Questions about guinea pig enrichment and taking guinea pigs out of their cage

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interestingthoughts

New Born Pup
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Hello, I have two boars who live in a 20.5sq feet cage. Because of this(and a bit of laziness)I tend to only take them out when I'm cleaning, which has recently only been 2 to 1x per week. I put them in a playpen(10sq ft) but due to the fact that I can't put a water bottle in it I tend to only keep them in their for an hour at most, but usually 45 minutes. Beyond that I don't pick them up nearly as much as I should since they're hard to catch(especially with all the space their cage has). Is this okay? Should I be taking them out more? Considering their cage's size, how often and for how long should I take them out per day?

Also in general, how should I provide enrichment for them? Toys don't really work(they aren't interested in them) and besides giving pea flakes I don't know how to enrich their lives. Any advice regarding that as well?
 
Plain cardboard boxes with 2or3 hole cut into them, fill with hay, toilet rolls filled with hay and treats. To help with handling use a suggle tube to pick them up in.
 
I agree with @teddymouse , also paper bags with hay in, forage/snuffle mats, tunnels and tubes are popular, mine play in their hammocks (roll around like puppies!) You can make them search for their food. They should at least be handled enough for weekly checks and weighing. Btw you can get stands for water bottles. My boys love pea flakes but I limit them as they are unhealthy. Sometimes I give them treat hay, dried forage, hay cookies and they also love sweet bamboo sticks.
 
What you are doing sounds absolutely fine.
I have four boars - a pair and two singles. They live in my shed.
I only handle my piggies for the essential weekly weight and health checks - I don’t handle just for cuddles. Only one of them likes to be stroked so he will get that several times day but the others would rather I didn’t touch them.

They have a time share of the play space on the shed floor. The pair one day, one of the singles the next day, the other single the following day - so they only get out around twice a week. It’s even less in the depths of winter as it can sometimes be a bit too chilly for me to take hutch covers off so they stay in the hutches.

In terms of enrichment, hay is a huge form of enrichment. Piggies naturally spend hours and hours grazing. I hide their veg portion in the hay pile to provide further enrichment.
Otherwise they have lots of tunnels and hides and most importantly the ability to communicate with each other

Enrichment Ideas for Guinea Pigs
 
interestingthoughts said:
@Piggies&buns so its okay if I only take them out 2x a week then? I will try to add more enrichment so that they are happy
Click to expand...

Yes it’s absolutely fine - even once a week would be fine.
They have a lovely sized cage so are getting plenty of opportunity to exercise. Taking them out for playpen time is purely for a change of scenery in this case.
 
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