Help on Introducing Buddy to Floor time?

[PrincessPipster]

Good Morning!

My question is on Floor time.Buddy is nearly 1 and he has never gotten any Floor time.Until I found this site,I didn't know they needed it!(Thank You!)I do play with him alot and spread chuck pads/wee wee pads over my bed and let Buddy explore around on there with my constant supervision so that he doesn't fall off of course,but this isn't very simple to do and I still worry about his safety.I would like to try and Introduce Buddy to Floor time very soon and was wondering if the snap together grids in the picture below would be A OK?

In the description it said it was a"cage"but I'm sure it's not a good idea for his actual home!Does this look ok for his Floor play time?(Image Below)



If this is ok,would it be a good idea to buy 2 sets and connect them together to make a bigger area for him?
Also,
What are the suggested times on his Floor time?Should I give him this time each and every day?How much time would be good for him?With Buddy,I would have to supervise his floor time each and every time because we also have a miniature Pomeranian and I don't want to take any chances of the Dog thinking Buddy is just another Squeaky Toy!

Another question I had was this:What are some good Guinea Pig Toys?If you could let me know I'd be so thankful,also where to buy them....is there an online place that I can buy from with web address?We live so far from any pet store,buying online would be best......Right now,Buddy doesn't have any toy's and I'm not sure what to get him or what they like to keep them entertained.Yesturday,I put a paper bag with the end cut out and stuffed some hay in there and he LOVED that!He crawled right in and took a nap...all I could see was his head sticking out one end and his little feet and tooshy sticking out the other end...It was so cute(I think I took a picture of that,I'll try to find it)

I think those are all the questions I have for this area,I will post other questions that I may have in the other/appropriate areas of the forum.We look forward to your reply..Buddy and I THANK YOU!

[PrincessPipster]

Found that picture of Buddy inside the paper bag and thought I'd share!

[jdomans]

A great place for floortime would be the bathroom and you can use the above fence across the doorway.
Is Buddy in a C&C cage? If not then you need to make him a proper cage as well as give floortime. The paper bag is a fabulous toy. On the homepage of this website is a section you can click on for homemade toy ideas.
I suggest putting out some fresh veggies and hay as well as a pigloo for Buddy as he may be a bit scared with floortime for awhile.

[PrincessPipster]

Thanks for the reply ^...Buddy is in a 33LongX19Wide cage right now but it's not a very good one because it has one small door and closed in everywhere else.I have a hard time getting to him to get him out because I can't get a good angle.I will for sure be getting him a C&C cage shortly.I have found a few on ebay with measurments that are more then his current one.

The only concern with the C&C cages are...will Buddy try and jump over the top if it isn't closed at the top?I don't know if that's possible or not but It sure would be alot easier for me if it wasent closed in on the top so I can reach right in and tend to Buddy better.

We're now in the process of ordering a bunch of items for Buddy from a catalog I requested.I forget the name but it's from two vets and it would be so easy to spend over 100.00 but first things first...C&C cage then other things!I find myself holding Buddy ALOT more lately and I can tell it's helping tame things down...

[TheQueen]

I really don't think Buddy will be able to jump over the sides of the cage. One grid is over a foot high (14"), and he would have to be some jumper to be able to jump up, over, and out of that. I don't think I've ever heard of a pig who could jump out of an open C&C, so you should be okay. Have you thought of making a C&C yourself instead of buying one? It's really simple and fun to do, and that way you can make it however you like.

As for that floor time pen, I have one of those, and they are very small; much smaller than the cage, which defeats the purpose of floor time. Using a room that you can easily block off is a good idea. I know my bathroom is really small, so I use my sunroom. Just make sure that you piggie proof it and remove all electrical wires and block off furniture they could squeeze under or behind. Throw in some newspaper, fleece, veggies, hay, and hideys, and plop in pigs!