Outdoor in the days?

I

Idag

New Born Pup
Joined
Oct 3, 2019
Messages
46
Reaction score
95
Points
200
Hi all
I have had my two lovely 3 year old rescue boars for a couple of months now. They live in a 4x 2 (150 cm x 75cm) C&C cage in the corner of the kitchen. They are very tame and confident , happy to be handled, and have daily laptime.
The idea was for them to roam around the kitchen floor in the day but this is not really working. They just head straight for their hideys and sit there unless I tempt them out with food. They don't seem to run around or explore at all. Added to that the chore of cleaning the kitchen floor of poo, wee, hay etc every time as well, I'm wondering if it is worth it if they are actually more mobile in their cage. I am worried that they are not getting enough stimulation or exercise though. They are not overweight.
I was thinking of getting a secure outdoor 23 sq foot run with 2 hidey hutches from the Rabbit Hutch Company, and putting them out there during the days before bringing them inside for the night. So they would get fresh grass and exercise. They are rescues so I don't know if they are used to spending time outside. Do you think it will be too cold for them? I know some pigs live outside all the time but do they grow thicker coats? Thanks
 
The first question would be where do you live?

In general guinea pigs do not deal well with large temperature fluctuations, so if they are used to living inside in a heated house then you can't put them outside during the day and bring them in again at night.
Their cage size is ok - maybe try adding a smaller enclosed run with extra C&C grids and lots of boxes as hides on the front of their cage for daytime roaming?
 
I agree with swissgreys.
If you are in the uk, then it is too wet and cold for indoor piggies to go outside at all now. They should not be exposed to temperatures below 15 degrees.
My piggies live out in my shed year round and it takes me a lot of work to keep them warm enough but the same for the temperature fluctuations stands, i now can’t bring mine indoors for cuddle time due to the temperature change.
They may be unsure of the area and not feel confident to come out - their cage is known to them and they know it is safe but there might be eagles flying around the kitchen that might eat them!
I think as swissgreys has suggested is s good idea - add some more grids to the side of the cage during the day so they will still feel safe within their cage but have a larger area. I have a c&c grid playpen which I use indoors during the summer for my two. It is connected with cable ties (except the two ends) so it concertinas up and down very easily and can be put up in seconds for my boys to come and play inside. I just put connectors on the two ends to join them and away the boys go!.
 
Thanks for the replies. We are in North London. I can't extend their current C&C cage as they are on a table top . But I do have some spare grids . Do you think it is just the expanse of the kitchen floor which scares them? And seeing sone grids around them would be reassuring? Also, how long ideally would they be out of their cage each day? They get on very well, no fall-outs, but they do chew their cardboard boxes and tunnels. Is this just normal or a sign of boredom? Thanks.
 
We have Bunny Business playpens that we set up for my indoor piggies to have floor time, you can buy them on Amazon for about £25, they are made of eight 2ft square grids so give 16sqft of floor space (but you can clip 2 together for more piggies and more space!) and fold flat when not in use. We put plastic mats (sold for under babies high chairs on the floor) with newspaper on top. And we have a set of hidey houses and tunnels we just keep for the playpen, so they are familiar but not things they have all the time. We do floor time for about 3 hours twice a week, as setting it all up takes a bit of time (we have lits of piggies) we can only do it really on days when we arent at work, so we let them out for a nice long time, but go with whatever works for you and your schedule. Its easy to start off all virtuous and over ambitious then feel bad if you cant keep to some ideal you set yourself, any change of scene and extra exercise opportunity you can offer is a nice thing to do for your piggies!
Definitely too cold in the UK now for piggies to go outside, they need to be kept between 15 and 25 degrees with no big temperature fluctuations. And chewing cardboard furniture is a perfectly normal piggy play activity, as long as what they chew is safe, its good for their teeth :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top