Quick Question

[fuzypeaches]

I've hear that you shouldn't keep your guinea pig's cage right on the floor because they are sensative to your foot steps and the vibrations or what ever will scare them. Is that true...Do I need to worry about having a stand for my piggy's cage? Because I spend alot of time sitting down low on my bed or beanbag chair and they won't be ignored if they're on the floor. os do you think that will be Ok??

[C&K]

It isn't just because of vibrations from your feet. I have never heard of that. A lot of it has to do with drafts traveling along the floor, or the floor being cold. Also, if the floor gets flooded in a basement or house, it can create a disaster. There are lots of reasons not to have a cage on the floor.

If you are building a C&C, it is very very easy to lift it off the floor without a stand, you just use grids! I know there are pictures showing this in the Cavy Cage Superstar Sticky. It also creates handy dandy storage space for all your pig accessories.

EDIT: Added: Also, heat rises, the coldest air is found on the floor. And, if the floor is at all cold, then the bottom of the cage may be cooler too. By having a gap, you allow the warmer air in the room to fill in under the cage.

[dagwellismypigy]

It's harder to clean when it's on the floor. Other then that, my pigs really couldn't care less how high their cage is. Then again, all of my guys are extremely laid back.

[Marlania]

I built my boys' cage on top of the girls' cage, so they're in the air while the girls are on the floor (carpet). When the weather gets cooler, I throw down a thick quilt just incase. As far as floor vibrations go, I don't think my girls care a bit. They're very well-adjusted, and they're happy to hear my (with the dogs in tow) stomping by because that usually means they're getting food or attention.

[homeschoolmama]

I've never heard of the vibration thing, but we keep our cage off the floor for several reasons:

1. it's easier to see/talk to the piggies when they're not down on the floor
2. it's easier to clean their cage & feed them when you don't have to stoop over to get to them
3. when we got our first piggie, my daughter was 2... it would have been a nightmare to try & keep her and her toys OUT of the cage & the piggies safe from toddler "friendliness"
4. like everyone else has mentioned, there are drafts down near the floor. With a sniffle-susceptible pet, we didn't want to run the risk of preventable illness
5. guinea pigs are prey-animals. Their natural predators attack from above, and at least with Junior, he gets freaked-out if we reach in from above without getting down on his level first... if the cage were on the floor, we'd never be able to do this!
6. and finally, raising the cage gives you a natural place to store all of their bedding, hay, pellets & other "stuff" - right there under the cage!

We made a real simple table out of 2x4s & plywood. It cost us less than $20, and I made it just high enough to slide their plastic hay bins underneath. Both hay bins, and the pet-store cage that we use for quarrantine slide underneath. The little cage doubles as a "drawer" for their paper baggies, food pellets, nail trimmers, wood sticks & absolutely everything else. So everything but the veggies in the fridge & their water is self-contained in or under their cage

[Ly&Pigs]

My cage is on the floor, the pigs have never ever been sick and the vibrations (yes, I am one who knows about that) don't bother them. If I had my cage on a stand, I would not be able to clean it. If you put your cage in a draft free room that is warm in the winter and cool in the summer, there really isn't that much to worry about.

[daftscotslass]

Mine are on the floor in a draft free room with a consistent temperature and I've never had any problems.

[Sabriel]

My boys love being on the floor level. It means I can just open the door and let them out to play whenever they please. I keep most of my floortime grids set up all the time so floortime now takes 5 seconds to set up

[cavy-cool-crazy]

My cage is on the floor simply because of the size. Lifting it off the floor would probably break a table or stand - 4 levels of solid stainless steels is an awful lot heavier than you may think! A huge benefit is having swing-open doors so that they can go in and out when they please.

I have never had issues with my pigs being scared of me when I'm approaching from 'above' - in fact when they are out for floor time they let me step over them (slowly and carefully) and don't even care. I must have pretty trusting piggies though as I've never known any other piggies like this.

[fuzypeaches]

How long have you had your piggies? Did they just like trust you right off or did it take alot of time for them to be that comfortable around you??

[cavy-cool-crazy]

It took a while. I got Charlie in July 2003 and he is 2 years old. He lets me pet him in and out the cage without being held - a major achievement and a huge amount of trust. Jasmine on the other hand is just 5 months and she is brave enough to climb all over me, eat my hair, lick me and even let me stroke her cheek and chin for a short while, and that's just with having her for a couple of months.

If you do it 'right' then it may only take up to one year for your pig to get to the stage Charlie is at, but it very much depends on the pig's temperament. Pigs from rescues are often much more tamer when you first get them as they are used to human movement.