Exercise Free Range - Help me understand its purpose

sometimes it will take a little while for them to get accustomed to floor time. i have one pig who took to it right away and did happy laps around the living room. one of my other pigs just sat there looking scared until she realized the other pigs were having fun. its more or less another way to socialize, exercise and spend time with your pigs the more time they spend out, the more they'll learn to enjoy it.

Most guinea pigs do not like smooth surfaces for walking or running--they can't get enough traction. Also, older pigs aren't likely to play very much, how old are yours?

If you have a large enough cage, you don't really need floor time. It's more of a time for you to sit and bond with your pigs in that case. Some people put out small piles of veggies, so the pigs go from pile to pile.

It will probably take some time for them to get comfortable and figure out what floor time is all about. One of my pigs doesn't do much of anything except lounge around in his favorite spot while the other runs laps until he's too tired to move anymore.

Try hiding treats in different spots to encourage them to explore. Or just use floor time as a chance to sit down with your pigs. My pigs are usually free to roam my room during the day and I sometimes sit on the floor and read a book while they play. They sometimes even sit in my lap and nap while I do so.

I agree with FoggyCreek. I don't know of any guinea pigs that would choose to walk on wood or linoleum over something like carpet. They may walk on it, but given a choice, they prefer not to.

In your hallway, the easiest way to make them more comfortable running/walking around is to throw down an old sheet or two. Makes it MUCH easier for poo and pee cleanup as well. I'm also fond of tossing down old bath mats. Rubber backed. Also put something more comfortable for them under those hideys. That will help, too.

Sheets are a good idea. I've been putting beach towels under the hideys and one more in the middle with the hay and toys on it; there's a lot of area covered by towels, but not all of it. Maybe if I cover all the wood, it will help. I don't know how old they are - the vet guessed they are about 2 years old. I'll try to spread out some food, too. Maybe it will get them moving. They generally move together one behind the other. The kids call it the guinea pig train. I don't know if that means one of them is scared or being chased by the other or just something they do. Nobody makes angry noises or anything. They just follow one another around and eat the hay.

This is how i have my hallway layed down when my girls are out. I already have carpet, but i still preffer to put sheets down to help protect my carpet. It took my girls a little bit to get use to the new area, but now they love it. They will stand at the edge of their cage awaiting floor time, sometimes they will even Wheek at me if i'm late on puttin them out..!! Please don't mind them mess, they where out for a bit. I normally put mine out around 2 or 4pm and leave them them to play until 9pm..when it's their cage and dinner time. Our bedrooms and bathroom are blocked also, but i just put things up, so i can leave the doors open to the bedrooms. I make sure there are plenty of hideys around. My girls LOVE cardboard boxes with a sheet covering them...like in the back of the picture. Plus i will put out hay sacks and hay boxes for them to crawl in or jump in. They love it..!! Also i will change things up when i lay out there stuff....i will put their hideys and toys in different places everytime i put them out. It keeps them looking for everything. Also another tip on gettin them use to floor time....Hide treats(veggies) in their hideys, toys and anything else u might put down. It will give them a adventure to find all the goodies!!

I make sure that when our girls are out on their floor time...That everyone WATCHES where they step and where the piggies are. I'm a very over protective piggy momma..!! This is just how i do my girls..others may do theirs different. Just giving you some ideas..!! My girls have gotten so use to floor time, that now i will watch them play chase and popcorn around each other..!! it's so cute to watch !!!

spy9doc said:

Don't get caught up in the "shoulds and ought tos". You really just have to work with the personalities of the cavies and with your family to see what works best for all of you.

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I definitely agree with that statement. Not everything everyone else tries will always work for everyone else's piggies. Looks like you've got a pretty fun setup for them though! good to hear they're loving their floor time

I don't have time for floor time all the time. lol My guinea pigs have cages almost double the recommended sizes and I feel that is good enough for them to get their exercise. My kids and I have them out of their cages quite a bit during the day to hold them and feed them veggies so they are getting a change in environment but they do not crawl around on the floor much. I just don't like to set up and clean up of it all and I don't have an "easy" spot to do it. I have done it but not often.

My pigs absolutely love floortime. They get bored being in the same cage all the time and I've noticed that they are a lot happier with floortime; they squabble less, beg less and popcorn more after it.

However, you really have to get them used to it. I started off with a small enclosure for floortime and expanded it gradually - now they get the whole room with just dangerous things blocked off. It takes a while for them to really start enjoying it but they do. My floor is tiled and they still roam all over it - no zoomies and popcorns as they would hurt their feet - but I can tell that they enjoy it. I also put in their litter tray so that they have somewhere to pee and poop and don't feel too awkward and out-of-place.

They absolutely love hanging out on the tiled floor during summer because it's really hot here; they don't appreciate it as much in the winter but they do like to hang around during the afternoon (in our tropical country, the afternoons are warm even in winter). I can understand why your pigs don't like floortime as much during the colder months.

Guinea pigs basically have two issues - safety and boredom. Once they realize that the floor is a safe place (takes a few weeks) they start exploring it to satisfy their boredom and curiosity. The bed is quite high so I don't mind letting them hide-out under it as I can easily get under there if I need to. Having a big hidey like that also helps. In the beginning, I also hand-fed them veggies during their floortime so that they had to come out from under the bed and take a piece from my hand.

I have a cage that meets the recommended size at best (and after much expanding too!) so floortime is really important for my pigs to get some time and space from each other. I guess theoretically if I had a really large cage, the 'space' aspect might not be too important but I have noticed that my pigs tend to get bored easily in general and floortime really helps to improve their mood. Like I said, they beg less, squabble less, and are generally less grumpy and more conducive to handling. I can't give it to them everyday or regularly every week but at least every 10 days or so or if I feel they're all more crotchety than usual, I make it a point to take them out and it really helps.

I don't even always spend time with them; after the first few minutes I just pretend they're not about and leave them to their own devices and they love exploring everything without being monitored all the time (the room is 100% piggy proofed and they can' get out). As long as you mind your feet, I don't think they need much entertaining other than being put in a new (and safe, by their standards) place. When they're tired of it, they just huddle together under the bed sleepily and I know it's time to go home again.

I think floor time is important if your pigs get bored easily or can barely tolerate each other and your cage is no bigger than the recommended cage size. It's easier if it's done while cleaning the whole cage and that's usually when mine get theirs.