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C&C Questions about the new cage...

LillySadie

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I've got the cage completed (I'm not in love with the ramp, and will be working on it some more). I built a 2x4 with a 1x2 upstairs. I just put Lilly and Sadie in it last night, and when I got up this morning, they were hiding out in their litter box, in the upstairs 1x2. Will they stay like this? Or will they start to explore more and use their downstairs more?

Sadie (our black one) is still very skittish and HATES being caught and held...and she's very good about not getting caught. Lilly is okay with being picked up, kinda, but she likes to rumblestrut at me, and tries to nip at me at least once every time I hold her.

Also, I made them a little sleep sack type thing. I saw one at the pet store (and they wanted an exhorbitant amount of money for it!), and it gets chilly in the house at night (even in FL!), so I made them a sleeping bag this morning. The inside is flannel, the outside is cotton, and in between is a piece of mattress pad, so it's nice and cozy and thick. Has anyone else made/bought one of these for their piggies? And how did they like it?

I'll try to post with a pic of the entire cage in a little bit, but for now, here's a pic of their new sleeping bag/cozie.

IMGP4306.jpg


IMGP4305.jpg
 

babygirlhagen

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your little piggy is SO SO SO cute!!
I built mine the same size of cage. I left my upstairs intact for about a month and a half and they never bothered with it so I took it down. I am moving into a bigger apartment so I am going to add another 1X2 to the ground floor :)
 

Aludarie

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What a cute cage, I imagine they'll love it once they get over their initial fear.

As for the sleeping cozy, just be patient. I made cozies for my pigs and it took them forever (almost a year I think) to start using them regularly as sleeping bags. Sometimes they just sit on top of them, and that's ok too, whatever makes them happy. It certainly makes me happy when they scramble inside and snuggle up though!
 

LightningPig1

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Also, it looks as if your piggie (in the pic) is rather small and maybe may not feel so warm and cozy in such a big sleeping bag (compared to her). But if she is still young (under six months) she will probably grow into it.

And as Aludarie said it may be that they are not yet comfortable in their new environment and need some time to warm up.
 

LillySadie

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I made the sleeping bag big to account for them growing. They're only about 10 weeks old. I've assigned them my dad's birthday, to keep it simple :) So yeah, they're still little. I am just worried about the what-ifs...the big one being: what if they don't warm up to us?
 

LightningPig1

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Just hold them 1-2 times as day for 15-20 minutes and while your doing that you can hand feed them some veggies and keep on doing this for a while or at least until you can tell a difference. Then after they get warmed up to you, you can hold them ever so often as you want! They will get warmed up eventually, it just takes time. Some piggies maybe a year and some piggies maybe three days. It really depends.
 

kathlaaron

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Very nice job with the sleeping bag !! I love the pattern on the inside especially, because I love paisley prints a lot. Do you have a sewing machine ? I hope to get a cheap one soon from Walmart so I can begin to make my own cozies, cage liners and such !

It's just as LightningPig1 said, they just need time to get use to all the noises and such in their environment, their new cage, and each piggie is unique and has their own personality. I have two girl piggies Cuddles ( the dominant piggie) a 3 month old Abyissian, and Buttercup who is a Crested American Satin 2 1/2 month old. I am a new first time owner, and have only had them for 2 months.

They have been in their new cage and new environment ( moved them downstairs to be around us all the time) for about 2 weeks now. Buttercup warmed up to everything right away, popcorning all over the place, doing zoomies up and down the ramp and curious about her new "digs".

Cuddles just takes a little more time to get use to things. I was thrilled to finally see her acting completely happy and adjusted, popcorning, zooming, ect., but the biggest thrill for me was that she vocalized to me for the first time since being downstairs, and seeing her so happy at LONG LAST brought me so much peace. ( I was getting kind of worried about her!)

Have you had a chance to read all the great info on here, or on guinealynx.com ?
If you haven't yet, it is well worth your time, It's really helped me tremendously, as well as many of the wonderful people on here. Cavyspirit.com has a wonderful easy read on "taming" your piggies, and learning all about their characteristics, vocalizations, social life ect.

Ly also has a GREAT veggie chart that you might want to check out too ! I have her weekly veggie schedule printed out ( the plain black and white version, the daily veggie one) and posted on my fridge !
Good luck with your piggies !
 
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