They want to go back in the cage¿?¿? - Guinea Pig Cages, Care, Store, Photos of Guinea Pigs and More Forum!

**ana maria** · #1 06-25-06, 01:39 pm

Hello Everybody:
It seems to me that my sows, Mystique and Callisto, want to go back into their cage when i put them out for floor time. They star to chew the cage and doesn´t do anymore popcorning like they did when i have them in a smaller cage and put them out from it. Could it be that they feel so comfortable inside that they doesn´t need to go out? Do i have to insist putting them out?
Than you !!!!

Ana
MYs and Call new mom

**PiggieMom** · #2 06-25-06, 01:48 pm

Well, could you tell us a little about your floor time set up? I personally am able to give them floor time in a room where their cage isn't kept. Do they have a lot of hidey places for their floor time? They might be scared. You could take out the hidey houses from their cage and put them on the floor with them (they'll smell like them that way) and add some boxes and stuff.

**ana maria** · #3 06-25-06, 01:59 pm

Hi Piggiemom!
The cage is in our "library", where we have our books, the computer, and a desk, and in this room they do floor time. Before, I have the smaller cage in the kitchen and i brought them here for the floor time, and they enjoyed it a lot. Now the room is the same, only with the large cage, they have places to hide, between plastic boxes we have, and other boxes, and there is a rug, too. You may be right, and it would be better if I put them in another room for floor time. They do aprox an hour of F-T.
Thanks, Piggiemom
Ana Maria
Lima Peru

**HowietheGreat** · #4 06-25-06, 02:56 pm

I love your X men names!

**Whit23ney** · #5 06-26-06, 01:18 pm

Mine do that too. Sometimes I wonder if I should even continue floor time. I took a bunch of grids and cable tied them together loose enough so that I can fold them into a big pile and put them under the bed when they aren't in use. I just take them and make a huge fence in my daughter's bed room. I take out all their hidey stuff, ball up peices of paper for "play balls" and I have some shoe boxes with holes cut in them for entrance. The whole time they are in there they all get in hidey places and never come out! I've only known about floor time for a couple months now and they get it about 4 times a week. Think they're just not acustomed to it yet? There's a ton of stuff for them to do and the area is more than twice the size of their cage, you'd think they'd run around and go nuts, not hide! Not really sure what to do. I'm guilty of actually lessoning their floor time lately. Like twice a week the last two weeks cause I just think they don't enjoy it at all and it's useless to do. Thoughts? They get like hours of floor time when I'm cleaning their cages. Not sure what to do.....

**PiggieMom** · #6 06-26-06, 02:10 pm

You could hide veggies in hidey houses and then space them out so they have to explore to find the veggies. Are you always in the room with them when they're in floor time? They may just be hiding when you're there and exploring when your not.

**Whit23ney** · #7 06-26-06, 02:35 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by PiggieMom

You could hide veggies in hidey houses and then space them out so they have to explore to find the veggies. Are you always in the room with them when they're in floor time? They may just be hiding when you're there and exploring when your not.

Yeah I'm always in the room with them cause I'm afraid something will happen to them otherwise. We have a cat and a dog that would love to have a piggie dinner and we have closed cages. The floortime fence is completely open and I'm afraid someone will open Madi's door and one of the predators will come in and eat them. We've got two young kids in the house and they can be careless. Plus my fiance has no regard for their safety and it takes only once for someone to not close the door all the way and something bad happens. I lay on the bed to watch them and stay completely still so I don't scare them. I even tried taking out the hidey houses to see if they would run around if they weren't in there (just for experimentation purposes, I'm really not that mean) and they all just huddeled together in a corner and no one moved. They seem to hate floor time! Although, I had to take Pepper to the office with me once (his vet appt was right after work) and after my boss went home I let him down in the hall way with all the doors closed and he went running up and down the halls like a mad man! It was really fun to watch but he was hard to catch when I tried to go pick him up to put him back in his cage. Man, those little buggers are fast! hehe. There's really no other room I can do floortime in with enough space for them....so I can't change room either. My house was built in 1905 and has glass door knobs so I can't lock the door and leave either. I've tried putting different veggies in places all along the floor and in the hidey houses but no one is brave enough to venture out for them. Still puzzeled as to what to do. This site says floor time is so necessary so I feel obligated to give it to them but at the same time...they hate it! They look terrified the entire time and don't come out of their hideys. It's like "stress time" every day. It can't be beneficial for them.

**PiggieMom** · #8 06-26-06, 02:58 pm

Sorry if you've already answered this, but how long have you been trying to give them floor time? I'm really running out of ideas. Floor time is a really good idea for the exercise, but it doesn't really serve it's purpose if they don't exercise. Maybe someone else will come along with some better/new ideas. I'll keep this topic in mind and if I think of anything new I'll let you know.

**Whit23ney** · #9 06-27-06, 08:26 am

Well I've only been doing floortime for a couple of months, about 4 times a week so maybe they just aren't acustomed to it yet. Maybe I'll leave the room and just hang out outside so I can keep an eye on the door and make sure people are closing it if they go in.