if they don't like it, why do it?

[new2piggies]

We have 4 piggies in a cage that totals over 18 sq ft. Whenever we set up the coral for floor time - including a blanket for the floor, a litter box, hay, water bottle, hidey house, fleece tunnel, occaisonally veggies, occaisonally paper balls or a paper bag - they don't seem to enjoy it. They huddle together in the hidey or tunnel, maybe nibble some veggies, but no running around or playing. Since they run laps, play piggie train, and popcorn around the cage, do I really need to offer them this opportunity for exercise that they do not utilize or enjoy?

[Snowflake]

Maybe they might run around more, if you do not provide them with a hidey. That's a problem I have, when I don't take they hidey away - they only cuddle under that, and don't move a lot. But piggies need their movement. They have access to their hidies before and after floor time.

How long have you tried to give your piggies floor time? Maybe they're still a little bit scared of the new surroundings and need some more time to become brave enough to run around freely.

On the other hand - I'm not too confident with English measurements, so I'm not sure, how large exactly your cage is. But in case it is not several times larger than the recommended size, I'd try to help your piggies a little bit with their running time.

[thalestral]

You should always give your guinea pigs hiding spaces at floor time.

I would suggest that either the floor space is too large which is overwhelming them, or that you need to give them floor time more frequently. Gradually increasing the amount of floor space lets them get used to having a large area without the security of cage walls. We give our girls floor time every evening and now they are up at the side of the cage waiting to go when it's that time of night.

A big cage is great, but floor time lets them explore a new environment which can be extra fun and stimulation for them. It's also a great opportunity to haul out all their hidey places and toys, and perhaps drape some towels or fleece strategically that they can burrow under

[Jenni_Feathers]

What time of day do you let them out, piggies are most active in the morning around 6am and at night around 5:30pm.

[Percy's Mom]

Originally Posted by Jenni_Feathers

What time of day do you let them out, piggies are most active in the morning around 6am and at night around 5:30pm.

Where did you get this information? There really is no time of day that guinea pigs are most active. If there is, then my pigs are totally confused. They seem to like 3am, 2:30 in the afternoon, 7pm, and somewhere around midnight along with 6am and 5:30pm.

[JarBax]

I too have four piggies. They usually get floortime just once a week, when I am changing out their cage. Infact, they haven't had it for a wee while, I have just cleaned the cage with them in it. However, they do have a big cage (5 x 3 with 1 x 4 and 2 x 3 loft space.)

They do love a change of environment though - I either gave them the run of the bathroom (though not hugely bigger than their cage, it is different), or make up an enormous 8 x 5 pen in the fromt room. Either way, they spend the whole weekend in there - either one or two nights inclusive. Maybe this gives them enough time to settle in?

This isn't most people's use of floortime though - I think most do regular (daily-ish) slots of an hour or so. Perhaps you could try leaving them in their new surroundings for longer (if practical), though if their cage is big and interesting enough, they don't need floortime as much as pigs in a smaller environment. However, it is worth persevering, as it can offer another aspect of interest to their lives.

[new2piggies]

We have tried floor time using a coral of grids in various sizes ranging between 8 and 15 grids. When we use the smaller one, it is smaller than their cage, so seems to defeat the purpose. The items that are in the coral are taken directly out of their cage, but set up out differently. Everything should feel familiar, but different enough to be interesting. We can't let them run around free because there isn't any room in which we feel it is safe enough (afraid they will go under the reclining couch and no way to get them out safely, under the entertainment center and no way to get them out, between the bricks in the fireplace hearth, etc...). We will keep trying and hopefully they will realize that it is supposed to be fun. We have one more week before our newly-neutered male can join his harem. Hopefully, he will liven things up!

[Jenni_Feathers]

I got that from personal experience and what others have said.

[Ramon]

I have a really hard time doing floor time for my pigs. I've tried putting grids down and making a pen out of grids, giving them full run of the kitchen or the bathroom, making a section in the room with grids.

Either way, they lift up the grids, pull at them, or squeeze out and run back to their cage. They really don't want to be on the floor and run to their cage and it's troublesome to get them out from under it.

I'm afraid that they'll break their teeth if I try to put them in a grid pen or block things off using them.

[catzeye21138]

When I have my pigs out on floor time, 2 of them won't budge unless I place them far away from home base. And my room is weird enough during floor time that I don't need to put anything out besides the food/water etc. I block off my bed but there are some wood things on their sides that they sometimes get into, they get under the table and behind the bedding box, around the food container, by the other coroplast, under my bedroom chair and stuff like that. So I don't provide any other hideys. Only one of my pigs has ever been frightened during floor time and she just went under the table into the back corner where she couldn't be seen, due to the bedding box.
I also find that my pigs are more active in the mornings and evenings and lazy in the afternoons.
Ramon, try only blocking off areas you don't want them to go? And maybe finding a non grid way to lift your cage from the ground like wood blocks or something? They could chew on those and there wouldn't be a problem.

[gettinapiggy]

Well, I know it's bad, but I only have one cavy right now. But I'm planning on getting another one and building a C&C cage like everyone else.Unfortunately, I have to deal with what I have now for a while. But Oliver ( my piggy) loves floortime. I see what you mean, because when I first let him out for floor time a couple of days after i got him, he completely froze up until he discovered that my covers on my bed were hanging off and he ran up the side of my bed under the covers! So I just put a t-shirt on the floor and he hid in that.But one thing I've found out is that if you give him/her/them a hidey, but it is open enough to offer them security but at the same time allowing them to be some-what seen is good enough. Oliver runs everywhere in a room that he has to himself for now.There's an end table he hides under that a put a blanket over, and a tunnel,a box i made into a hidey house, a cat bed that he uses as a cozy,and under a huge chair I have in there I set up a towel and a sheet over it for him to jump and burrow if he wants to in.Though he is the only piggy I have for the time being I keep him very happy by letting him out for an hour about 2 to 3 times a day. He never gets tired of it,but I change things up every couple of days and he popcorns all the time.

[alex_23]

I just want to say that this is a great thread because it answers a lot of my questions I also have about floortime.

but, Kiwi is most active all through the morning, at around 2:30(thats when I would get home from school during the school year), and between 5pm-8pm.

Also, I find with Kiwi that she only enjoys floortime if she has a hidy house. She get real nervous if you make any sudden movements and will run back to her hidy house for safety, but otherwise she will run through her tunnels and munch on her hay and come to me and sit on my lap.

With time, I'm sure your piggies will adjust. I let Kiwi out for 4 hours at a time because she would mostly just hide but she got used to being away form her cage and now enjoys her freetime.

[envisionary333]

I agree with everyone- be persistent and patient, and with time your piggy will be running all over the place and having lots of fun! One way to encourage exploration is to hide veggies all over the place. Most piggies work up the courage to explore when they realize there are yummy treats involved.

[envisionary333]

I usually set up a pen for my piggies during floor time, and lately I've been taking a large sheet and covering most of it. This makes the piggies feel more secure and they run around a lot more since I started doing this.

[ortal]

I am going to try that envisionary. My boy will nibble and hide in his cage, my 3 girls will all hide or fight over who gets the fish hidey. Occasionally they will eat. The only time I saw them active is when I had all 4 together before I knew one was a boy. I REALLY want to see them active, they get about 2 hours of floor time a day (at least one, depending if I work from home or not), and its discouraging when I do all the set up and they just sit there. It also stresses them out to be picked up.

[pigsmakemesmile]

Me too, I spend a lot of time getting everything set up for them only to find them hiding in their hidey. So I took that away. They are getting a little better as they seem to run alittle more. I just wish they wouldn't poo all over the place, any suggestions for that?