Time outside of the cage

[Jebusmcgee]

Hi everyone,

Ive had my two piggies for a year now and every time I let them out of the cage to run around and play, they do neither. I open up one of my cabinets in my bedroom that I designated as theirs and let them roam on the floor as well. Instead of playing and getting some much needed exercise, they hide in the cabinet. I tried taking the cabinet away and they will stay hidden in their plastic hide aways. Thinking maybe it was the environment, I took them outside a few times and they either hide under my legs or again in their hide aways.

Any advice? They get more exercise in their cage than being outside.

[khptown]

I've only had my piggy for a week, but here is my advise. When you go outside, don't bring the hidey. Just bring toys. I also got this expandable tube and when it is at it's shortest, my pig's head and but sticks out of the end. He can't hide when it is short. When he is loose inside your house, can you block off any hiding spots?

[cavycreation]

My advice: Use shelfing to make a big area with nothing in it. Now add lots and lots of pipes. My pigs love to run through them, and it is very good exercise. They would go through them, then another, and another.

[iluvmypigclover]

My piggy is the same exact way! She doesn't, or rarely, walks around outside of her cage, even with tents, tunnels, etc.! You could try placing pieces of food around the area, and they might run to it. I'm having trouble with this myself!

[PrayerWarrior]

My chubby pigs used to be the same way. Someone suggested hiding veggies around, or putting them in a paper bag and rolled up the top, then watching them tear it apart.

I now hide cilantro around, in tubes, on hideys, in boxes, etc. They love it!

[PixieStix]

Scattering veggies may encourage them to move around a bit more. If you put a bunch of open ended boxes or pipes on the floor with veggies in them, they may chose to run from tunnel to tunnel.

[meesh]

These are all great ideas, thank you everyone!