Floor Time Floor Time? - Guinea Pig Cages, Care, Store, Photos of Guinea Pigs and More Forum!

**Noodles** · #1 02-01-09, 08:50 pm

I just got two new guinea pigs and after about a week to adjust to their new surroundings, I've just introduced them to floor time. They have my entire dining area to run around in (about 100 square feet) and I've even placed a bunch of fun tunnels and obsticles for them to hide and play in. I even read the section on this site about floor time and followed the advice completely. But when I plopped my piggies down, they simply ran and hid and haven't come out for a while. I put some veggies around the area to tempt them out, but so far they are not budging. Can anyone give me advice on how to make them more comfortable or at least share their experiences with floor time? Will they eventually get used to it?

**starshine123102** · #2 02-01-09, 09:08 pm

It took my pig a good month or so to warm up to floor time. I woud say just give it time and keep putting veggies in there and tons of hiding places. Even now that she is used to it I find that the more palces to hide (especially in a way they can easily run from one to the other) makes her WAY more active.

Also, try something like a towel tent or something that leads into a tunnel or box and see if that tempts them.

**tehdoc809** · #3 02-01-09, 09:31 pm

Yeah, they will it just takes some time. You have to understand that you just introduced them to a new cage and now you introduced them to another new place. So they will need time to adjust. Starshine suggestion is actually what I do as well, My three cavies have 4 little hidey homes and we put one in each corner facing the opposite with a tunnel in the middle for them to run through, huge hit. Also we put down something, usually a small step stool, in the middle and they love to run laps around it for exercise.

**Noodles** · #4 02-01-09, 09:39 pm

Here's a pic of the floor time area they have.

Thank you for the suggestions. I've tried to make it comfortable and interesting w/ plenty of hiding places for them, so hopefully they'll get the hang of it soon! Also, I wanted to know if anyone has had experience with guinea pigs warming up to you. They still run and hide when I pass by the cage and when I take them out, they hate being picked up. Any tips on how to make them more comfortable with me or should I just be patient?

**Clarion** · #5 02-02-09, 11:54 am

For the most part, guinea pigs will always be adverse to being picked up. Some are better than others though. One of my girls still runs and hids most of the time when I come up to the cage but the other is more relaxed. However, she will still struggle sometimes when I go to pick her up. Once they are out of the cage for floor time or cuddle time they should relax as long as they feel safe. Young pigs also tend to be more wiggly and jumpy than older ones. You just have to be patient with them and eventually they will warm to you