, and I am acutely aware that this is the minimum space for a boar pair. They do seem really content and happy at the mo... From about 8pm they seem to start zooming around! Is there a better time of day to do floor time I wonder? Should I do it daily?

In the warmer spring months and summer, they can also use an XL run. Do I need to use fly strike treatment? I am really worried about fly strike! My bunny got fly strike when I was a little girl and had to be put down. She was 7.

Anyway, my next question is about weighing. I want to do what I can to minimise stress for them - is weighing weekly essential? I have read that when piggies lose weight, it is a red flag for impending sickness, so if this is vital for their health, I'll do it. I only have small digital scales, so I think I may need to invest in some scales that are bigger - what do you all use?

Hi!

Weighing weekly in combination with a body check is one of your most important health monitoring tools so you can catch problems early on before they become an emergency. You can use a cardboard tunnel or a cardboard box for weighing.
These guide links here here tell you how to weigh your piggies safely without handling, what to look out for in terms of weight changes, how to establish whether your piggies are a good weight for their size at any age and learning to spot what is normal and what not when you care for them and check their bodies:
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pig Safely (with videos)
Weight - Monitoring and Management
Guinea pig body quirks - What is normal and what not?
Boar Care: Bits, Bums & Baths

A weekly health check is also the best fly strike prevention (as well as a quick check when you bring your boys inside from the lawn) as the flies specifically target the neglected with open sores, and the ill and elderly that cannot clean themselves anymore and that may have urine scald sores. The healthy are not targeted. Please NEVER use any flea or fly products on guinea pigs; they generally contain substances that are toxic for them and that can kill. Guinea pigs do not have species specific flies or fleas.
Hot Weather Management, Heat Strokes and Fly Strike
Fleas And Flea Powders

Generally, the time for a run has come when your piggies are confident in their new home and their own relationship has stabilised and settled; once they come to you for food, then they have started to trust you. You may want to dot plenty of tunnels and hides in their run and use a soiled fleece so their new territory smells of them and shouts 'Ours! Safe!' to them. It can also help pegging a sheet or blanket over the top or at least a good part of it. You can watch from a little distance as long as you avoid any sudden movements; guinea pigs don't have sharp eyesight past about 2 feet but they will instinctively react to sudden movements. Keep up a flow of low, gentle chatter; a predator that makes noises is not hunting.
Here are more tips and information:
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering And Cuddling Tips
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars (see chapter three on territory changes)

I hope that this helps you?

 

[Jemima]

Thanks everyone. Is it normal for them to be super quiet some days more so than others?

Hi!

Weighing weekly in combination with a body check is one of your most important health monitoring tools so you can catch problems early on before they become an emergency. You can use a cardboard tunnel or a cardboard box for weighing.
These guide links here here tell you how to weigh your piggies safely without handling, what to look out for in terms of weight changes, how to establish whether your piggies are a good weight for their size at any age and learning to spot what is normal and what not when you care for them and check their bodies:
How To Pick Up And Weigh Your Guinea Pig Safely (with videos)
Weight - Monitoring and Management
Guinea pig body quirks - What is normal and what not?
Boar Care: Bits, Bums & Baths

A weekly health check is also the best fly strike prevention (as well as a quick check when you bring your boys inside from the lawn) as the flies specifically target the neglected with open sores, and the ill and elderly that cannot clean themselves anymore and that may have urine scald sores. The healthy are not targeted. Please NEVER use any flea or fly products on guinea pigs; they generally contain substances that are toxic for them and that can kill. Guinea pigs do not have species specific flies or fleas.
Hot Weather Management, Heat Strokes and Fly Strike
Fleas And Flea Powders

Generally, the time for a run has come when your piggies are confident in their new home and their own relationship has stabilised and settled; once they come to you for food, then they have started to trust you. You may want to dot plenty of tunnels and hides in their run and use a soiled fleece so their new territory smells of them and shouts 'Ours! Safe!' to them. It can also help pegging a sheet or blanket over the top or at least a good part of it. You can watch from a little distance as long as you avoid any sudden movements; guinea pigs don't have sharp eyesight past about 2 feet but they will instinctively react to sudden movements. Keep up a flow of low, gentle chatter; a predator that makes noises is not hunting.
Here are more tips and information:
Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering And Cuddling Tips
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars (see chapter three on territory changes)

I hope that this helps you?

Yes - thank you so much. I didn't think I wanted to use a treatment for them! My friend told me she uses it on theirs but said it was chemical (she knows I only use natural stuff for me!), and I didn't much like the sound of it, so thank you for confirming that I don't need to use that.

Thanks for all the links, I will have a good read. I think I just naturally worry about my animals. Especially when new. For example, Pipsqueak has done one or two loud wheeks when I have been out of the room. I have gone in, and he has been a bit strange, like a sort of little twitching! But then carries on eating and rummaging through the hay. And I don't know if it is normal or not, so I will just have to keep on observing him.

They are both pretty quiet at the mo, Papua especially just hiding apart from the morning and evening. And pip enjoys being out in the hay... I think I will weigh them today perhaps as it has been 7 days since I got them and I would like to get in the habit of it, to know they're OK weight wise.

I am hoping that my worrying will settle down with more time and experience with them. Just want to make sure they are as happy as can be.

 

[Sue and Smartie]

With previous pigs I have always just used a bowl on the scales. But the two I have now were babies when they came and very skittish so they would just leap out of the bowl. I now have two cuddle cups which they really like as it feels nice & safe for them so they are weighed in those.
I think with any piggy you will just have to try various options until you hit on the one they will sit still in!

 

[Jemima]

And - I have been feeding them a slice of tomato every day - because something I had said it was an every day food! Now I know it isn't. Hopefully a week of tomatoes won't be damaging...

 

[Wiebke]

With previous pigs I have always just used a bowl on the scales. But the two I have now were babies when they came and very skittish so they would just leap out of the bowl. I now have two cuddle cups which they really like as it feels nice & safe for them so they are weighed in those.
I think with any piggy you will just have to try various options until you hit on the one they will sit still in!

The weighing guide will show you who you can safely weigh jumpy piggies.

You may also find our New Owners' guide collection helpful as a resource - all the links I have posted are also in there. It is one of the most comprehensive information collections currently around, so would be useful to bookmark, browse, read and re-read at need as you will take different things from some of the guides when reading them at different levels of experience. A lot of our forum experience has gone into those guides; especially as so much has changed in the time we have been around!
Here is the link: Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides
Our full and even more extensive information resource can be best accessed via the guides shortcut on the top bar where it is laid our in thematical order.

 

[Wiebke]

And - I have been feeding them a slice of tomato every day - because something I had said it was an every day food! Now I know it isn't. Hopefully a week of tomatoes won't be damaging...

Hi!

A week of tomatoes is not a problem; months of them on a daily basis can unfortunately cause problems in piggies with a sensitivity for cheilitis. The closer you can keep your diet to a natural grass/hay based diet with your veg selection mimicking green forage to add vitamins and trace elements, the better. Fruit would be a very rare and special treat, and so would be any root vegetables, especially for our pampered indoors piggies that are burning less calories on keeping warm during the winter months.

 

[Jemima]

Mine rarely do floor time.
I bought a carpet remnant and a bunny playpen so that I could open up their cage and let them wander in and out safely as they wanted.
They do not want!
Like others, I just use a mixing bowl to weigh them.
When mine were new and nervous I simply picked them up in the pouch and weighed them in their pouch.

I can't even get mine into a pouch at the moment! I have only had them a week, and they are specialist escapee artists. One is fine if I put my hand in and feed him! But as soon as I look as though something else may be on the agenda, his is like a little mouse scurrying around. I haven't tried to pick him up, only usher him into a cuddle sack, but he has cottoned on and won't go in

The other one actually let me give him a chin rub today. But unless it's morning feeding or evening feeding, he mostly stays in his hide.So, the weighing has not been done yet! I will try again this evening at feed time perhaps...

 

[Jemima]

The weighing guide will show you who you can safely weigh jumpy piggies.

You may also find our New Owners' guide collection helpful as a resource - all the links I have posted are also in there. It is one of the most comprehensive information collections currently around, so would be useful to bookmark, browse, read and re-read at need as you will take different things from some of the guides when reading them at different levels of experience. A lot of our forum experience has gone into those guides; especially as so much has changed in the time we have been around!
Here is the link: Getting Started - New Owners' Most Helpful Guides
Our full and even more extensive information resource can be best accessed via the guides shortcut on the top bar where it is laid our in thematical order.

Thank you. I have read all of these - they're super useful.

Still trying to work out how to get my piggies to be weighed though... I think I'll have to buy one of those round tunnels!

 

[Merab]

You can give them time to settle a bit more.
It does take time and a week isn’t long for a prey animal.
Don’t stress yourself.
I still have fun and games trying to get mine out for the health check.

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you. I have read all of these - they're super useful.

Still trying to work out how to get my piggies to be weighed though... I think I'll have to buy one of those round tunnels!

Don't fret; piggies are prey animals and need time to settle. As long as they are eating and lively, don't develop bald patches or raspy/crackly breathing, they are ticking along fine and will easily make up for the first very skittish days.

Picking up is the one single action of ours that is cutting closest to their prey animal instincts (i.e. being caught by a predator), so most piggies never come to like it.

 

[Jemima]

Don't fret; piggies are prey animals and need time to settle. As long as they are eating and lively, don't develop bald patches or raspy/crackly breathing, they are ticking along fine and will easily make up for the first very skittish days.

Picking up is the one single action of ours that is cutting closest to their prey animal instincts (i.e. being caught by a predator), so most piggies never come to like it.

So my piggies don't seem very active... I know I have 101 questions, but my observations so far is that they are active in the morning when I come in with food and hay and to refresh their hay. Then through the day they are very quiet. Munching on hay interspersed with sitting still. In the evening they are active again when I do their veggies and hay top up. Is this normal? I think because I am home all the time I see what they're doing and I don't know if it's normal or not! I am wondering if they are bored and don't have enough to occupy them. I end up giving them about five lots of hay top ups a day because they love it and this is something that pleases them.

I've just ordered a carrot meadow cottage thing that I have seen others on here buy...

But yes, usually Pipsqueak is out munching hay or in his fleece forest resting. And pap mostly stays hiding but does come out to eat, too!

There isn't much running or popcorning, or exploring, but perhaps they are still just settling in...

 

[Wiebke]

So my piggies don't seem very active... I know I have 101 questions, but my observations so far is that they are active in the morning when I come in with food and hay and to refresh their hay. Then through the day they are very quiet. Munching on hay interspersed with sitting still. In the evening they are active again when I do their veggies and hay top up. Is this normal? I think because I am home all the time I see what they're doing and I don't know if it's normal or not! I am wondering if they are bored and don't have enough to occupy them. I end up giving them about five lots of hay top ups a day because they love it and this is something that pleases them.

I've just ordered a carrot meadow cottage thing that I have seen others on here buy...

But yes, usually Pipsqueak is out munching hay or in his fleece forest resting. And pap mostly stays hiding but does come out to eat, too!

There isn't much running or popcorning, or exploring, but perhaps they are still just settling in...

Yours sound about par for the course. Try and see whether pegging a sheet or blanket over the top of the cage makes them feel more protected and encourages to come out a bit more. Guinea pigs are very wary of open spaces, especially in any new territory because they are most exposed to predators there; when settling in, these instincts are very strong and take a while to calm down. A week is a very short span of time.

Guinea pigs are not day active, they are crepuscular, i.e. most active at dawn and dusk (i.e morning and late afternoon/early evening). That is the time when the various groups living fairly close to each other march as a herd in single file on their paths through the underground to their grassy feeding grounds twice a day at a time when night and day predators are at their least active and temperatures are their most moderate. During the night and the middle of the day, they sleep, digest and just browse a bit around the dens. Keep in mind that guinea pigs need two runs through the gut to break down the tough grass fibre and extract as much nutrition from it as possible - that is why they make so many waste poos from both runs but eat the (different) poos that contain the not yet fully broken down fibre for the second run. The rest time during the day and night allows them to do all that heavy digestive work although they won't sleep solidly.
More interesting and surprising cavy facts in this guide here: Guinea Pig Facts - An Overview

PS: Their main diet consists of fresh and dry grass (i.e. hay); it should make around 80% of the daily food intake; fresh growing grass is high in vitamin C and the reason why guinea pigs never had the need to make their own. Our green veg and fresh herbs take the part of the wild forage to supplement additional vitamins and trace elements (ca. 15%) and 1 tablespoon of pellets should make ca. 5%. The more you can keep your diet closer to their natural diet, the more you can extend a healthy normal life span.
Diet (including information on introducing fresh grass/lawn time on an unaccustomed body as well as links for wild UK forage):
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

 

[Jemima]

Yours sound about par for the course. Try and see whether pegging a sheet or blanket over the top of the cage makes them feel more protected and encourages to come out a bit more. Guinea pigs are very wary of open spaces, especially in any new territory because they are most exposed to predators there; when settling in, these instincts are very strong and take a while to calm down. A week is a very short span of time.

Guinea pigs are not day active, they are crepuscular, i.e. most active at dawn and dusk (i.e morning and late afternoon/early evening). That is the time when the various groups living fairly close to each other march as a herd in single file on their paths through the underground to their grassy feeding grounds twice a day at a time when night and day predators are at their least active and temperatures are their most moderate. During the night and the middle of the day, they sleep, digest and just browse a bit around the dens. Keep in mind that guinea pigs need two runs through the gut to break down the tough grass fibre and extract as much nutrition from it as possible - that is why they make so many waste poos from both runs but eat the (different) poos that contain the not yet fully broken down fibre for the second run.
More interesting and surprising cavy facts in this guide here: Guinea Pig Facts - An Overview

Their main diet consists of fresh and dry grass (i.e. hay); it should make around 80% of the daily food intake; fresh growing grass is high in vitamin C and the reason why guinea pigs never had the need to make their own. Our green veg and fresh herbs take the part of the wild forage to supplement additional vitamins and trace elements (ca. 15%) and 1 tablespoon of pellets should make ca. 5%. The more you can keep your diet closer to their natural diet, the more you can extend a healthy normal life span.
Diet (including information on introducing fresh grass/lawn time on an unaccustomed body as well as links for wild UK forage):
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets

Amazing - thank you! That puts my mind at rest a little. :-) Thank you for the links - I'll read them. I've found this forum fascinating and insightful - as well as friendly and welcoming. Thank you to all!