Piggies don’t like being away from their cage?

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toujoursella

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We have two female guinea pigs, about 2 years old now. We try to lay out a blanket and section off an area of the floor for them to play in while somebody supervises at least once or twice a week. However, they seem to dislike it and will just plant themselves as close as possible to where they know their cage is. If we don’t obstruct the way back, they will actually walk back over and attempt to get back in the cage all by themselves...!
We really need them to exercise more as we’ve noticed they’re getting rather chubby... but if they don’t like floor time, how can we do this? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
Do you put hides and hay out for them during floor time? You say they’re chubby, what (and how much) do you feed on a daily basis? Heft is a better indicator of a piggy’s body condition. You can’t compare one to another because it’s like comparing apples and bananas - different builds.
Weight - Monitoring and Management
 
To give an example of how different a guinea pig's body shape can be, I had a pair where one was an absolute chunk. Not overweight, just solid. His buddy was built like a slinky and when you picked him up, he felt like he weighed next to nothing (deceptively so, since he'd steal and eat 90% of the food if he got away with it).

As for floor time - it's a new area for them, they don't know it's safe just because we know it's safe. But they know their cage is safe, which is why they're trying to stick to it as much as possible. What @Siikibam says about hideys is true - if the hideys are placed right, it gives them a chance to explore the area but stay under cover at the same time, which won't spike the stress levels so much. As prey animals, being caught out in the open is a death sentence for them, and their nature is to avoid such situations.
 
Siikibam said:
Do you put hides and hay out for them during floor time? You say they’re chubby, what (and how much) do you feed on a daily basis? Heft is a better indicator of a piggy’s body condition. You can’t compare one to another because it’s like comparing apples and bananas - different builds.
Weight - Monitoring and Management
Click to expand...
We put out a little archway/tunnel thingy made of thin wooden logs and they alternate between which one gets to sit underneath it because it’s not big enough for both of them. We put out the bowl of pellets but not hay - do you think putting out hay would make it nicer for them?
As for diet, we just refill the hay whenever they run it down so it’s tricky to estimate how much they go through in a day. I tend to put two handfuls of pellets in the bowl, and they’ll each get between 1 and 3 veggies a day - a handful of spinach every morning, and then sometimes a strip of cucumber, a carrot stick, a baby corn, a chunk of apple or (rarely) banana. They both feel quite heavy - we’ve been meaning to weigh them properly.
 
To add to the above, if they want to go back in their cage then let them. ‘Making’ them stay out for floor time isn’t likely to make them like it.
 
Lorcan said:
To give an example of how different a guinea pig's body shape can be, I had a pair where one was an absolute chunk. Not overweight, just solid. His buddy was built like a slinky and when you picked him up, he felt like he weighed next to nothing (deceptively so, since he'd steal and eat 90% of the food if he got away with it).

As for floor time - it's a new area for them, they don't know it's safe just because we know it's safe. But they know their cage is safe, which is why they're trying to stick to it as much as possible. What @Siikibam says about hideys is true - if the hideys are placed right, it gives them a chance to explore the area but stay under cover at the same time, which won't spike the stress levels so much. As prey animals, being caught out in the open is a death sentence for them, and their nature is to avoid such situations.
Click to expand...
The thing is, they’ll either sit under the hidey the entire time or sit by the food bowl eating the entire time! Shouldn’t they be moving around a lot more? They definitely have the space to be able to but they act ‘lazy’, for want of a better word :/ the only time they run is when we go to pick them up to take them back to the cage, which we have to do now because if we let them walk themselves back they decide they want to explore underneath the sofa and get stuck 🙃
 
Siikibam said:
To add to the above, if they want to go back in their cage then let them. ‘Making’ them stay out for floor time isn’t likely to make them like it.
Click to expand...
Is there another way to prompt them to get a bit more exercise than making them stay out for floor time?
 
You can try enrichment in their cage. How much do they weigh and what is their heft like? And how big is their cage? You need to put out at least two hides for them.

You should be weighing them every week. There’s no way to gauge hay intake by eye hence weighing.

Spinach is high in calcium so shouldn’t be fed more than once a week - and only one high calcium veg a week. Pellets should be a tablespoon a day each. Carrots are high in sugar so shouldn’t be fed more than B once a week. They’re more of a treat. Baby corn also shouldn’t be feed every day.

How long have you had them?
Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs
Long Term Balanced General And Special Needs Guinea Pig Diets
 
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M they generally stop popcorning and zooming around like they did when young. My boars will have munch on hay and sometimes go hide. But they didn’t run around.
 
George (left) only runs when he's running back to his cage! I've got three pigs over 3 and one who is 2 - who is much more active. This is floor time for the girls:
Girls are chillin'.webp it's just somewhere else to lay! Why not try
1) Section off your floor time area under (or partly under) a table so they feel less exposed... shy Louise has claimed the cushion because she's under the table.
2) Add a haypile and sprinkle a few pellets in it. Also add water bowls/bottles nearby as eating / drinking often happens together.
3) More hideys... I put two in opposite corners and occasionally someone breaks into a trot getting from one to the other. Amazon brings us new hideys all the time... we use the cardboard boxes from Hubs' deliveries! Sometimes I put boxes/tunnels/kid's chairs all around the edge and they walk from one to the other. they might not get their 10,000 steps in but it's something!
4) Try changing the surface - mine seem to like old bath towels (which give a bit of grip) on top of a picnic mat (which stops the towels sliding around on the laminate floor). If you just put a fleece throw straight onto laminate it's a bit skiddy-aroundy.
5) Try and do floor time at a time when they are feeling lively... when they would normally be out and about eating anyway.
6) Do it when there's no-one else around... my kids are (usually!) quiet teens yet if they come into the room the pigs run for cover because they don't know what's going to happen. The routine is normally just them and me... they know where they are with a bit of routine.
Good luck!
 
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