Hutch Accessory Ideas Please. :)

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Sprogmama

Sprogmama

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I now have a hutch ordered thanks to the lovely advice here and am looking forward to bringing my first piggies home in about three weeks time! I'd love to hear your recommendations for accessories to go in their new home. Anything that your piggies couldn't live without? Anything you've found a waste of money and wouldn't buy again? I'm a bit overwhelmed with the variety of products available and I want to make sure I don't get sucked in and buy a whole lot of stuff I don't need.

I do want to buy something for them to snuggle up in and I keep seeing this pop up in my searches:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200594722941

I also thought about having one of these for use indoors so they can feel secure when in our laps:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/220984161740

Should I buy more than one for the hutch, for when one needs cleaning?

I have aubiose bedding, a water bottle and a food bowl. How many of the latter should I have for my two little boys? Does anyone use fleece in an outdoor hutch or is it usually an indoor thing?

I saw those wooden bridges in P@H, are they good for hiding under or is there something better? I'm going to add some chewy cardboard tubes, as I keep parrots as well I assume the piggies can use similar chew toys?

If there's anything I haven't thought of and you think is useful, please let me know. I'm nipping out to a nearby boot sale this morning and will see if anyone is selling any suitable stuff.
 
If you go onto cosy cavies there are loads of fleecy products that you can buy. I have an indoors cage which I have fleece liners for, I can't recommend them enough really! When my lot go outside into their big hutch I put a hay box in, a hay tray and a fleece liner, along with fleece tunnels and cosies etc. I have the large version of the sticks (the rabbit one) and they often snooze under there and it's good to chew too.
 
I have an indoor cage but i guess the items my pigs love the most are.

They love there pawsup up cosy beds and sacks the most i'd say.

http://www.pawsup4cosypets.co.uk/

I'd recommend getting four piggy sacks if you do get them just because that way each piggy has there own sack so no fighting and also then you have two spares for when some are in the wash. But i did have only 2 for a while, but i always put both in as sometimes my piggies both got in and started fighting a little over it. I only have one piggy bed which i only put in every now and then.

This play cube, i put a folded up fleece in the bottom which makes it super comfey and they popcorn in it, run around jump in all the different holes and things.

[ame="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004JU9COW/ref=s9_simh_gw_p86_d5_g199_i3?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-4&pf_rd_r=1VFBB4N6S3PM2E6BRNQR&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128133&pf_rd_i=468294"]Cat & Kitten Pop up Play Cube New Strong Design Orange: Amazon.co.uk: Pet Supplies[/ame]

This house, if i don't put it in there cage they go crazy and look for it and wheek untill i put it back in.

http://www.petsathome.com/shop/woodlands-thistle-s-cottage-31842

This little igloo was a great buy too.

http://www.pet-supermarket.co.uk/products-Living-World-Dome-Igloo_HB4854.htm

These are fun, because you can use them as a bridge or more of a tunnel or just to make a wall by putting them on there side, which can be used to make almost like a maze in there cage.

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/accessories/tunnels/227525

Some of the other great things i've bought is a small dog/cat bed in wilkinsons

http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/dog-be...CNXHMBeaX1vwNHN0HlJ9CvU0AVX5+1BP anN99JN7pw==

Mine was a smaller size but they don't seem to have it on the website, it was about £11 i think and although i don't put it in there cage i use it for when they're down watching tv or i just leave them in it while I'm cleaning them out i just put it on the bed, they can get in and out of it, but i keep an eye on them and they're pretty well behaved.

This makes veggies a bit more fun

http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/accessories/hay_racks/13210

A thing to remember when you buy things is that sometimes when things are made for guinea pigs, they actually are only suitable for them when they're young and they often outgorw them so sometimes its best to buy things more suited to dwarf rabbits (:

Some of my piggies favourite toys are homemade, toilet roll tubes stuffed with hay, cardboard boxes with different holes cut out around the box, paper bags stuffed with hay big enough for piggies to run around in make great toys too, Vegetable kebabs hanging in the cage are just some of the fun things that don't cost very much that usually please piggies the most !
Here are some tutorials of good home made things.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSI9Dkh4UsE"]How To Make A Treat Dispenser Out Of A Toilet Roll! - YouTube[/ame]

http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=91111

I hope thats helpful to you in some way, a good thing to do is just go through looking for online pet shops and bookmark a few, i have a list of my favourites and that way i always know where to look when wanting something new for the cage.

http://www.vagavalley.co.uk/bunnysupplies/index.html
http://www.zooplus.co.uk/
http://www.pet-supermarket.co.uk/

are probably my favourite ! (:
 
Catherine, thank you I will take a look at Cosy Cavies this evening.

twiams, thank you for all the wonderful links and tips. I will get a selection of sleeves/beds I think. I have been feeling a bit confused over sizes as my piggies are young and quite small when I visited them last week, but I don't want them to outgrow everything when they get bigger.

I've used zooplus in the past, don't know why I didn't think of them for this. Had a quick glance before nipping out earlier and they do seem to have some interesting stuff. Amazon and even eBay have been surprisingly disappointing in terms of variety.

Thanks again!
 
Definitely recommend Cosy Cavies. Everything is reasonably priced and so well made.
 
Obviously fully grown piggies all vary in size,but the smallest piggy sized cozies that I make are 9" x10",so when your doing your shopping,I wouldn't recommend getting anything smaller than that - especially if there's any chance your piggies are likely to be on the larger size.
 
There are some fantastic members on here who make cosies, loungers, tunnels ect! Just go to the for sale/wanted section :-)
I highly recommend a teddy bear or soft toy, with no hard bits like eyes, dog toys are good. My Clive has a puppy dog soft toy and he loves it, he cuddles up to it to take a nap all the time. It used to belong to my dog Nettles but she never played with it.
 
Cosy Cavies

Hey,

I just bought a snuggle sac from Cosy Cavies this last week and the piggies are in love with it. As soon as they went in it they fell asleep.

It is beautiful made and really good price :)

Lizzie
x
 
i spent yesterday afternoon making more tunnels, sacs and cosy cups for my piggies. they really aren't difficult to make if you can sew. these are some of the ones i made out of leftover curtain material and odd pieces of fleece. the stripey fleece on the blue cuddle cup is from a scarf.
http://
DSCN5177.jpg
 
Love the suggestions everyone, thank you! I am going to have a peek at Cosy Cavies now and I will check out the sale section too, thank you MOC. Been doing legal paperwork all evening and finally get to sit down and enjoy myself for five minutes before bed.

cavy-couture, thank you for the tip, I will make sure to buy big. :)

bsjlmb, your snuggles are lovely, if only I could sew....
 
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