Floor time?

[Fernsibal]

Hi I'm new here, So I'm not sure if floor time falls under the category of enrichment. I need some advice about when and how I should start floor time with new guinea pigs I've had for several months. (I know, I should have started this process sooner. ) We adopted them from the county shelter, and they were listed as "stray" (abandoned at shelter after hours, probably, so they didn't have to pay a fee). They are two females, listed as one year old, but younger than that I'm sure, 6-8 at most. They both eat out of my hand. One is super active and precocious, and lets me get very close to her face, and pet her nose and head briefly. The other won't. When I pick them up to trim their nails, they freak out and squirm and wheek. When I got my other two piggies at 6 months old from the pet shop, they were already relatively tame. The local guinea pig rescue in LA (Saskia) has a video about how to get them used to you. She says to hold them, pet their head, stop, pet heir head again, lift them up, put them down, wait and lift them up put them down. She said if you do this regularly they'll get used to you. Question is should I do floor time in the meanwhile? My son is anxious to. I'm sorry this post is so long.

 

[Piggies&buns]

You need to follow their lead. Some piggies will enjoy it, but some will never like floor time, handling etc.
It took 18 months for my nervous boy to take food from my hands and then longer still for him to allow me to touch his head (My other boy settled much more quickly) but I’ve always gone at their pace and never forced them to be held, and instead I followed the whispering tips in the guide below. Four years down the line they do not like being cuddled (they never will) but they are comfortable with handling for their health checks. However, they will squirm after a few minutes but that is actually good. A squirming piggy is comfortable enough to tell you that they don’t like it. A piggy who sits perfectly still may only be doing so out of fear, and not because they like it.

If you do try floor time, ensure you use lots of hides so they can run for cover and have plenty of places to go if they don’t like it

Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering and Cuddling Tips

 

[Swissgreys]

Welcome to the Forum - it's great to have you and your piggies here.

Firstly don't worry about not having started floor time yet. It is a great form of enrichment and can be very entertaining to watch, but if their cage is large enough it certainly isn't essential.

You can catch your piggies by herding them gently into a house or hide, and then placing that directly into the floor time pen.
As piggies&buns has already said make the floor time pen 'busy'. Lots of tunnels, hides, boxes, piles of hay etc. I also like to scatter fresh veg around to encourage them to explore a bit. You can start this as soon as you have a suitable area or pen ready for them.

As for getting them used to you by constantly picking them up and putting them down and petting their heads, I personally wouldn't do this.
I think the Forum tips on guinea pig whispering are far more in tune with a guinea pig's natural instincts.
Frankly if I was a small and already nervous prey species I think i would find it fairly traumatic to be constantly touched, then put down and picked up again. This would make me more wary and uncertain, as I would never know what to expect.
The reality is that just like people some piggies will be super friendly and outgoing and enjoy a pat or a cuddle and some won't.
Over the years I have had piggies that race to the front of the cage and demand fuss and attention, and others who did far better with minimal handling - I always chose to respect their preferences, and would not inflict unnecessary handling on a piggy who didin't like it.

I hope your first flor time goes well. Don't forget to post pics?

 

[Fernsibal]

You need to follow their lead. Some piggies will enjoy it, but some will never like floor time, handling etc.
It took 18 months for my nervous boy to take food from my hands and then longer still for him to allow me to touch his head (My other boy settled much more quickly) but I’ve always gone at their pace and never forced them to be held, and instead I followed the whispering tips in the guide below. Four years down the line they do not like being cuddled (they never will) but they are comfortable with handling for their health checks. However, they will squirm after a few minutes but that is actually good. A squirming piggy is comfortable enough to tell you that they don’t like it. A piggy who sits perfectly still may only be doing so out of fear, and not because they like it.

If you do try floor time, ensure you use lots of hides so they can run for cover and have plenty of places to go if they don’t like it

Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering and Cuddling Tips

Thank you!

You need to follow their lead. Some piggies will enjoy it, but some will never like floor time, handling etc.
It took 18 months for my nervous boy to take food from my hands and then longer still for him to allow me to touch his head (My other boy settled much more quickly) but I’ve always gone at their pace and never forced them to be held, and instead I followed the whispering tips in the guide below. Four years down the line they do not like being cuddled (they never will) but they are comfortable with handling for their health checks. However, they will squirm after a few minutes but that is actually good. A squirming piggy is comfortable enough to tell you that they don’t like it. A piggy who sits perfectly still may only be doing so out of fear, and not because they like it.

If you do try floor time, ensure you use lots of hides so they can run for cover and have plenty of places to go if they don’t like it

Understanding Prey Animal Instincts, Guinea Pig Whispering and Cuddling Tips

Thank you!

 

[weepweeps]

Hello and welcome to the forum. Your piggies are gorgeous . I love floor time with my two boars. I try and get them out every evening for an hour. They don’t really like being handled so I sit on the floor with them. They come to me for food and love a stroke.