Nibbling Pig...

[LunaTsukario]

My piggie has taken a liking to chewing on her cage side and pigloo top. I'm afraid she'll hurt herself or ingest the plastic....Any suggestions to how to curb this? Is cardboard safe for them to chew up? (Like paper towel rolls?)

[clotho]

Lots of people put hay into cardboard tubes (with a slit in it so the piggie can't get stuck) and give that to their piggies.

On the subject of hay - do you feed unlimited grass hay to your piggie? Hay is very important to keep their teeth worn down.

What size cage is she in and does she have a friend?

[LunaTsukario]

Yep, constant timothy hay and I have to say, her cage is pretty small, but Ive recently purchased a C&C cage and am waiting to fix up my bedroom so I can find a place to put the thing. (Should only be another week now.)

And no...no friend...soon though, another reason I bought the big cage. I'm in the process of searching for a buddy for her. I was thinking she could be chewing out of boredom?

[ctinaw]

I would be concerned about them chewing and ingesting a piece of the igloo plastic. Perhaps you could junk that and replace it with a Timber Hide-a-way? All wood and safe for chewing. Cardboard should be fine though.

[ctinaw]

I'm trying to remember the name - There are big cardboard tubes you can buy for small animals - I think they are called Rex something? Gah I can't remember. They are basically enormous toilet paper rolls. My pigs like chewing on theirs.

[Sugar]

My Guinea Pig Sugar chews her cage as well. One of my new Guinea Pigs is also copying Sugar, but it isn't a problem because the wood is safe, although I know it wouldn't be good if any Guinea Pigs injested it. But they don't eat the wood, so it isn't a problem.

[clotho]

I'm glad you give her constant timothy hay! It's also great to know you are looking for a friend for her. Please be sure to adopt - NOT buy!!

I think it's quite possible she could be chewing from boredom and lack of space in her cage.

The best things to do for her would be to get that bigger cage ready and adopt her a friend.

When you are ready to adopt, please be sure to quarantine the new piggie (you can use your piggie's old cage) in a separate room for at least 3 weeks to ensure no illnesses get passed from the new piggie to your old one.

[Guinea_Piggin]

Originally Posted by ctinaw

I'm trying to remember the name - There are big cardboard tubes you can buy for small animals - I think they are called Rex something? Gah I can't remember. They are basically enormous toilet paper rolls. My pigs like chewing on theirs.

They're called Chubes...here in the US anyway...not sure what they're called elsewhere.
Chubes, Houses & Hideouts | Pet Solutions
I just take the fluff out of the center and let the pigs have the tube.